Montreal restaurants continued

Au 14 Prince Arthur Ouest has yummy Vietnamese food at very reasonable prices. The soups are filling and tasty, and the ginger chicken is the best I have ever tasted. The spring plates, with chopped lettuce or sprouts, cooked onions, a choice of chicken, beef, pork or shrimp topping and a sprinkling of peanuts and cilantro on top are also an excellent choice. Even with a beer, it is hard to spend more than $15 per person.

Montreal, like Washington, has a lot of Vietnamese restaurants. This is partly thanks to an influx of Vietnamese immigrants following the U.S. loss of the Vietnamese War. Now that the U.S. seems to be losing the war in Iraq, can we look forward to a similar quantity of Iraqi restaurants in future? In Montreal, the future may be here. A restaurant called Damas Baghdad which serves hearty, tasty Iraqi specialties at modest prices is now operating on the pedestrian part of Prince Arthur. The daily specials which include lentil soup are an especially good deal, but the food is sometimes in need of re-heating.

If you are in search of celebrities while you dine, you could do worse than the Mess Hall restaurant on Sherbrooke Street in Westmount. A certain curly-haired Quebec politician has been spotted there recently with his beautiful wife. Mess Hall's prices are above what I usually pay, but the atmosphere and service are pleasant and friends report (I only had a glass of wine) that the food is very good.