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Frenchies is a diner serving Quebecois fare including poutines, smoked meat and steamies.
I was really looking forward to the place, after being endlessly badgered and finally introduced to "real" Montreal smoked meat in Montreal, and man, was is awesome.
But this place, while long on ambiance and decor, really does not deliver. The regular staff have not a single french bone in their body, which is surprising considering the fairly large but ignored and sidelines French population here, and ranged from rude to vaguely helpful, depending who's on duty (yes, I went twice).
The "steamies" any college student could make better at home, and the toppings? Please! cheap much? The poutine was at best a cut above A&W and thoroughly mediocre. The piece de resistance, smoked meat sandwich, was actually good, but very very tiny and very expensive, I almost did a doubletake. It may be from Montreal, but that does not quadruple its price.
Go to see what the noise is about, and you won't be making it out to Montreal any time soon, but do not expect much. Their Helmcken location downtown seems to have closed down some months ago, probably not a good sign. PHAT on Mainland is better Montreal deli fare, but just barely. There's a general dearth of french food and culture in this city.
I was actually looking for the Dunsmuir location, but am assuming this is a franchise.
$9 for a 4oz. smoked meat sandwich (maybe 3/4 of an inch high in meat), $3 for a basket of fries that was maybe 2 fries deep, and they charge you 50¢ for a boring Bick's dill pickle. This is not what Montreal delis are about. If you were to order a smoked meat sandwich platter at, say, Dunn's in Montreal, it would be the same price, but the sandwich would be STACKED so high with smoked meat you'd barely be able to get your mouth around it. You would also get a mountain of fries, and cole slaw plus a nice kosher pickle all included.
Sure the smoked meat may have come from Montreal (and it did taste good) but one usually goes to a deli for the value - this one simply doesn't deliver.
Finally found a place that can serve a good toasted hotdog along with an excellent poutine with the curds cheese NOT melted as it is suppose to be.And very good fresh coffee.The Montreal beef looked great will have to get back to try everything!
Also the restaurant is very clean,and great atmosphere.Keep up the good work!
We will be back when ever we are in Vancouver.
I work in the area and have known Frenchies! since it opened up years ago. I remember trying it for lunch a LONG time back and it didn't leave any lasting impressions. The area has so many little delis serving fresh, made to order sandwiches/paninis for 1/3 the price!
Recently, I saw a coupon in the newspaper for Frenchies! offering a "steamie" for 99cents. I've been craving a good poutine for some time now and decided I'd go back to Frenchies! and try again since it's been such a long time.
The "steamie" was a steamed hot dog. Absolutely nothing special about it... the weiner didn't even taste good. But for 99cents, I'm not going to complain much more than that. On the menu there was 3 different sizes of poutine (S, M, L). I ordered the medium one with the steamie and my bill came up to about $10!!! The portion was generous, but it wasn't anything special... so I didn't feel like my money was well spent. And like some other reviewers said, the cheese curds weren't really melted.
The rest of the menu (sandwiches, etc) was quite pricey.... nothing that I would want to spend on a SANDWICH that was being ordered to go. The deli across the street makes the best sandwiches/paninis with your choice of meat & cheese starting from $3.50!
Never again would I go to Frenchies!
I tried it out because of the decor and because I still had great memories of Schwatz's smoked meat in Montreal. I'm pretty disappointed. The prices are pretty high and while quantity for the poutine is large, mine had lots of over fried gristle under the gravy and unmelted cheese curds. If you're willing to pay $30 for a large smoked meat sandwich, medium poutine and a coke, then I guess try it out but it was a bit pricey for me and the food was just average. Next time I crave smoked meat and poutine, I'll hit up the food court at Costco.
We were torn between doing brunch at a diner on Dunsmuir and this place, but seeing the French on the menu and the cute Quebec touches I convinced my boyfriend we should give it a try. Being ignored, I asked the girl behind the counter if we should just grab a table, and she snapped at me to order at the counter. Under the huge sign that said "TAKE OUT ORDERS HERE" and we were going to eat in. Anyways, I followed her unfriendly instructions, and ordered "Le Savoureux" in my best French accent (feeling all Canadian with the Olympic spirit in town), but the staff were definitely NOT familiar with the language - "Oh do you mean The Savory?" ... disappointment. I was hoping for some charm, some culture! They only offer 2 toppings per hot dog, which is crazy... even Costco $1 hotdogs give you as many toppings as you want. My boyfriend got onions and mayo, and I went for onions and saurkraut, although I really wanted mustard or something but could not bring myself to pay extra for something so basic. The rude daughter/waitress said I should hurry up and decide because 2 toppings really isn't that complicated. When our order came up the daughter called out" The Savory" and said something like "it's for some chick"... my boyfriend was really offended about how she was speaking and mentioned it to the owner. He was nice enough but kept saying people don't come for the service, they come for the food. What a joke. They were serving poutine sauce out of a jar and the hot dogs were ghetto - like worse than 50cent ikea hot dogs. A very annoying experience, avoid this place, the hot dog stands in town have better "steamies" and treat you like they appreciate your business!
Being from Montreal, I am always on the lookout for Montreal Smoke Meat. Twice my wife and I have been to Frenchie's and the food is delicious. The restaurant is set in a 50's diner style complete with neon lights and red upholstery. The milk shakes are great and my wife really enjoyed the poutine. If you want a "stacked" smoke meat sandwich, this is the place to come. Michel and his daughter are very friendly and make the experience memorable. The service was fantastic.We felt like regulars after the second visit! True Montreal style - the food and the hospitality.
The ambiance is nothing special, and the service is certainly adequate, but the Montreal Smoked Meat Poutine was incredible! The succulence of the meat contrasts nicely with the curds and brown gravy, and the pommes frites were fried nicely...nicely seasoned and not oily. Overall, this was a fine gastronomic experience and not terribly expensive. I will be back!
I've been meaning to try Frenchie's for a while, although I was a bit put off by the fact that it always seemed to be empty. When I went in before lunch the place was deserted and cold as a tomb. I ordered a hot dog with everything and fries from the well-meaning server, and while I waited I was mystified by the sound of the microwave going off repeatedly. The owner showed up in the middle of the exercise, apparently to instruct the server on how to prepare a hot dog (?), and after catching a glimpse of the bag of Wonder Bread buns he was showing her and paying my $8, I took my food home to eat it.
It was only when I opened the wrapping that I was able to appreciate how dreadful a hot dog can actually be. Picture the hot dogs you used to eat in elementary school on hot dog day. Now that's not too bad. Maybe not worth $8, but not bad. Now picture a microwaved hot dog on a Wonder Bread bun, drenched with toppings (including saurkraut), thoroughly microwaved until the bun is goo, the saurkraut is sweating brine, and the whole thing just slimes out of the wrapper like microwaved cheezwhiz.
Yeah, that's right, they microwaved the hot dog in the bun with toppings. For a long time, by the sounds of it. It was so mushy it was almost inedible, and there was something extremely squicky about the texture of the bun. On top of which, the fries were too salty even for me, and I usually put about a teaspoon of salt on fries, and they tasted like they'd been microwaved too.
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