Eating Like a Montrealer: Poutine, Smoked Meat, Bagels and More

For your first taste of Quebec's national dish, served hot at any hour at a Plateau institution.

Poutine is Quebec's iconic dish, and La Banquise has been its go-to address since 1968.

More than 28 poutine varieties — classic, Italian, smoked-meat, vegetarian — prepared around the clock.

People come at all hours, in pyjamas after a night out or with the family at noon; it is the dish that unites all Montrealers.

For the unique wood-oven taste and the tradition of a neighbourhood that never sleeps.

The bagel is to Montreal what the croissant is to Paris — and these two houses have guarded it since 1919 and 1957.

A bagel boiled, then baked in a wood oven — denser and sweeter than the New York bagel.

A friendly rivalry splits the city into two camps; the tasting happens hot, straight from the oven, often in the middle of the night.

For a meal from around the world at a small price, surrounded by all of Montreal.

The public markets are Montreal's world cuisine at producer prices.

Cheese, smoked fish, spices, cured meats — dozens of counters where you can eat on-site for a few dollars.

Families come on Saturday mornings, taste, chat with vendors — neighbourhood life at its purest.