Toronto Poutine Fest

Event: Toronto Poutine Fest 2013 presented by Joylister 
Location: Beer Academy 

Time & Date: 5PM-10PM on Thursday Aug 22, 2013 
Price: $35 for all-you-can-eat poutine and three craft beer samples.

I happened to be one of the lucky ones to get tickets for Poutine Fest TO. Tickets sold out in two minutes but fortunately I got mine exactly when they went on sale at 11AM, two weeks prior to the event. It was the first Poutine Festival in Toronto, so it received a lot of media coverage even though it was run by a small start-up company named Joylister. There was a bit of negative press also due to the fact that tickets were oversold and some had to be refunded, but mostly because it sold out so fast/site crashing. +Will and I were the only ones out of our friends who were able to get tickets and I was even skeptical about going at first until I heard others were interested. Tons of foodies packed in the Beer Academy waiting in line all night to get poutine didn't sound that appealing to me, but to my great fortune, the event ran flawlessly.

I got off work at 5PM in Scarborough and had estimated arriving downtown at 6:30PM. Right when I was leaving work, I checked Twitter and Instagram to see what was going on in the Beer Academy and it seemed like there was a hold-up of poutine being served and a huge line to get in, just great. Will's lucky enough to live right beside the venue, one where we pass by on a daily basis but have never gone in. According to Will, it had gone though renovations recently and he wasn't sure if it was opened again. Once I arrived, we walked down the street and luckily, there was no one in line! We gave the door people our tickets, got our IDs checked, received wristbands, drink tickets, and a voting card, and off we went. There was a map of the everything on the back voting card which included both a bottom and main level, the place was unexpectedly massive. So with our empty stomachs and hungry eyes, we went to try all the poutines! Here's my ranking of the five that were offered:

1. Pulled Pork Poutine from Lou Dawg's http://www.loudawgs.com

I'm not sure if I was just starving when I got there and this was the first poutine we had, but this was my favourite of the night. The pulled pork was tender, sweet, and delicious. The cheese curds were perfectly melted between the gravy and the pulled pork they loaded on. The chicken gravy was a nice light complement to it as it didn't weigh you down after eating it and keeps the focus on the meat. The fries were also deliciously crisp with nice flavour from the peel.

2. The Works Poutine from Poutini's House of Poutine http://www.poutini.com

I was surprised myself how much I enjoyed this simply made poutine topped with sour cream, bacon, and chives. It was like a baked potato poutine basically. The bacon was nice and crispy and the sour cream was chilled and didn't melt with everything else. I think it was the gravy that did it for me on this one, it was the best flavour of them all. The cheese curds were also huge as seen in the picture. After the top layer though, I didn't bother with the rest of the fries as it was very heavy.

3. Duck Confit Poutine by Coquine http://coquinerestaurant.com

So this was the overall winner of the night voted by all the attendees! It was no question, the most 'foodie' and somewhat pretentious of all the poutines, with duck confit, smoked provolone, and brie topping the fries. I will admit that it was a complicated and well-thought out dish. The brie melted smoothly into the fries while the provolone had larger cubes. I would have liked a stronger taste of the duck, although the gravy thoroughly ran to your fries at the bottom of the cup. The fries were the thinnest of all of the poutines and there were pockets of saltiness from some of them. It stood out from the other poutines and the cheese was fabulous, so I can see why it won.

4. Butter Chicken Poutine from Great Burger Kitchen http://greatburger.ca

I was very excited for this poutine as I love anything Indian infused with other foods but was let down by GBK on this one. I've actually had poutines at GBK before and they were absolutely delicious. This on the other hand, was a miss on a great idea. The sauce was extremely creamy but had little flavour overall. I couldn't even tell it was butter chicken while eating it. The cheese also had little flavour and seemed like random pieces just there that didn't quite fit.

