Restaurant Chez Claudette — Restaurant in Montreal

Hands down the tastiest poutine and all-dressed steamie in the city. I love it.

POUTINE

Finally, a poutine with fresh tasting fries that are not dry and a gravy that is not only gentle on salt but quite tasty as well. I like mushy fries with minimal crisp with a melting potato sweet and fresh oil taste - Claudette's fries are a perfect reference! The gravy really stood out with a blend of garlic and peppery flavours with a controlled salt level so you can taste everything else. I ordered an American poutine which added sautéd mushroom, bell peppers, and "New York" steak. I really liked the sautéd mushroom which added a nice texture and a bit of stir-fry burnt to the poutine. The steak didn't add much value but it was big and not saltier than the other stuff so blended in well.

Overall, being easy on the salt AND showcasing great flavours is an achievement. You might be suspicious at first of the endless choice of poutines à la Banquise, but what I took today proved that fancier can be done right.

STEAMIE (hot dog)

The all-dressed steamie at Claudette proved that you could improve such a basic thing as a hot dog by adding more relish than mustard and mince-chopped garlic coleslaw instead of the more thick-cut intertwined choux (Green Spot style). The result is a surprisingly tasty dish that doesn't saturate your taste buds with pure mustard and that is easy to eat - it's the least messy hot dog I've eaten.

I used to be settled on the "traditional" Montreal all-dressed steamie, i.e. only mustard, chopped onion (large cubed) and choux. Having toured big names like Décarie Hot Dog, Green Spot, R Lafleur, La Belle Province, and Alfa, some of which deviate from the traditional style, proved that different wasn't better than traditional so I vouched for the latter. The all-dressed steamie at Chez Claudette though is a large enough improvement that I think is innovative and worthy of parting from traditions.

I LOVE IT BECAUSE

None come close in terms of taste. Tbh I never expected a steamie-the most basic of commodities-could be much different from what I was used to, and didn't expect that a dressed-up poutine can be humble enough to be more than a random pilling up of ingredients.

Chez Claudette also serves all-day breakfast, Boréale bottles of beer @ $5, is open 24H several days a week, and has a small outdoor terrasse. Takes debit and credit.

5 stars and hope it stays true for...

Tried Chez Claudette after googling best poutine places in Montreal, and it appeared on multiple lists. The menu is extensive with many poutines to choose from. There are also omlettes (breakfast only), sandwiches and burgers. They do not have a menu in English, but our server was a friendly gentleman and gladly pointed out the top 5 poutines.

I had the Fermiere poutine (a top 5, which included sausage, bacon, onion, mushroom) and my friends had the montreal smoked meat poutine, and a burger that came with a classic poutine on the side.

The poutines were good, and the gravy was flavourful but was definitely on the the salty side. The large is a generous portion and included a lot of toppings... however we all found that the meat was also extremely salty. We all ordered our own individual large poutine but next time would probably share, as it is a lot of food. Did not try the burger, but was told it was delicious.

With so many poutine restaurants in Montreal, I'd probably try another place next time I'm in Montreal. However, seemed like there were many locals eating inside so that's...

The food felt such like comfort food. Everything was delightful and gave us a homey feeling, especially the interior decors that were so cute. They still have the old type of flooring where all the footprints can be seen with the rocks though which was a bit less appealing. The service was a bit awkward, everyone working was just nodding when we entered the restaurant and our waitress for the night was so busy she barely had time to refill our cups of water. It also took us a good 10 minutes in the queue before we could pay for our meals. The food did arrive under 5 minutes after we ordered though which was quite impressive. For around 16$ only, there is a wide selection of poutines that you can choose between a small or a large one. It was just amusing to see all the options they offered in their menu. I ended up going for a Celine Poutine and it was pretty good. The fries were a bit soft but also had that slight crunch, the toppings were generous and the portion was pretty large. I do feel however that the sauce was a bit too light in flavours for me and some slices of meat were...