Cantine le Relais 202 Poutine

Some dishes don't need all the bells and whistles; simple is best. Simple and found on the road side? Even better. You know how much we love poutine, especially Canadian poutine. So on a recent wedding trip to Plattsburgh we made a 20 minute detour to the Canadian countryside for a snack at a little cantine in Lacolle, just a few miles across the border. When asked by border patrol what we were doing in Canada, we got a little chuckle from the guard when we said it's because we craved good poutine. We weren't kidding!

We've had numerous American poutines--from The Montreal Poutine Truck out of Saratoga; Creo; City Beer Hall; Shirley's; Jonesville Cafe; to Capital City Gastropub--but none have truly lived up to its Canadian counterparts. We've even been to La Banquise in Montreal but there's just something about this particular roadside shack. For the longest time we didn't even know what it was called until I Google-mapped it. It's called Cantine le Relais 202. What a name right? But don't judge a book by its cover. La Cantine serves Canadian comfort food at its best and that translates to poutine with all the right elements.  These are fresh, crispy hand-cut fries fried to order and smothered with the perfect balance of salty, hot gravy to squeaky cheese curds that are barely melted. So what if the gravy tastes right from a powdered mix. To be able to share this classic dish from my childhood with my guy in the middle of nowhere was a special moment. The greasy goodness also helped with a slight hangover from a certain crazy, late-night bachelorette party the night before.

Our mini-trip was even sweeter when we stopped by the ice cream shop next door. They had a poutine ice cream sundaes! So the real thing is nothing like the ad but it's a pretty genius idea: vanilla soft-serve with rice crispy cubes, chocolate wafers, marshmallows, peanuts, and a caramel swirl. Needless to say, our double dose of Canadian poutine was the best wedding detour ever.

Poutine La Banquise

Squeaky cheese curds. Thick, salty gravy. Fresh, crispy fries. It's so magical when all these elements come together in harmony. During a recent trip up north, we found the mecca of all poutines at La Banquise in Montreal. We've always stuck to basic poutine at La Belle Province, a run-of-the-mill chain by my folks' place, but J and I decided to venture out on our own this time. After repeatedly seeing La Banquise featured on Cooking Channel's Unique Eats, it was time to stop salivating and experience this much hyped-about poutinerie. 

We were starving from a not-so-great wedding buffet and really needed a late night snack to cure some hangry grumps. Lucky for us La Banquise is open 24hrs a day. Now that's dedication to poutine. You know the food will be good when you have to wait in a long line. We opted for the takeout line for a shorter wait. La Banquise takes its poutine very seriously. Here you'll find 30 different kinds of poutine. You read that right. The Canadian delicacy ranges from a classic version to a Montreal favorite with smoked meat and even takes on Mexican flavors with guacamole and tomatoes. For us gluttons, "La Trois Viandes" was calling our names. 

Meet a mess of deliciousness in all its meaty glory. It's not pretty but man did it hit the spot. The ground beef had some crispy bits mixed in with bacon and the hot dogs were brilliantly cut to match the size of the french fries so every forkful had a bit of everything. This poutine had everything we wanted and more. The cheese curds squeaked so much it almost brought us to tears. We're always so disappointed whenever we come across a 518 poutine swimming in a thin gravy or melted curds. We've never gotten the whole trifecta with the exception of The Montreal Poutine Truck and Creo. The Canadians really have mastered the art of assembly. The gravy was just hot enough to coat the fries but not turn them into complete mush or melt the cheese. Even the fries tasted amazing, retaining some crisp despite the mound of toppings and gravy. How did we know it was the best poutine we ever had? The next day, we had it cold for breakfast and the flavors still held up. Looks like we'll be taking more road trips up north this summer. 

Creo Restaurant

Do our eyes deceive us? Banh mi AND poutine under one roof? The two dishes we live and die for were both on the lunch menu at Creo Restaurant. It's like they were meant just for us. I was always intimidated by Creo, thinking it was too stuffy to be part of our dining scene.  We frequent Mr. Fuji Sushi and The Meat House on a regular basis but for for some reason or another, we always bypassed Creo at Stuvesant Plaza. Setting our prejudices aside, we set off for to try a new experience. The menu had our names written all over it; how could we pass up on two of our favorite meals?

