The Poutinerie

I’d first tried Poutine while in Canada, although it was at a Dairy Queen so I doubt it was the best quality in the country! I’d only ever seen it at one other place in London, but my real reason for wanting to eat it was because I love cheese curds from my numerous trips to Wisconsin. Now while «curd» does make it sound rather like a type of cottage cheese to us Brits, rest assured it isn’t. Instead it’s like a dry hard mozzarella that tastes so fresh that it squeeks when you bite through it.
I had heard about the Poutinerie previously but as they’re normally based over in Brick Lane on a Sunday it is a bit hard for me to get to. So when they decided to do a pop up at Cardinal Place in Victoria (a brief 5 minute bus ride for me) I jumped at the chance. The queue was a bit long, but frankly any length of queue would have been worth it — yes, the Poutine was that good.
They were doing a coq au van version of poutine as well as the good olé’ fashioned chips, curds and gravy. We wanted the normal version anyway, but they ran out of the chicken version at 12:30 — it was their first time at Victoria and so I don’t think they realised just how busy they’d be. (But on the other hand, I’m very glad they were because it’ll mean that they’ll come back!).
The poutine was delicious. The gravy was fantastic, the fries perfectly seasons and the curds… oh my. They’re quite hardy against the warmth of the gravy and fries and just started to ooze but kept their texture just right. I ate the entire box, and wanted more (although I doubt I would have been able to stay awake had I been able to lay my hands on any thing else!). If they come back to Victoria, I’ll be there in a shot.

+ Food stand on Brick Lane Sunday market
+ They serve poutine (What is poutine? See next point!)
+ Poutine is French Canadian gravy chips & cheese curd
Poutinerie is a food pop-​up (since when has this become a part of English vocabulary, anyway?) at Brick Lane Sunday street market. It can be found on Brick Lane near Cheshire st.
So what is Poutine? I will leave the almighty Internet to provide official answers. But it is basically chips and cheese curd in gravy sauce. I asked the lady at the shop what exactly «cheese curd» is. Apparently, it’s in-​between product in the process of making cheese. My attempt to describe this thing would be something like «a lot softer halloumi cheese with no salty taste».
Anyway, the silky gravy went very well with the freshly made chips. The firm cheese curd added nice texture to the whole mix. I recommend this unpretentious dish from French Canada.

I’ve heard loads about poutine before — mostly Canadians waxing lyrical about this ‘national dish’, which sounds like a cheap school lunch to me. But never one to give anything I miss — I thought I’d put it to the test. I managed to walk right past The Poutinerie as I was following the free beer that sometimes features in Brick Lane. I ended up back-​tracking, but found the joint in the end, and boy, am I glad I did.
There were really only 2 options — the original (chips, gravy, cheese curd), and the coq au vin, which was the original plus chicken breast, button mushrooms and bacon bits. And never one to do things in half measures, you can bet your bottom dollar that I got the coq au vin. It was good, it’s one of those things though, with these ingredients in the same bowl (box in this case), you could never really go wrong. It wasn’t revolutionary and enlightening, but it was good solid comfort food. If I were going through a break-​up or mourning the death of a pet. I would reach out for the poutine in a heartbeat. The chips were slightly oily — but I liked them that way, all the individual bits were well seasoned and went down a treat. The box is generously sized and could make for a hearty meal for those with a smaller appetite.
I enjoyed my visit here, and should I be left with a free lazy Sunday afternoon in East London, I’d be sure to pop by. Despite the frantic-​ness that is Brick Lane.

Looking for the closest version of proper Canadian poutine in London? This is your best bet. Served «traditionally» with cheese curds (mixed with some gruyère for extra cheesy flavour– not traditional) and steaming hot gravy. Right now they offer three different kinds of poutine: the Original, Coq au Vin and the Mexican. The first two are proper poutine style, while the Mexican is guacamole and salsa on chips (sounds interesting, with an improved recipe to boot).
I had the Original, I’m a poutine purist of sorts. I have a hard time accepting poutine when it’s changed from anything but good chips, cheese curds and a delicious gravy. For me, the balance of cheese and gravy, working together is what really makes a great poutine experience– I felt the extra cheesy flavour was overpowering the gravy a bit. Teresa C. had the Coq au Vin, which is also super yum with mushrooms, chicken and bacon on traditional poutine. Both were delicious though. I will definitely come back for a Canadian fix when possible. It’s also nice to see lots of Canadians flocking to this stall for a bit of home away from home. This is definitely the place to come for poutine in London! :)

I think the one thing Canadians are super picky about is how poutine is portrayed. Its not «just fries, cheese and gravy», but the secret is in the cheese. It has to be squeaky cheese curds… and what is cheese curd? Its the base of what is used to make fresh mozzarella, so yes, those 2 taste pretty much the same. So if you ever have poutine with goat cheese on top, or feta, cheddar… no no no, they’re just trying to pull a quick one over you! Just head to the Poutinerie!
We ended up trying the Christmas special poutine, which had turkey pieces (I think they just ran out at the time, and we were probably a few pieces short of a normal order), some stuffing that was molded into a log and sliced, cranberry sauce, cheese, and gravy. I know that cranberry, stuffing and turkey is very Christmassy, I would have preferred it off. But in general, this place did a very good job in putting together a poutine! They do have 2 other items which usually have meat on it, but be warned that this is a very filling dish — you can eat it as a meal, or share it so you can dive into the other food offerings along Brick Lane.

This is by far the best poutine I have had in London. «What’s a poutine?» you might ask. Well, a poutine is a French Canadian dish that includes chips, topped with cheese curds, then topped with gravy.
At one point, the Maple Leaf was the only place you can find this dish, unfortunately with shredded cheese, but their gravy is delicious. Over Canada Day weekend, Match Bar had a Canada theme pop up which advertised cheese curds, but I found out what they meant by cheese curds was feta which was revolting. Then I also found The Abbey Tavern which served up a poutine similar to The Maple Leaf, but their gravy was less than stellar. So in comes The Poutinerie, although they added gruyère to the mix, they have the Canadian National dish pretty spot on. The chips are crispy, the cheese curds are squeaky, the gravy was smooth and it was overall delicious!
They provide many options, a traditional one for £5, Coq Au Vin (chicken and bacon) for £6, and Philly Steak for £7. I’ve had my taste of all of them and I think by far my favourite was the Coq Au Vin, but if you’ve never had a poutine before, please do yourself a favour and start with the traditional one so that you know how it should be.
They’re a very friendly couple and told Andrew M. and I they’ll be having a Christmas theme poutine for December! And have plans to have other seasonal options as well.
Good to have them within walking distance to my flat. A bit of home (country) is not far away.

I learned something after eating this great poutine. As the cheese is squeaking beneath my teeth and the crisp chips are holding well under the brown gravy pressure, I realized I don’t enjoy poutine that much. I merely eat it when I’m away from my poutine addicted girlfriend; hoping to make her jealous.
The Poutinerie had a great, eye-​catching signage. There was a chalkboard explaining what poutine is and what they offered. If you want to compare poutine, do what I did and order the original. Otherwise, you can order the The Coq au Vin or the Philly Cheese Steak. I’ll upload some pictures so you can see what this includes.
I overheard as I walking past once done with the markets that this was their first day. I hope it went well for them and I hope they return. I think they have a really good product.