La Paryse

(Somewhat) fresh off of the submission of my MA application on Thursday, I needed to blow off a bit of steam and relax before throwing myself headlong into translation assignments for my classes. As luck would have it, Zahra was free and suggested that we check out her favourite hamburger place in Montreal: La Paryse. Since I’ve always been a burger and fries sort of guy, I thought, why not? Truth be told, I was far more interested in my companion than any hamburger, but that’s neither here nor there.

She had told me that the place was pretty popular and that whenever she had gone in the past, the place was always packed. Given the small size of the restaurant, I can see why that would be the case. Fortunately for us, there was a table in the back of the quaint little eatery. I would have to say that it redefined the term “intimate” for me, as they crammed somewhere in the neighbourhood of 15-20 tables into a place that could barely support that. I could probably have snagged fries off of a neighbouring table. The décor was pleasant enough, though nothing really sticks out as terribly memorable. Admittedly, I was focused more on Zahra than my surroundings, so forgive my lack of a detailed description.

There wasn’t a lot of variety on the menu, which considering its reputation as a burger place should hardly come as a surprise. They also make a pretty mean milkshake, I might add. The burgers are 100% beef (no relation to the company that supplies McDonald’s) and, quite honestly, are fantastic. Messy, but fantastic. I would have to say that there’s no dignified way to eat these things, unless one resorted to a knife and fork. And seriously, who eats a hamburger with a knife and fork?

By the time we left a couple of hours later, there was a line up out the door and starting down the street. All things considered, the place deserves its reputation. Located on Ontario St, near St-Denis, it’s also close enough to some of the trendy pubs and nightspots, so it’s a good place to start an evening. If you have the chance to check it out, I recommend it. Til next time…