now_me_hungry's Profile
Passing of Mila Oh (aka moh)
Dear Ken,
I am so sorry for your loss. I didn't know Moh personally but I loved reading all her chowhound posts on Montreal (actually used all of her advice when I visited Montreal for the first time last year and had some amazing meals because of her insight).
She will be missed greatly by the chowhound community.
Poutine in Vancouver: can it be done?
Usually in town during springtime to see friends and family (I originally hail from Vancouver) Just signed up on Vancouver Chowdown so hopefully we can meet up the next time I'm here :)
Brado's curds were the squeakiest last year but weren't quite as impressive this time round. For the squeakiest and most massive curds, you MUST go to Quebec. I was there in Sept and the cheese curds were unreal, I think it spoiled me for life.
"...but no curds so is it really poutine?" - I guess not if you're being strict about it, but I did put Crave as #3 on my list even though they only use parmesan. But I'm a sucker for braised short ribs!
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Brado Restaurant
1399 Commercial Dr, Vancouver, BC V5L3X5, CA
Poutine in Vancouver: can it be done?
Brado, that cheeky bugger. Well, I don't blame him for being so secretive about his sauce.
ps. I just signed up on http://vanchow.ning.com, thanks for the invitation, will let you know the next time I'm in town! :)
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Brado Restaurant
1399 Commercial Dr, Vancouver, BC V5L3X5, CA
Poutine in Vancouver: can it be done?
I totally hear ya on the high expectations thing. I had built myself up for great things at LBP based on all the stellar reviews. And I ooh and ahhed when I first saw it, but that gravy (and the immense quantity of it) just threw me off. There was also a slight aftertaste in the gravy, a slight bitternes, maybe clove (?) which reminded me of a poutine I tried in Montreal that had bbq sauce mixed in.
And yes, when it comes to poutine I'm a fan of milder gravy, whether it's chicken based or vegetarian. Brado's was good until he changed it. Salade de Fruits has a good gravy but you have to be prepared to battle the lunch crowd. I've never had blue cheese or truflles on poutine so I'm anxious to check out Chambar and La Brasserie on my next trip.
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Salade de Fruits
1545 7th Ave W, Vancouver, BC V6J1S1, CA
La Brasserie
1091 Davie St, Vancouver, BC V6E1M5, CA
Brado Restaurant
1399 Commercial Dr, Vancouver, BC V5L3X5, CA
Poutine in Vancouver: can it be done?
betterthanbourdain - my belly was full as well :) I honestly couldn't tell about the fries at La Belle Patate because they were all soggy, swimming in gravy. But I liked the size and squeakiness of the cheese curds so I'll be paying them a return visit on my next trip.
And no, haven't tried the truffle poutine at La Brasserie, it's definitely on my list. So is Chambar, DB Bistro, Boneta, Anny's Dairy Bar, Chill Winston...
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Chill Winston
3 Alexander St, Vancouver, BC V6A1B2, CA
La Brasserie
1091 Davie St, Vancouver, BC V6E1M5, CA
Anny's Dairy Bar
722 Sixth St, New Westminster, BC V3L3C5, CA
Poutine in Vancouver: can it be done?
oops...forgot one photo: Brado's smoked meat poutine
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Brado Restaurant
1399 Commercial Dr, Vancouver, BC V5L3X5, CA
Poutine in Vancouver: can it be done?
fmed...here you go...Brado's poutine pizza, including the upskirt shot and a bonus photo of smoked meat poutine.
The pizza was tasty but a little too heavy in the carbs (as would be expected with fries piled onto a crust). I also like my pizza crust a little more well done. Guess I'll be sticking to regular poutine!
I found Brado's gravy darker and saltier than when I tried it last year. He said he recently deepened the flavor and color to suit local taste, apparently locals prefer a beefier darker gravy. Too bad because I liked his original formula. He also denied that he'd ever used St Hubert mix in his gravy (weird because I thought confirmed before that he did?!) Despite the changes, I still like his poutine.
