First date at Rex Pizza

Our mission today was to walk to Old Montreal and grab a couple of poutines at the historic Mgcill Hot Dog. We were looking forward to a nice 12 km walk to burn off the calories. However, the weather had other plans for us.

Its just water, we wont melt, says Katie

Yes but its going to be a miserable walk, we will be cranky pants, says Jen

True story, I'll pick you up in an hour, Katie concurs

Katie used to go to Mcgill Hot Dog as a kid and remembers the smell of patate sac fries and the grease that she had to lick off her tiny little kid fingers after every fry. She used to walk with her dad and brothers down to the old port boardwalk to feed the seagulls. The seagulls loved it so much, and she loved teasing them with potential fries, which she would at the last minute stick in her mouth, making the seagull cry.

We decided to drive and make up for the lack of exercise later (Yeah right!).

We drove up and down mcgill avenue.

We passed Brit and chips, made a comment about how it was so good. Then upon not finding our
destination googled the address. Alas, Brit and chips bought it out!

 

 NOW =

R.I.P. Mcgill Hot Dog 

Two strikes against us we drove to Verdun to a place we saw once, Rex Pizza on Wellington. We went inside this typical quebec diner, and were greeted with the smell of real fries sizzling in the deep fryer. We sat at the counter and ordered our usual, two poutines and two diet cokes.

Once the order came in just a few minutes later, we were disappointed that the cheese was, yes you guessed right, grated cheese! Not again!

OVERALL POUTINE REVIEW

Well I guess their speciality is pizza (we did see them making fresh dough for it). Starving, we quickly dug into our meals. And oh yes the fries are tasty. That is one fresh batch of patate frites, perhaps it would have been better to get the ol' patates en sac with a dash salt and splash of vinegar. The poutine's sauce had the right spices but the consistency is watery and the cheese, albeit good (as all cheese is) is not the correct cheese curds, trés dissapointing. Alas the fries were the best part of this experience.

OVERALL RATING - out of 10

KATIE

JEN 

http://maps.google.ca/maps?rls=com.microsoft:en-ca:IE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7ACAW_en&redir_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=rex+pizza,+verdun&fb=1&gl=ca&hq=rex+pizza,&hnear=0x4cc9104111cc8931:0x5040cadae4d4b20,Verdun,+QC&cid=0,0,18014610059726251022&ei=2yfQTYmOL8qCtgff_qn-DQ&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CBgQnwIwAA

Side note, and for some reason as we wolfed our poutines, the conversation turned to first dates; should there spark right off or can it grow with time? Why this came up, I don't know, maybe it was just the right atmosphere at Rex Pizza. Nevertheless, I wouldn't recommend a poutine for the first or even second date, leave the poutine date till the 5th date at least. Although you never know, some might find this attractive. What do you all think???

Patates Paul - Take 2

One month later, it is the beginning of spring in Montreal, and we decided to try Patates Paul today, A SATURDAY. With a promise to go to hot yoga later, we drove to the much anticipated old style casse croute in the Pointe. And its a good thing, because after our "quick" stop at the l'Oreal sample sale where we were only going pick up a "few things" and an impromptu visit at a a coca cola warehouse that turned to be a grocery store for restaurants and proved to be a great shopping spree, it began to spontaneously hail. Ah the weather of Montreal, you can never predict it. Our butts and thigh were warm, but Jen's new bangs were curling and Katie's hair was frizzing, we arrived at Patates Paul slightly less beautiful and a bit more poor.

Honourable mention, this place has its own home brewed Spruce Beer. A unique carbonated drink with a delicious blend of sugar and fresh pine flavour.



"A beautiful complement to a poutine" Jen comments

"Ew tastes like my christmas tree" Katie complains.



So here it goes folks.

OVERALL REVIEW

Mr.¨Paul spares no expense on the classic curd cheese ingredient for this poutine. The dish has the exact right cheese to fries to gravy ratio. Perhaps, its Paul's experience in poutine making ( resto opened since 1958), because the gravy consistency and taste are dead on as well. The fries are definitely freshly cut on location and fried to crispy perfection. So far, this poutine tops the list. It is on the more expensive side at $5 for the mini. However, it is the perfectly sized portion for the health conscious.

PS: in our poutine hangover, yoga was skipped. Sorry.

POUTINE RATING

Jen      9 out of 10 poutines

Katie   8 out of 10 poutines

http://maps.google.ca/maps?rls=com.microsoft:en-ca:IE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7ACAW_en&redir_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=patates+paul&fb=1&gl=ca&hq=patates+paul&hnear=Montreal,+QC&cid=0,0,1058132990631533912&ei=_fGqTb7_FY-40QHkmoD6CA&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=image&resnum=4&ved=0CC4QnwIwAw

Woodland Restaurant

On a cold (read; freezing) typical Montreal Sunday afternoon in March, us cousins, Jen and Katie, set out on never ending mission,to find the ultimate poutine. After a quick internet research, we discovered, Patates Paul in Pointe-St-Charles.

Despite the frigid temperatures, the deceptive sun was shining and the guilt of the calories soon to be consumed made us walk the 3.7 kilometers to this old style casse-croute. We donned our similar but DIFFERENT black north face winter gear and headed down St-Patrick against cold, unforgiving winter winds. Katie complained of frozen thighs and Jen kicked up a fuss of a cold butt, so by the time we arrived on the corner of Charlevoix street, we were two wimpering little babies yearning for a warm savoury poutine. A few blocks down, we spotted it, Patates Paul...and oh the joy of being fed and warm was so near.

Alas,
"It looks dark in there", Katie said.
"No you're imagining things", Jen reassured.

Nope, Katie was right and it was a long painful walk back, hungry and cold. Jen's butt had turned to ice and Katie's thighs, two solid blocks...why oh why was it closed on Sundays?? Even the pizza place across the street, that offered a glimmer of hope to help us divulge in our junk food yearnings, was also closed on the holy day.

"Thats it, we're taking the car" Katie demanded
"I thought you'd never ask" Jen agreed with a sigh of relief.

There were a few more futile attempts to find, at this point, ANY poutine place.

-Patateries Monk, bankrupt notice on door
-Green Stop, power shurdown due to gas leak on Monk (serving hot dogs only, which we questioned)
-AA, closed, WTF this place is NEVER closed

We settled on Woodland restaurant.
WARNING: Our rating system may be askew due to our desperates states.

A close up of Villa Wellington's poutine

OVERALL POUTINE REVIEW
Since this is a pizza place, this poutine is not your classic quebecois dish, it resembles more a baked pizza. It comes on a tray with shredded mozerralla cheese crusted ontop and had to be sliced like a pizza to get a mouthful. This poutine has your basic ingredients, gravy, cheese and french fries. However, there is a certain pizza je ne sais quoi flavour, perhaps a little tomato sauce in the gravy? It is a fairly sized dish that goes down easy and isa good value for the money. So if you ever find yourself in a conundrum with a craving for both a pizza and a poutine, this is your place.

POUTINE RATING
Jen     3 out of 10 poutines
Katie  3 out of 10 poutines

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/67/1420009/restaurant/Wellington-de-L-glise/Restaurant-Woodland-Montreal