33 replies to this topic

[VivreManger]

Unfortunately I am still a poutine virgin -- so much food, so little time. Despite ten days in the Province I was unable to fit a poutine into my schedule. There was a point at which I thought I had found the place to lose my poutine virginity, a tiny resto in Bolton Centre (in the Eastern Townships) run by two enthusiastic ladies -- Mimi and Gigi -- who prepared everything fresh and as local as thay could make it, but their fryolator had just gone on the fritz so I had to settle for a cesar salad.

Saturday night at the counter of au Pied de Cochon, an off-duty waitress eating a savourous mussle soup followed by a plate of foie gras, told me that the Pool-Room at St. Laurent and St. Catharine's (I think that was the address) has been in business for decades and maintains the proper traditions of poutine making. A few of the other chefs chimed in with other suggestions, but I was too busy chatting her up to pay them much attention.

I stipulate that Ashton's and other chains are not to be considered, but I am willing to allow a sub-category for franchise poutine. Of course only genuine curds are accepted here. Those who substitute shredded mozzarella will be tarred and feathered.

So now I throw the issue open for general comment, with the caveat that it is restricted to Montreal.

[identifiler]

I don't like poutine... I never really gave it a try. I would definitely check out "frites alors" on Marianne to see if they have one. However, that poutine possibility in Bolton center sounds amazing, I just love biking in Bolton from the back roads of Knowlton, stopping by to make faces at those huge Highland cows... Where is that spot you take about ? Is it right in town after the big speed hill, close to the main church ?

[AndrewM]

Chez Clo is often cited as a classic poutine place in Montreal. 3199 Ontario St. East (522-5348).

[Fat Guy]

The best I tried on a recent trip was La Belle Provence, on the Main.

[riboflavinjoe]

last night, my wife took the poutine au foie gras at pied de cochon, and it was delightful. it certainly lives up to the name of the enterprise, "c'est ben cochon, ça!"

i hear, although i have never been, that la banquise makes wicked good poutine. but for me, that's just ouie-dire.

[VivreManger]

"However, that poutine possibility in Bolton center sounds amazing, I just love biking in Bolton from the back roads of Knowlton, stopping by to make faces at those huge Highland cows... Where is that spot you take about ? Is it right in town after the big speed hill, close to the main church ? "

identifiler Posted on Jul 7 2003, 06:54 AM

This snack-bar is located at the intersection of 245 and Chemin Nicolas Austin (the road to Austin) which at this point changes its name to Baker Pond Mountain as it heads to Bolton Glen and Knowlton. Coming on the Austin Road it is on the left, south-east corner of the intersection.

The women who run it have owned for about four or five years and are not sure they want to continue the hard work of keeping the place in business. We had one chef's salad which was excellent, fresh (non-iceberg) lettuces, red and yellow bell peppers. The other orders were a chicken sandwich, made with real shredded chicken that they said they had cooked themselves and a grilled cheese sandwich. The only disappointment was the cesar salad. It was covered with shredded mozarella.

I saw the locals ordering the special of the day, roastbeef and various sides -- it looked edible.

Identifiler, please do let us know what you find when you get there.

[VivreManger]

the poutine au foie gras at pied de cochon

riboflavinjoe Posted on Jul 7 2003, 11:31 AM

I should add that the waitress at apdc did recommend their poutine first, but I pressed her to suggest a more traditional version.

[hamburgerflipper]

The secret to a good poutine is the quality and taste of the prepared sauce,the cheese should be of no concern.Beware the"mix powder with water" technique of the "belle province'' restaurants and others!

[Sweet Willie]

Unfortunately I am still a poutine virgin -- so much food, so little time.

I’m sorry to say that I did not try any Poutine as well while in Montreal.

What is poutine? best as I can tell it consists of a plate of fries, cheddar cheese or cheddar curds and gravy.

I do like to try a dish that is “local” which I think I’m safe in saying that poutine is a “local” Québécois dish.

Best poutine (according to the Montreal Mirror)
1. La Belle Province (various locations)
2. Lafleur (various locations)
3. McDonalds (various locations)
4. Green Spot (3041 Notre-Dame W., 932-2340), Burger King (various locations), Valentine (various locations) (tie)
5. Tie: Mondo Fritz (3899 St-Laurent, 281-6521); Shed Café (3515 St-Laurent, 842-0220)
Honourable mentions: Rapido, Chez Claudette, New System, Décarie Hot Dog, Patati Patata.

[eat2much]

I would take the results of any Montreal Mirror survey with a grain of salt....

McDonald's? 'nuff said!

