REVIEW: McDonald’s Poutine (Canada)

McDonald's Poutine

Is there anything more Canadian than eating a poutine? Watching hockey, maybe. Or drinking coffee from Tim Horton’s. I’ve got a confession to make, though: I don’t particularly like hockey or Tim Horton’s. I know! I know! I’m pretty sure the only thing keeping me from being deported is my abiding love of poutine.

Seriously, what’s not to love? Fries. Check. Delicious. Cheese curds. Yep, delicious. Gravy. You know that’s delicious. So it’s no surprise that when you combine those elements, you (usually) wind up with a delicious final product.

Oddly enough, McDonald’s only recently started serving poutine in Canada (they’ve had it in Quebec for a while, but the rest of the country has been sadly poutine-free). This doesn’t seem like a big deal until you realize that McDonald’s was the last poutine hold-out among the big burger chains. That omission has finally been rectified.

It costs $3.99, which isn’t crazy expensive, nor is it a particularly great value for the amount of food you’re getting.

The biggest obstacle in McDonald’s quest to bring a great poutine to the masses: their very thinly-cut fries. Though McDonald’s fries are some of the better fast food fries out there, a poutine really requires a more substantial fry to hold up to the onslaught of gravy. And how does McDonald’s solve this issue? By doing nothing at all; sadly, the thin fries are just as problematic as you’d think.

To be fair, the idea of McD’s creating a separate type of fries just for their poutine is pretty much a pipe dream. It would be nice, but it’s never going to happen.

McDonald's Poutine Closeup

So yes, the fries sog up. In fact, they were soggy right from the first bite (though spending a couple of minutes taking pictures before I started eating probably didn’t help in that regard — but I suspect that this was a lost cause either way).

The gravy is a fairly generic chicken gravy; it tastes fine and gets the job done, but it’s nothing that anyone is going to get too excited over. If you’ve ever had a middling canned gravy from a supermarket, you know what to expect.

It also wasn’t quite hot enough. The heat level in a poutine is a bit of a balancing act; you don’t want it to be so hot that the curds completely liquefy, but they do need to soften a bit more than the curds did here.

The curds, however, are pretty good. The biggest test of a good cheese curd is whether or not it squeaks when you bite into it, and these had a decent amount of squeak.

And of course, kudos must go to McDonald’s for avoiding the cardinal sin of poutinedom — substituting shredded mozzarella for the cheese curds, or, even worse, shredded cheddar (the horror… the horror). Any restaurant that serves poutine with shredded cheese is basically announcing to the the world: “Hey, guess what? We’re garbage and we serve garbage!” Harsh? Maybe. True? You know it.

(Nutrition Facts – 510 calories, 30 grams of fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, 1010 milligrams of sodium, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fibre, 1 gram of sugar, and 17 grams of protein.)

Item: McDonald’s Poutine (Canada)
Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: N/A
Purchased at: McDonald’s
Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: A passable poutine that doesn’t get anything horrifically wrong. Squeaky curds. Will satisfy a poutine craving in a pinch.
Cons: Thin fries that immediately sog up. Boring gravy. Not hot enough. A little overpriced for what you’re getting.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Meet Our First Canadian Reviewer, Michael

Hi, my name is Michael, and I’m a junk-food-oholic.

Sorry, isn’t this the Junk Food Anonymous meeting? No? It’s the exact opposite of that? Well, okay, that’ll work too.

I hail from the frigid tundra known as Canada; our junk/fast food selection is largely the same as in the States, with the occasional difference. I think the most hilarious example of this is when Domino’s had their very high-profile campaign of changing their recipe and admitting that their pizzas used to be terrible. The only hitch: they never bothered to bring the new recipe here. So they were basically telling Canadians, “Hey, you know our pizzas? They’re garbage. Enjoy!”

But I digress. I’m a junk food obsessive who will eat anything served at a fast food joint or contained within a wrapper, sometimes (okay, frequently) to my own detriment. I write about my gastronomic adventures (and misadventures) at my own blogs: Tasty Burgers, Michael Eats, and the now-defunct Candyrageous. I also occasionally write for Serious Eats.

Why do I spend so much time writing about food? Mostly, I do it so I can unironically use the word “mouthfeel.”

SPOTTED ON SHELVES – Kellogg’s Birthday Edition! Flavor Flashback! Frosted Chocolate Vanilla Creme Pop-Tarts

Kellogg's Birthday Edition! Flavor Flashback! Frosted Chocolate Vanilla Creme Pop-Tarts

Flavor Flashback? I have to admit I don’t remember this flavor ever existing. Or maybe I just got it confused with the other chocolate and vanilla Pop-Tarts that have been released. Also, if it’s Pop-Tarts’ 50th birthday, should we be expecting birthday cake-flavored Pop-Tarts soon? (Spotted by Meral at Walmart.)

If you’re out shopping and see an interesting new or limited edition product on the shelf, snap a picture of it, and send us an email (theimpulsivebuy@gmail.com) with where you found it and “Spotted” in the subject line. If you do so, you might see your picture in our next Spotted on Shelves post.

PRIZE DRAWING: Because Bottled Arby’s Sauces Are An Awesome Idea That Should’ve Happened Sooner

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The fine folks at Arby’s sent two gift packages to give away, each of which include VIP Cards to try Arby’s Chocolate Trio of desserts and the King’s Hawaiian Roast Beef Sandwich, bottled Arby’s Sauces, and a notebook which you can use to keep track of all the ways you’re going to use that bottle of Arby’s Sauce.

My goodness, the things I want to do with that bottle of Arby’s Sauce!

To enter The Impulsive Buy’s Bottled Arby’s Sauces Prize Pack Giveaway, leave a comment with THIS post. You can say whatever you want, but it MUST include your plans for the Arby’s Sauce and/or Horsey Sauce. Are you going to put it on ice cream? Are you going to make an Arby’s Sauce Bloody Mary?

Please don’t forget to fill out the email field because we’ll be emailing the randomly selected winners for their mailing addresses.

We will stop accepting entries on Saturday, January 18, 2014 11:59 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time. Only one comment allowed per person, and it’s only open to U.S. residents 18 years old or older.

For those of you who have a Twitter account, you can get an additional entry by tweeting the following by Saturday, January 18, 2014 11:59 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time:

Hey @theimpulsivebuy! I want to make that @Arbys Sauce bottle go PFFFFFFFTTTTTT!

So just copy, paste, and tweet. Only one tweet per Twitter account.

Good luck!

Fine Print: The Impulsive Buy promises your email address will not be used to send you emails about personal finance matters. Impulsive Buy also promises your mailing address will not be used to send you origami cranes or frogs. Bribes will not be accepted. If you’re coming from a site called Online-Sweepstakes, your entries will be disqualified because this drawing for Impulsive Buy readers only. The Impulsive Buy will not be responsible for lost mail, damaged mail, or wasting your bottle of Arby’s Sauce by taking off the cap and pouring it over your head.

ANNOUNCEMENT: The Nosh Show Episode 20

NoshEpisode20

The internet’s #1 junk food and fast food podcast* is back after a short hiatus.

In this episode, we talk about Red Velvet M&M’s, Baskin-Robbins Movie Theater Popcorn Ice Cream, White Castle soup, our most-liked products of 2013, and much more.

Links to the products and reviews we talk about are available at The Nosh Show website.

Thanks for listening!

*To be honest, I think we’re the only one, so it’s easy to be #1.