Poutini's

1112 Queen Street West, Toronto - (647) 342-3732

So who would have thought, Toronto is really becoming a poutine town.

We have been a few times to Smoke's Poutinerie (who have now opened a second location right across from Filmore's Strip club on Dundas.

The new kid in town was Poutini's, I read a really positive review in Now Magazine and decided I needed to give it a shot.

So on a Saturday afternoon last summer we headed down Queen St. looking for the place (like many times in past I had no idea what the address was)

We finally found it a few blocks East of Dufferin just doors away from the Drake Hotel.

Staff were friendly, but ordering 3 orders of poutine took nearly 20 minutes.

The fries are really good, but they need a system to not make people wait so long.

The menu was pretty plain, either poutine or a baked potato and drinks.

As mentioned, the 3 of us tried 3 orders of poutine.

Because it was summer, it was crazy hot out, and the restaurant didn't seem to have any air conditioning, so sitting, or rather standing (as there were no seats inside) was not an option.

We took our poutine across the road and sat on the front steps of the Post Office.

There we enjoyed our poutine.

It was fantastic, the gravy was like the old style gravy you find at a real burger shop (as apposed to Smoke's who use a more Montreal style sauce).

The cheese was good too, and very generous.

Cool too that the packaging, even the fork was 100% recyclable.

In all I really enjoyed the poutine, I'd recommend it for sure.

We haven't been back, since it's not in an area we normally go to, but if you are near by, give it a try.

Their website is.

http://www.poutini.com/

Nice Poutine

218 Adelaide Street West
Toronto, ON M5H 1W7

http://smokespoutinerie.com/

Opened a while back, and based on much buzz, as well as some great reviews I decided I wanted....no, NEEDED to check this place out.

Before going, I read several reviews, all agreed the place was great, and a few called the pulled pork used to top the pulled pork poutine the best pulled pork in the city.

When we went the first time it was early afternoon and they did not open until the evening, so we had to skip it that time, but went back within the week.

Walking in I liked the place right away, a guy (turned out was the owner) was sitting by the front on his IMac playing some great 80's heavy metal. (I am a big fan).

Service was very prompt and friendly, I had the traditional poutine (just fries, gravy and cheese curd) just to try the poutine at its purest.

Smoke's did tempt me with the dozens and dozens of toppings you could add to your poutine(hot dogs, bacon, curry, the above mentioned pulled pork) but I thought for my first visit I just wanted to try the most basic.

I got my order and was a little worried, I thought the box it came in looked small, but in the end I could hardly finish what I had, so any more would have been a waste.

As for the poutine, the fries were perfect, they were cooked to the perfect consistency.

The cheese curds used were fantastic too, very squeaky and firm.

My only issue was with the gravy, or the sauce.

I am a really big fan of regular gravy, but Smokes has gone for more of a Quebec style sauce for their poutine (which really is more authentic).

Rather than the regular gravy that I know and love, they make their own sauce using chicken and beef stock along with a wine reduction.

Really it is a great sauce, I just was expecting a regular gravy.

As mentioned above, the box I thought was small filled me right up, and after a few mouthfuls I really began enjoying the gravy.

So in the end, while I do prefer regular gravy, the sauce used in Smoke's Poutine separates them from the rest.

I will be back for sure.