Washington Post: Poutine

The Washington Post's Plate Lab takes a look at poutine. Check out the link here.
On the link, there's also a nifty little video about one chef's version called Catalan poutine. Cool.

Vert Forchette

In beautiful downtown Vankleek Hill, Ontario is a charming little bistro called Vert Forchette. They have a great menu, full of all sort of yummy things but the three of us decided to try three of their poutines...

 I tried the Mexican poutine: Chili seasoned chicken, Pico de Gallo, avocado, St-Albert curds (the best!) and sour cream.

 Our Toronto visitor tried the pulled pork poutine. It was terrific. Pulled pork on curds and fries with a little coleslaw on top.

My adventuresome boyfriend tried the Mediterranean poutine. Dry cured sausage, sundried tomatoes, capers, olives, onions, tomatoes and local feta cheese (from Skoditakis farms, just down the road).

We all loved our poutine!! I think my favourite was the pulled pork poutine. It really rocked. But all in all, we loved our fancy poutines!

Vert Forchette, 117 Main St. E., Vankleek Hill, ON K0B 1R0
Phone: 613-678-3984

BBC: How Quebecois came to love poutine

BBC's website shares their view of why poutine is so popular. To read the entire article, click here.

Poutineville opens in Toronto

Imagine. All you can eat poutine? Too much of a good thing me thinks. Still, if you want to read more, here's the link to that Huffington Post Canada article. Click here.
To read about Poutineville in TO's blog click here.

Family Corner Restaurant

A review from Jen in Prescott. Thanks for this great review Jen! I'll have to give this a try!

Last week hubby and I tried out the butter chicken Poutine at the Family Corner Restaurant in Cornwall. French Canadian comfort food meets Indian comfort food. 

The creamy heat of butter chicken on a bed of warm and crisp fries with cheese to ease the heat rounded out the dish.

It was very hard to tell if real curds were used as they were covered with sauce but they were satisfyingly stringy and the whole thing worked quite well. 

We finished the dish and the large was perfect for two people to share. 

I give it four out of five possible curds as I wished the chicken was real roast chicken and I couldn't be certain if real curds were used. Yup, we would do it again!

You should know however that there is no Indian food served on Mondays. The chef's day off.

The Family Corner Restaurant, 900 Pitt St., Cornwall, ON K6H 6R3

Phone: 613-937-3573

Montreal Poutine

A review from Alisha who was visiting Montreal. Thanks Alisha!

The poutine was delish. The French fries were fresh cut and fried to crispy perfection...the gravy was okay but not hot enough...the cheese curds were really, really good.

Hmmm...sounds to me like a four out of a possible five curds...losing a point for coolish gravy. But having the poutine as a side to the hot dog was a fab idea! Montreal steamie and a poutine. You can't miss!

Montreal Poutine, 161 rue St. Paul E., Montreal, QC H2Y 1G8
Phone: 514-656-0935
Website: montrealpoutine.ca/site/

Perogie poutine at Beau's Oktoberfest

Oh yeah baby! There we were in Vankleek Hill at Beau's Oktoberfest and with the myriad of food offerings, we HAD TO try the Barley Mow's perogie poutine.

The perogies could have been hotter but the combo of cheesy perogies, curds and gravy really worked well. Adding caramelized onions and bacon? Fabulous! Hard to rate on my curd scale because it's so exotic and hard to compare with a run-of-the-mill poutine but...we gave it a 4 out of 5 possible curds. Maybe a 4.5 because of the addition of extra-crisp bacon.

American wins Canadian poutine-eating championship

To read the whole article, click here.

Hole-E Burger Bar

This poutine review comes from a faithful follower, Sarah. Thanks for the heads up Sarah!

Steve and I recently tried out Hole-E Burger Bar in our neighbourhood (East York), and added a a side of poutine to our burgers and beers.

The fries were crisp and well-cooked, and there were lots of authentic cheese curds. The gravy was really thick, almost too much so, and had a very intense, heavy beef flavour. I felt like it overpowered the curds and fries. My rating: 3.5 out of a possible 5 curd rating.

