Hmm... I note this hasn't been answered yet... for a restaurant: I guess it depends on what you like and how much you want to pay. Old Montreal (which is also the waterfront area) is pretty touristy, so in general, you pay more and the quality, while not dreadful, isn't fantastic. However, it does make up for it in quaintness, since it's a very pretty area indeed.

Perhaps if you gave a price range and type of food you'd like we could help you more... but this board, and indeed Montreal, definitely has a foodie aspect to it, so we tend to suggest good expensive restaurants rather than budget ones. You really can, however, just wander around and pick one that you like -- most have menus on the outside so you can see what they offer. Restaurants here tend to offer what they advertise -- i.e., a fancy-looking restaurant with high prices will serve good food, which isn't always the case in the U.S. I've found after paying exceedingly high prices for fabulous decor and just passable food.

For sights: well, if you've only got a couple of days, you'll want to concentrate on Old Montreal, perhaps the downtown area if you like shopping. There's the Biodôme-Insectarium-Botanical Gardens that the kids might like, too. expect to do a lot of walking and métro riding, since that's how Montreal is best seen.

I say check out the Things to Do links and the Montreal Overview to get a better idea of what's here. Or check out MomofTravellers's excellent suggestions and links in this post:

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g155032-i51-k16915…