In a week full of Halloween-related Facebook posts, gifs, videos, memes and most importantly Snapchat stories, I’ve been thinking about death too much lately. Making fun of scary things in life and enjoying their spookiness must be a great way to forget about being yourself and act as weird as you can on a day like Halloween. Finding happiness in something so simple as dressing up and painting your face to commemorate the walking dead is interesting to someone like me, whose culture of origin has no comparable holiday. I went to Montréal this reading week and could not believe that Halloween was taken even more seriously there compared to Peterborough! Halloween is a fun holiday, therefore I decided to cover the only fun thing I know that always succeeds in making me happy: potatoes! Here is a review of the potatoes I have tasted at 5 restaurants in Montréal while travelling.

Brasseurs

This is a microbrewery-restaurant with a European atmosphere that offers beer brewed on-site and traditional brasserie fare. I ordered the Beer Battered Maxi Fries. They were absolutely delicious for their cheap price. Loved it. Best I’ve had in a while. They were thick-cut, beer-battered (you can never go wrong with this) and deep fried to a golden brown. The whole crispy pile was served with Dijon mayo and it was not as salty as I expected it to be. There are a few of these establishments in Montreal; the one I went to was at 105 Rue St-Paul E., in Old Montreal.

Five Guys

I am sorry. I’m just a big fun of Five Guys’ fries. They are perfectly spiced and always cooked right. They also have the best staff every time I’m at a Five Guys, always fun and extremely friendly. Furthermore, they are not expensive and very fast. The only thing I don’t like about Five Guys’ fries is that they are sometimes too greasy—but that’s what makes it so delicious too, right?

Upstairs Jazz Bar

Okay. This place was my spirit restaurant. I am one of those people who dream about owning a restaurant of their own one day, and this place was exactly how I would like mine to be. If you appreciate jazz and enjoy a relaxed atmosphere, this is your place too. Upstairs Jazz Bar is located at 1254 Rue Mackay. Their sign sports the word ‘Upstairs’ upside down, and the bar is located downstairs beneath a duplex. They had the cutest waiters and the friendliest owner helping out the musicians set up their instruments. I got the Upstairs Burger with their fries which are described as ‘famous’. However, contrary to what they were promising, the fries were very ordinary. It was not the worst meal though, plus the prices were reasonable. I must add that they were super salty.

Reservoir

This was a nice little bar on 9 Avenue Duluth E, recommended for some late-night drinks on a Tuesday by my high school friends who are studying in Montréal. They make their own beer and they offer five different brews every few days to their customers. I ordered the fries at Reservoir after a few too many samples of these. The portion was served in a classic bar basket with “chipotle” sauce which tasted nothing like it. I admit it is possible that their brewed beer, which tasted so lemony and minty, might have affected my taste buds, but I really cannot say I enjoyed that sauce. The fries were old and dry, but they were potatoes, so I was happy with them. I would recommend this place for beer adventurers and for friend groups who wish to dress a little bit fancier to a bar for cheap beer.

Avesta

This is a Turkish restaurant located at 77 Sainte-Catherine St. W. They had everything a Turkish person could have asked for in a foreign country. If you are a meat lover and enjoy eating Mediterranean-style, this is a good place to visit for some cheap, delicious international food. They had halal meat and everyone in the restaurant was either Turkish or a Middle-Eastern who spoke Turkish. They had the best fried potatoes served next to all of their main course meals, and a traditional Turkish potato salad.