On a side note: the burger bar had fun decor, and the manager/owner was extremely friendly. We'll be returning!

Hole-E Burger Bar, 1050 Coxwell Ave, Toronto, ON M4X 3G5

Tel. 647-349-9200

Website: www.holeeburger.com

Ramen poutine?

To read more about this fabulous looking concoction, click here: FoodBeast

Map: Poutine made with St. Albert curds

This clever map helps one to discover where you can find poutine made with St. Albert curds.
Looks like most of the places are in Quebec. St. Albert makes fabulous curds, very squeaky and perfect on poutine. To read more about cheese made by St. Albert, go to their website: fromagestalbert.com/

Bonita's Cantina

 At the Williamstown Fair this weekend we came across Bonita's Cantina...

 ...a Mexican food truck that travels from fair to fair.

 They had a nice menu but we just had to try the Mexican poutine.

 Love the t-shirt!

The poutine was "topped with slow cooked shredded pork, chipotle gravy and caramelized onions." Not for poutine purists but seriously, it was terrific. Best fries I've had in a long time. They had their skins on and were crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. The gravy had a real bite to it. Great onions. The whole thing was totally delicious. The only place where they might have lost a point was not using curds, but shredded cheese instead. But...they gained a point by using biodegradable bowls (cardboardy type things) instead of styrofoam.

I give them a five out of a possible five curds. Loved this poutine!

Here's a link to their website: bonitascantina.com

Restaurant Elisanne

 The other day we decided to head over to St. Isidore and try Restaurant Elisanne.

Inside it's really nice, bright and clean offering a full menu including pizzas and burgers.

But we were there to try the poutine! We ordered a large one to share.

 It was really very large and hot and dripping with goodness.

We split the large platter and it was plenty of food for lunch. The fries were very well done, just the way I like them. Real curds. Very hot, tasty gravy. Overall, very good poutine. Four and a half curds out of a possible five. Yummy!

Restaurant Elisanne, 4530 Ste Catherine, St. Isidore, ON K0C 2B0
Phone: 613-524-1113

Big Cheese Poutinerie

Poutine goes big in Chicago. Read the Huffington Post's story here.

La Patate du Coin

 It was the first really warm day of spring and we decided to celebrate...

 ...time to have our first poutine of the year, eaten in the great outdoors.

 We stopped in on our way to a sculpture show...and were surprised to see brochures advertising our destination...with all the condiments!

 We decided to share a medium poutine. It was absolutely fabulous!

 Hot gravy, not too salty. Squeeky, fresh curds. Well cooked and yummy fries. A definite 5 out of 5 curds. Just a delightful poutine!

They had a wonderful spot to eat with several clean picnic tables and even a grackle or two looking for a handout. Well done La Patate du Coin!

La Patate du Coin, 1299 Labrosse, St-Eugene, Ontario K0B 1P0
Phone: 613-674-1616

Jimmy Fallon eating poutine!

Saw this on my Facebook feed today. Apparently Mr. Fallon is a Rangers fan...but as a nod to the Canadiens, is having a poutine? Hmmm. Go Habs Go!

Willy's Wagon

Thanks to ace reporter Scott for his review from Almonte, Ontario.

Tucked away, just off the corner of Ottawa and Martin streets, you’ll enjoy tucking in to a serving of their poutine – a mound of golden brown fries, lathered in delicious gravy, and complemented by a generous sprinkling of curd – of course – throughout.

   It’s definitely deserving of a five-curd rating (no, I’m not being too laudatory, trust me).

   And if you don’t believe me, check out the look on the face of Rhea, seen here with Scott as they sample a family-sized order.

