From the recommendations made in the Smoke’s Poutinerie blog, La Banquise was our first stop upon arriving at Montreal at 3:00 am in the morning. We were surprised to find a lineup of 10-15 people at this hour, it must be the go-to place after a long night of clubbing.

Don’t need to worry about running out of choices

Last night I might have had the most foie gras that I’ve ever eaten in one sitting. Au Pied de Cochon is certainly one of the top restaurants in Montreal! Casual setting, helpful and friendly staff, reasonable prices, and some amazing dishes are certainly worth a bit of a wait or a late reservation in our case.

Definitely try the foie gras poutine ($23). With a big slab of seared foie gras, rich gravy and super yummy cheese curds, this dish will not disappoint. The only complaint might be that there wasn’t enough fries for all that good gravy!

Updated – February 14, 2008 – see update below.

During the hunt for the best poutine in town, I found many blogs/reviews referring to Gilead Cafe. Excited to try this highly praised cafe, crazyDiva and I head downtown to see if it lives up to the hype.

Located in the King St East district (4 Gilead Place), the cafe is quietly tucked away in a small ally.

There’s a new fast food eatery in town! Their name is Smoke’s Poutinerie and poutines are the only thing you will find there. The poutine lovers (me, crazyDiva, and tooVee) drove all the way downtown to check it out. We had high expectations for their poutine since it was the only dish they specialized in. After spending 10 minutes hunting down a parking spot, we hopped out of the car with big smiles on our faces, excited for the worst combination of grease you can ask for.