While I was in town I also checked out poutines at La Belle Patate, Costco, and Refuel.
La Belle Patate was pretty authentic, large cheese curds, but they drowned out the fries with too much gravy. I would have enjoyed it a lot more if they weren't so heavy handed with the gravy.
Costco's version was as expected, standard food court fare, but I'd be happy with it if I was desperate.
Refuel's version was delicious but the curds didn't squeak and the gravy was a little salty. But fries cooked in beef tallow are my favorite.
So I've reshuffled my rankings for my favourite Vancouver poutines (all are classic/traditonal poutines except for Crave):
1. Salade de Fruits
2. Brado Pizza
3. Crave on Main
4. La Belle Patate
5. Refuel
I know there are a lot more places to try but I ran out of time and belt notches!
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Crave Restaurant
3941 Main St, Vancouver, BC V5V3P3, CA
Fuel Restaurant
1944 West 4th Ave, Vancouver, BC V6J 1M5, CA
Salade de Fruits
1545 7th Ave W, Vancouver, BC V6J1S1, CA
Brado Restaurant
1399 Commercial Dr, Vancouver, BC V5L3X5, CA
Poutine in Vancouver: can it be done?
LOL, if I make it there, I promise - full report including upskirt shot, as long as you don't mind the poor photo quality caused by the combo of flourescent light and my crappy point and shoot camera.
Spot Prawn Availability/Festival
@grayelf: on the contrary...your comment makes me really curious to try sidestripes :)
Poutine in Vancouver: can it be done?
Fmed: A bit slow on this one...but I just saw Brado's poutine pizza featured on Serious Eats! Go Brado! Can't wait to try it.
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Brado Restaurant
1399 Commercial Dr, Vancouver, BC V5L3X5, CA
Places to eat in Montreal
My hubby and I took a quick road trip to Montreal from NJ over Labor Day weekend. Stopped at Olive et Gourmando for a quick breakfast before heading out to Drummondville for the Festival de la Poutine. Their 'poached egg on your face' sandwich was amazing - egg, prosciutto, cheese and a slice of roasted tomato on crispy pressed panini bread. A bit steep at $8.95 for one sandwich but totally worth it! The almond croissant (buttery, super moist on the inside) and chocolate brioche Valrhona (more chocolate than actual bread) weren't too shabby either!
And it's a bit out of the way, but we also had a great Saturday brunch at McKiernan (next to Joe Beef) before we hit Atwater Market. Hubby had the johnny cakes (cornmeal pancakes) with eggs, baked beans and homemade sausage links (yummy, super comforting) and I had the Pojarsky croustillant - 2 fat spicy pork 'patties' topped with poached eggs served with white beans and wilted escarole grown from their garden (bitterness from the escarole complemented the richness of the egg and pork nicely - also a great deal for only $13, I could barely finish half of it!). We were there at 11am before the crowds and dined in their back patio.
Have a great trip!
Festival de la poutine de Drummondville
@SnackHappy, no distress intended! French fries are probably my favorite food and I don't ever discriminate against frozen fries as long as they are crispy/tasty although my hubby sometimes does. I enjoyed the fries from Fromagerie Lemaire that day, but that's just my opinion. All in good fun :)
Full post on my blog if anyone's interested:
http://mehungry-phyllis.blogspot.com/2009/09/poutine-palooza-part-1-festival-de-la.html
Festival de la poutine de Drummondville
Hi moh :)
I've been doing these eating 'tour de forces' a little too often lately! Your posts on the chowhound boards are awesome - they came in really handy when planning all of our Montreal eating adventures!
