Toronto Review 15/Many. This was unfortunately my last meal in Toronto, aside from a small snack to…read morewash the taste out of my mouth on the way back to the hotel. We were originally going to go to Pai, but since there was a line out the door because we didn't make a reservation, we ate here. The interior was fun, with the original owner's face on many different things, and there was a loud-ish mix of rock and early heavy metal. Apparently, this spot is a chain, and they used to have some US locations, but I'm not surprised they closed. We got some Cauliflower Bites for 5.49 CAD to begin. These were decent and, unlike our poutine choices, not overly salty. The little bits of fried cauliflower could have used a bit more flavor, but they worked for texture, and both of us eventually added some pieces to our poutines.
My poutine of choice was the Prime Beef Deluxe, with ground beef, mushrooms, caramelized onions, and green peas, for 13.99 CAD. As a whole, the poutine was rather nasty, with the whole thing feeling wet. The watery gravy lacked flavor compared to the couple of other examples I've had before. The fries, even though they were hot and looked crispy, were limp and potatoey, and they were getting limper by the second because of the bad gravy. The cheese curds were decent, but there weren't that many of them. The beef didn't help how wet the dish was, nor did the frozen peas, with the only decent parts being the caramelized onions and mushrooms. I had maybe 60/70% of it, leaving many very wet fries at the end.
The other person had the Buffalo grilled chicken with grilled chicken, buffalo sauce, creamy ranch dressing, and green onions, which was a dollar more. From the little bit I tried, the chicken was certainly better quality, though still a bit gummy. The buffalo sauce had a little bit of heat. The whole thing was extremely overdressed with the sauce, dressing, and gravy, and he had maybe half of it at most.
This meal was terrible. They were both a salty mess with bad fries and worse gravy. I've had better poutine in NYC, and there are barely any Canadian spots here. Go here if you're high or drunk and therefore lack proper taste buds.