Comments

1
I live about a couple blocks from Banquise. You've inspired me to put my vegetables back in the crisper and have a really really terrible (re: delicious) dinner instead.
2
Vegetarian puotine?!!? That's an abomination to end all abominations.
3
Can't even get a good cheesesteak here, and that doesn't require the chef to have a passport.
4
the poutine at captain blacks is top notch!
5
Gainsbourg has some dynamite poutine and Skillet's is not terrible.
6
Well now, @4, I do believe Megan's organized her some Slog Happy at Captain Blacks, so the fact she is having to post this up suggests she may disagree with ya about what top notch poutine is.
7
What is that, nachos with fries instead of tortilla chips?
8
When I took my students of French to Canada for the Olympics last year, Poutine was the first thing I made them try. We even made it for our final cooking exam. They were hooked! That plate makes my pico de gallo lunch look sad.
9
@7 Fries instead of tortilla chips, gravy instead of salsa, cheese curds instead of melted cheddar...

Yeah, I think we can start calling it Canadian Nachos
10
The food from afar that I miss the most is sheepmilk yogurt. With all the foodie fads here when is someone going to sell that here. I am going to NY and that will be the first thing I eat when I get there and the last when I leave.
11
Both of those look like "oh, my god, I shouldn't have eaten that" misery afterwards.
12
@10, try Central Market. I saw some there just this week. Can't remember if it was from New Zealand or Finland, but I'm sure it was sheep's milk.
13
What flavor is that soda?
14
Steelhead Diner yo.
15
@13, the soda is grape.
16
Ditto @14 - great poutine using Beecher's cheese curds.

Also, Smith used to have a poutine using a turkey gravy that was a little on the fancy-schmancy side, but not bad.
17

And steak salads?

18
14, yes, Steelhead Diner, though it's via Terresa's Australian roots ("chips & gravy") rather than Montreal.

Thing is, Megan, poutine is not so much a question of latitude (Montreal is actually south of Seattle) as it is its location on a chilly riverfront. Kennebec potatoes help. But above all it's the tradition of eating poutine that produces poutine specialists and poutine connoisseurs.
19
Ew.
20
Never heard of poutine before.
21
The vegetarian options looks totally better here for once.
22
Smith. Used to get the poutine there all the time before I moved back to PDX.
23
Where, I might add, there is NO GOOD POUTINE. Other than rumors that Clyde Common had it (with foie gras on top), there are no good poutine options in Stumptown. You beat us by a mile, Seattle.
24
@13 & @15 It is cream soda, actually.

I will have to investigate at Steelhead. Do they have vegetarian versions? Skillet does not (or didn't when I visited.)
25
@23, what about Potato Champion? I'm no connoisseur, but their poutine has always hit the spot for me.
26
Why doesn't (region #1) have (specialty of region #2)?????????????
27
Seattle doesn't have good poutine because poutine is street food and Seattle simply doesn't know how to do, or support, real street food.

Yes we have what we call street food, but it pales in comparison to what's available in other cities. Even Portland.

Maybe it's because we don't air our strife at each other.

For the record, The Night Kitchen has pretty good poutine and Hattie's Hat has a version, fries, mashed potatoes, and cheese, that while not really poutine, does hit some of the same chords.
28
Megan: before you leave, go to Patati Patata at Saint-Laurent and Rachel. It is cheap and it is paradise. You'll understand when you get there.
29
If I were in Canada I'd apply for political asylum and refuse to come back.
30
There is an obvious connection between willingness to eat poutine and the knowledge that your health care is paid for.
31
@30 Hah! Yeah, is it irony posting weekend? A poutine review, a cheeseburger review, and a battle of the bulge post that has almost 900 comments so far...

Also, remember, the places in Canada that have the best poutine also require that you wear black dress socks with your sandals, FYI.
32
Are we avoiding the Poutine at Highline then? Pretty sure it meets the vegetarian standard...and it's not bad either.
33
@31: And your Canadian tuxedo, Canuck?

Wow, that looks revolting though.

