Smoke’s Poutinerie (Downtown)

Located on the Entertainment District, Smoke’s Poutinerie is one of the newer stores that popped up over the last couple months. On the outside, it was a little hard to tell whether it’s open or not. When we looked closer, we saw someone working already and the sign indicated the opening time being 11 AM. Greeny and I decided to check this place out.

On the inside, everything seemed to be very new. The blackboard on the wall was completed blank – not sure whether they intend to write something or not. The menu was relatively easy to understand. They only sell one thing and one thing only – the poutine of course. The varieties range from traditional type to Philly Cheesesteak. Whichever you ordered, the base would always be French fries.

Traditional Poutine

I felt that ordering the traditional one would help to determine whether this place it any good. If they can’t even get the basic right, how would they be able to impress their customers with other variations? The poutine came in the box container which allowed easy take out. It was stuffed with fries, gravy, and cheese curds – quite a sizeable portion. The fries retained the potato skin on them and with good thickness to them. Flavour-wise, they were quite peppery which I liked. The gravy had a mild ginger flavour and wasn’t overly salty. There was a good amount of cheese curds but they were a bit cold. I’d rather have them being a bit meltier if they were mixed with the fries and gravy.

This was a decent poutine I thought – somewhat comparable to the one I had at Dunn’s Famous but not as salty. On the other hand, I’ve heard so many people referred to Fritz European Fry House as the best poutine in Vancouver. That makes me even more curious to check it out. As for Smoke’s, I think we would come back to try other variations and see how they are.