To be more accurate, ‘You’re Poutine Me On A DIET’ after a week in Canada, and several encounters with that delectable dish…Poutine. Us Yankees would know it as ‘Fries with Gravy’… and not Sunday gravy, I’m talking all kinds of brown gravy.
We tried the entire gamut of poutine from fast food to gourmet restaurant fare. I must say, we didn’t come across a serving we didn’t completely demolish, but there were definitely some stand outs, and some surprises.
- Most unusual location: BC Place, home to the BC Lions of the CFL and the Vancouver White Caps of the MLS. We went for the Lions vs. Alloettes and the poutine was way better than the game. Not only was it great, but the menu of choices put US stadium fair I’ve come across on warning…Step up your game! We went with the short rib poutine. Yes you read that right SHORT RIB Poutine. It was fantastic… I can’t remember the game…
- Fast Food: From the LA based chain Fat Burger to A&W most fast food joints have poutine. @Fatburgercanada was good, but the poutine @TripleOs was fast food magic. We need further testing to see if poutine tastes better while driving???
- Poutine Palace: Frenchies Diner at Broadway and Main in Vancouver is a poutine gem. The Montreal Smoked Meat sent great aromas around the joint, but we were there for our fix…classic poutine. We were not disappointed!
- Gourmet Poutine: We stumbled upon this version while in the Yaletown hood in Vancouver. The Wild Tale Coastal Grill (@wildtalevan) had just the relaxed atmosphere we were looking for and a surprise. Lobster Poutine!! They served it as the surf part of their surf and turf and holy sh%$ was it great. Do you Robert take this……I Do
- State Side: When we crossed the border we stopped in Bellingham WA. at Aslan Brewery (@aslanbrewing) and found a mushroom based poutine on waffle fries that held up….almost to the Canadian versions. More poutine is what they need to work on. Fries should be swimming in it!
Let me say that if you have never tried poutine, get off your ass and make it yourself or talk your local diner into pouring gravy over your next order of fries. Also think about making extra gravy from now on and have the key ingredient to great poutine at hand for your next craving!
Check out more on Poutine on our Cooking Vamp this week HERE.
