Dinner at La Banquise in Montreal, QC

Poutine is possibly the #1 quintessential Montreal food. a Delicious mix of fries, cheese curds, and gravy.  I know it sounds disgusting but when I went to Montreal during college 8 years ago that is what I remembered and was so psyched to have coming back.   La Banquise is a 24-hour diner-like spot that is supposed to have the best poutine in all of Montreal.  Unfortunately the service was TERRIBLE, and we had some terrible service throughout our trip.  The servers just did not give a rat's ass about anyone and totally forgot to give us part of our order.  There were so many empty tables but the staff was so slow that there were constant lines outside.  The food took forever to come out and just was not worth it.  Too bad because I really was looking forward to this.

La Elvis - ground beef, peppers, and mushrooms

La Chick - poutine with breaded chicken.  They were a little stingy with the amount of meat

Crepes at Jean Talon Market in Montreal, QC

Jean Talon Market is a farmer's market in Montreal known for its amazing produce.  I didn't take any pics of the fruit stands because at this point I was exhausted from walking all day, but here are some shots of a very popular crepe stand inside the market.

Jean Talon Market

Some fruit

Creperie Marche

Buckwheat Crepe with ham, egg, cheese and spinach.  I prefer my crepes sweet rather than savory

Breakfast in Montreal, QC

Technically these were not all at the same time, but just thought it would be easier to group these pics together.  Tim Horton's is the Dunkin Donuts equivalent in Canada.  In general the coffee in Canada was lackluster compared to in the US.  Didn't go to Starbucks or Second Cup, the Starbucks equivalent.  But the coffee we did have we comparatively much less tasty and excessively strong.

Also, the bagels in Montreal are NOT better than NY/NJ bagels by a long shot.  The location was inconvenient and frankly, didn't get what all the fuss was about.

Tim Horton's.  Your chocolate and coffee are not that great

All-dressed (aka Everything) bagel.  Much thinner and lighter than NY bagels. 

Fairmount Bagel.  #1 or #2 bagel spot in Montreal depending on who you ask

Apparently there's always a line.  Don't really get why...

illy coffee

Dinner at Qing Hua in Montreal, QC

Soup dumplings!  An authentic Chinese dumpling house in downtown Montreal within walking distance of the hotel. They handroll the dumplings and give huge portions.  Entire meal was under $20.

Pork soup dumplings

Chicken soup dumplings

Lunch at Reuben's Deli in Montreal, QC

Montreal is known for smoked meat.  The place that is supposed to the best was pretty far though and not conveniently located near a metro, so instead went to a downtown deli that was supposedly a little touristy.  However, the food was AWESOME and touristy or not, was everything that meaty goodness should be.

Meat in the window

Meat close up

Reuben Sandwich

Traditional smoked meat sandwich.  AMAZING

Dinner at Burger Bar in Montreal, QC

Apparently Burger Bar has the best burger in Montreal.  Unfortunately this burger was very forgettable, and the menus we got were in French so didn't entirely know what we were ordering.  The service was awful and the food took forever to come out.  Additionally the food was lukewarm/cold.  If this is the best burger in Montreal, then I feel bad for all the people of Montreal.

Hangover burger with fried egg, lettuce, tomato, bacon and cheese.  Sadly not nearly as tasty as it looked

Michigan Hot Dog (chili and cheese) with poutine.  My first poutine in Montreal was a bust :(  Nothing was hot and the gravy and curds were ehhh

Dinner at Beechwood Cafe in Jersey City, NJ

Beechwood Cafe is one of my JC go-tos.  I've probably been there a dozen or so times and each time, I am never disappointed.  Everything is reasonably priced; the service is just spotty sometimes.

Home-made Hummus plate.  Interestingly they used cucumber instead of celery

Chicken Pot Pie

Penne a la Vodka with grilled chicken.  Very homey and would've been delish even without the meat, and that's saying something for me