34
they recently started selling it at Mulladeys pub in Magnolia, on Dravus and 21st ave w. Cheese curds made in house too. not bad, first time I ever tried it, worth a shot
35
Josh's poutine at Unicorn wasn't half bad.
36
Okay, so I've never had Poutine in Montreal, but... on Bainbridge try the Eagle Harbor Public House (or The Pub as it is know here.) It's been on the menu for over a year, always a good sign. And to miss the bagels in Montreal would be a crime. They are the best in the world.
37
Looks like heart attack on a plate.
38
@33 Oh Feral, of course not! The sock-n-sandal combo is only ever worn with shorts:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3289/3037…
Although they're usually quite a bit shorter.

The Canadian tuxedo (I'm assuming you're thinking of the jean jacket + jeans duo?) is more the province of mullet wearing men who have "eye of the tiger" on their iPods.

For a correct application of shorts and sandals on the male of the species, see this:
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9G…
39
Click on the "chow" tag and it's half posts about hamburgers, donuts, french fries covered in gravy and cream, pies, and buffalo wings... And half posts making fun of people who eat junk food.

Don't you guys have any cognitive dissonance? Isn't promoting only crap food being part of the problem?
40
@32 I had the poutine at Squid and Ink and it didn't cut it. I assume Highline has the same thing, although their sandwich and soup offerings are quite delicious.

What is pictured here looks amazing and I want some immediately. LOL.
41
The Library Bistro, downtown! Just brilliant.
42
Quinn's, Steelhead Diner and Skillet all have great variations of poutine. Plus, Uneeda Burger's waffle fry poutine is damn good.
43
Oh, the soda in the picture is "Cream Soda." It's not like the Cream Soda that A&W makes, it tastes like cotton candy. I tried it up in Vancouver once and gagged. Fanta and Crush sell it up North.
44
@38:Those look like knee-high stockings!? Fashion truly is its own bizarro universe. Instead of trying to make poor schlubs like me look more presentable, they pour all their energies into making gorgeous models look absolutely ludicrous. This is so true, though: http://www.theonion.com/articles/heteros…
45
@44 Oi! It's a calf tattoo, not a knee high!

And do I know from hetero men...I live with one. That Onion picture does not lie, why are they drawn to that particular sky blue shade of denim, with an 18 inch rise, no less?

Okay, Feral. Go to a Buffalo store. Grab a salesperson, have them find you some jeans, and when you come out of the change room, ask, "Do these make my ass look good?" If your ass looks good in a pair of jeans, the rest is gravy. (...not poutine gravy...) Branch out into V-neck T-shirts, the Gap has them. Don't wear shoes that say "Rockport" on the outside, or "Vibram" on the soles. I know you were probably being rhetorical, but I just feel very strongly about this, can you tell??? (Mr. Canuck ignores me, so feel free to do the same... :(
46
I've read about this, never tried it. Can I get a proper pronuciation so I don't sound like an idiot?
47
@46

"POOH teen"
48
@36 - Island Girl - Just caught up on the posts and my office is just a brisk walk away from The Pub so I'll try there (but still don't want to sound like an idiot!)
49
@47 - Ah - Winnie gets acne, got it!
51
best poutine ever: Au Pied Du Cochon in Old Montreal. Duck fat fries, huge cheese curds, duck gravy, and fucking fois gras.
52
Damn. Sargon beat me to it.
53
What are you doing in Montreal, Megan?

Gourmet poutine is the rage in Toronto right now. I can think of six poutineries that have opened in the last couple of years.
54
Just what are cheese curds? Cottage cheese?
55
@54 No, not cottage cheese, not that creamy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheese_curd
56
Beecher's makes wonderful handmade cheese curds so you can make your own poutine!
57
also: all the places that make poutine use beecher's curds!
58
Fnarf, I have looked at central market for sheep milk yogurt and failed. I'll look again. You will now be either my best friend or my biggest dissapointment.
59
i feel like you should only be able to eat food like this if you have tracked it through the forest for hours and sprung upon it with a spear.

