Crossing the border into Canada, we were asked the purpose of our visit: “Vacation,” replied Dan. “Visiting with friends.”

Crossing the border into the United States three days later, we were again asked the purpose of our visit. “We basically just ate and drank our way through the city,” said Dan.

Montreal's flag, rendered in landscaped vegetation

I’d never been to Montreal before. In fact, I hadn’t been to Canada at all since I was a kid and my father took us to Winnipeg (a mere two hours from his home in Grand Forks, ND) for the day. I remember the zoo, vaguely. And going to an Italian restaurant, maybe? And then there was the time I canoed to the Canadian side of Rainy Lake. Other than that, Canada was that friendly neighbor with whom I would occasionally chat, but not hang out. (Not because I didn’t want to! Just because our schedules never aligned.)

There were a few things I was especially looking forward to on our trip: visiting with friends topped the list; it had been a few years since I’d seen either Alison or Lee Ann. I was also excited to finally have a taste of authentic poutine, determine for myself whether Montreal bagels were really ALL THAT, and to sample the local beer. As for touristy things, both Dan and I enjoy just wandering around quasi-aimlessly, but I was curious about Old Montreal because I like learning the history of places.

Notre Dame Basilica in Old Montreal

On our first night we wound up at a place on Rue Saint Denis, not too far from our hotel. We’d wanted to go to la Banquise, a place that Alison had recommended specifically for their poutine, but the line to get in was out the door and into the street. (La Banquise: the Grimaldi’s of Montreal?) We wandered around for a while looking for a suitable restaurant for our first night and wound up at Bières et Compagnie, a decision that went something like this:

“What about this place?”
“Beer and Company? I like where this is going.”

Whereas la Banquise has 30 or so different kinds of poutine, Bières et Compagnie appeared to be a mussels place. And the mussels looked good, but as they’re not really in season yet I opted to go with one of the special dishes: Assiette de raclette a la bière griffon (I might be missing an accent or two but I just copied that from Evernote), which was a bed of melted raclette cheese served with potatoes, beer-braised beef tips, and pheasant sausage. I figured it would be like an upscale “deconstructed” poutine. I’ve since learned (thanks, Internet!) that raclette served with dry meats, potatoes, gherkins and pickled onions (which were also on my plate) is a traditional French-Swiss dish. And it was good.

The beer was better. We started off with a La Fin du Monde and thoroughly enjoyed it. But the St-Ambroise Oatmeal Stout was my favorite. It has a pronounced espresso flavor, hints of chocolate and a little bit of spice but it’s not too sweet, and though it pours heavy it both tasted and felt light. Just delicious, and quite possibly my favorite beer of the whole trip.

And thanks to BeerMenus, I know where to get it in New York. Draft Barn, I am coming for you.

Up next: Old Montreal, where I finally get my poutine fix.

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