5. Shepherd's Pie Poutine by Feisty Jack Mobile Food http://www.thefeistyjack.com

Fiesty Jack is a food truck that was located outside the venue and served from there. This was the last one we tried and were totally full at the this point. I'm not completely sure if that had anything to do with it, but we could only have about two bites of this poutine. The top was totally covered in meat that created a layer of grease before even getting to the fries. It looked very unappetizing but I didn't enjoy the flavour of the meat of it either. Wasn't for me even though I love shepherd's pie, it didn't taste like that at all to me.





I was totally impressed by Joylister from this event of over 400 participants. They had tons of volunteers keeping the event in line and ensuring everyone's happiness. I anticipated a lot of waiting around and not getting enough food or drinks, but it was completely the opposite. There was plenty of food to go around (they even had people coming around with trays of poutines), although some places ran out around 9PM. They crowded the Poutine King around 8:30PM which was earlier than I had thought but the venue was dying down at this point. They provided the restaurants with excellent exposure and the chefs were extremely friendly when they served you. Arriving an hour or two before the event start probably helped with less wait after the rush. The Beer Academy was extremely spacious and provided many areas for sitting and standing. The line for drinks was large at first, but died down quickly. They had plenty of craft beer options and provided pairings for each dish. It was totally worth the $35 for this amazing event, I'll be back next year for sure (if I get tickets)! They're also putting on other events coming up which I'd consider attending as well.

Mont-Royal Hot Dog

Date Visited: Late night meal on Saturday Aug 3, 2013
Company: Group of 6 after Osheaga

After a long, second day at Osheaga, a group of us met up at Mont Royal subway station to grab some food late into the night. As most of us spent the last hours of the night dancing away to Porter Robinson, so we weren't in the mood for walking or standing in a line-up to get into one of the more popular restaurants in Montreal. We had spotted Mont Royal Hot Dog from an earlier night and decided to walk by to see how it was and luckily for us, it wasn't busy at all.

We entered Mont Royal and we could see the menu immediately right on top of the kitchen area. They had a large variety of foods to choose from such as the famous Montreal hot dogs, breakfast, burgers, and pitas. It was a cross between fast food and a diner, with an open kitchen and many booths for sitting. We grabbed a table so I could check out the options further as there were menus on the table also while the others went up to order. A waitress meanwhile came to serve us some waters.

After I had decided what I wanted and +Will went up to order as the rest of the group did, the chef told him to order at the table. We found this a bit odd but waited for the waitress to come as she served one of the dishes our friends ordered. The food came to each individual as it was finished being prepared by the cook and left on the counter for the waitress. I was pretty impressed on how speedy they were. I ordered the Mont-Royal Poutine after seeing +Elliott's order come. I ordered the small, and I couldn't believe they had two sizes above that! The poutine was topped with hot dog, bacon, pepperoni, onions, green peppers, and mushrooms (with cheese and gravy of course). Mine had a smaller plate on the bottom for the normal poutine part, while +Elliott ordered the medium and his was just on the big plate. In terms of the toppings though, I think I still had as much as him on my overflowing plates. It was a beautiful and colourful sight of delicious fried up vegetables and meats. The vegetables were cooked perfectly with lots of flavour from the other components. I even enjoyed the bacon as they used large pieces rather than bits. There was a lot of hot dog in there, at least two whole ones but the pepperoni was my favourite part. Only complaint I had was that the cheese was cold underneath all the toppings still, it hardly melted at all. Despite that, the fries were good even though it was lost underneath the mound of everything else that will be clogging my arteries. 

Food: 3.5/5 - Hard to go wrong when the poutine was topped with all that.
Decor: 2/5 - A little run down looking but standard diner appearance.
Service: 3.5/5 - Waitress and wait time was great. Cooks didn't seem like they were fans of us though, maybe because of the language barrier.
Willingness to come back: 3.5/5 - Lots to try here and pretty good prices!
Overall: 3/5
Website: none

Mamie Clafoutis

Date Visited: Lunch on Saturday Aug 3, 2013
Company: Getting a quick meal for a group of 4 before Osheaga

It was our first full day of Osheaga and +Elliott wanted to take us to a nice breakfast place for brunch. We Bixied over to this restaurant on St Denis but was met with disappointment seeing the large line of people waiting outside. Instead ,we went to the Boulangerie next door to grab some French baked goods and enjoy it outside in the park nearby.

