Poutine. We can all agree that it is an icon of Canadian culture, recognized the world over, but can all Canadians say poutine is something that represents themselves? While potato, cheese and gravy might do good to represent me, since I eat that shit all the time, I don’t think it truly reflects the multicultural aspects of our country. In societal melting pots, classic staples should be inspired by diversity and originality, much like this Lobster poutine I recently had the joy of consuming.
Petit Bill’s Lobster Poutine.
I was in Ottawa a few weeks ago, and ended up in what I interpreted to be some sort of ‘Hipster Nexus‘ where tight jeans, plaid shirts and tennis shoes were standard issue to the locals. I later found out that the neighbourhood I was in was so hip, it didn’t even have a name, some people would say it was called Westboro… then other people would say ‘No, that’s further west…’ Perhaps that was just the hip thing to say, all I knew is I felt parsecs away from the dense northern muskeg and wide open lakes that felt like home, where we wear flannel for functionality and to be seen by other hunters.
We arrived at Petit Bill’s Bistro on Wellington, which I was told serves ‘French/Newfie (is it politically correct to say newfie? lets just say east coast from now on…) cousine. I scanned its fancy pants menu for something that would offer a light recharge before I catapulted my liver and stomach into a night of city-centric debauchery. Low and behold, there it was, it lifted off the page of the menu unlike any combination I would dare try to even imagine. The Lobster Poutine. I had to have it.. I had to.. blog about it…
Well when rating a pouter there are 5 categories to consider:
1) Fries
2) Cheese
3) Gravy
4) Extras
5) Presentation
Each of these are rated as a pass or fail toward its final grade:
1) Fries: Well the menu said they were fresh, and honestly if I were to go into a hustle and bustle bistro like this one I wouldn’t expect anything less. They were on the skinny side, which is my thing, compared to giant slices of soft potato. Not overly fried and radiating in a golden hue, yes the fries were good.
Pass.
2) Cheese: I’m a cheesy guy… and I don’t mean it as a pun… or maybe I do… While the fries were on a level playing field with other poutines, the cheese is the first big departure from a traditional poutine. The menu states it is ‘shellfish butter & mascarpone cheese’ I found it to be very rich taste, but not cheese curds in anyway (though probably tastier). The dilemma I came into with this poutine is that the cheese is also technically the gravy when you compare it with a regular pooter. But I decided to give it a pass based on the rich cheesy flavour of the sauce, essential to any poutine, regardless of whether it comes from curds or not.
Pass.
3) Gravy: Like I said before, I rock hardcore the hardest part of comparing this to a regular pooter is that the cheese and gravy kind of act as one. But you can’t just poor regular cheese sauce on fries and call it poutine, with a regular poutine I like the sauce present but not in abundance, and I like to have some with every bite. I had that experience here, I thought maybe the sauce would be disproportionate as I neared the bottom but it was not an issue. Pass on the gravy for being saucy… (like the wait staff)
Pass.
4) Extras: Here it is, an extra worth talking about, for once I get to talk about an actual extra and not a plastic fork. Lobster, and there was certainly some lobster inside of it. If you were to just plop some lobster on a regular poutine it probably wouldn’t work, so the selection of cheese and sauce help carry the lobster to an orgasmic finish with this dish. There wasn’t a flurry of meat and the chunks weren’t huge, but big enough to know they were there and distinctive enough from the sauce that you had some in your mouth. I’m happy to say the lobster is a pass! (Plus as another extra there is a Geocache close to the restaurant)
Pass.
5) Presentation: No styrofoam! There wasn’t too much geared toward the presentation, the sight alone gears up the curiosity as to what the the dish is all about and what magical tastes are hidden within. But while looking on-line for more information I actually found another poutine blog had already reviewed this poutine before, and their presentation was stepped up! See for yourself. So assume that the regular presentation lies somewhere between what I had and what this other reviewer had. As I mentioned though, the sight is enough to draw you in, there is a different world of poutine happening with this dish and thats what draws your attention regardless of how its assembled.
Pass.
Well I’m happy to say the first 5 out of 5 that I’ve reviewed was the Lobster poutine. I recommend it to all pooter enthusiasts who seek the next level of pooterism and someone who enjoys seafood fare:
Petit Bills has a website on the interwebs! http://www.petitbillsbistro.com