[Sweet Willie]

McDonald's?  'nuff said!

concerned me as well, I'm just the messenger in this case.

[carswell]

What is poutine? best as I can tell it consists of a plate of fries, cheddar cheese or cheddar curds and gravy.

I do like to try a dish that is “local” which I think I’m safe in saying that poutine is a “local” Québécois dish.

Best poutine (according to the Montreal Mirror)
1. La Belle Province (various locations)
2. Lafleur (various locations)
3. McDonalds (various locations)
4. Green Spot (3041 Notre-Dame W., 932-2340), Burger King (various locations), Valentine (various locations) (tie)
5. Tie: Mondo Fritz (3899 St-Laurent, 281-6521); Shed Café (3515 St-Laurent, 842-0220)
Honourable mentions: Rapido, Chez Claudette, New System, Décarie Hot Dog, Patati Patata.

Beware the Mirror's Best of Montreal survey results. The respondents tend to belong to a very narrow, very anglo demographic and the results tend to be skewed toward the big names, not necessarily the best. That has to be why McDo's made it into third place; most self-respecting poutine lovers in my acquaintance would put it on the bottommost rung. And how else does one explain the absence of Frite Alors!, which many connoisseurs consider the crème de la crème (great fries make great poutine), or the gourmet offerings of places like Au Pied de Cochon and Globe?

For some background on poutine, check out this post I made on another board.

Edited by carswell, 01 August 2003 - 11:47 AM.

[eat2much]

I would also add that the Montreal Mirro is more likely read by a younger (student?) audience who might lack the worldiness and the dollars to sample the offerings of Globe and Pied de Cochon (the fries were wonderfull there hier soir...love that mustard mayonaise).

[VivreManger]

Carswell

The respondents tend to belong to a very narrow, very anglo demographic

The issue Carswell raises about the Mirror poll is one that has often troubled me about this forum, in general. The fact that it is in English does reduce the pool of Montrealers who might participate. What affect does that have on the nature of the comments and the breadth of the culinary experience?

As far as I know there is no Francophone site that is comparable, anywhere. I have checked out French based sites, but they are weak by comparison to the range of comments this site can gather.

Ideally I wish the forum would be bi-lingual, with Francophonie welcomed. I can think of any number of ways to develop that, but I realize many others would feel excluded from the exchange.

To be sure many who already post here are not Anglos, but expecting them to post in English may diminish their participation and discourages others from joining.

[Jason Perlow]

Mcdonalds serves poutine in Quebec?

[Jason Perlow]

Have you guys seen this? It actually sounds really good.

http://www.mufti.ca/...rkshop/poutine/

[eat2much]

Mcdonalds serves poutine in Quebec?

sadly yes, but then again they also sell the McArab or whatever it is called over in the Middle East.

[VivreManger]

As do the big Canadian chains.

[ollie]

Mcdonalds serves poutine in Quebec?

So does Burger King. In Ontario too. Not sure about the rest of Canada. It's far from authentic but BK's poutine is a fantastic pick-up on the way home from the bar.

[Big Grga]

This poutine thread brought back painful memories from I when I lived in the Maritimes. Poutine is now easy to find in New Brunswick and PEI restaurants (Acadians go berserk when they see that the poutine they are now served in their province is the Quebec thing, not the traditional Acadian dish, but that's another story).

Anyway, I realized that, while poutine is a very simple dish, it is also very easy to botch. Once, in a truck stop near Moncton, I had poutine made with roast beef gravy. Yuck! But the "best" one was the one I was served in Charlottetown: mushy fries, good ol' roast beef gravy, topped by a slice of Kraft Single orange process cheese, melted in the microwave. Truly a classic.

[tryska]

i used to visit montreal quite often whilst in school, as i had a friend at mcgill. I pretty well lived on poutine and litres of labatts then.

i'm embarrassed ot say i have tried the mcdonalds poutine, and even more embarrassed ot say it wasn't that bad. probably more salty then necessary, but mickey d's fries do taste wonderful with gravy and cheese.

[fresco]

I've heard of--but never tried--an Italian version that is apparently available in Montreal, involving some spiced up tomato sauce concoction. Is it at all edible?

[cook-em-all]

Chicken poutine from Cote-St-Luc BBq is very good ,but oh so bad.

[Kenk]

The poutine to try has to be the poutine with smoked meat. That will really gum up the works.
And yes it really exsists just like pizza with smoked meat on it.

I am too affraid to try it!

[WHT]

Mcdonalds serves poutine in Quebec?