   Rhea’s mom, and Scott’s girlfriend, Sherly, who snapped this pic and whose idea it was to visit Willy’s during a Victoria Day excursion to Almonte, is absent from the image but, according to Scott, deserves a five-curd rating of her own for suggesting the lunch-time stopover. Rhea was very impressed with the poutine, particularly its mouth-watering gravy – nary a drop of which remained once the towels, or serviettes, were thrown in – which she eagerly scooped out with her fingers as the fries and curd quickly disappeared.

Willy's Wagon, 23 Martin St. N., Almonte, ON K0A 1A0

Phone: 613-253-6830

Poutine: Rich in Fibre?

Who knew? (Seen in Montreal by Natalie Rowe. Thanks for the heads up Nat!)

Huffington Post Poutine

From the Huffington Post: Click HERE for the link.

Big Russ' Chipstand

A new local place for poutine. Can't wait to go try it. Their poutine looks terrific! 

Here's the e-mail I got:

We are located in St.Regis, Quebec on the Akwesasne Reserve. You have to go through American Customs and head towards the casino and turn left at traffic light in Hogansburg, NY. Head 2 miles down into St.Regis/there is no customs to go through and you're back in Quebec. I've been open for 2 years in June 2014.

My potatoes are from Quebec and my curds are made in NY and I've found them better than St. Albert's curds.Check out my FB page Big Russ' Chipstand or friend request me Russell King if you have Facebook. I have been to chipstands,restaurants and tried poutines everywhere around me like Cornwall, Alexandria Ottawa Montreal and think my poutine rates up there!! Thank you for taking time to read this and hopefully I can get me on the map 

Big Russ Chipstand, 71 Angus Thomas Street, St. Regis, Quebec
Tel: 613-575-2857 
Email: King.russell@hotmail.com

Grandma's Kitchen

A friend and I went out to try Grandma's Kitchen which opened recently in Alexandria, Ontario. She ordered a side of poutine and it was pretty darn good. Hot gravy, crispy fries and nice, fresh curds. Rating? Likely a 4 out of 5. Nicely done, Grandma!

Grandma's Kitchen 79 Main St. N., Alexandria, ON
Tel: 613-525-4949

OddSeoul

Thanks to Sarah for a review of our first ever SQUASH poutine!

OddSeoul is a hole in the wall in downtown Toronto. We'd walked past is many times without noticing it. Great post-bar eats, all of its dishes are in snack portions, great for sharing. Seems to have a Korean/Asian influence, as per the name.
The poutine was very fresh tasting, surprisingly! The gravy was light and it was topped with green onions, tomatoes, cilantro and ginger, I believe. So it was a sort of Spanish take on poutine. Very unusual. Most unusual? Instead of fries they used squash which was cut into bite-sized pieces and was soft and flavourful. Loved it!!

OddSeoul, 90 Ossington, Toronto, ON M6J 2Y7

No website but click HERE for a review in Toronto Life.

As if...

Trader Joe's Poutine!

I guess you know poutine has really made it when Trader Joe's, the amazing American grocery store, makes poutine. Frozen poutine! My cousin who lives in  the city of angels sent me this image and said, "Mediocre; the curds were too squeaky." I myself love a good squeaky curd, so I'll just have to head south and try it myself. If anyone else has give this a try, please leave a comment and lemme know.

Poutine-flavoured potato chips

 President's Choice has come out with poutine flavoured chips.

 We figured we'd have to give them a try.

 Not sure they were "mouth watering." They were pretty good...

...but after much discussion we felt that these chips were no match for the real thing.

However...kudos for giving it a go, President's Choice!

Swedish Chef Makes Poutine

Best Folk Art in Town! Poutine? Not so much...

 On a recent trip to Muskoka, ON, we decided to stop at a chip truck in Huntsville
and try their poutine.

 The big temptation was the folk art. 

 All her own paintings of the food she was cooking up in her little hut.

How could we resist  this? With real curd!

 Unfortunately, the poutine was just not as good as the painting. No curds but shredded cheese instead. Crispy fries. Okay gravy. Extra point for using recyclable container but not a huge winner taste wise. About a two out of a possible five curds.
But...I LOVED the folk art!