The bakery was very spacious and modern, but still had an authentic feeling to it. Upon entering, we had to grab numbers to get our orders taken. All the foods were on display for our choosing and there were tons of options to satisfy what kind of food you wanted: pastries, desserts, breads, they had it all! I decided on a Chicken Curry Sandwich for lunch and a Raisin Roll for some sweetness. The servers were very patient and didn't rush your orders, they even toast the sandwich for you to have it warm. They had an upstairs with a bathroom and I assumed a sitting area but I didn't get to see it. It looked like a large area though so it was probably a nice and comfy cafe area.

We all got our orders and walked over to St Louis Square and sat on the benches to eat our meals. One noticeable thing was that all the breads were extremely fresh. The loaf was delicious, I loved the hardness as it was still chewable but not soft and soggy. The chicken curry in the sandwich was very mild but had nice flavour. The sandwich was actually very large once you start eating it, they put a lot in there! I couldn't finish it all when I still had my Raisin Roll to go. The roll was a pastry dessert coiled up with fillings of raisins and custard between the layers. It was a delicate, but fun roll indeed! The pastry was flakey but the custard added moisture so it didn't fall apart. The taste wasn't overbearing or sweet and had an excellent balance between all elements. I was extremely happy with my lunch choices that day and that we got to go to an authentic french bakery!

Food: 5/5 - I don't know what could've been better!
Decor: 4/5 - Great lighting, space and look.
Service: 3.5/5 - Took some time but mostly from waiting for them to toast the sandwiches, good system of serving people.
Willingness to come back: 3.5/5 - I would eat the same thing again too.
Overall: 4/5
Website: http://mamieclafoutis.com

Buns Hamburger House

Date Visited: Lunch on Sunday Aug 4, 2013
Company: Group of 4, before heading to Osheaga

Right before our last day of Osheaga, we ventured to Sainte-Catherine for lunch and were faced with a slew of different restaurants on the busy street. Of all the options that were proposed by +Elliott, our local expert, we decided on good, cheap burgers. When I checked in on Foursquare for the location, I discovered that Buns has received a lot of praise and according to some, have the best burgers in Montreal. We did notice that it was pretty cheap, $8 for a burger, fries, and drink. But their menu basically started and ended there. I decided to go for a Burger Combo with a Vanilla Milkshake instead which was $11. Also, they don't charge taxes here!

We were in a bit of a rush to catch Frightened Rabbit's set so I felt like the time dragged on while waiting for our burgers to cook. There was only one worker there doing everything and even though it wasn't very busy, we waited about 15 minutes for our orders. We sat at 1 out of the 2 tables at the restaurant, it wasn't big but with only two tables it was pretty spacey, mostly for people to wait for their orders. Even the kitchen area seemed a bit cramped but perfect for only 1 worker. The place is a whole in the wall otherwise, there was nothing appealing about it and it's very drab. The bathroom was also a disaster with no toilet paper. I heard it's open late so I feel like they just didn't clean after the drunk people came in the previous night.

Anyways, back to the food. I had my burger with everything on it and cheese is included in all the burgers. The bun looked very firm and dense which was nice because it didn't get soggy. The burger patty was very flavourful and well done. It's a simple burger but tastes amazing. It didn't look too big but really fills you. The fries were large-cut and the potatoes were so soft and fluffy inside. Some of mine were overcooked but others were perfect. They had a bit of spices on them which gave it a nice bit of flavour. It was hard to finish all of them since they gave you so much but they were really addictive fries. The milkshake was also a great addition, it was very thick and had lots of ice cream. It came in a Styrofoam cup though which was a bit weird.