So does Burger King. In Ontario too. Not sure about the rest of Canada. It's far from authentic but BK's poutine is a fantastic pick-up on the way home from the bar.

They did in Regina Sk.

[PDC]

I've heard of--but never tried--an Italian version that is apparently available in Montreal, involving some spiced up tomato sauce concoction. Is it at all edible?

Edible but not great. "Poutine Italienne" is basically "pizza fries", fries with tomato sauce and mozzarella instead of the unripened cheese curds the real stuff uses.

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned the Peel Pub on Peel and St. Catherine. It's my favorite poutine place when I'm up there. Although the La Belle Provence outlet right near the Centre Molson, sorry, Centre Bell is good too.

Also, if you want to make it at home, just stop at any ol'IGA or Provigo and you can get canned St. Hubert poutine sauce and cheese curds which keep for quite some time if you have a nice cold refrigerator (I keep 'em wrapped up in something or in a small cooler for the drive back to NYC). I know using a canned sauce is probably blasphemy, but I've never been able to recreate the unique flavor of poutine gravy and doing a poultry, pork or beef gravy just doesn't taste the same.

[grill-it]

Has anyone mentioned la Banquise? It's the best according to my poutine-eating friends. I've honestly never had a 'good' poutine. I love the cheese, I love the fries, I can even stomach some gravy... but the mixture of all three just doesn't do it for me. I'll stick to a nice steak+frites...

[Rabbit Angstrom]

I'm happy to report on the State of the Poutine Union in Montreal for my first post on this board...

According to folk wisdom, there is no decent poutine to be had in the 514 area code. But regional allegiances sometimes cloud poutine lovers' better judgment: Abitibians swear by Chez Morasse Poutine (awful yet involuntary pun, as aptly-named Mr Conrad Morasse serves an excellent poutine in his Rouyn-Noranda restaurant); Grand-Mère folks praise Auger's poutine high and low, whereas Shawinigan people are prone to lionize Beauparlant's stuff. And let's not even talk about Quebec City denizens: Quebecers' undying affection for Chez Ashton's poutine remains a mystery to me... L'amour a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît point.

I for one am partial to Cantine Saint-Bernard's poutine, on Highway 116, in Sainte-Madeleine, near Saint-Hyacinthe. And there is a fantastic poutine to be had at the main crossing in Coaticook, just across the road from the local cheese curd factory.

But there are also some excellent poutine-makers in Montreal, none of whom practice this fine art in chain or franchise restaurants...

Some people have mentioned La Banquise, on Rachel Street, whose straight poutine is quite well-balanced. Resto du Village, on Wolfe Street, is also a choice destination, although their fries are not as good as they used to be. To this list, I would also add Ma'am Bolduc, on De Lorimier Street near Marie-Anne. And if you long for poutine when you're stuck in the West Island, you can always count on Chez Paiement, in Sainte-Geneviève, near Cégep Gérald-Godin, to satisfy your craving very nicely.

I always find that the big question mark is the gravy...

Fries, well, everyone knows how to make good fries, don't they - although practically no one bothers actually making them at most fast-food joints.

Cheese - again, it could be a no-brainer. Martin Picard laid down the law very nicely on Josée Di Stasio's show when he explained that the curds must (1) be day-fresh and (2) SQUEAK under your teeth. For once, size does matter: most restaurants serve cheese curds that are too small, and therefore melt too fast. Poutine cheese must never, never be gooey. S-q-u-e-a-k-y.

But gravy is where a poutine-maker can best express his or her creativity. Forget about the instant or canned stuff. Of course, the Pied de Cochon's foie gras appareil may not always be the most accessible option. Simplicity is often the best bet: any beef- or chicken-based gravy can do the trick. What's really critical, in my opinion, is (1) temperature (it's gotta be warm enough, but not too much, or the cheese will melt too fast) and (2) thickness/texture (it's gotta be thick). Watching your fries drown in watery gravy is a sad sight to behold at 3:30 a.m., when you haven't had any success on the singles market. But I digress.

Anyway, I'm very anxious to take part on other discussions... I'm really impressed to see so many highly-regarded Montreal foodies on this board. It's a pleasure and an honour to share these premises with them!

[fresco]

Great report, Rabbit. Poutine is one of many. many things that cause severe Montreal envy elsewhere--hope you see fit to address some of these other things in subsequent posts. Is your username an indication that you appreciate the Updike series as much as you do poutine?

[VivreManger]

Excellent.


RA, do you plan to apply your throughly well-conceived and expressed principes de poutine in testing the virtures of 514 poutine purveyors? If so, when may we receive your next report? My hangover and frustrations can't wait.