Poout Poout... Pooutine!

I have a passion for this food called poutine which consists of french fries - salted, with gravy poured over cheese curds. Delicious!! It's truly the quintessential Canadian comfort food!
A few years ago while I was living in Montreal, i found some poutine late at night on my kitchen table that seemed a little congealed but i decided to take a stab at it and it was still satisfying! I found out later from my roommate, that she found the poutine under our couch while cleaning because they had forgotten they ordered it. It was a couple days old! I didn't even notice. Ha!

When I moved back to Toronto- I had heard about an event where they were trying to make the largest pile of poutine at Yonge Dundas Square for the Guiness Book of World Records. It was storming outside, the kind of rain that soaked you with one droplet, it was brutal but I needed to be a witness for this and most importantly taste test it! WELL - it wasn't great because it was sooo cold outside so the gravy was congealed but as you read above, I don't mind so much and was happy to be there and the best part is you could go back for second and thirds!!
A few Poutine place recommendations:
In Montreal:
Mammas (75 avenue des Pins Ouest) - on Pins near St. Laurent- you can buy 3 and get the 4th one free... mmm!
Altos (3462 avenue du parc)- I had 3 poutines in one day at this place and am not ashamed to admit it!
Le Fameux (4500 St. Denis)- they have the most delicious poutine gratinee where they broil the poutine melting the cheesy curd goodness and serve it on a hot plate... mmm
Le Banquise( 994 Rue Rachel Est)- they have a HUGE selection of poutine (25 different kinds) which is the novelty of the resto!
In Toronto:
I just tried the new place that's above Burrito Boys in the club district- Smoke's Poutiniere (218 Adelaide St W- at Duncan)and it's great! The building complex is possibily the most unhealthy building in all of Toronto!
Anyway I took a group of 6 people with me for lunch and we had the following:
Pulled Pork Poutine - it's good but the sweetness of the pork battled against the saltiness of the fries (see image)
Curry Chicken poutine- great on paper and as an idea but i wasn't a huge fan of this poo (image on the below left)
Chicken and Pea poutine- it's good comfort food but again it was too heavy to finish
Country Style poutine- this has bacon and mushrooms mixed in with chicken- truly a meal for champs!
Smoked Meat poutine - reminds me of the good old days in Montreal but i really feel strongly that these 2 dishes should be eaten separately
and the Traditional poutine- SOOO perfect and succulent! I was the only one that finished my BOX of poooo and wanted to eat more!
Just a rant on a couple of things that I dislike:
-dry fries
-slices of kraft cheese melted with gravy on fries
-well, any place that doesn't use curds
-watery gravy
I look forward to discovering some more poutine goodness! Anyway xoxo, J
***** stars