Montreal revisited

We made a great breakfast of fried eggs, breakfast sausage, hash-browns and muffins – all made outside on the griddle! We ate plein air at the picnic table. It was a little muggy, but at least it wasn’t raining…yet. Within minutes of cleaning up, the skies opened up and the rain came down like there was no tomorrow! It lasted about an hour, so we waited it out!
We hopped in the car and ventured to down town Montreal, a 30 minute drive. This was Paul and Ts, first time and Bill and Jan’s second time (they were here about 40 or so years ago). As a child, I lived in Montreal in 1967 for a few months when my Dad worked in Expo 67! JT and I have been here many, many times while dating and as a married couple! It’s our little taste of Europe. In Québec, French is their primary language; people do speak English, but everything is French first!
We suggested the gang take a hop on hop off bus tour, which they did; it’s a great way to get an overview of the city. These tours are pretty pricey (~$48 pp) so JT and I opted out. First stop was lunch: http://www.jardinnelson.com/ we stumbled upon a fantastic inner courtyard at Jardin Nelson with a three piece jazz band! What a find. I had a real taste for a crèpe with béchamel sauce! We shared an order of Caprese salad (in season mini tomatoes and fresh bufalo Mozarrela) with a little pesto and balsamic, yum, yum, yum! And a wonderful spinach and ham crèpe. I find crépes are expensive in Canada, and this one was no different, around $16.
Overall rating (in my opinion): Decor 4/5, service 4/5, food 4/5, Value 3.5/5, Noise: 3/5 (1 being very noisy, and 5 being very quiet).
We reunited with the gang for cocktails at our hotel. The Nelligan (highly recommended) has an incredible roof top patio. I had a delicious vodka martini, straight up, very dry, no olives. I prefer mine stirred and not shaken ;-).
Dinner was our plan from the previous evening: Holder http://www.restaurantholder.com/
I had another caprese salad-I couldn’t help myself, and a very traditionally seasoned steak tartar. Very tasty indeed!
Overall rating (in my opinion): Decor 4/5, service 4/5, food 4/5, Value 4/5, Noise: 2/5 (1 being very noisy, and 5 being very quiet).
(I’m posting from my iPhone and the ap doesn’t allow me to re-order my photos, they post where they post!)
I added a few pics of the inside of the rock star bus.