Oh My Curd – if you follow me on social media, you may have noticed a lot of posts about poutine this week; I’m an official Poutine Pusher for #PoutinewithPurpose again this year! This is my favourite food week in the city & I’m so excited to be included in this weeks events.
Calgary’s Poutine Week is the seven days of the year you can eat poutine guilt-free! Why? Every poutine sold at participating restaurants provides a meal to a youth in need thanks to Mealshare YYC! In 2018, Calgary Poutine With Purpose sold 11,000 poutines and Victoria sold 2,050 helped thousands of youth in need. We’re hoping to break that record again this year & today is the last day to help us make that happen (unless you head out to Canmore for 514 Poutine – they extended theirs until tomorrow! Bonus poutine!)
It’s easy to get involved:
- Find a restaurant or poutine you want to try at poutinewithpurpose.com
- Eat poutine.
- Provide a meal to youth in need
- Tell everyone!
This week, I tested 4 of the 90+ participating poutines. If you need some help narrowing down the list, here are my thoughts on the four poutines I tried.
Citizen Brewing Company
Tender beef meatballs, mushroom gravy, squeaky curds, sour cream, & dill top the best crispy fries I’ve had in a long time (& I put away 8 poutines at the Gravy Bowl, so that’s saying a lot!). Inspired by his grandma’s perogies, chef Brad nailed it with this entry. It’s even baby approved!
If you haven’t checked out Citizen Brewing yet, you’re in for a treat. Not only is the poutine fantastic, but they’ve got a great selection of beers on tap, friendly staff, lots of board games, & a wicked patio when the weather finally cooperates. We loved their Monday $5 pint deal,& I’m definitely going to be checking out Thursday ladies night with my girlfriends soon!
Calcutta Cricket Club
I’m continually impressed by everything that comes out of the kitchen at Calcutta Cricket Club. As I’ve come to expect from this cosmopolitan Indian spot, their poutine this week is spicy & full of flavour. My mouth is watering again just thinking about it!
I met a girlfriend for happy hour at this trendy spot on 17th ave. Their lamb curry poutine features tender, braised lamb shoulder, tomato aioli, mint raita, green onion, fries, & cheese curds. I loved how the spicy tomato aioli worked as a stand in for gravy. It has so much flavour! & the mint raita is the perfect compliment, helping cut the spice down a notch, while adding a ton of additional flavour.
On top of the delicious food (we ordered a few favourites from their happy hour menu – it’s a fantastic deal!), the ambience & service are spot on. They’re also baby friendly, which has been an amazing perk for us since Annika’s arrival in July.
Anju
I am always excited to see what Roy’s going to come up with. We’re longtime Anju fans, as all my friends & family well know. It’s my number one suggestion for anyone who loves flavourful, inventive, delicious food. Honestly, I could go one for days about everything I love about Anju, but I think there are at least 5 previous blog posts about just that subject, so I digress.
Enter the Cruel Skintentions Poutine: Kennebec Fries, Fried Chicken Skin, Spiced Curry Powder, Cheese Curds, Sriracha Chicken Gravy. Yeah, you read that right, Chicken Skin (cuz poutine isn’t naughty enough on its own 😉😂). These guys know the way into this girl’s heart, that’s for sure. This a fairly simple Poutine with Purpose entry for Anju, but it hits all the right notes for me in terms of flavour. I loved the hint of spicy from the sriracha chicken gravy.
Since N was back in town, we couldn’t resist ordering a few of our standby’s too (Crispy tofu, oxtail tortellini, gochujang wings, in case you’re curious. 😉 ) It was a fantastic way to spend a Thursday evening as a family. Thank you so much for hosting our whole crew!
514 Poutine
Our family has a running joke that our car can’t drive past Canmore without stopping in for poutine, so when 514 Poutine showed up on the list of participating restaurants for @poutinewithpurpose, we knew we’d be making the trip.
This is the most authentic Quebecois poutine in the West. It takes me right back to living in Montreal. The cheese curds are the real deal, the gravy is delicious – with a balanced flavour that holds its own without taking over – , & the fries are crispy on the outside & soft inside. All this is why we love visiting 514 Poutine, but the real reason we keep coming back are the friendly owners. They never fail to make us (& Odin!) feel so welcome.
This is their first year participating in Poutine with Purpose, & they’ve included four of their incredible poutines: traditional, extreme, meat lovers, or deluxe. We ordered the meat lovers & the deluxe & they were both incredible. I’ve always been a traditionalist, but the tender smoked meat on the deluxe may just have converted me. Pair it with a Black Cherry Cola or Spruce Beer for the real Quebecois experience.
So that wraps up my week of Poutine with Purpose. I hope you get a chance to sample some of these fantastic options & help us break last years’ record. You really can’t go wrong with this mealshare & poutine collaboration.
As always, thanks to Karen for organizing this amazing event & thinking of me as part of the Poutine Pusher team. I always love being part of Poutine with Purpose, & the fact that it’s turned into such a great opportunity to give back to our community, with the help of Mealshare, may just be the best part. Thank you also to all the restaurants who hosted me & were so open to chatting about their creations this week – you guys have been so awesome & accommodating! I can’t wait to find out who are overall winner is!
Happy Poutine Eating, friends!
