Updated info sought: Best Poutine in Montreal?

[pantoniades]

Hi,

My wife and I are in for the weekend, and after a good meal at the Greasy Spoon and an amazing meal at the Liverpool House, we are ready to tackle the simple-yet-passionate complexity of Poutine.

I've done my homework (largely here and at the bizarre fansites that serve the gods of poutine), and we are looking for the straight-ahead variety. No foie gras poutine, no five meat poutine, no vegan poutine.

Metro-accessible is important, 24h is not.

Can any of our native aficionados weigh in on the state of Poutine in 2010? Are La Banquise and Mme Bolduc still the staples (and what do you order at the former)? Are there new or overlooked standards?

[Tiny Iota]

the best poutine in town is at paul patates on charlevoix a few blocks south of the charlevoix metro station in point st. charles. not only is their poutine fantastic but they make their own spruce beer! a more montreal experience could not possibly be had. la banquise kind of stinks in my opinion. they never use enough cheese. it's fine but not nearly the best and they're toppings options i find heretical. but i'm kind of a poutine purist. i definitely suggest getting a poutine and spruce beer at paul patates and then walking it off along the canal which is only a few minutes north straight up charlevoix street.

[pantoniades]

Thanks to you and everyone who responded! We actually wound up at La Banquise last night - packed with a line while about every other restaurant we passed in Plateau was empty.

I didn't know what to expect for "squeaky" cheese, but it was not particularly different from say a string cheese... perhaps we are merely uninitiated. Clearly more poutine research is in order.

thanks again!

[blond_america]

I like Mme Bolduc for there interesting takes on the poutine (for example bourguignon) and i imagine that their ordinary poutine is great but its probably quite out of the way if you are looking for an ordinary poutine.

[Werzoth]

For the Montreal area, I would also recommend La Banquise. It is close to a Metro, plus you have a nice walk in the sun.

[Maximilien]

don't know if it's too late or not...

I'd go to either La Banquise or Patati Patata, none are "real close" to a metro station, but today's so nice that walking 10, 15 minutes will not be an issue.

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Patati Patata
4177 St-Laurent Blvd., Montreal, QC , CA

[celfie]

for the authentic experience, i would skip on patati. the poutine is good but the fries are not representative of the classic. I recommend going to Lafleurs on St-Denis and get a poutine in a styrofoam cup and eat it with a plastic fork.

[The Chemist]

Agree with the recs for La Banquise or Patati Patata. I think that they are more or less equal. Of course, at Patati Patata you can get other great stuff with your poutine and they have cheap beer on tap. It also just ooozes with Montreal charm. Having said that, I recently ordered poutine at PP and the cheese curds were not squeaky (squeaky curds being a MUST with poutine). I hope it was an aberration.

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Patati Patata
4177 St-Laurent Blvd., Montreal, QC , CA