ottawa foodies

Growing up in Kitchener-Waterloo, I worked in a chip truck that my uncle owned/operated. He bought his gravy from a local caterer that made it fresh from drippings gathered cooking roasts for other customers. This was my first experience with poutine, and I ate it for lunch pretty much every shift I worked.

Being initially spoiled like this, I am almost always disappointed to find that chip truck after chip truck continue to use "gravy from a can" or the "just add water variety". It's salty, thin and really doesn't add much flavour wise.

Now that my rant is over, are there any vendors in the Ottawa area that serve poutine with real gravy? I've tried a couple local places (including JP's), and found the same old, same old. :(

The only ones I know to exist are restaurants that make their own gravy and happen to serve poutine. Unfortunately, this means the fries aren't great and you get grated cheese instead of curds. And of course just because the gravy is real doesn't mean it's better than the canned stuff. Actually, in this case "real" might just mean made by hand by thickening beef stock with flour and seasoning it appropriately. There's no guarantee that roasting juices were used in the process. I'm really curious to see if anyone can help you on this quest.

Do you know of any chip trucks anywhere that still serve homemade gravy? I'm assuming from your choice of wording that your uncle no longer has his in KW...

Sadly, my uncle sold his business a few years after building up a loyal clientele. Since then, I think it went out of business. The guy who bought it didn't have the attention to detail that my uncle did, and it slowly slid into oblivion. I've yet to find another chip truck that uses "homemade" gravy since.

I'm hoping one of my future trips to Montreal might turn up something, but who knows?

Have you tried New York Fries' gravy?

I know it's a mall food court joint, but I find their gravy very rich. (I could make a fry stand up straight in it!)

I'm almost certain it's not 'authenticly' made (I can't see an old lady standing there in the back of the tiny hole in the wall in the mall slaving over beef bones in water) but it is really heavy and full flavoured.

I should also add, however, that it's really salty (I don't even want to look up its sodium content), but that's probably also part of why I like it so much.

I have never cared much for poutine (I swear!) but if there's one place in Montréal that would serve poutine made with fresh fries, actual cheese curd and real gravy, it would be Chez Claudette (Laurier Ave, one block west of St-Denis). I've never tried their poutine, but I used to have breakfast there all the time back in the day, and it was certainly head and shoulders above any other diner-type establishment in the city.

All the trucks I know of in Ottawa have fresh-cut fries and real curds. It's the gravy of course that's in question ... but I still love them! Never used to, but my wife eventually got me hooked. And the MSG, of course :-)

Have you tried Elgin Street Diner for poutine? They keep winning Best Poutine reader awards in Xpress.

Most popular does not mean best! (I struggle with the same thing here on OttawaFoodies, since ratings are based on votes.)

The reviews of ESD poutine here are pretty much bang-on. :)

I just remembered something! This summer, I was out on a patio in the Heart & Crown cluster of pubs (I believe it was the Black...something? rose? they are all connected anyway) and my friend ordered the poutine.

I seem to recall that they use real gravy as they make it in-house for some of their other menu items as well (I could be wrong here though, I was drinking beer and it was hot outside). Sadly, I did not taste it so I can't vouch to how good it was. I seem to remember it LOOKING good though. (Sorry to be so vague!)

Jules,

Thanks for the follow up, this gives me someplace to start my search. I will check it out this weekend and post my findings here.

My first post, I better make it a good one.
I would recommend Fritomania on St Joseph blvd in Orleans, they make their own gravy and fry the fries in peanut oil, certainly a local favorite.

Orleansfoodie any other recommendations for food in orleans??

Fritomania! HA! Yeah they're good. Iluvfood, I'm a major fan of Mamma Mia's Pizza... it has this savoury, totally different sauce... plus they use real bacon... I don't know why Gabriel's is such an Orleans institution when Mamma Mia's makes pies far superior to Gabriel's. Oh well. I've heard a lot of good things about Rangoli. Ok, I realize I'm getting off topic here, I'll continue to post in a more appropriate thread.

Iluvfood, as mentioned above, Rangoli (Indian) is excellent, Little Turksih Village (haven't visited in a long time though), The Tartan Pub has been good from time to time but not consistent, Pho Truc Lien is quite nice, evident by the Asian clientele present... it's not a great list by any means but it's a start.