Our search for poutine in the Capital Region has led us to various interpretations, from The City Beer Hall to Capital City Gastropub, with little success in replicating the flavors and squeakiness of this French Canadian delicacy. They both deserve honorable mentions for use of quality ingredients but the magic is in a certain cheese curd and execution of the dish. It's hard to impress this Canadian-Vietnamese. Thus far, the only place that has been able to perfect the ratio of unmelted cheese curd to crispy fries and gravy has been The Montreal Poutine food truck. The cheese curd I look for has a particular flavor and texture that local cheddar curds here just don't have. Oddly enough, Montreal Poutine truck aside, the only other cheese curd with the exact flavor profile can be found frozen in Trader Joe's version of poutine but the fries and gravy that come with it are atrocious. It's difficult to describe what I'm looking for exactly in terms of flavor but it's almost a cross between mozzarella and cheddar and the texture and squeak of halloumi. So how does Creo's poutine fare? 

Montreal Poutine Truck

Not too long ago I had written about authentic French Canadian poutine here in Albany (link to post here). Come to find out, Shirley's Cafe in Jonesville shortly and unexpectedly closed as soon as I wrote that post. Noooo. It was already sad enough that Montreal Poutine had a short run in Crossgates Mall. While we frequented the Mall stop on a semi-regular basis, I can see why they closed. The poutine was never consistent; fries were soggy, not enough salt in the gravy, lacked flavor but the squeaky cheese curd flavor was always spot on. Disappointed that two of our closest Canadian poutine had closed, we almost came to terms that the only way we would ever get great poutine would be to visit my family in Montreal. Then, we saw the light at the end of the poutine tunnel in the form of a shiny yellow truck...

Duckfat

The last time we tried to stop by Duckfat in Portland, the "Closed for Renovations" sign put a kaibosh to our culinary plans but led us to the best lobster rolls of our lives at Eventide Oyster Co. We were on our way to Bar Harbor to spend some quality time by the ocean but duck fat fried fries were calling our names and we just had to make that 1-hr lunch detour. 

We became obsessed with Duckfat when we saw Owner Chef Rob Evans compete on Chopped Champions.  Off the high of last night's Fuel feast, we had high expectations for Duckfat. The joint is considered more of a laid back sandwich place with lots of unique twists, perfect for lunch. You can drool over the menu here. Vacation is the time to splurge and indulge right? Born and raised in Montreal, poutine to me is the epitome of comfort food. Gravy fries with shredded cheese is no poutine. I hold very high standards to every poutine we try, aka I better hear that cheese curd squeak! Duckfat's version of a poutine (hand-cut fries fried in duck fat and smothered with duck gravy) was just o.k. and the Pineland Farm cheese curd didn't squeak. 

I swear the French Canadians have poutine down to a science, even the McDonald's version is good. There's a distinctive taste to a Quebecois cheese curd that no ones seems to have perfected here, except for Shirley's Cafe in Jonesville. The owners are from Montreal and must import their cheese from Canada because it's the only place that makes poutine that tastes like the ones at home to me. We've tried poutines from The City Gastropub and Lil' Britain in Bennington and they don't come close to that at Shirley's. Plus nothing is more disappointing when the gravy completely melts the cheese curds; it's a fine balance of warm gravy to squeaky cold cheese curds to crispy fries.

Back to Duckfat, while the fries had a nice crisp the poutine just didn't wow us. To accompany our paninis, we ordered the craft sodas: a root beer for J and an all Maine tonic for me with raw apple cider vinegar, honey, and maple. Not your typically sweet sodas, but a nice refreshing drink to cut the rich flavors of our sandwiches. Reubens are J's go to sandwiches and he couldn't pass on the Corned Beef Tongue Reuben. You read that right! The corned beef tongue was cut very thinly and not tough at all. Paired with housemade sauerkraut, thousand island, and pressed on crispy rye bread, it was the perfect panini. Mine on the other hand, I was a bit disappointed with. I ordered the Roast Pork Belly panini: with pickled peppers, manchego, and saffron-tabasco mayo. As much as I love pork belly, I just wasn't wowed by my sandwich. The richness of the pork belly needed to be offset by more acidity and the mayo added more richness that wasn't necessary. 

Overall, Duckfat was a bit of a let down except for the reuben. I'm hoping we can squeeze in a redemption trip in the near future because we do love to try new and unique eats.