994 Rachel Est, Tel. (514) 525-2415
here's nothing more Quebecois than a hot steaming plate of poutine. You know what I'm talking about, the heaping pile of freshly cut twice-cooked French fries, the chunks of squeaky curd cheese all brought together by the wonders of gravy. As far as I'm concerned, poutine is happiness.
It isn't hard to find a good poutine in Montreal, but there are many establishments that are awful. It starts with using the right ingredients: the cheese (shame on those who use grated mozzarella), the fries (no New York fries, no McDonald’s), and the poutine sauce (not sauce aux poivres).
La Banquise storefront, you can't miss it!
It's perhaps a controversial but well well-known fact that the title of the best poutine in Montreal belongs to La Banquise. I had heard of this 24hr joint serving 25 different kinds of poutines, but I had never I gone. Until last night, that is. As I walked through the front door, past the kitchen, and saw all the plates of poutine on the counter waiting to be delivered the tables, I thought “why didn't I come sooner?”
Last night was night out with the boys, seven of us, perhaps a little louder than the staff and other customers would have liked. We started with beer from the fairly extensive collection of Quebec brew. This resto is cozy, non-pretentious, and the staff is very welcoming and helpful. The menu provides lots of choices: classic, topped with bacon, or veggies, with hot peppers, or meat-galore. Many of the guys ordered the T-Rex (sausage, ground meat, bacon, smoked meat) while my friend JD ordered his go-to dish, the smoked meat poutine. The cheese was chewy, the fries and sauce perfectly cooked and seasoned.
Le T-Rex
La Galvaude
I'm normally a guy who enjoys poutine as it was created, but Le Galvaude had my name written all over it, with chicken and peas, this dish improved upon one of my favorite comfort foods: the hot chicken sandwich. Move over white bread, French fries are the new starch.
Next to the foie gras poutine at Au Pied De Cochon, this is the best poutine I've had. And you can get it at 3 am. You can’t beat that. – Reviewed by Huge Galdones (Jan/07)
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