La Belle Patate

A while back, I had mad cravings for a poutine and decided to try La Belle Patate after a run on the seawall. The idea of having a poutine afterwards actually motivated me and I finished about ten minutes earlier too! Le Belle Patate is known for their poutines and offers 26 choices, which is great for the adventurous along with the indecisive. As for myself, my hair stylist calls me "vanilla" along with Plain Jane so of course I stuck with a traditional poutine.

Other than poutines, the restaurant offers "authentic Quebecois cuisine" which includes smoked meat sandwiches and steamies. So obviously I had to order the smoked meat sandwich! As for the seating arrangements, there are half booth seats along the wall, stools by the window for those who like to people watch, and around five tables in the whole restaurant.

The poutines are served in an aluminum container however, so eating on the go is fairly comfortable and not bad because the food stays warm.

Dunn's Famous

BF, let's be open minded - with smoked meat, Montreal smoked meat. Our favourite and go to place for Montreal smoked meat sandwiches is Estrella's in Langley. And that is it. We have no back up plan in case Estrella's closes or a runner up if we are too lazy to go to Langley, and that scares me. So we decided to try Dunn's Famous. When I saw some photos online, the smoked meat did not look good and I gave the restaurant the benefit of doubt, thinking perhaps some people ordered the lean meat which make the sandwiches look dry.

We decided to have a quick snack on a game night and the restaurant was not busy. There are comfortable booth seating arrangements, comfortably spaced out tables and bar seats, along with large televisions. I do not do the bar or pub scene but this is what one would look like to me, a more luxurious one I guess.

Estrella's Montreal Deli

On the way to a barbecue in Langley, my friend gave me strict instructions "no food stops". Umm excuse me? I guess some people are really into their barbecuing… Do not even get me started on the horrible 200th Street too and I cannot stop for food?! Madness! I never complain about Richmond or Downtown traffic, but WTF is up with 200th Street? I hate it. The traffic can range from a mere ten minutes to a forty five minute difference off the highway to anywhere I have to go! So of course to treat myself, I had to stop at Estrella's.

Estrella's has been my go-to place for many years, as in half a decade! A couple of my friends from Montreal first introduced the restaurant to me during my SFU years and I fell in love. I even used to come here at least twice a week whenever I was in Langley.

Walking in, there is a nice smoked meat aroma which is not to be mistaken with greasy or the non well-ventilated kind. The restaurant is clean and there are a good amount of seats for this type of joint. Although during busier hours, Estrella's does get busy and a wait can be expected. As for the organized chalkboard menu, it is posted on the wall and customers order as well as pay at the front.

The Spud Shack Fry Co.

When I found out about Spud Shack, a little joint located at New Westminster skytrain station, I was pretty excited to introduce my friend to what may possibly be one of the best places for poutines. She loves her poutines and always orders them. So, after claiming that she will love me even more for where I am about to take her for a late night snack, she says "poutines? I don't even like them". LOL what? Yeah, apparently when she orders a poutine at the food court or movie theatre, it is because there is nothing else that she wants. Oh well, already paid for parking so too bad for her. I even raved about this "surprise" place to her for days too!