Food: 4.5/5 - I really enjoyed the food, fries were a bit inconsistent.
Decor: .5/5 - Only plus was that it was roomy.
Service: 2.5/5 - Server was nice but took his sweet time.
Willingness to come back: 3/5 - It's a good eat but there's no other variety to get here other than what I had already.
Overall: 2.5/5
Website: http://bunshamburgers.blogspot.com/

St-Viateur Bagel

Date Visited: Lunch on Friday Aug 2, 2013

Company: Take-out for myself during my lunch work break

I'm a huge bagel fan and I was so excited to have Montreal bagels during my visit on the weekend. While working from +Elliott's on Friday, he recommended St-Viateur Bagel for my lunch and I was more than happy that it was a bagel shop. Nothing better then getting a food item straight from where it's named after, especially when it's hand-made, wood-fire baked, circles of bagel-y goodness. It was 10 minute walk from his place so I ventured down with my Google Maps to find it. Mount Royal is quite a happenin' street and there's a lot of food options all around, it was hard not to stop before I reached it. That's one great thing about Montreal, I find that in Toronto you get so many fast-food chains on the busy streets and less of the unique shops that you have to know where to go to get what you want, as there's less choices all around.

I passed it the first time I walked by because I read the sign as 'Bagel and Cafe', I happened to missed seeing the St Viateur at the top. Upon entering, there was a line to the door but not too many people in the line, so it's a pretty small cafe. The greeter explained to me that you can order bagels on one side and order sandwiches on the other. There's a small sit down area also which was full. I looked on the menu displayed and it was in french so I had to take quite some time to see what I wanted. I didn't think I wanted a sandwich because they looked very filling, I just wanted something simple like a bagel with cream cheese. But after seeing all the sandwiches they were making at the counter, I was definitely debating getting one, but it was hard to just stand there and try to translate what all the ingredients were. So when I ordered, there was some confusion here and there but I ended up getting an All-Dressed Bagel with Pineapple Cream Cheese. They use Philadelphia cream cheese here which is the best but it would be awesome if they had additional flavours because I love those crazy flavoured cream cheeses! I also ordered a side of Macaroni Salad because all the sides looked really fresh and somewhat healthy. These were separate orders so it came out to be a bit less than ordering a sandwich at just under $10. So once I got my order in its container, I headed back to enjoy my lunch while working.

Once I got back, everything had shifted in the large container and it definitely didn't look as good as the plates they were serving the people who were dining in. I put it all on a plate to take a nice pic and then I could finally eat! Though it wasn't as warm and fresh as it might have been if I didn't to have to walk that extra 15 minutes, it was still a delicious bagel. It was probably not the best decision to mix the sweet with the savoury on this one as it was a weird taste combination. Despite that, the bagel was very flavourful and just has that Montreal aroma that you can't get anywhere else. It was toasted nicely and had a mix of different seeds on it. The Macaroni Salad was simple and light, not too much mayo and fresh veggies were mixed in. I liked the shell macaroni pieces and how the onions, corn and carrots were a similar size. Overall, a nice lunch!

Food: 3.5/5 - Fresh salad and home-made bagel, wish I could've enjoyed it right when it was prepared though.

Decor: 4.5/5 - Cutest little cafe with awesome rustic decor, size was my only issue.

Service: 2/5 - A bit trouble with the language barrier but they're really good with moving people in and out of the store.

Willingness to come back: 4.5/5 - I need to try one of those sandwiches and I'm so sad I didn't grab a few bagels to bring home!

Overall: 3.5/5

Website: http://www.stviateurbagel.com/

Schwartz's

Date Visited: Late night meal on Friday Aug 1, 2013
Company: First stop after arriving Montreal with +Elliott

I had visited the infamous Schwartz's once before, about 3 years ago visiting Montreal from Ottawa with some friends I met on co-op. The line was huge to get in and a camera was filming two guys sitting at the counter in this small, packed deli. I just remember that it was the (first, I think, and) best smoked-meat sandwich I had ever had. It was so simple: rye bread, meat, and mustard, but it was so mind-blowingly delicious. Is this what all smoked meat tasted like and I've just been missing out on it all my life?

