Restaurant Review: Nom Nom Nom Poutine
NOM NOM NOM POUTINE
707 Dundas Street West ~ nomnomnom.ca Instagram: @nnnpoutine ~ Twitter: @nnnpoutine Co-Diner: Tim Golem
Is poutine the most Canadian food invention? Probably yes. Emerging from Quebec in the late 1950s, this french fries, cheese curds and brown gravy combo has become one of the quintessential dishes of Canadian cuisine. Here are some of my own personal (judgmental) thoughts on poutine and how it's supposed to be made: 1. Crispy french fries. Must be fried twice to a golden perfection. 2. Cheese curds. Must be squeaky. Cheese will melt on the outside while retaining a cool, squeaky centre. DO NOT consume a "poutine" made with shredded cheese. Blasphemy! 3. Sauce brune. The gravy is known as a "brown sauce." Should be silky and piping hot. If these three points are not met then the poutine is not worth my time. (Let's have some standards, people!) blogTO has named Nom Nom Nom Poutine as the #1 Best Poutine in Toronto and therefore I had to check them out for myself! You'll find this tiny walk-up poutine shack (that's exactly what it is) as a part of Market 707. Located in Alexandra Park, these retrofitted shipping containers create a unique street food and retail market. It's awesome. The row of colourful food stands certainly spark joy. The restaurant is operated by a real Quebecois dude from Montreal, leaving my hopes high that he knows a thing or two about making a proper poutine. I visited on a Saturday evening and was greeted at the shack by the friendly gentleman inside. He whipped up my 'tine in about two minutes flat. The menu consists of eleven different poutines. And that's ALL! They aren't making anything else (which I appreciate). He's doing everything from pretty typical Quebec versions; one with smoked meat, one with hot dog, and a galvaude with chicken and peas. And also some pretty unique options like the one with fried brussels sprouts on top or the (limited time only) spicy jerk chicken poutine that screams "Toronto." I decided that I wanted to go ultra-classic. Nom Nom Nom does a traditional poutine that can be made with three levels of cheese. So I ordered the Traditional Triple Cheese ($10.62). Go big or go home.
Upon first glance, everything appeared to be extremely right. Including the positively heaping amount of cheese. I couldn't wait to jam a steaming-hot bite into my mouth and was incredibly pleased once I did. Crispy golden fries? Check. Squeaky cheese? Check. Perfect-consistency brown sauce? Check. All of my boxes were ticked with flying colours. I loved the way that the fries maintained a crispiness while simultaneously becoming just the right amount of soggy. The big chunks of cheese curd totally did the desired melty/not melty thing that you want. And the brown sauce was hot and not too thick, which is important. It needs to be more of a "sauce" and less of a "gravy." Everything was right about this poutine and I loved eating it. I can easily call this the best poutine that I've eaten in Toronto. If you love poutine (like most Canadians do) then Nom Nom Nom Poutine is the place for you. Their shipping container shack adds a lot of fun to the experience and they're certainly doing the dish right.
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