Festival de la poutine de Drummondville
My husband and I made a side trip on our road trip to Montreal to attend the Festival de la Poutine. We got there early on Friday when the gates opened at 4pm and there were zero line ups for poutine (more people arrived later for the concerts but there were still no crowds when we left around 6:30). Six different restaurants participated this year, all were local except La Banquise (Montreal) and Auguste restaurant in Sherbrooke (80 miles southeast from Drummondville) featuring official guest chef, Dany St-Pierre from who introduced his 'reversed poutine', basically breaded potato croquettes with a cheesy/gravy filling (photo attached). Reversed poutine was fun to try, but I still prefer the original fries with curds and gravy. Each restaurant had a separate stand and yes, we tried ALL six! Cheese curds were all super fresh and squeaky, especially the cheese from Fromagerie LeMaire. As poutineguy mentioned in his comment, the poutine gravy in the Drummondville area tends to have a tomato base and is slightly sweet, some even had an reddish/orange hue and tasted slightly like barbeque sauce, particularly the poutines from Chez Louis and Horace Poutine. Our favorite at the festival was probably Fromage Lemaire - best fries overall (really crispy and almost tasted beefy although they use a vegetable oil), fabulous cheese curds (they make their own cheese curds daily). solid gravy (carrot-y but not too sweet, almost a mirapoix flavor, a bit salty at first but I couldn't stop eating it). A close second was Restaurant Du Boulevard, sweet tomato-y sauce with carrot pieces, fresh cheese curds, but the fries weren't as good as Fromagerie Lemaire. Was a little disappointed with La Banquise from Montreal as I'd heard that they were really good, the cheese curds were skimpy and not as squeaky compared to the other restaurants, but I'd rank them 3rd place overall - we enjoyed the Montreal style savory gravy (no tomato) and the fries were pretty good - dark and crispy. Le Roy Jucep, who claims to be the inventor of poutine, did not participate in the festival this year so we stopped by the restaurant before the festival to try their famous poutine and it did not disappoint - crispy fries, generous fresh cheese curds, and the perfect amount of gravy (slightly sweet, and surprisingly brownish in color despite the tomato base but it had a nostalgic cream of tomato taste which was great with the fries and cheese). It was our favorite poutine of the 7 we tasted that day. Other photos - poutines from Fromagerie Lemaire (check out the generous cheese curds), Restaurant Du Boulevard (you can see how reddish the sauce is from this picture), and the 'original' from Le Roy Jucep. I'll have a more complete report and more photos on my blog later this week (still recovering from our road trip - 12 poutines in 4 days!)
Tung Hing - Banana ..erm.. beignet?
I think I like Ba Le so much because it makes me nostalgic over my highschool days :) And thanks for the tip about Au Petit's beef stew - will make sure we try it on our next trip!
Tung Hing - Banana ..erm.. beignet?
LOL! Au Petit was definitely Sophie the giraffe's favorite, those house meatballs were really yummy. And may I suggest a bike ride or leisurely jog to main street (no carbon footprint and you burn up calories on the way back).
Tung Hing - Banana ..erm.. beignet?
Thanks, fmed! No, we didn't get to try the lamb skewers that night because we were way too full (yes, very shocking for piggies like us but we had just eaten an embarrassing amount of food at Imperial Court that night while conducting spot prawn 'research'). I will remember to try them next time :)
Tung Hing - Banana ..erm.. beignet?
Hey fmed,
Finally got around to posting about banh mi in Vancouver. We tried 5 different banh mi in one afternoon. Here are the final rankings:
1. Tung Hing (good balance of ingredients, yummy cold cuts and pâté)
2. Au Petit Café (delicious house made meat balls)
3. Ba Le, Kingsway location (good traditional banh mi)
4. Kingsway Deli (boring flavor but I would eat it if I had no other options)
5. An Nam, Richmond (strong flavored pâté, too many pickled veggies)
Here's the full link if you're interested:
http://mehungry-phyllis.blogspot.com/2009/08/vancouver-banh-mi-roundup.html
Poutine in Vancouver: can it be done?
fmed: you are so right about not messing with Quebec - my poor defenseless mailbox was 'assaulted' last night and my hubby suspects the angry poutine mob must have found out where we lived :)
howlin: 'ya, they might separate' - I almost peed my pants when I read your comment!
ck1234: thanks for the kind words and no worries about Zako's, I thoroughly enjoyed the poutine at every single place I visited (including Zako's) which is why the scores were pretty high across the board.
grayelf: I totally agree - if it looks, smells, and/or tastes good - 'Get in mah belly!"