....that or drove your fat ass to restaurant, chowed down and followed it up with a quick drive home and nap

either/or....whatever, it all works, same difference
61
I'lll make good poutine, all over your back.
62
I've had more than one person from Montréal tell me that even the regular poutine is basically vegetarian, as there isn't anything remotely resembling meat in the gravy powder (the gourmet places may do it differently but the old school gravy is made from a powdered mix). We here in Vancouver really only got half decent poutine in the last decade, so maybe it will migrate down to Seattle one day. Can you please send up a couple of taco trucks in return?
63
Because the food cart laws are very dumb in Seattle. Same reason why hot dogs cost $6.
64
This is part II of 'Hello, I am fat'. Ugh.
65
Q: How does a Canadian spell "Canada"?

A: C, eh? N, eh? D, eh?

God I love that joke.
66
Smith's poutine isn't half bad.
67
I'm with @25: The poutine at Potato Champion in Portland was seriously delicious. Wonderful spice in the gravy and on the fries.
68
AGREED 25/67. drunk as fuck . poutine @ potato champion. amazing.
69
I wish I could try some of that poutine pictured. Especially the veggie version. Also one should try a Japa Dog (Japanese style Hotdog in many different varieties) in Vancouver B.C.

http://www.japadog.com/menu/index.html
70
@46 and 47 it's actually closer to poo-TIN than poo-teen, but either are acceptable.

Poutine is the food of the gods, but if you're in Montreal, you should really be eating bagels and smoked meat.
71
@70 I was going to correct the pronunciation if you didn't.

Also, for everyone complaining about Seattles street food laws, street food is illegal in Montreal except during street fairs. Thankfully, we have restaurants dedicated to selling stuff that should be coming out of a cart on the side of the street.

I'm surprised that so many of the skinny hipsters who move here stay skinny. Between the poutine, the bagels, and the smoked meat, Montreal is possibly the junk food capital of North America, if not the world.
72
@70 and 71 ....okay, pooh-tin by someone who lives in Montreal, but for people who don't live in French speaking Canada (like the no doubt English speaker who will be ordering it in Seattle?) Pooh-teen.
In the same way that people in Quebec say Kay-beck, and everyone else says Kwuh-beck.
73
@71 I'm currently living in Toronto, but I stock up on all the bagels I can whenever I visit. <3 They freeze well enough. There is no eating quite like a weekend of Montreal eating, even if I quite need to work it off afterwards.

@72 Actually, I hear 'keh-beck' pretty much coast to coast now. (well, coast and coast. can't speak to the middle bits.) 'kwuh-beck' seems pretty much restricted to the same sort of people that say Oregon by putting a huge emphasis on the third syllable.
74
As a native south easterner, I had never tried that dish. However: grody.
75
Meanwhile, Poutine aside, Canucks continue to live 8 to 10 years longer than unromantic Americans.
76
as a former published French writer in Quebec, I agree with @70.

On all aspects.
77
It should be tried with "Montreal smoked meat sandwich" and a pickle.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Montreal-Smoked-…

It is just the thing to do when visiting Montreal. There are many places in Vancouver that sell Montreal smoked meat sandwiches too along with a pickle and Poutine.
But the new sensation of Japa Dogs in Vancouver is the thing to do when walking around downtown in the evening or before and after a movie. The best location is the corner of Burrard and Smithe St. downtown Vancouver.
If you Google map Burrard and Smithe St. Vancouver you will see the original Japa Dog as a location.
78
While you've reminded me: Why doesn't Seattle have GOOD potica? it's impossible to find a decent slice of the delectable nut roll anywhere outside of Cleveland or Llubjana. THIS STUFF IS PERFECT FOR COFFEE PEOPLE!! DUH!
79
I hate gravy and anyone who likes it. Soggy french fries - yuck.
80
Why doesn't Seattle have X? We don't have it because of X... :)
81
@72 - I'm from Toronto and I say keh-bek and poo-tin.
@ 77 - I'm pretty sure there's something about the way they cure smoked meat in Quebec that isn't allowed in other provinces, so it's actually slightly different? Maybe 76 could enlighten us.
82
Skillet had the best poutine I ever had, ands I lived in Monreal
83
The Unicorn has delicious breakfast poutine.

Please wait...

and remember to be decent to everyone
all of the time.

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