So nice, they’ve done it twice Winnipeg restaurants tune up their deep fryers for second annual La Poutine Week By: Erin Lebar Posted: 7:00 PM CST Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019

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This article was published 30/01/2019 (2157 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Grab your stretchiest pants and stock up on those lactose pills, Winnipeg — La Poutine Week is back.

Friday marks the start of the week-long national festival dedicated to celebrating all things fries, curds and gravy. This year, more than 70 Winnipeg restaurants have signed up for the second local edition of the event (by far the most of any other participating city in the country) and have concocted some of the most extravagant poutines you’ll find this side of the St. Lawrence.

You want curry? You got it. How about a chicken leg or an egg on your fries? No problem. The options are almost endless and, mostly, delicious.

So, to help you out as you plan your route for the week, four dedicated Free Press writers ventured out on one of the coldest days of the year to taste a quartet of poutines from restaurants scattered throughout the downtown area. As it turns out, gravy is an excellent insulator.

During their back-to-back-to-back-to-back tastings, poutine enthusiasts Erin Lebar, Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson, Wendy King and Jessica Botelho-Urbanski (who dubbed themselves the “Poutineers”) considered several categories, including fry crispiness, creativity, choice of cheese and gravy style, when judging each offering.

Here’s what they thought, in the order in which they ate them.

 

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Japanese Curry Fried Chicken Poutine

Kyu Bistro (185 Isabel St.)

 Traditional style Japanese curry with mozzarella cheese curds and crispy fried chicken, garlic buttered corn kernels, drizzles of coconut crème on a bed of crisp battered fries. Price: $13

• Fry crispiness: Kyu had a good crisp on the fries, though it was hard to tell if they were actually battered or not. The ones on top held up well, but by the end, the bottom fries are defeated by the moistness of the curry. There were also additional potatoes as part of the curry that initially seemed like overkill but are actually very delicious.

• Gravy style: The Japanese curry has a wonderful flavour; it doesn’t have a ton of heat but made for a stew-like, creamier overall texture. A couple of the tasters found it a touch salty, but agreed it compliments the vegetables in the dish nicely.

• Cheese selection: Mozzarella was a smart choice here; there are so many competing flavours that using a more powerful cheese would have bogged things down. However, there could have been more cheese on the plate.

• Creativity and presentation: Big points on presentation. The dark bowl plays off of the colourful ingredients (carrots, corn, peppers) and the finely sliced seaweed on top is delicate in appearance but big on flavour. The chicken, served in small pieces throughout, is beautifully fried and crispy.

• Overall flavour: Great balance of textures with the crispy chicken, thicker curry and vegetables. The coconut crème gave a surprising hit of heat that was appreciated.

• Tasting notes: “This would easily serve two people. It’s very hearty and comforting, and in that way sort of embodies the feel of eating poutine, even if the flavour profile is very different from the source material. I did feel all the flavours did blend together, which was absolutely delicious, but I couldn’t necessarily taste all the individual elements.” — Lebar

“Wish it had a touch more heat (maybe more coconut crème drizzle, perhaps?), but very hearty… overall great flavours and texture and it’s very filing and satisfying.” — MacPhee-Sigurdson

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Miss Brown’s Mother Clucker Poutine

Miss Brown’s (288 William Ave.)

Straight-cut fries, cheese curd, smoked chicken gravy, topped with a smoked chicken drumstick. Price: $14.50

• Fry crispiness: These fries lucked out with a super thick gravy that doesn’t saturate them, so the bites remain relatively crispy all the way to the bottom of the bowl.

• Gravy style: Smoky, thick and not too salty; well seasoned but a little cold.

• Cheese selection: Classic squeaky curds provide a mild but obvious flavour, and are so large they don’t get overly melted.

Creativity and presentation: This dish is very fun when it hits the table; the smoked drumstick stands tall in the middle of the poutine, which one taster notes looks like a “chicken-leg shrine.” In terms of creativity, Miss Brown’s isn’t going too far outside of the box here (which isn’t a negative thing!), but dang, that drumstick is perfection taste-wise.

• Overall flavour: The first notes are smoke, smoke and more smoke, but digging deeper, there are wonderful hints of paprika, and the addition small pieces of chicken (and crispy chicken skin) in the gravy are clever and super tasty.

• Tasting notes: “This dish smells a bit like waffles (editor’s note: we never did figure out why that is), and the bits of chicken throughout are great.” — King

“The smokiness was too overpowering and made me cough a lot. The squeaky curds are perfect for a poutine purist.” — Botelho-Urbanski

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The Pulled Shawarma Poutine

Shawarma Khan (225 McDermot Ave.)

The Pulled Shawarma Poutine: Shawarma meat marinated in a secret recipe, mixed with in-house gravy on a bed of double-fried seasoned potatoes, sharp cheddar cheese, squeaky cheese curds, onions, crisp pita chips, pickled turnips and garlic sauce. Price: $9.99

• Fry crispiness: Less traditional fries here; instead, it’s diced and fried potatoes with a nice amount of spice, though not a ton of crispiness.

• Gravy style: A hearty, rich, flavourful, dark brown gravy. Additionally, the garlic sauce packs a huge punch and most tasters would have loved a bit more of that on the plate to help balance out the richness of the gravy.

• Cheese selection: The sharp cheddar seems like an odd choice, but it actually works really nicely. It melts right down and has a more typical cheesy stringiness than curds do, and it’s appealing.

• Creativity and presentation: The bright pink pickled turnips and white garlic sauce make for a great visual pop, but otherwise, it looks like lamb meat and gravy in a bowl.

Overall flavour: From each bite to the next, a different palate of flavours seems to pop up. Some are more salty, some are more sweet, some are full-on meaty. There is an overall warmth though, which one taster pegs as clove, that is satisfying.

• Tasting notes: “Lots of meat and not much potatoes. The lamb was a nice change up from the usual poutine proteins; I like the lamb and the onions together very much. This one might be skirting the edge of poutine without fries.” — King

“There’s a lot going on here; garlic, lamb, stringy cheese, tangy turnips. It needs a bit less gravy, and more potatoes. It’s a faint reminder of a breakfast poutine with hashbrowns.” — Botelho-Urbanski 

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Canuck’s Breakfast

The Palm Lounge (222 Broadway, inside the Fort Garry Hotel)

Canuck’s Breakfast: House-cut fries topped with Bothwell cheese curds, house-made gravy, roasted mushrooms, a fried egg and in-house smoked short rib. Price: $16.50

• Fry crispiness: These slim little fries hold up much better than one would assume. Super crispy and, even when soaked in gravy, still have a bit of substance to them.

• Gravy style: Light but flavourful and binds the dish together both in terms of flavour and texture. Gravy is silky, more similar to a reduction rather than a thickened mixture.

• Cheese selection: Beautiful Bothwell curds that have just the right amount of melt.

• Creativity and presentation: This dish seems quite deliberate in its presentation; things were clearly placed and not just thrown into a bowl. The bight yellow yolk of the egg is very enticing, and the entire plate is about as elegant as poutine could ever get.

• Overall flavour: The smoke in the tender short ribs is more subtle here, and the egg/mushroom/meat combo hits all the right notes. The mushrooms are cooked perfectly — sautéed and not at all wet — and this one feels most like a meal.

• Tasting notes: “This is maybe the best egg I have ever eaten? It’s just so buttery and delicious. And if you get a bite with a bit of everything — egg, meat, mushroom, cheese, gravy — it’s just perfection.” — Lebar

“A poutine classic taken to the next level. Amazing!” — MacPhee-Sigurdson

erin.lebar@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @NireRabel