Saturday was an Ikea day. I have written about my feelings toward Ikea before so I will not belabor the point here. I must confess that our bounty, including two chairs and storage units for our entryway, has greatly improved our quality of life at home. Still, Ikea makes for a very stressful day for me.
On the bright side, a trip to Ikea means a trip to Montreal and what I've come to think of as our neighborhood in that great city. Drawn & Quarterly is our favorite book store and frequent visits have led to modest explorations of the surrounding area. We have a reliable bagel shop (St-Viateur) and, as of this weekend, an outstanding deli to address our refueling needs.
Lester's has just about everything we look for in a deli. For our daughter, they have good local bagels. For My Wife, there is mustard on the table. Too often, she has to ask for it - even better, they make their own! She was also pleased with the spray bottle of vinegar for fries. For me, they passed the club sandwich test with flying colors. It's the sort of place I can see visiting over and over again, trying everything on the menu.
Your post made me think of this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiBt44rrslw&feature=youtu.be
(Even better if you've watched Gravity)
We don't have an Ikea here, but I feel your pain because I'm not a big shopper either. :)
Yeah, that's fun! Stephanie has that linked on her latest post. The Swedish meatballs are a nice touch.
DeleteGood eating places are good.
ReplyDeleteCan't argue with that!
DeleteHahahahahahaha... I had to read your linked post.
ReplyDeleteIkea was a life saver after the fire so it holds a place in my heart. But as I don't need any more lamps (I can never leave Ikea without picking up a new lamp) I haven't been to one in years.
Your trips to Montreal sound so much nicer than my trips to Phoenix, where there is one. If I don't HAVE to drive to Phoenix, that suburb of LA I don't ! What a huge hot mess.
I miss Ikea's bread mix though.
cheers, parsnip
We bought two lamps this trip. I didn't know about the bread mix.
DeleteI agree with Andrew, finding a good local place to eat where everyone is happy is like gold! And my favorite days are days when I get to go to the bookstore.
ReplyDeleteI left out the Ikea visit. Bookstore and dining is fun. Anything else is considered shopping aka torture.
I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say the girl was "happy." She was tired and grumpy about being forced to leave the house on a Saturday. She didn't finish her sandwich. But she ate half. A deli is an easy place for her to be more adventurous in future visits.
DeleteA nice full day ending on a nice full stomach is always on order, especially when that entails finding someplace new!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! It's an easy walk from D&Q, too.
DeleteIkea is a pretty big place. Looks like after all the stress, you had some fun after all.
ReplyDeleteOh, definitely. Combining Ikea with other fun stuff makes for a much more enjoyable experience overall. And like I said, the end result at home is very positive.
DeleteOne thing about IKEA is they sell great chocolate A.S.. That sandwich looks delicious though.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, they certainly do. Good cookies, too. If there's one thing Scandinavians do better than anyone on Earth, it's desserts (he said as a proud Danish-American).
DeleteIt has been a long time since I have been to Montreal, but I found it to be a dleightful place when I was last there, long ago.
ReplyDeleteWe've grown quite fond of it. Even though it's closer to US eastern cities like New York or Boston, it's truly the Canadian midwest. So, to me, it feels a lot more like Chicago.
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