Tpoutine... Poutine invasion in NY?

I was ecstatic when heading to another restaurant that my cab passed Tpoutine in the Lower East Side that I vowed to myself I would be back to eat inside the restaurant!!  So on another night out- I dragged 3 of my colleagues from Time Square all the way back down - like 50 blocks to find this place again and gorge on the quintessential Canadian comfort food that I adore!  I was a woman on a stealthy poutine mission!

We walked into the unfortunately empty restaurant around 10pm and went to town ordering 3 different poutines to try.  Of course I needed to try their version of traditional poutine- classic fries, cheese curds and gravy.  I also ordered for the group "the Steakhouse" which had caramelized onions, thinly sliced steak and blue cheese crumbles and gravy as well as the "Morning glory" which had applewood smoked bacon, an egg and gravy and cheese.
Without realizing that I ordered for the group, my other colleague who was clearly hungry decided to order another 2 plates of fries  - the truffle infused fries and a plate of fries with curry aioli so in essence our group of 4 people (2 guys, 2 gals) had 5 plates of bad carbs in front of us!!

The menu here has a variety of burgers, grilled cheeses and while it isn't licensed - you are welcome to BYOB to drink inside the resto which is what the boys did - they bought us beers while we stuffed ourselves with the poo and fries!!  One day I dream of a restaurant that just focuses on poutine in NY but I understand why you need to diversify in the US considering many don't even know about poutine goodness!
When our orders were up - they were served in dishes that looked like big silver spoons.  The curds were squeaky, the gravy was flavourful but I actually didn't love their fries.  They didn't feel like they were home made at all but very generic and store bought.  They were soft and soggy even which was a huge disappointment!  We ate all the plates with gusto though - loving first the traditional poutine and then the morning glory poutine as the consistency of the runny egg mixed with the gravy and cheese worked really well.  The steak with the blue cheese didn't work for my palette as much as it made the dish too salty.  Our fries were OK but again there was nothing special to them - the truffle flavour was muted and the aioli is something that I can get at other places.
Although I was disappointed, I believe I converted 2 poutine virgins into poutine 'likers'... not lovers yet! 
Was it worth it?  Tough call since there's not many other poutine joints in the big apple; I hear there's a place in Brooklyn worth stopping next time I'm in town.  I was happy to see that my favourite Canadian comfort meal did make it south of the border- perhaps I need to give it more time to establish itself and work out it's growing pains.   I guess I'll just have to come back ...

** 1/2 stars 
TPoutine - 168 Ludlow Street, Lower East Side New York
(646) 833-7444
Poutine ranges btw $7.25-$9.50