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

La Banquise reminds me of a cafe with their vibrant environment and colorful tables. First thing I notice were their endless variety of poutines. They have so many different combinations with interesting names. We end up ordering the “T-Rex Poutine”, “Poutine Galvaude” and “Pizza Poutine”.

Featuring the delicious Pizza Poutine

Devoured in no time…

After devouring all three plates of poutine between 4 people, we were happy and satisfied. It was one of the best fast food poutine I have had. The cheese curds were so fresh. They were soft and chewy, none of the unpleasant rubbery texture found at Smoke’s. The fries were meaty without tasting starchy but the winner were the toppings. Their toppings mixed with the gravy were fresh and delicious. We all had our own favorites but mine was the Poutine Galvaude, can’t beat chicken and peas on top of fries and gravy! This place is definitely worth stopping by when visiting Montreal.

crazyPyxo’s La Banquise Rating

9/10

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!

Have you heard of the duck in a can ($36)? I actually just read about this on Monday when I was flying into Montreal in Air Canada’s enroute magazine. But don’t worry, the ingredients are super fresh! Duck breast, foie gras and bacon cooked in a can for 40 minutes served over a bed of palenta and toast. The juices come pouring out when our waiter flipped over the can at our table.

Other dishes we tried are duck carpaccio and bison tartare. I’ve never had these raw before and they tasted great.

The other main dish we had was Plogue à Champlain, which is a nice piece of seared foie gras cooked with bacon over a bed of pancakes. The sweet sauce made this dish really tasty.

Believe it or not, all that rich food still allowed us room for dessert. That’s the beauty of sharing food. For dessert, we tried the bread pudding and a dark chocolate creme. The bread pudding had the texture of cake instead of bread and it was super sweet with lots of caramel sauce. Be careful not to burn your tongue boys and girls! It is super piping hot when it just came out of the oven. The dark chocolate was nice and creamy and came in a little glass bottle.

If you decide to try this restaurant, make sure you have reservations cause it is really busy. The alternative is to come late like around 10:30pm and get a foie gras poutine as a midnight snack. They close at midnight. We will try some of their pig’s feet next time we revisit this place.

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.

The building on the left with the red bricks is the cafe.  It’s easy to miss for first timers since it doesn’t have a glowing “Gilead Cafe” sign so pay close attention to the street number.

Once you walk in, the first thing you will notice are the bottles of preserved foods displayed on the wall. Although there is nothing fancy about its decor, there is a homey European feel which I find very enjoyable.

Our first dish was obviously their signature Braised Beef Poutine. After devouring the dish, all I can say is WOW! This is a gourmet poutine, and one of the best I have had. Lets start by breaking it down. First was the braised beef. It was very tender, moist, and full of meaty flavor. My only complaint is that there should have been more because it was so good. The second was the fries. It was perfectly crunchy and crispy without being overly greasy. I can finish a whole side order of these fries alone. Third was the artisan cheese. Without trying artisan cheese before, I can’t comment on the quality, but it had an old salty flavor which I liked. Fourth was the gravy. Unlike other poutines which drizzled the gravy on top, this version had the gravy sitting at the bottom of the bowl. There is only enough gravy to lightly coat the fries, and some serious mixing is required. The gravy was flavorful but I am not a big gravy fan, so the amount used in the dish was perfect for me. Combining all whole dish together makes this one of the best poutine dish in Toronto. This dish alone makes me want to keep coming back to the cafe.

For the second dish, we ordered the smoke meat sandwich. The sandwich was fresh and the meat was flavorful. It contained blue cheese which had a strong gamey flavor. Since I personally can’t stand the gamey taste, I would not be ordering this sandwich again. For people who like the flavor, this sandwich would be an average pick.  I found the sandwich to be a little to “average” for it to earn top marks.

To finish our meal off, we picked the chocolate fruit tart. The dish did not look appetizing so I wasn’t expecting much. Fortunately, the taste did not match its appearance as I was pleasantly surprised. The chocolate mousse was silky smooth and the chocolate flavor was strong without being bitter. The mousse was good enough to be its own dessert, but when placed in a fruit tart, it makes for a tasty and interesting dessert.

It seems like Gilead specializes in cheese too as they have many different types on display.  I also saw a few tables ordering what looks to be like a very tasty cheese tasting menu.

