Mar. 24: Poutine

One thing about traveling with children: you can’t always eat where you’d like to if they would not also like to. Tonight we had dinner at that very Canadian restaurant, Red Robin. Actually, the Red Robin logo had a little maple leaf on it so it was sorta Canada-like. Otherwise I’m pretty sure it was not too different from the Red Robins of home.

In several places the menu said “Poutine your fries - $1.99.” Huh? Then I saw a Poutine appetizer, described as fries with cheese curds and gravy. Those are three good things, so how could you go wrong, right? Wrong.

I insisted we order poutine because the menu said it was a classic Canadian dish, and it may be the most Canadian thing I find I’m willing to eat. It was pretty much exactly what the menu said it was. I would further describe poutine as something Vic would put together late at night when there’s not much in the fridge. He loves white trash food.

On a scale of 1-5, I’d rate poutine a 2. It’s totally edible and the components are not bad. But together, it’s not as special as you might expect. And if this is one of the traditional foods of this country, I am soooo not impressed with Canadian cuisine.

Here’s the Wikipedia description of poutine.

And here’s the picture I took of the poutine we were served at Red Robin tonight. It sorta looks like someone already ate it, huh?


Bon appétit, my arse.