there is freedom.

Here's a late post of day 2 of Kat's visit :) Lots and lots of food and walking around! hehe

We first checked out Patata Patati's poutine. I had heard some good things about it and had walked by this place several times. Each time it was so packed! Luckily, when we came, it wasn't super busy and had seats right away. It wasn't quite what I was expecting. I had thought they'd had an extensive poutine menu like La Banquise but it was more a sandwich/burger place with poutine. Anyway, Kat and I ordered a poutine to share. It was pretty good! The french fries were really crispy (which I love!) so even with the gravy on it, it didn't become soggy. It was super cheap too! It's not quite the place I'd bring a visitor to Montreal but if you're just feeling some poutine, I'd come here :)

 It's also located conveniently close to Schwartz! So of course we had to make a pit stop there! We got some to go and enjoyed it on our way to La Banquise.

HAHAHA okay. We walked A LOT! And Kat's visiting from Montreal so poutine and smoked meat is a must! And Patata Patati was just not quite the poutine experience!

Anyway, note for next time I get smoked meat: ask for medium fat. It's so much yummier when there's a bit of fat on it. I think the guy gave us the skinniest one and it just wasn't as juicy!

After taking some wrong turns and detouring on a couple streets (I was thinking of our metabolism), we finally made it to La Banquise! It's so perfect how we keep missing the lines! We got seated right away and shared a classic poutine. The menu was much more exciting but we were already starting to feel full so we decided to stick to the one with the least amount of goodness piled on top! I think for a plain poutine, I enjoyed Patata Patati's more because of the crispy fries but if you're looking for more variety or something more exciting, I'd definately come to La Banquise. They have this guacamole poutine...it's amazing!

One last thing a visitor to Montreal must do is to have chocolate at Juliette et Chocolat. Luckily, there was one close to where we were :P haha I gave up chocolate for lent so it was quite difficult going in and smelling the amazing deliciousness! I didn't think they'd have anything non-chocolate but they did! Kat ordered the trifle which is my favourite! It's a cup filled with layers of caramel fleur de sel and whipped cream with brownie pieces and a cup of hot chocolate sauce on the side for you to pour on top. I ordered a caramel fleur de sel crepe. It cam with bananas and ice cream! I love their fleur de sel!

The great thing I love about Montreal is that everything is so close to one another. You could walk everywhere and find all sorts of different things to do :) We ended up going back downtown to do some shopping! We tried on many dresses at Simons. There's this one particular dress that I absolutely love! I've tried it on before but I hate that it's more pricy compared to some other dresses that they have. It's $38 which is okay for a dress but I also have no income and that's almost half my stipend -__- haha Kat gave me money to buy it (hehe thanks sistah!) but i'm still debating whether it's worth spending that much. It's so much fun though! Maybe when I get the time to go back and it's still there then I will make the purchase :P

I did get a dress from Urban Outfitters that was on sale though. It's pretty simple and grey but I like it! I'm excited for spring to finally come! We didn't do much more shopping after that. We were pretty tired from walking around so much the last two days. We took advantage of the free Starbucks coupon to sit for awhile and chill before we made our way to dinner!


For dinner I was craving Korean food and I had heard that La Maison Bulgogi was not bad so we made our way all the way down St. Catherines for it. It was rainy and cold and we had to walk almost 20 minutes to get there! The food was alright, nothing super spectacular. We ordered a bibimbap and ddokbokgi. Their kimchi was really good tho! It's a bit on the more expensive side though which is unfortunate. The owners though are Korean but had lived in Northern China for many years and could speak both Chinese and Korean which was pretty cool!

Sidenote: I went out with one of my housemates a couple nights later and we discovered a super cheap and yummy Korean restaurant! It's called Ganadara. I'd definately go there over this place. It's closer to home too! The place is pretty tiny but constantly filled! I always thought it was a laundromat when I walked by it because it's located right beside one :P oops! And of course, you have to love the fobby kongrish wallpaper that they have too! haha it's a pretty cute place. The dishes are huge, they're cheap and delicious, what more do you ask for?

After dinner Kat and I made our way back home for a swing dancing lesson! One of my housemates (same as the one I was talking about above) loves swing dancing and is amazing at it! She's also really good at teaching too! It was a ton of fun! We had people over, a bunch of our housemates joined in, it was a big swing dancing party! :)

All in all, it was a fun weekend and I got to go places and do things I normally wouldn't on my own! Thanks for visiting Kevin! :)