Archibald at YUL

Next time I'm at Pierre Elliot Trudeau airport, I"ll be trying out this joint. 
Thanks Jack D'Mestiere for another rollicking review!

I got off the Clipper from the north and figured I'd take a stroll before my flight from YUL to YYZ. Little did I know that I would be overtaken by circumstances beyond my control. I'd spent the week behaving--eating bales of lettuce and walking. Before you get all "Wow, that's great, Jack," you need to know that I was in Kay-beck, which is how I think Québec is to be pronounced. Given that, and given my language skills, it makes it a little more difficult to put on the feedbag, but salad is salade so there you have it. The only voice whose French pronunciation is worse than mine is Ms. Google US English who pronounces Saguenay, "say-goony" and Chicoutimi "chic-oh-you-tee-me."  I'm better than that. What's that? OK, I'll get on with the story. 

So I'm walking through YUL and I note a place to get a beer. They also have poutine. Danger! I walk on. I pass another place. No poutine, but bad beer. Another place. No beer or poutine. I'm headed back to the gate when I see:

I feel my defenses crumbling. Even souvenir stands are conspiring against me. Maybe a beer will make me strong! I slide into the first place--Archibald. 

The bar man eyes me up and immediately speaks English. Still feeling strong, I order up a beer.  "Food?"  "I'll look." 

There it is and it sounds tempting. Tempting, it sounds great after a week of grazing. Summoning up all the Québécois Newshawk gave me, I called the barman and said "I'll have a Pou-tin." Not "Pou-teen". He gave me an approving look. I guess he says Ce-lyn instead of Ce-lean...

By the time he put it in front of me, I'd convinced myself I didn't need to eat it all. After all, the taste is what counts! And it was work! I was on the Poutine Chronicles beat! 

Crisp fries, a salty rich beef gravy, shredded beef in that gravy, caramelized Pearl onions, pickled onions...and lots of curds, but sorta parked on the side and not warm. Maybe it's a YUL thing, I think. And a piece of what I assume is tuile de caramel au bacon. Still don't know what that added. I'd rather just had some bacon...

The fries stayed crispy, the onions were great, I mixed the curds in to warm them up, the beef was good, the gravy rich to the end. It was damn good. Of course, for $16 for poutine, it ought to be good. 

Tempted as I am to give it a 5, I have to maintain a tough palate, even after a week of salad. Four-point-seven-five curds. I've reached new heights in splitting curds, and for an airport poutine, no less!

If you are in YUL, head on over to about gate 50. The beer's good too!

By the way, I ate it all.  "Mare-cee Kay-beck!"

Archibald Microbrasserie (Aéroport de Montréal), (zone sécurisée, face à la porte 51), Casier postal 205, 975, Romeo-Vachon Blvd N, Dorval, Quebec H4Y 1H6

Tel. 514-687-9977

Website: archibaldmicrobrasserie.ca