After a full day of walking and biking, we slept in on Saturday morning and took the metro in the early afternoon to Jean-Talon Market for Beyond the Market Food Tour Jenny had arranged.

Our first stop was a Salvadoran restaurant where we met up with our guide Frances, a native of Montreal, and had Papusas and Horchata. It was interesting to learn about the different cultural influences (a hodgepodge of African, Latin American, Jewish, and Asian) of the neighborhood, but we weren’t impressed with the food. After all, living in the Bay Area where we can enjoy an array of diverse cuisines has us spoiled. And in case, you’re in the mood for some Papusas, Platano in Berkeley is a great place to visit.

We wish we could say the tour got better after the Papusas, unfortunately it wasn’t the case. The rest of the tour took us through the Jean-Talon Market, a glorified farmer’s market and not unlike the traditional market in Taiwan, and Mile-Ex, the Dogpatch of Montreal where artists who got priced out of the more sophisticated Mile-End neighborhood now reside. It’s industrial, artistic, and (very) rough around the edges. We walked more than we ate (in the 80+ degree weather and 50%+ humidity), and when we did eat, we sampled a small amount of cheese, cured meat, sorbet, beer and southern fried chicken (not sure why this was on the menu of a Canadian food tour…). After the three-hour tour, we were still hungry and had to go to a nearby pub for some authentic Canadian food—poutine.

Our verdict for Beyond the Market Food Tour: B-

Yesterday we spent a day in the Canadian capital, Ottawa. We visited the Parliament Hill and the historic Hotel Chateau Laurier. We even went to Prime Minister Trudeau’s office, unfortunately he wasn’t there.

From the Parliament Hill, we walked to the ByWard Market, one of the liveliest places in the city filled with shops, restaurants, bars and cafés; and ate a late lunch at a local Italian sandwich shop. Before heading back to the train station, we stopped by the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica, the oldest and the largest church in Ottawa. It wasn’t as grand as the Duomos we saw in Italy, but we found its distinctively neo-gothic style interesting.

After the train ride back from Ottawa, we went to a traditional English restaurant for dinner. The waiter claimed that the restaurant has the best Beef Wellington in Montreal, so we decided to try it out. Needless to say, it did not disappoint. Drew gave it an A, but it was a little rare for Jenny’s taste.

The night ended with a nice walk back to our hotel. Monday will be our last day in Montreal. We don’t have anything planned and will see where our day takes us.