I visited Montreal's Costco and found amazing French baked goods and a shockingly disappointing poutine

Fri, 12/29/2023 - 05:20

Poutine, Tim Horton's coffee, and hockey sticks. — Poutine, Tim Horton's coffee, and hockey sticks – pure Canada.
Richard Truong

Richard Truong is a 26-year-old software engineer who has been a Costco member since 2016.
On a recent trip to Canada, Truong visited a Costco warehouse in Montreal to see the differences.
He loved the premade food options but found the food court's version of poutine unsatisfying.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Richard Truong. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I work as a software engineer for a large insurance company, and I've been a member of Costco since 2016. I started taking pictures of the signs and the prices because that's how I would budget my food expenses in college.

After checking out Costco on recent trips to Australia and Japan, I traveled to Canada for an anime convention near Montreal.

I found a Montreal Costco that's near a train station, so it was easy for me to drop by this warehouse.

I heard Costcos in northern regions usually have the cart area enclosed because of the snow and cold.

The main entrance to Costco in Montreal.
Richard Truong

It was August when I went, so weather wasn't an issue, but the carts were only protected by this red arched roof.

The bakery had a distinct French influence.

The bakery menu at Costco in Montreal.
Richard Truong

If you buy in bulk, you can get 204 croissants for 69 Canadian dollars— a pretty amazing deal.

The tomahawk steak looked like a pretty cool item that I’d want to try.

Steaks on sale at Costco in Montreal.
Richard Truong

I don't know what an AAA rating means for Canadian beef, but I assume it's good.

There were a lot of different chicken options in the prepared and pre-made section.

Chicken drumsticks for sale at Costco in Montreal.
Richard Truong

These drumsticks were insanely seasoned.

And, of course, cheese curds for poutine.

Cheese curds for sale at Costco in Montreal.
Richard Truong

I was excited to try the food court's version of the national dish.

I'd never seen a price checker at a Costco before.

A price-checking station at Costco in Montreal.
Richard Truong

I know some stores have them, but I feel like it defeats the whole treasure hunt strategy where shoppers just throw a bunch of stuff in their cart and then have $300 of items.

The KitKat-flavored ice cream was definitely enticing.

KitKat-flavored ice cream for sale at Costco in Montreal.
Richard Truong

If they had them at my Costco, I'd probably buy them and bring them to a party for the kids… and me.

This giant container of feta cheese makes more sense when you realize there’s a sizable Greek population in Montreal.

Bulk containers of feta cheese.
Richard Truong

I found there was quite a bit of decent Greek food in Montreal.

Even though it was still summer, there were hockey sticks for sale.

Hockey sticks for sale at Costco in Montreal.
Richard Truong

I don't play hockey myself, so I didn't notice how many left-handed and right-handed ones there were.

I read that a few years ago, Tim Horton's started roasting their own coffee, so McDonald's grabbed their old supplier, and now McCafe coffee is better.

Tim Horton's and McDonalds McCafe ground coffee for sale at Costco in Montreal.
Richard Truong

Canada's iconic fast-food chain insists it didn't sell its coffee recipe to McDonald's. I tried both and preferred the McCafe.

I bought a jacket because it was cold in the store, but I also wanted to see if my US Costco Visa card would work.

My receipt for a jacket from Costco in Montreal.
Richard Truong

Costco's Canadian credit card uses the MasterCard network.

In the food court, the hot dog combo was still $1.50, but in Canadian dollars.

The food court menu at Costco in Montreal.
Richard Truong

With the exchange rate to US dollars, the price should be closer to $2 CAD. Otherwise, this wasn't much different from a typical American Costco food court.

Naturally, I had to try the poutine.

Pizza and poutine at Costco in Montreal.
Richard Truong

I also bought a slice of pizza because I was hungry.

This version had a lot of cheese curds, and the fries seemed like the frozen kind.

The poutine at Costco in Montreal.
Richard Truong

The french fries are like 80% of a poutine, so they need to be good, crisp, and fresh. I wouldn't recommend Costco's as the first poutine that you eat in Canada, but then again, Costco is not known for having a Michelin-starred food court.

I did eat a lot of poutine during my trip, and I’d say this poutine from La Banquise was probably the best I had.

Poutine from La Banquise in Montreal.
Richard Truong

La Banquise is a very famous restaurant for poutine, near the Schwartz's Deli that is known for its reuben.

Overall, I still preferred this location to the one I usually go to at home.

Outside the Costco in Montreal.
Richard Truong

I really liked the premade food, especially with the chicken options and different ethnic foods in smaller portions. Usually my Costco just has the massive circular containers of things like shepherd's pie.

I’ve got more travel lined up for the new year, and I’ll keep visiting Costcos around the world.

This Costco is not in downtown Kyoto, but it's about an hour away. Almost in the middle of both Osaka and Kyoto. — The Costco near Kyoto in Japan.
Richard Truong

Next up: China, Japan (again), and South Korea.

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I visited Montreal's Costco and found amazing French baked goods and a shocking…