Mile End Food Tour

Before the tour even started, Justin(our food tour guide) mentioned that one of the flagship venues “Chocolats Genevieve Grandbois” had “disinvited” us. I felt that no proper planning was done to ensure that the tour was comfortable for all individuals. We were walking in -14C for more than 30 mins with decent wind chill, literally causing one of the members in our group to have a strong allergic reaction.  There were times when it felt Justin hadn’t even checked if the venues would accept our group. The theatre Rialto was closed and to be fair he did mention that it would be. But we spent 5 to 10 mins knocking on the doors of the Rialto to let us in. Im just surprised that in these situations why wasnt a phone call made beforehand to make sure the viability of these venues instead on checking out these venues on the “fly”. Then came some of the most amusing moments. As if to compensate for the multiple venue rejections, we were walking across blocks of neighborhood with Justin showing us the eccentric art in people’s backyard. Im sure there is some historic and vibe relevance to it but to me it came to a hilarious climax when Justin eventually started to point on the sewer on the ground in a back alley and talking to the group about the significance it had to its burgeoning neighborhood. To top it all, when we eventually reached the venue of “Drogheria Fine”, the shop didnt let us in. They deflected us to a store room down the street and served us gnocchi and tomato sauce there. Nothing can be better than to hear about the wonders of their amazing tomato sauce in a store room filled with metal racks and abandoned items. We were extremely disappointed especially after reading so many positive reviews about Justin. At no point in the tour did Justin take a quick poll to check if the group was fine or were they comfortable OR to see if the food provided was even at par. It all seemed like an one way stream of words with no intention to make it interactive and comfortable. It looked like Justin was on a mission to complete his tour and we all were tagging along for the ride.

Had so much fun despite the cold weather with our tour guide Carolina! She was very knowledgeable about the neighborhood and made our tour quite interesting and of course delicious! Our favorites were the champignon bread from the French bakery (forgot the name, sorry!) and the Gnocchi from La Drogherie (sp?). But all in all, would definitely recommend this tour if you're visiting Montreal!