One freezing day a couple years ago, my husband and I were in Montreal for a long weekend of exploring. We had never been there before and knew it was going to be cold, but it quickly became obvious that we underestimated just how frosty Montreal can be in January. In fact, it was so cold that my phone immediately lost battery when I took it out of my purse, and without our phones, we weren’t able to figure out how to get to the spot we had planned on for lunch.
The sun was getting lower and we were freezing—and starving. But as fate would have it, we were near La Banquise, a popular restaurant for the classic Québécois dish poutine. We were sold. So what if our dinner reservation at Au Pied de Cochon was in a few hours? We needed sustenance and shelter from the cold, so we decided on a “snack” of one classic poutine and one with the addition of meat and vegetables.
Many restaurants have claimed poutine as their creation, and while it’s not clear who deserves the credit for this genius dish, we know that it originated in the Centre-du-Québec area sometime in the 1950s. Traditionally poutine is made with just French fries, cheese curds, and brown gravy, and it’s quite tasty as is, but these days there are many variations on toppings from smoked meat and hot dogs to guacamole and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
Here’s a few spots that Local Guides recommend for poutine:
Bread Meats Bread **(**Edinburgh, Scotland)
“First time having the Canadian poutine experience. It was epic! The portion was huge, i was so full from in it, got the one with Buffalo wings in it. Couldn’t even finish it. Worth the money, totally recommended.” -Local Guide Akira Legend
UpNorth (Brooklyn, New York)
“They have four separate types of poutine and the large size is perfect when you’re craving poutine. The one I went with was mushroom gravy and hot dogs (though you could choose bacon too). It was delicious!!! They also have a good selection of Canadian, as well as American beers to choose from. The space is quite nice and the bar special was an $8 Molson and shot of bourbon. I will definitely be back!!!” -Local Guide michael rabiner
Poutineville (Montreal, Canada)
“I mean, create your own poutine? Oh la laaa
Great service, nice and cozy palce, very polite and friendly staff. Thank you Poutineville for making a tourist that happy, the cherry of the pie for my trip to Montreal.” -Local Guide Jesus Centenero Mari
As you can see, this is a pretty heavy dish that doesn’t exactly count as a snack. Needless to say, my husband and I totally spoiled our appetites with our pre-dinner poutine. We did make it through our dinner reservation at Au Pied de Cochon that evening, though with lots of leftovers, and, sadly, we couldn’t manage to order what we found out was one of their most popular dishes: foie gras poutine.
Have you ever had poutine? If so, where is your favorite place to get it from? Tell us in the comments below!
, which goes to show that it definitely is not a light snack haha. I haven’t been to Canada to have authentic poutine but this list is definitely helpful in terms of leading me to popular places to have it. Deliciously excellent post, 
