La Boulangerie Moderne, Complexe Desjardins, Montreal, Canada

I'm not a great fan of huge, corporate hotels like Montreal's Hyatt Regency, in which I sit now penning this post and the one prior about the il Panino Mediterraneo café. In fact, had I had my way, I'd have been in the Sherbrooke Holiday Inn, but that's another story.

Having said that, I was amazed to discover, aside from the main bank of elevators (lifts) that take guests to their rooms, another bank behind them going down, not up. In fact, on jumping in the lift (on floor six) these elevators go down six floors into a kind of subterranean world of shops and cafés. In essence, a huge mall which, because you're travelling down (to the second floor) seems to be a cavernous underground space.

La Boulangerie Moderne, Montreal

The cafés here are not self-contained – or rather they are, but there's an element of 'food court' about them – and there's plenty of choice. Had I the time I could have written up many reviews on the different establishments populating this rather pleasant space. Pleasant because of the hubub (is that how you spell it?). I would quite happily come here with a book – Morrissey's Autobiography (arguably one of the best books I've ever read) springs to mind, order tea and a pastry and simply sit here reading. Perhaps later.

I dropped into La Boulangerie Moderne after 'a day at the office' and, along with a colleague we ordered a drink and a snack, both choosing a Danish pastry, my colleague ordering coffee and me sticking with a nice cup of tea. All very pleasant and worthy of a mention. There were more chairs 'outside' then in where there was just a single strip of seats made to look longer than it was by a huge mirror that doubled the size of the establishment. Once again, a good selection of everything and as I didn't pay the bill, I don't know the price, although I'm guessing it wasn't extortionate.

I didn't eat both of those pastries, just the one.

Tea and a tart on my second visit.

With an afternoon to kill awaiting a night flight from Montreal to London, my colleagues and I headed back to the mall and found ourselves at the Boulangerie Moderne once again. This time we ordered tea and tarts. Both were excellent. The tea was so wonderful (straightforward English breakfast) that we each had another one and I was sorely tempted to buy another tart, but didn't.