Vancouver - Mean Poutine

The Missus and I have been pushing hard at work. And while there was no way I'd be able to take any extended time off for a while, I was able to squeeze out a few days off. Naturally, both Portland and Seattle were in the mix, but in the end, we decided on Vancouver. I'd been through the airport twice, on flights to Edmonton and Toronto, but had never been to the city. I'd been itching to visit for awhile, since the food scene seems interesting, there seems to be tons to do, and frankly, just about every Canadian I know (my best friend from "back home" married one), are just plain mellow, friendly, and well.....appropriate. Anyway, we flew up on Delta....which is why the last 48 hours has been kind of a horror....but Delta has always delivered previously, so I'll give them a pass.

I recall my first trip to Canada....it was actually the first time I left the state of Hawaii! My good friend got married and I'd always promised him that I'd be there for the wedding. We were very poor growing up and I'd never had the chance to leave the islands....my first trip outside the state? Canada. I also remember being handed a little cardboard "boat" outside a Dairy Queen....it was French fries, gravy, and white stuff (cheese curds); poutine....now I grew up eating loco mocos, so this just seemed so natural and good. We were staying right off Granville, Seymour and Robson, right in the middle of it all. I wanted the Missus to have a shot at some poutine. And just a few blocks away was a take out window, of a place named Mean Poutine.

The place specializes in hot dogs and poutine, which are available in several combinations. The Missus was ever so distracted by the "Mean Supreme", but I told Her we'd be having dinner in a few hours and I'd like Her to try a fairly classic version.

So we went with the "Classic" ($7CAN - about $5.25US). The only thing different from versions I've had is when asked if I'd like "onions" I said "yes". Which meant scallions in this case.

This was pretty good; the scallions actually added to things, with a nice mild pungency. The frites seems to have been dusted with flour or cornstarch and were quite crisp on the outside, mildly creamy inside. The gravy was nice and creamy, beefy, falling just short of too salty....quite unlike the glooey, gloppy stuff here. Didn't care much for the cheese curds, which were cold, and lacked flavor....and also didn't melt into a nice stringy mess.

I did learn one thing; the Missus was a closet poutine lover......She kept mentioning poutine during our time in Vancouver....though Her poutine fantasy was topped with a fried, easy over egg. So TofuGirl, got a place that might fill the bill the next time we're in Vancouver?

Mean Poutine
718 Nelson Street
Vancouver

We were staying at an AirBnB...the location was amazing. As was the view from the Solarium.

Very responsive host, awesome building security, perfect location. The only thing that would be a cherry on the top would be A/C as it was pretty hot during the first two days of our stay.

Comments

[kat]

glad you were able to get on with your getaway:)

[Denver]

Edible Canada at Granville has duck fat poutine with fried eggs.

[nhbilly]

Sounds and looks like fun.

[janfrederick]

Nice view! Vancouver is awesome.

[Kirk]

We were too Kat!

Good to know Denver! We'll definitely check them out next time.

It was Billy!

Vancouver is indeed awesome Jan.

[Loren]

Poutine, it's so good you figured an American made it.

I have to admit trying it for the first time in Toronto last year and I absolutely loved it......for the first 20 minutes.

Glad you had a fun time up there.

[Kirk]

Hi Loren - It's so good is right!

[tofugirl]

The poutine at Edible Canada is pretty good, but SOOOOOOOOO over the top rich that I don't think I've ever mananged more than about 3 bites. But I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of the stuff to begin with, unless there's been a lot of beer involved in the evening.

Glad you had a good time on your trip! Drop me a line when you head back this way--I may be no help when it comes to poutine, but I can definitely point you in the way of some great bakery/dessert/chocolate/beer places :)

[Kirk]

Will do TFG!