Burger King

The “encouraging” colleagues convinced me to try Burger King as the chain had started a star trek campaign, selling some apparently irresistible glasses. Not knowing their real motive, I thought they were genuinely encouraging me to try BK poutine. I should have known better, but at least I got a blog entry out of it.

Location: 400 Princess St
**the burner of the restaurant was temporarily out of order ,so they could only make deep-fried items. I got a deep-fried tender crisp sandwich, but later another colleague mentioned it could have been one of those “no more whopper” pranks. I didn't make a fuss**

Price: I “upgraded” my value meal, so I have no idea how much a poutine is.

Overall: The fries are just typical burger chain fries but the amount was reasonable. Cheese curds seem like a squeaky kind. The uniqueness of this poutine was the gravy. Overall, I would skip this poutine. Although it is satisfying and the unique gravy is really interesting, if I want good poutine, I would go somewhere else. According to the nutrition chart, this poutine has 740 kCal (with 41 grams of fat)… Holy Sh--moke (cf.,the Tender Crisp Sandwich was 640kCal with 36 grams of fat). Poutine is really lethal.

Fries: Typical burger chain fries. Slim and not satisfying compared to thicker fries. However, being fried in a large frier means the cooking temperature is well controlled and gives a consistent good flavor. Nice crunchy edges, etc. They seemed to be seasoned.

Gravy: Light and very “spicy”. I thought this was the chicken kind but according to the BK nutrition chart, this is vegetable gravy. The spicy punch is probably due to some kind of Worcestershire sauce or something similar to it. Satisfyingly salty. With the seasoned fries, it makes the poutine a bit on the salty side but not sickening.

Cheese: approximately 1.5cm3 good squeaky kind, although they do melt. I felt the squeakiness when I bit into them. This was probably what I liked the most about this poutine. The amount of it is standardized since each serving is prepackaged in a plastic bag.


**** digg it! ****



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The Pita Grill

After a few months hiatus, I’ve enthusiastically returned to reviewing more poutine. Well, once again, my “encouraging” colleagues convinced me that it was about time. I had a high fever this past weekend, so I guess I could use some “real food” rather than sugar water or orange juice (it seems to surprise people when I tell them that I had orange juice for dinner).

The Pita Grill is a Pita sandwich restaurant with the pizzeria style décor inside. I wanted to try their pita but did I have a choice?

Location: 383 Princess Street

Regular: $5.50
Large: $6.50 ($7.35 after tax: Shown here)

Overall: I have to try this poutine again. The fries were disappointing but it could be due to the fact that four people walking into a pita restaurant during the busy lunch hour ordering poutine (see below). I really believe, under better circumstances, this poutine would have been better. While the large poutine is comparable in size to a street vender’s large size, price wise, it could be a bit cheaper.

Fries: Not salted. We walked back to the lab from the restaurant (about 10 minutes or so) so that must be taken into consideration. The fries were a bit on the soggy side overall but the corners were overcooked yet pale. I think this was because they were fried at a relatively low temperature. (OK, 4 people walking into a pita restaurant and order poutines… if the fries were frozen, it will significantly lower the cooking temperature). It would have had a better flavor if the corners had been cooked crunchy and brown. The cooking oil seems to have done a lot of frying, which added some depth to the flavour of the fries. Points off for this.

Gravy: Dark rich beef gravy with some hint of different kinds of spices. Noticeable punch of something like Worcestershire sauce or intense consommé , which could be on the strong side to some people, but I liked the added dimension to the flavor. I could use just a bit more but it was good.

Cheese: A reasonable amount of very melty cubes, whose texture is similar to that of mozzarella. This was neither excellent nor bad.

**** digg it! ****



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