The Challengers:

• Leopold’s Tavern
• Coney Island Café
• Flip Eatery and Drink

Poutine. The great, dark abyss of gravy and gluttony. I need to start this by saying that I am certainly no authority on this wonderful bit of Canadiana. The three specialty poutines I sampled would probably leave poutine purists waving their baguettes in anger. All three of them include so much more than the traditional frites, gravy and cheese curds. With these three poutines we’re dealing with pulled pork, perogies, onions, sour cream, and spare ribs. And though I absolutely adore a tasty traditional poutine, I wanted to know what the best specialty poutine in this beautiful non-quebecois city happened to be. And I think that I have found some great competitors.

CHALLENGER #1: LEOPOLD’S TAVERN

I am so happy that Leopold’s opened up, and I just love seeing a full tavern night after night glowing from the curb off Albert Street. For some reason too, I always seem to have a good time when I go (despite often not being able to find a seat!). With that, I was excited to try a poutine from their menu that, for the most part, I had been fairly impressed with so far.

For a Sunday afternoon at around 4 PM, the place was absolutely HOPPIN’ for one reason or another. Despite a full-to-the-brim bar, the music was blaring, which resulted in me and my eating partner having to yell across the table for the entirety of the meal. This didn’t impact the meal at all, but it certainly did affect my eating experience a bit. Anyways, not that big of a deal.

I asked our absolute gem of a server (I have had such great experience with servers here!) what the best poutine on the menu was, to which she suggested the pulled pork poutine. Done.

And it arrived. The towering, brown mountain of cardiac-emergency-inducing deliciousness was placed in front of me. The gravy was thick and dark, and the fries were thin with some skins left on. The smell was meaty. The music was deafening. The rain was pouring. And I dug in.

The poutine, well, mostly the pulled pork had a very dark, intense flavour. And there was a lot of pulled pork. Though I enjoyed the pork, it really was the star of the show rather than the frites, curds or gravy. It had almost no hint of sweetness, which I would traditionally associate with pulled pork, but instead it was smoky and salty. The flavour punches you in the face. Very campfire-y. Amy, my eating companion (and regular life companion too) stated that the dish “tasted like man”.

Overall, it seemed to me a tad less poutine-y and a bit more like a pulled pork dish on top of fries and gravy. With that being said, it was still tasty and I would be happy to try their other poutines they have on their menu. And since summer is here, I don’t imagine it will take me long to return.

CHALLENGER #2: CONEY ISLAND CAFÉ

Regina’s first poutinery has big expectations to live up to. Here in the ol’ breadbasket of the world, us Reginans never had many options when it has come to poutine. So when I saw that giant sign near my place that touted “REGINA’S FIRST POUNTINERY” (yes, mis-spelling and all), I was excited.

Walking in for the first time last fall, the place was dead. It had just opened and it was yet to make a name for itself. Now, especially on a nice summer night, the place is jam packed with poutine and milkshake lovers alike. Looking up at the chalkboard one sees many different types of poutine – from traditional poutine to honey garlic rib. However, the good ¼ Ukranian I am, I felt particularly drawn to one type of poutine which had previously gotten some rave reviews… the perogie poutine. Soon enough I was holding onto my heavy styrofoam container full of my tasty treat.

The gravy was a bit more traditional to Leopold’s – and I thought that it tasted A-OK. I have no idea what kind of gravy it is, because what am I, a REAL food reviewer? While the Leo’s gravy was thick and smoky, this was thinner and slightly sweet. The cheese curds were alright – they started out harder but melted as the meal went on – just the way I like it. On top of the bed of fries lay perogies, bacon, onion and sour cream. I was so into the bacon inclusion – it added a nice salty bite to the meal. The onions, my kryptonite (in a good way… good kryptonite?) were crunchily lovely and the sour-sweetness of the sour cream helped balance the dish as a whole. Overall, the whole thing had an oniony flavour to it, which again, I thought was great. Traditional poutine is certainly is not, but it was satisfying on many different levels.

The fries were nice – they didn’t disintegrate into a soggy mess immediately, but instead they kept a bit of a crunch to them for a surprisingly long time. Along with the Leo’s poutine, it was less of a poutine but rather a perogie meal with fries and gravy, but it was delicious, and therefore it garners my love.

CHALLENGER #3: FLIP EATERY AND DRINK

Ahhhh Flip. Another place that I was very happy to see open up a few years back, and since then it has become a frequent watering hole. And with Victoria’s Tavern opening up across the street, I am stoked to see Hamilton Street become a food and drink hotspot in the city.

The first dish I tried (against my will) was their vegetarian poutine. I was incredibly surprised as what I thought would be a mediocre dish was actually surprisingly amazing. Like, seriously tasty. I initially wrote it off as the “second-thought veg option” on the menu. How wrong I was. It was an absolutely delicious mix of mild and spicy veggies, topped with a delicious queso cheese sauce. It was creamy, crunchy, and oh so good.

However, I am not including it in this challenge.

I am already pushing the envelope with some of these poutines. I’m surprised I haven’t already been murdered by a beret-wearing assassin – but they all hold true the same idea… gravy, fries and cheese curds. This one, though unbelievably delicious, crossed the line when switching out the gravy for a queso. However, I would recommend everyone reading this to giv’er a try. It’s super great.

So with that all aside, I next in line to try is the Spare Rib Poutine. On a drizzly afternoon my eating companions and I rolled in to give it a try. I had previously heard great things about this poutine… and I wasn’t disappointed.

The spare ribs were absolutely mouth-melty. They had a hit of sourness to them, which, similar to the sour cream in the perogie poutine, was lovely to cut through the overall saltiness and meatiness of the dish – though it wasn’t overly salty at all. The fries were crispy and wonderful (I have a real soft spot for Flip’s fries), and they held up well to the gravy, cheese and meat. The gravy itself was quite nontraditional. I had heard that they make vegetarian gravy (though for all I know this may not be true… I’m not a very trustworthy reviewer), and it was almost like a saucy puree. However, it wasn’t too smoky – but it rather had a hearty flavour to it. The cheese curds were lovely, hitting a great fry/gravy/cheese ratio which makes me happy. Overall, this was a very satisfying (and large!) dish which I would certainly order again.

So with all of these wonderful poutines being sampled, this is a very hard decision to come to. All poutines had their own individual merits. The Leo’s poutine was hearty and full of intense flavour. The Coney Island poutine was unique and satisfying to my love for ukranian cuisine. The Flip poutine covered all bases with finesse and flavour. And with that, I think I will have to give the edge to our friends at: FLIP EATERY AND DRINK.

Thanks for reading, everyone!

*** In the making of this Stuffmouth I had the lovely opportunity to meet some of the fantastic owners of Flip – Chef Dave Straub and Jackie Straub. It didn’t effect my overall decision, but I can say that these people truly put some serious passion into their food and restaurant.

P.S. Three asterisks (***) in a row is called a dinkus. FYI.