Place Sun-Yat-Sen

Finding ourselves in need of feeding in Montreal's Chinatown this evening, quite possibly around the Rue de la Gauchetière Ouest (gmaps 45.5075824,-73.5604752), we opted for a two part meal.

Part 1 consisted of lemon tea (with lemon, not something coming ready mixed in some sort of tea bag) and buns from a café which seemed to specialise in cakes and buns, some rather elaborate, but did do other stuff, like noodles as well. One of several such in the street. With the tea we took two soft bread buns flavoured with something said to be beefy for him and one round orange-yellow bun with some sort of fruity filling for her.

Thus fortified we moved onto Part 2 at another restaurant a few doors down the street, where we passed up the jelly fish option, but did take won-ton soup, pleasantly mild, followed by fried rice with beef, prawn (not too clever, maybe from a freezer bag) and noodles. Also pleasantly mild and coming in large portions. They could even manage tap water with neither bubbles nor ice, which I had specified in French, the deal having been that you wrote down the numbers of the things you wanted with the paper and pencil provided, but with water not being on the list and having to be written out longhand. Quiet, nice decor and ambience. Not too smart and not too scruffy. We were the only white folks among the clientèle.

Menu marked with warning peppers against the hot stuff, which was handy, as neither of us are too hot on hot.

Out to discover a memorial to Sun-Yat-Sen, a large bust, placed without much ceremony next to what looked like a large souvenir shop, but with some large kites stretched out in front.

PS: according to Lonely Planet: 'dedicated to Sun Yat Sen, the ideological father of modern China, this small square was opened in 1988. The space was later refashioned by eight craftsmen from Shanghai who used traditional methods and materials. The mural on the north and east walls is made of grey slate. There’s a small concrete stage for performances and a pavilion from which souvenirs or knickknacks are sold. On any given day here you will find old-timers sitting on stone stools laughing and gossiping in Cantonese while a handful of Falun Gong demonstrators hand out their literature nearby'.