We are always up to try something new and new restaurants that we’ve never been to. After watching MIB3 this weekend, we were hungry and didn’t know what we wanted to eat. After some driving around and avoiding the protesters we decided to try out La Banquise on the east end of Montreal. We always heard about their great poutiness and we were hungry but not starving so a poutine was perfect for our late snack craving. We were never at this restaurant and wonder what it would be like. Burger Bars are taking off so would this be a similar version or just another fry joint, we were very curious.

We went driving to find the location but we were not really sure where it was. After doing a few laps around the area we found the restaurant and a parking spot that was a block away. We walked into the restaurant and the front entrance made it look like your normal grease joint. As we went to walk inside, we saw the lineup. There had to be 10 people in front of us at least and it looked really discouraging. We decided to wait 5 minutes for a spot. This gave us time to take a look around the place to get a feel for it. Everyone in line was within our age demographic (21-29) and seemed like the perfect hangout for something to eat before or after you’re out with the guys. The five minutes passed and that was enough to for people to leave the restaurant and for us to be seated at our table. The restaurant seemed like your standard grese spoon and was packed in every corner. The floors in the restaurant were floating floors and they seemed to greasy you could slide to you seat and not have to walk.

The waitress took us to our table which was on the side of a pole. There was a couple sitting next to us on the other side of the pole and it felt like we were eating on their table. We started looking over the menu after we got over the fact we were shoved into the restaurant like cardens and noticed how many different poutines they had. On the menu, they had 27 different styles of poutines which gave us way too many choices. We ordered the Classic poutine (someone wasn’t adventurous) and the Three Meat poutine. Once we were done placing our order with the waitress, she threw a curveball that caught us off guard. She asked us if she could bring the bill right away and we can pay when we were ready. We said sure as this was our first time at the restaurant but found it really odd. The more we thought about it though, the more it made sense. They were so busy and some people probably just walk out as there is no way to keep track of everyone. Why not put the bill on the table and people can pay right away, finish their food and just get up and leave…smart thinking here.
It didn’t take too long for us to get our food, probably around 10 minutes or so. We were at a poutine place and only order that. They had other options but why go to a poutine place and not order one. We received our plate of poutine and dug in. we won’t lie, the fries and gravy were pretty standard stuff and didn’t impress us too much. It was nice to have a poutine with three different meats though and we were able to finish the plate and get that satisfied feeling. The plate was a standard size but was a little pricey for the portion. The plate cost us 8$ but this was really over priced compared to the poutines we get normally. We understand they are supposed to be a specialty place but they don’t show it or make it stand out. The food was good but the service and price just don’t help it in the end.
Did we enjoy this place? Alittle, it was nice to have a change in our poutine sampling but was it worth it? Not at all. There is a wait to get in that made the place seem busy or disorganized as first. The line moved fast which was nice to see but just as fast as that line moved, it seemed you were expected to eat in that same timeframe. Maybe we would have to try this place on a day during the week other than a Friday but this is when a restaurants true quality comes out. If you are looking for a change in your normal spots, this is the place. Other than that change, there wouldn’t be much else to bring us back.