Although traditionally a French-Canadian specialty, no trip to Canada can be complete without a trip to some sort of local poutinerie. Yes, a poutinerie is a place the dishes out poutine, that ingenious gravy, fry cheese curd concoction that was most likely devised as a way to survive the winter in the Great White North. And despite the beautiful weather, I made my way to Fritz European Fry House in downtown Vancouver to get poutine in me.
As an afternoon snack, I only ordered the medium and then asked the grumpy woman behind the counter if I should add anything else to the mix of fries, gravy and cheese curds. She begrudgingly told me Real Bacon (as opposed to bacon bits) was popular so I begrudgingly asked for some in my order. The result was some pretty fantastic poutine. The fries held their own against the onslaught of gravy and the cheese melted just enough to keep me happy, but not so much as to turn the whole dish into a sludge. I appreciated the bacon, but also didn’t feel that it was entirely necessary. Bacon never hurts, but in this case it didn’t necessarily help either. Poutine, however, always helps. And coming from Fritz it helps even more, even if the customer service could use a little work.
