Some of you may know that I love to visit McDonald’s when traveling to new places. I pretty much never dine at McD’s at home though.
The purpose of stopping in is to see if there are any local menu items worthy of a try. McDonald’s has also become something of a treat for Lucas. He knows that it isn’t healthy and we don’t go at home but while traveling he gets to go for a toy and some chicken nuggets.
During our recent trip to Toronto, I had to stop in at a McDonalds Canada location to see if any local menu items were available.
I was happy to see that one of Canada’s favorite dishes, poutines was on the McDonald’s menu.
Here are some countries where I’ve tried local McDonald’s menu items around the world:
On the way back to our hotel, I stopped into a McDonald’s and nothing stood out at first while searching the self-order kiosk. I was almost through the menu and made it to the Snacks and Sides tab when one item caught my eye that I had to try.
Poutines!
For those of you not so familiar with the dish, here’s a quick description. Poutines are french fries covered in brown gravy and cheese curds. Think of them as the Canadian version of cheese fries with gravy or disco fries.
Here’s McDonald’s description of Poutine: “Our world famous fries… Served perfectly golden, smothered in hot gravy and topped with real cheese curds.”
At $3.99, they were fairly priced, especially when you take into account the strong exchange rate. That made the poutines cost just a shade over $3 at $3.02.
I waited a few minutes for the order to get prepared. I then saw that handsome looking box on my tray. (I wondered where the dish was from the picture on the kiosk’s screen that I ordered from…)
I couldn’t wait to open the box up and then saw this.
The order was a very nice amount of fries topped with a generous portion of cheese curds and gravy.
I wasn’t expecting much but I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed the McDonald’s Poutine.
The fries weren’t what I’d consider crispy since they were covered in gravy but they are a good carrier for the other ingredients. The cheese curds have a nice texture and tasted decent enough. Would I consider them super-flavorful, high quality curds- no, but they were good on the fries.
Also, Lucas loved the cheese curds when I wiped the gravy off of them.
The gravy flavor stood out the most. I did like it but I can’t think of the best way to describe the taste. The only think I’d say negative about the gravy is that it did seem to be a bit on the salty side. (Not so surprising for a fast food restaurant.)
Overall, I’d definitely recommend trying out the Poutine if you happen to be going to Canada. It made for a tasty snack and an interesting take on a local, Canadian specialty.
Related Posts:
Phoenix- That might be true but the McD’s version was still pretty solid and worth trying.
McD’s poutine pales in comparison to poutine one can buy almost anywhere in Canada, let alone Quebec.
Matt- Thank you! La Banquise looks awesome. Only problem is deciding which poutine to get!
I know so many choices! If you can’t decide, the original is always a great choice, especially if it’s your first true (ie Quebec) poutine!
Matt- We’ll be in Montreal on Saturday for most of the day. Besides grabbing a bagel at St Viateur or Fairmount and going to Schwartz’s we have no plans. Where do you recommend getting poutines? Any other recs? (We were in Montreal in 2008 so it’s been a while.)
You’re hitting all the best spots! My favourite (and the favourite of many Montrealers) is La Banquise, also in the Plateau. You won’t regret it! If you go late on Saturday night (it’s open 24 hours) there may be a long line out the door, but if you go earlier you shouldnt have a problem getting a table quickly.
Bagels, Schwartz’s, La Banquise, walking around the Plateau, and enjoying the abnormally warm weather. That’s the perfect Montreal day!
The McDonald’s poutine is pretty good, but next time you’re north of the border come to Montreal and get a real poutine!