Poutine in Vancouver: can it be done?
Thanks laurabree, I just actually read a blog on Anny's Dairy Bar regarding their maple twist soft serve. I will put it on my list for next time!
Poutine in Vancouver: can it be done?
So...do any of you guys read Serious Eats? One of their writers just posted about my Vancouver poutine crawl and there's been some serious backlash - poutine from outside Quebec is a very controversial topic! So much anger...shouldn't food be just about fun? There's been some mild Vancouver bashing as well, thought you guys might want the opportunity to weigh in....
http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/07/12-poutines-in-12-days-vancouver-canada.html
Poutine in Vancouver: can it be done?
non sequitur, yes I believe Vancouver area Costcos sell poutine at their foodcourts, no less than 3 people recommended it to me while I was in Vancouver, but I didn't have enough time to try it!
Vancouver: Where to buy spotted prawns?
So glad you got to try them and meet Steve! (I miss spot prawns...kinda hard to go back to eating regular shrimp/tiger prawns afterwards)
1st time in Vancouver
My friends ended up having great meals at Fuel, C Restaurant, Salt Tasting Room and Bishop's. Bishop's was their favourite meal overall and they also raved about Salt (even after getting lost in a sketchy part of gastown). Thanks for all your suggestions!
Poutine in Vancouver: can it be done?
fmed, haha... that Brado, always giving away all his secrets!
Hubby is thinking about ordering P90x to deal with the poutine aftermath :)
and grayelf, Salade de Fruits is lovely...bon appetit!
Poutine in Vancouver: can it be done?
I finally got around to tallying up the scores for my Vancouver poutine 'showdown'. My husband and I ate 12 poutines in 12 days!
Final rankings:
1. Brado Pizza (uber-crispy fries, generous portion of squeaky cheese curds, yummy gravy)
2. Salade de Fruits (a close 2nd, complex delicious gravy, squeaky cheese curds, fresh cut delicate fries)
3. Crave on Main (hearty short ribs in gravy, truffle/parmesan fries were seasoned perfectly, ranked high due to yumminess despite the fact they didn't use cheese curds)
4. Fritz European Fry House (good standard poutine, proportions were right on)
5. Backstage Lounge (awesome fries, gravy had a bit of an mix-y aftertaste)
6. The Templeton (interesting mushroom sage gravy, aged cheddar shreds)
7. three way tie: New York Fries, Zog's Dogs (Whistler), & Burger King (BK and NYF were good fast food options)
8. two way tie: Belgian Fries & Zako's Deli (a little disappointing because I'd heard good things)
9. Vera's Burger Shack (biggest disappointment but maybe they had an off day)
Full post on my blog:
http://mehungry-phyllis.blogspot.com/2009/07/weird-food-wednesdays-poutine.html
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Crave Restaurant
3941 Main St, Vancouver, BC V5V3P3, CA
Salade de Fruits
1545 7th Ave W, Vancouver, BC V6J1S1, CA
Vera's Burger Shack
1030 Davie St, Vancouver, BC V6E1M3, CA
Fritz European Fry House
718 Davie St, Vancouver, BC V6Z1B6, CA
Brado Restaurant
1399 Commercial Dr, Vancouver, BC V5L3X5, CA
Backstage Lounge
1585 Johnston St, Vancouver, BC V6H, CA
Belgian Fries
1885 Commercial Dr, Vancouver, BC V5N4A6, CA
Zogs Dogs
4340 Sundial Cres, Whistler, BC V0N1B4, CA
Templeton
1087 Granville St, Vancouver, BC V6Z1L4, CA
Zako's Deli
500 W Broadway, Vancouver, BC V5Z3Y6, CA
