Poutine King doesn’t skimp on ingredients

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This article was published 21/07/2022 (1353 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As someone who grew up eating a reasonable amount of poutine, something that is unofficially required by Canadian law, I foolishly thought this dish couldn’t surprise me now that I am an adult.

However, that all changed last Friday when I visited The Poutine King food truck, which was parked outside of Brandon’s Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership on Victoria Avenue.

The first thing I noticed walking up to the truck was the wide variety of menu items on display, ranging from a basic poutine (composed of just fries, cheese curds and gravy) to more elaborate permutations like “The Kalbi BBQ,” which adds Korean beef, kimchi and coriander into the mix.

At that moment, I admit that I was a little overwhelmed by all the choices, having been mostly familiar with the cheap, bare-bone poutines that are a staple of every hockey arena canteen.

To avoid panicking, I selected the “Mighty Buffalo” ($13.75) for my early supper, curious to see how the staff would use a combination of hot peppers, ranch dressing, green onions and marinated chicken with buffalo sauce to enhance this classic culinary formula.

A few minutes later, I got my answer when I was presented with a heavy biodegradable box that contained my meal, which looked like more of a casserole than a regular poutine.

I say “casserole” because the entire top layer of the box was composed of boneless chicken wings, with no fries or cheese curds in sight.

Of course, this isn’t a bad thing, since the chicken was suitably tender, and the spicy addition of buffalo sauce and hot peppers was enough to keep me on my toes.

After eating my way to the bottom layer of this “casserole,” I was pleased to discover the classic poutine ingredients were all still intact.

Not only were the cheese curds melted the right amount, but the fries were also not completely drowned in gravy (and, therefore, able to retain their crispiness).

The gravy itself was quite flavourful, due in no small part to the mixture of sauces and spices that were spread evenly throughout the dish.

So while Poutine King’s “Mighty Buffalo” might be overbearing at first glance due to its sheer size, it was still structured in a way that encourages you to keep eating, while also making sure its flavour remains consistent.

However, I wouldn’t begrudge anyone if they choose to eat this poutine in two separate sittings like I did, since that’s a lot of carbohydrates to take in at once.

Unfortunately, this large amount of food meant I couldn’t realistically sample any of the other items to see if that level of quality was present across Poutine King’s entire menu.

With that being said, my server was nice enough to fill me in on the food truck’s current top-selling items, which all contain a complex list of ingredients similar to the “Mighty Buffalo.”

That includes “The Cowboy” (pulled pork garnished with dusted onions), “Ultimate Bacon” (bacon and cheddar cheese garnished with green onions) and “Big Cheezyburger” (ground beef seasoned with all dressed spices, caramelized onions, mushrooms, diced tomatoes, bacon and dill pickle).

Poutine King also offers a couple items that contain tofu (“The Garden”) and vegan gravy (“All Vegan”) to accommodate those who have dietary restrictions.

I do wish that Poutine King was as considerate when it came to their drink selection, since I was only able to choose between water, Pepsi and Diet Pepsi.

While that might seem like a petty complaint, being able to chow down on my “Mighty Buffalo” poutine with an ice-cold Nestea or Orange Crush on standby would have been sublime, especially with temperatures topping 30 C last Friday.

But despite that slight nitpick, my overall experience at The Poutine King was very positive, since my taste buds were satiated at a decent price.

My experience with the “Mighty Buffalo” also served as a stark reminder of how close-minded I was as a kid, since 12-year-old me would never have thought that adding boneless chicken wings to poutine was a viable option.

Verdict: 4.5 out of 5

While Poutine King has no concrete schedule for the summer, the food truck will be setting up shop at various public events across the region.

The Brandon Sun will be publishing a new food truck review every week until late August.

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @KyleDarbyson