In reply to Alex, who asked where we shopped in Montreal, here’s where we go:

Marché Atwater

Located on Atwater and Rue Notre Dame near the Super C, south of Ste-Catherine

(By the way, avoid the other Jean-Talon Market. It was totally bogus, with like 3 shops. TOTALLY NOT WORTH THE DRIVE.)

We only go for meats because we like organic, tasty meat.

The fruit and veggies there are RIDICULOUSLY priced sometimes, and most of the farmers’ stalls don’t look like they have very good produce.

I also happen to like the Douceurs du Marche, because they’re just such friendly guys, and they keep a well stocked store for quick ethnic buys.

La Mer

1840 René Lévesque Est
(Corner PAPINEAU)
Montréal, Quebec,
Canada H2K 4P1
(514) 522-3003

For the FRESHEST seafood, go here. This poissonerie carries a wide selection of fresh, whole fish, as well as smoked fish.

Avoid the sauces and produce here. Way too expensive.

Supermarché Mourelatos

www.mourelatos.com

1855 avenue O’Brien
Saint-Laurent, QC H4L 3W6
(514) 956-0100

We only bought produce here, but we’ve stopped coming because we found a better deal in another store for some things.

Still, check them out because sometimes the produce is a bit cheaper here.

I think the owners are Greek or Arabic, and it’s near Concordia University, near the Guy-Concordia Metro Station, and across from the Starbucks and Second Cup that’s on Ste-Catherine’s.

Supermarche PA

PA du Fort
1420 du Fort
Montreal, Québec
514.932.0922

This is by far, THE cheapest grocery store we’ve found. It’s across from College LaSalle (in the area), and Hotel du Fort on Ste-Catherine.

The nearest major intersection is Ste-Catherine and Atwater.

We buy all of our produce, grains, milk, and yoghurt here.

The fruits are super cheap on Wednesdays. You can get mangoes for $0.69 – $0.89 each instead of $0.99 or the $2.99 they sometimes charge in grocery stores.

Potatoes are around $0.99/lb, which is not spectacular, but is standard pricing.

Sometimes the Liberte yoghurt is on for $2.00 a tub as a sale, rather than the 2/$5.00 sales we normally see, which saves us $0.50.

Also, the meat is pretty cheap in my opinion, but we prefer organic… so we go to Atwater.

The salmon is quite fresh here, and at $19.99/lb, it’s almost the same price as in the grocery stores, but the quality is CLEARLY better. The only gripe I have is that they don’t scale their damn fish. We had to buy a fish scaler.

Oh, and the sauces here are decently priced. I saw a bottle of Wafu Japanese Dressing on for $4.99 instead of $5.49 at La Mer.

ANATOL SPICES in the Italian area

6822 St Laurent, Montréal, QC H2S 3C7
Telephone : 514-276-0107

Run by a Greek guy and his sons (?), the place boasts cheap spices and dried foods and fruits.

We bought a little packet of turmeric there for $0.30 and the value of it if you were to buy the Clubhouse version from the grocery store, was estimated by us to be $2.00.

That’s a savings of 85% .. and if you do that for ALL spices (his whole shop smells wonderfully fragrant), like peppercorns, fleur de sel, dried raisins for your oatmeal, etc… you can save quite a bit of money, and get a lot in the process.

Bay leaves in particular, are a real rip off in grocery stores. They charge $5 for a little glass bottle of 6 leaves, when it costs pennies if you buy them in bulk or at a spice store.

The quality of spices is also quite decent.. but I’d avoid buying or eating any chocolate items from there, unless you like your chocolate or yoghurt covered raisins to have a flavour of spices throughout it.

Eden Grocery Store

• La Cite – The Plateau
• 3575 Avenue du Parc
• Montreal, QC, H2X3P9

For other specialty produce, sauces and some Asian stuff, we go here. We discovered this organic grocery store by accident (they don’t even have a website or a Google listing!!!), when we were hunting for a new apartment.

I enjoy going here for the sandwiches at the back, they’re really mouthwatering…

Japanese & Korean Grocery Store

This one is located on Ste-Catherine, about 3 blocks from the Atwater intersection at Alexis-Nihon.

We go here for seaweed, some ramen (for me), and some Asian treats. Not much else.

They have the cheap $1.00 Melona ice cream bars there too! We like eating those as a snack.

Some people find it expensive, but I think it’s reasonably priced. You can probably find some things like soya sauce cheaper in Chinatown, but we like one-stop shopping, and at this store, we pick up all the Asian sauces we need, seaweed and anything else we might like.

Chinatown

Easily one of the cheapest places to buy food. Mangoes that are almost rotten (but still good!) go for $3 for 5, and you can get some Chinese duck for $12 (yum), or other Asian ingredients.

The produce is also very, VERY cheap in Chinatown. The only reason why we don’t shop in Chinatown for produce, is because the quality is not as good as at Supermarche PA. It’s slightly fresher at PA, and the prices are still competitive at PA, on par, or just a bit above (but not by much) at PA.

I totally, randomly (okay, not randomly, I am after all, writing a blog for mostly women) asked a guy friend last night what he was looking for in a woman.

“Well FB, I want a a girl who likes to eat, but not to be fat.”

To me, this is really contradictory (yet a common answer) to want a girl that eats like a guy every day, scarfing down steak, mashed taters, corn and washing it down with a beer but then looks like a slender supermodel.

Totally unrealistic. Don’t worry, I set him straight.

“She also has to be able to manage her cash but not earn more than me.”

Totally a macho, yet honest answer. Seems like most guys (even the ones who deny it), secretly don’t want a woman to earn more than them because then they feel emasculated. Go figure.

I told him he was crazy. At least be happy she makes more money, not less. That way you two can pool your cash together and be financially secure.

“How about a girl that looks gorgeous without makeup? I hate that makeup gook.”

He named a few people that we know, and I told him he was nuts because has he never heard of the natural look? Those girls (I knew), wore a lot of makeup but are able to make it seem very natural because they’re good at application.

But then guys are under the impression that girls don’t have dark undereye circles, uneven skin tone, large pores, pimples, short eyelashes, thin lips… etc etc.

They think all of that primping and plumping is natural beauty.

This could be true, but for a very small percentage of girls. So small that I only know one girl who fits that description of being ‘gorgeous’ without makeup, and even she has a bit of an undereye problem during late night projects.

But the nicest thing in the end, is that he admitted he just doesn’t want to be alone, wants to be supported and to have someone to really trust.

Even though he can picky now, he feels like he’s able to be picky because he’s younger and not as desperate as he will be in 5 years.

That’s just my one-man survey, but…