3 years later and since then, I had smoked meat once again from the Eaton Centre but it was the worst sandwich I'd ever had. So upon my arrival into Montreal on the VIA train on Thursday night for the Osheaga long weekend, +Elliott and I met up and he wanted to go to Schwartz's! He'd never been because of the line but hoped that there would be none this late. We walked there and saw a group standing outside of it. The owner quickly came out and seated them though and we were next. It was still busy, but a few seats were empty! 
The place is quite small and the right half of the store is completely for the kitchen where they prepare the food and you can see stacks of smoked beef on the counters. The other half is rows of tables and you'd usually end up sitting beside a stranger if you're in a small group. There's a menu on two sides of the walls but we also got ones to look at at the table where they came and took our order. We of course went for the Smoked Meat Sandwich and also got sides of Pickle and Coleslaw. Something new since I'd been there last is that the waiter asks you if you want Lean, Medium, or Fatty meat. I went for the lean trying to be healthy...

+Elliott and I both regretted our lean meat decisions because it very dry and not as flavourful. We tried to add more mustard to help it but it didn't really, the bread had more moisture than the beef. It was still excellent smoked meat but wasn't to my preference and I was pretty disappointed especially after my amazing first visit (hopefully it's not one of those 'never as good as the first time' cases). The Pickle, I find is something a lot of people order but I found it watery and wasn't as full of flavour as I'd expected. The Coleslaw on the other hand was some of the best I've had. The flavour was bold and it was so simply made. 

Food: 4/5 - Giving the benefit of the doubt here because my instinct is that my first meal here was excellent (not a pigment of my imagination) despite the downfalls of this last visit.
Decor: 2/5 - Awesome old school decor all around, but way too cramped!
Service: 4/5 - Fast service and owners just seem like awesome guys.
Willingness to come back: 3/5 - I don't think I'd wait in a line here but I'd definitely go again if I could just walk in.
Overall: 3/5
Website: http://www.schwartzsdeli.com/

Kama

Date Visited: Late dinner on Thursday Jul 25, 2013
Company: Post-TIFF stuff meal with +Lilian

+Lilian and I were in the King West area looking for a place to eat after my TIFF volunteer session and her work shift. After a while of wandering and not stumbling upon any restaurants that gauged our interest, we settled on an Indian place on the corner of King and University. It was located on the lower level of the streets, a bit hidden amongst other restaurants. It advertised a buffet, but we weren't feeling hungry enough for AYCE. We still decided to check out the a-la-carte menu and since it wasn't out of our price range, we decided to grab a table. 

The restaurant was very big and stretched very far back. I didn't expect it to get as much traffic as it seems it does with its size, most restaurants in the area (even buffets) seem to be smaller. The place was pretty empty as it was an hour to closing so we got a roomy corner booth table. They didn't really have any outstanding decor and everything was pretty yellow but it was very nicely lit.
We decided on getting the Butter Chicken and Saag Paneer after a bit of discussion between us about what things were and what we were feeling. We asked the waiter if rice was included in the dishes but the he advised it wasn't. We then ordered Naan which comes with 6 pieces but he advised that we'd need more so we went with two orders of the plain. 

The wait wasn't too bad, but it's how long I'd expect to wait during prime hours. They brought out gas-light candles to keep the dishes warm just before they served them which was a nice indication the food was coming. The Butter Chicken was very different than any other butter chicken I had had before. It was quite sweet and had a strong tomato paste taste. It was tasty but reminded me of the Chef Boyardee beefaroni or ravioli sauce. The actual chicken was very juicy and tender with large pieces. The Saag Paneer had a good portion of cheese to sauce but we added some salt because it was lacking significantly. I enjoyed the thick texture though as it made it easier to dip. The Naan was warm when we got it but after sitting on the table during eating, it quickly got hard and cold. By the end of our meal, it was very hard to bite off pieces from it. We tried to finish the chicken but left the paneer to take home. 

Food: 1.5/5 - Our dishes weren't the best, there was something off about all of them.
Service: 2.5/5 - Service was decent, friendly waiters.
Decor: 2.5/5 - Extremely spacious, but lacking anything else.
Willingness to go back: 3.5/5 - I'd definitely try the buffet to see what that's like in comparison.
Overall: 2.5/5
Website: http://www.kamaindia.com/