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HipCityVeg

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I am not a vegan, but my sister is and when she came to town one day, I needed to find a good vegan restaurant for her. I was surprised to discover that there were not many in DC, but I was able to find a small but great place called HipCityVeg. It is located in Chinatown with maybe 3 tables and an area to sit at the window with quick order vegan options.  When I eat at vegan restaurants, I focus on vegetable options rather than fake meats and HipCityVeg has some great veggies. I have had several of their mushroom burgers and I enjoyed them all. My favorite is the Bistro Bella with a grilled portobella mushroom, herb Dijon, olive tapenade, red onion, tomato, artichoke, and arugula. I also always get their sweet potato fries and Sriracha aioli. The Bistro Bella is delicious with a great mix of the bright dijon, peppery argula, and earthy portobella that is perfectly cooked. The sweet potato fries are fresh with a right amount of salt and sweet which goes great in the Sriracha aioli
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Astro Doughnuts and Fried Chicken

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In DC, you will find all sorts eateries, some that specialize in just one thing, like Medium Rare or places that focus on two related things, like Captain Cookie and the Milkman. Then you have Astro Doughnuts. They specialize in doughnuts and fried chicken. Why they decided to focus on doughnuts and fried chicken in a single store, I don’t know, but I am so glad they did. Astro Doughnuts makes some of the best doughnuts and fried chicken around. PB&J Doughnut Their doughnuts come in a wide array of flavors, some that change monthly or for special events and some that are permanent. Their permanent doughnuts are PB&J, Crème Brule, Vanilla Glaze, and Maple Bacon.  Before Astro Doughnut, I thought the idea of having bacon on every dessert was nonsense, but after trying their maple bacon, I understand. It is sweet, it is salty, the doughnut is fresh with a perfect amount of chew and I can’t get enough of it. I also really like the PB&J. Unlike most jelly doughnuts
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Maison Christian Faure

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This hidden gem was recommended to us by the hotel staff and it was one of the best places we ate in Montreal. Maison Christian Faure is a bakery located in Old Town Montreal. It is not a restaurant, but they offer a selection of items you can eat at their shop and have a small breakfast option. They also have a lunch selection as well, but I never had the opportunity to sampled it. Maison Christian Faure is not a large shop, but it is very charming. It can be a bit of a challenge to find the first time you go there, even though it is just off a main street. The decorations reminded me of most modern hip bakeries you can find around any major city, with a mural on the wall, and modern Scandinavian furniture. The staff was friendly and fairly helpful.  We went back there several times and every bite was delicious. The macarons were wonderful, with rich flavors and vibrate colors. Caramel is always my favorite with macarons and this one did not disappoint. I was also fond of the raspb
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Moldavie

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Another spot in Montreal that was highly recommended online was Moldavie and I was thrilled to have a chance to try it. It is located in the center of Old Town, fairly close to Notre Dame. The atmosphere was inviting and while we were there, they were setting up for live music. I had the duck comfit with mushroom risotto and it was fantastic. The duck skin was crispy and the meat succulent and the risotto was perfectly cooked. The only downside for me was the cranberry sauce on it, but that is because I dislike cranberry. I am sure someone who enjoys that flavor would have enjoyed it immensely since the tart cranberry did help balance the dish. The steak was also cooked perfectly and had a lovely red wine sauce and fresh veggies. As you can see, it was so good that we started to eat before taking the pictures.  Normally, this place would have been a 5 star joint, but our service fell apart at the end. The waiter came and said they had a special on plum pudding. We ha
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Café Chat L’Heureux-Quick Bite

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I am not able to do a full review of Café Chat L’Heureux, but I am still going to a mini review, or a Quick Bite. Café Chat L’Heureux is a charming little cat cafe just north of Old Town. As the name suggests, they have free roaming cats wandering around the cafe, some permanent residents, some up for adoption. All the animals were sweet, but I will admit that the kittens tended to be a little more outgoing and they did try to climb on the table a few times (the waitstaff figured it might have been because of the house lemonade, delicious but very pale in color, looked like milk). The kittens really did not bother the other tables as much. If having the possibility of cats on the table bother you, this may not be the place for you, though it was very clean. The food is really good with mostly vegetarian and vegan options and everything was fresh and delicious. I had a wonderful open face sandwich that was a little messy to eat, but I enjoyed every bite. The entire place had a w
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Le Robin Square

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Le Robin Square is one of the top restaurants on Yelp in Montreal and I was excited to try it. People raved about it and I could see why. The entire experience was wonderful, the restaurant was small, but very charming with photos of the family who runs the place on the wall and eclectic decorations all around. We actually spoke to one of the family members as she was helping the wait staff in the front and she was very sweet and helpful.  As for the food, the two most recommended things were the Mac and Cheese and the Ultimate Experience. The Mac and Cheese was unusual to say the least. It was cream based, not cheese, and while it took a few bites to get used to the more subtle flavors I was quickly hooked. My one complaint was the fact they gave you a hunk of pork with the Mac and Cheese and while the pork was very good, I would have preferred if it was shredded and mixed with the Mac and Cheese. The Ultimate Experience was delicious which is a pork belly dished with cele
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Montreal

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Montreal is not a place I thought about much throughout the years. I knew some basics about it; that it spoke French; the Canadiens played there; and that they had the Olympics and Expo 67. However, it was always on my list of places I wanted to visited and in May I finally had the chance to go. It blew my expectations out of the water. If you want to travel to a city with great culture and food, this is the place to go. Everywhere we went, the food was excellent, from the finest restaurants to places in tourists traps. Montreal was originally colonized by France and their influence shines in the cooking. This is the only place I have ever been where I saw tartar multiple times on the menu at different pubs (and while I have no doubt it was excellent tartar, I could not convince myself to eat pub tartar). When the most disappointing meal I had was airport food, you know things are done well. The pastries were amazing, from hotel recommended little pastry shops to the supermarket b
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