Update

While I haven't updated this blog for a long time, I have still been testing poutine in Kingston. Particularly the top ranked poutine for quality consistency. And I have a few updates based on my observations

Small Fries:
This is one of my favorite poutine in Kingston, because of its generous serving size and unique hamburger meat gravy. This chip wagon prepares sandwiches and hotdogs and conveniently located right on the Queen's University campus. For that, many students and staff rush to this small truck for their lunch. However, when orders start to overwhelm the small kitchen in the truck, the quality of the fries significantly goes down. This is due to 1) the lowered oil temperature and 2) inconsistent cooking time -- sometimes, the fries are over fried, sometimes undercooked. So, my colleagues and I now avoid the lunch time rush when we get a poutine from this truck. Because the quality of fries can be inconsistent, I've had to reconsider my rankings.

Bubba's (downtown):
Although their gravy tends to be on the salty side, the fries are always good. I have had this poutine on several occasions and each and every time they have been good.

So, as Bubba's poutine has been consistently good I have to rank them above Small Fries. Bubba's poutine is my #1 favorite pouting in Kingston.

Congrats Bubba's!

**** digg it! ****

Olivea

I have not updated this blog for a long time. But my “encouraging” colleagues reminded me that I should keep reviewing poutine in Kingston so that I can maintain this important “community service.” I wasn’t sure where to go next but a few people commented about this fancy restaurant Olivea, so I decided to give it a try.

Olivea is a restaurant with comtemporary décor that gives you nice mellow and jazzy feel. The service was pretty friendly and the overall experience was pleasant.

Their poutine is described as “Frites with rich veal cheek ragout and local cheese curds,” and they have two sizes.

Large: $15
Small: $10 (shown here)

Overall: This was a very different poutine than the traditional Montreal style. It had a lot of great flavors and textures. The presentation was very nice with some fresh parsley. Even though I had a small poutine, the serving size was larger than I thought. However, the overall “richness” can quickly become overwhelming. I liked it but I’d rather have the veal gravy with mashed potatoes, as a savory main dish.

Fries: Very thin fries. While similar in size to those at MacDonald’s, the quality of the fries is much better. The fries were fried very well. They were all deep brown with a delicious flavor. However, because they were thin and well cooked, they were on the oily side.

Gravy: “rich veal cheek ragout” was indeed really rich and VERY meaty. The veal was cut into small pieces and stewed resulting in meat that is very tender and almost melts in your mouth. This was not a typical “gravy” by any measurement. While the texture is very thin, it has an awesome flavor of red wine and veal fat. The amount was just enough to cover the fries. However, some may prefer a thicker gravy that better coats the fries than this more juicy sauce. Unfortunately, because both the gravy and the fries are so rich, it can be overpowering.

Cheese: very melty. It seems that the cheese was all in the middle layer. It did not have chewiness or squeaky feels to it but at least it was fresh local cheese. The amount was good enough. Once again, this dish was already rich, thus, if it had had more cheese, it would have been just too much to enjoy.


**** digg it! ****


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Merchant Tap House

A friend of mine and I were walking around downtown, and decided to have some beer. Merchant tap house (or simply known as Merchant) is a large pub restaurant with 25 beer on tap. They often have live music going on, and it gets really crowded on the weekends. The first thing I checked on their menu was poutine, of course.

Location: 6 Princess St.

Price: $7 (ish)

Overall: This poutine was presented very well. With scallions, pale yellow and orange melty cheese, and some bacon pieces, it just looked so irresistibly appetizing. Overall it was well balanced and satisfying. This may not be a classic poutine but it was nicely done. Although this is a pricier poutine, you should probably check this one out.

Fries: Typical size (thickness wise) and fried well, leaving flavorful crunch yet nice and fluffy inside. Seasoned lightly or possibly not seasoned.

Gravy: Dark beef gravy and a good amount was poured evenly over the fries. Pleasantly salty and it really went well with my Guinness.

Cheese: Shredded cheddar or something similar. Pale yellow and orange were mixed, so it could have been shredded "marble" cheese. Of course, I would have preferred real cheese curds. However, it added a good visual effect along with the chopped scallions and bacon pieces (about 1 inch square) sprinkled all over the poutine.


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Iron Duke

My colleague's wife defended her Ph.D. thesis last week, and we all went out to celebrate the occasion. Iron Duke is a very nice bar with mellow decor and is a lot cleaner when compared to other bars. Their food, I hear, is reasonably good... EXCEPT for their poutine. I have heard about their notorious poutine from time to time and I needed to try it to see how bad it is.

Location: 207 Wellington Street

Price: Poutine was not in the menu. I had to ask them if they had it. The waitress replied, "sure, we can do it for you"... According to the receipt, it was an a la carte.

Fries: 3.00
Gravy: 1.50
Cheddar cheese: 0.63

Adding up 5.13 (before tax)

Overall: This poutine, you can definitely skip. The fries were good but nothing else really stood out to mention. The amount was just OK but I found it it was a bit disappointing. With Bubba's poutine within a few blocks away, there is no earthly reason why you have to try this poutine. SKIP IT.

Fries: Good thick fries with skin on them. This was the only good thing about this poutine. They were fried nicely and the flavor was good enough to stimulate your appetite.

Gravy: Semi-dark, and it was a bit on the runny (thin) side, which is ok. However, the amount was on the skimpy side. It was not quite enough to coat all the fries. This had an intense consommé flavor. I didn't mind it but I think a lot of people might find it a bit too overpowering.

Cheese: As the receipt said, it was cheddar (pale, not the yellow kind). Again, there was not enough of it. When I started eating it, I thought the had forgotten to put cheese on my poutine. VERY disappointing.


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A&W @ YVR

I was in Portland Oregon for a conference (You should visit. It’s a clean and neat city) and was telling my friend Mr. S all about poutine while I was there. After a week in the States, something I had never expected happened, I had a huge craving for poutine. After being tormented at the Canadian immigration at Vancouver airport, my craving was just about to burst, and I was going through a dangerous withdrawal (With the withdrawal and jetlag, I was acting like a junkie… no wonder the immigration gave me a hard time). Luckily, I found an A&W at the airport food court. I ordered a meal and replaced the fries with a small poutine in order to ease my pain.

Location: Vancouver International Airport, Domestic Terminal, Departure level 3

Price: I don’t know how much I paid to “upgrade” the meal. Addicts don’t care how much they have to pay. We pay whatever to get what we want.

Overall: This is the second “fast food” poutine I had (BK is the other one). I definitely prefer this poutine to BK’s poutine. It was satisfying and everything was well-balanced. This might have been because I was going through a poutine withdrawal so it could have skewed my evaluation positively. By the way, I had to have their root beer (which I always thought tastes like toothpaste).

Fries: Typical fast food fries - very long and thin. However, they were cooked nicely. Crunchy edges and its texture were very appetizing. They were seasoned lightly with good flavor. But again, I prefer thick-cut fries to thin long ones.

Gravy: Light chicken type of gravy. It was very thick. The taste was satisfying with the strong consommé type flavor (if I remember correctly). Reasonably salty which was also satisfying. The combination of the gravy with the fries was just so good. The amount of gravy was a bit on the skimpy side.

Cheese: Semi-squeeky curds. The amount was good but I am sure it was pre-packaged for each serving. The biggest piece was about 1 cm3, so they weren’t terribly big. Nothing stood out to mention.


**** digg it! ****


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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.


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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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