On The Town: Smoke’s Poutinerie Revisited

Smoke’s Poutinerie
218 Adelaide Street West
Toronto, ON M5H 1W7
416-599-CURD

Back in December I visited Smoke’s and had a pretty mixed review.  I thought it wasn’t bad overall but didn’t love the gravy.  In fact, I pretty much hated the gravy.  It was too herb-y and not meaty enough.  Gravy should be meaty and not taste exclusively of rosemary or thyme or whatever it was.

A few weeks ago I heard rumblings about a new gravy recipe.  I wasn’t that interested in returning as I’ve since found love at Poutini’s but I was super hungry the other day and wanted Poutine immediately.  Smoke’s was closer so I figured I’d venture in.

The first thing that made me happy was that they now offer their poutine in two sizes!  On my first visit I thought that the only size that they had was WAY too large for one person.  The small size that they now offer was meal-sized to me.  A small traditional runs you $5.45 while the regular size is $6.95.  Not the best value but I don’t need 2lbs of poutine.

I had the traditional poutine again and was not blown away.  Sure, the herb flavour in the gravy was more subtle but it was not replaced by meatiness.  My fries were on the soggy side from the beginning and even my top most cheese curds lacked squeak.

Okay, I’m getting a bit pretentious with my squeak comment.  I didn’t know what squeak was until a few weeks ago and it really isn’t a criteria for me in judging poutine but it is for some hence me mentioning it.  Squeaky curds are an indicator of fresh cheese curds.  When you bite into one it should have a bit of squeak to it. Obviously the heat of the poutine diminishes squeak potential but I feel like the ones on top should have some squeak.  The limp fries were inexcusable.

Final verdict: Smoke’s get’s a lackluster “meh”.  Not bad, not great, just passable.  I’d probably just go to the chip truck on Queen if a similar poutine emergency were to occur.