Overall, I really enjoyed Gilead Cafe.  With its moderate pricing ($8-$12 per main dish on average), it’s killer poutine, and the homey European feel, this is a place I will definitely be visiting again.

UPDATE – February 14, 2009

Thinking about their yummy poutine, crazyDiva and I went back to Gilead to satisfy our greasy cravings.  Along with the poutine, the waitress recommended us to try the Ploughman’s Lunch.  This was a selection of Charcuterie, artisan cheese, pickles and house-made bun.  It was served on a slice of tree trunk which made the dish as interesting as the ingredients it uses.  CrazyDiva questioned the cleaniess of the tree trunk but a cafe like this uses powerful dishwashers so there should be no worries.

Another excellent dish by Gilead.  The bun had a crispy crust, the meat was high quality, the cheese was excellent and there was a large selection of spreads available.  The fact that you assemble your own sandwich made it fun to eat.  This is one of their more costly dish at $13, but it’s worth the price if you enjoy a high quality sandwich.

crazyPyxo’s rating for Gilead Cafe

9.0/10

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.

Strategically placed in the heart of the entertainment district (218 Adeladie Street W.), they are open until 4:00 am for drunks to get fat on after their night of clubbing.

As expected, their menu consist of different types of poutine, ranging from your traditional version to flavors like butter chicken. I had my eyes on the butter chicken but it was missing from the menu so I went with my second choice, the Bacon Poutine:

The order came in a brown cardboard box. I like to pick apart my poutine and went straight for the fries first. After chowing down a few pieces, I found them a little disappointing. They were similar to New York fries but the potato flavor wasn’t as intense. It was also a little too soggy for my taste. I like my fries with a nice crunch to contrast the softness of the melted cheese. For the cheese, they properly used cheese curds and not the usual shredded version. The cheese had a rubbery texture and did not properly melt since the gravy was not hot enough. The taste of the gravy was perfect since it had a lighter flavor. Unfortunately, crazyDiva’s didn’t agree as she complained it wasn’t dark and salty enough. The bacon was very good. It wasn’t greasy and it had the perfect crunch.

crazyDiva went old school and ordered the traditional poutine:

Her fries tasted better as they had more crunch and flavor. I prefer this dish over the bacon version since the saltiness of the bacon was too overpowering. Now you ask: “why did you order the bacon poutine if you complain about the bacon flavor?”. I guess I like my bacon in small portions…

tooVee went all fancy and ordered the Italian poutine:

This version was the best out of the 3. The meat sauce was very well made. It had a nice meaty flavor and the tomato sauce was not too acidic. The sausages tasted like the ones in your average hot dog, but it complemented well with the rest of the flavors. They had a wide selection of side sauces to choose from. tooVee had to make the poutine his own by adding some Chinese hot sauce (as you can see in the lower right corner).

Their poutine ranged from $6 to $10. I ordered a bottle of spring water along with my bacon poutine and the meal came to $10 (after tax). The price is moderate since their portions are large enough for a single meal.

Now for the verdict: I thought Smoke’s Poutinerie was very average. With the exception of the variety of toppings, their poutines are similar to what you can find at other fast food joints. I walked out disappointed since I was expecting their poutine to be much better than average. Don’t get me wrong, their poutine is not bad, it just won’t surprise you. I wouldn’t purposely go out of my way for them, but Smoke’s Poutinerie is a place I would visit if I happen to pass by.

crazyDiva’s PoV:

Ok, let me chime in here. I thought the traditional poutine was not bad overall. Actually, I think the fries are supposed to be soggy since they are soaked in the gravy. According to the Smoke’s website, you are supposed to let the poutine sit for 3min before consuming it (sounds like a cup noodle, haha). I also prefer my fries soggy, so I didn’t have a problem with the fries. I thought the gravy was lacking though. Maybe I am too used to the NY Fries poutine gravy which has a much stronger flavour. Since they were the only fast food joint in town that served a decent poutine before Smoke’s, I always went there when I had a craving. I think I would enjoy the poutine much more at 3am after a night of clubbing and when the alcohol has kicked in and made me all hungry. This will be a good replacement for that Train pho place which gets overly crowded sometimes.

crazyPyxo’s Rating:

6.5/10

crazyDiva’s Rating:

7.0/10