In reply to Alex, who asked where we shopped in Montreal, here’s where we go:
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.
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.
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.
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.
- 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 forgot one last store: Spices & Dried Fruits and items
- Does eating out make it taste better?
- Minced Pork and Spinach with a Sweet Mash on the side
- How the heck do supermodels do it?
- Quick Beginners Tutorial on Making Sushi At Home
chk
on Jun 13th, 2010
@ 5:32 PM:
Le Marché Jean-Talon ? C'est pas mal mieux que le marché Atwater ! On y trouve de tout mais surtout les marchands sont de vrais producteurs et les prix sont beaucoup plus abordables.
FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com
on Jun 14th, 2010
@ 6:28 PM:
Je suis d’accord!
Jean-Talon n’est pas tres bon…