Weirdest cheese curds ever! Great fries, great service, not real poutine...
So, I'm from Quebec. I'm from the region where poutine was created (not one of the actual towns where it is debated to have been created). I've been eating cheese curds, twice fried fries, and poutines my whole life (no, I'm not 300 lbs.).
Let's get one thing straight.... You can have great fries (they do!), great service (they do!!) and a whole lot of really interesting things on your menu (they DO!), and still really, really, really NOT be serving poutine. I don't care what your name is.
Poutine is supposed to be made with fresh, salty, squeaky, wet cheese curds that MELT and become long, gooey, stringy cheese strands in your gravy covered fries. The cheese curds at Craves were...... WEIRD. They were cold. So cold it was impossible for them to melt, even when covered in all kinds of hot stuff. They also were bland (I have NEVER in my life eaten cheese curds that tasted like cardboard before). They're even grainy! If you've ever had proper cheese curds before, that is super weird.
It's not just a Quebec thing. I can get beautiful salty, moist, squeaky fresh cheese curds from the dairy near my house outside Brantford. As far as I can tell, there's no reason to have these weird curds that have no taste and don't melt in the dish you're trying pass off as a "poutine".
That being said, the fries were awesome. Like, really great. And the service was just as great. So much better than almost anywhere else you're likely to go.
So... I'm hopeful that if the owners can get some proper curds, their product will only be better.
I do also have one small other concern. My husband ordered the Philly cheese steak poutine. Unfortunately, it was made with that oily fake liquid cheese product you get on movie theatre nachos. You know, "nacho cheese"? Ugh. And, all the veggies were raw. Now, I love raw veggies. But, not on my cheese steak. Philly cheese steak is made with provolone cheese and FRIED peppers and onions. So, this was more like totally awesome fries wrecked with cinema nacho toppings.
My request: Please, please, PLEASE, owners of Craves Poutinerie, elevate your awesome fries and terrific service with some proper cheese curds and real Philly cheese steak toppings. It will only make your product even more CRAVE-able.
As it is, I'm hoping to bring my own curds and stop in for some of those awesome fries to make my own poutine the next time I'm driving through. read more