[Review] The Poutinerie

Poutine is a classic Canadian dish of French fries topped with cheese curds and gravy.
I have had numerous poutine in Hong Kong that were fake except New York Fries which sadly closed down because the market there just doesn't appreciate this kind of dish.

Anyway, I love Poutine because I just love chips with gravy, curry sauce etc.

The Poutinerie is a mobile stall that operates in London four days a week with a different location each day.
It has been difficult for me to try and catch them as I am always on the go to try different places to eat.
There were four current locations: Victoria, Brick Lane, Wentworth and Chancery Lane.
Locations vary each week but Brick Lane and Victoria are usually on their schedule but still it was hard to go on the right day.

Victoria would probably be the best place but I went for the difficult choice when they were on Brick Lane.
It was not a good day for me because quite a few tube lines and stations were suspended so I had to go different routes to get there.
Finally made it to Brick Lane and it rained and to add to that, there were millions of other food stalls on Brick Lane as well as the stalls at the Truman Brewery.
Luckily I made it before 3pm and got my poutine.

It was cold that day so it was a race against the time to eat it before it got cold.
As well as poutine they had some delicious rib meat which I asked to have it separated because I wanted to taste poutine on its own.
The poutine was amazing, each chips was covered with delicious gravy and big chunks of cheese curds which were rather rubbery but then they would be in this cold weather.

The pulled rib meat was soft and delicious which was complimented fantastically by The Rib Man Holy Fuck Sauce which was fiery.

It is hard to describe the sauce because it is very different to chili, the spiciness does not linger yet it makes a loud statement.

Overall, I would definitely recommend The Poutinerie and hope to see them at any Boxpark or Camden because there will be seating.

[Mr. Greek] Given a second chance

At the beginning of this year, I was bored so went to MK and discovered Mr.Greek so decided to go the next day but shockingly when I got there it was closed down.
Anyway, it was odd that they were located in MK because there are not much expats around there.

Mr Greek is from Canada and they serve Greek food as well as POUTINE.
Again, I discovered this shop by luck because I was trying restaurants nearby.

There were not many people as they have only been open for two weeks.
Started with spanakopita which was flaky filled with spinach and cheese.
It was flaky and stuffed with lots of spinach, a great appetizer if you like light snacks.

Also had the moussaka which was piping hot loaded with minced lamb and layers of potatoes and aubergines.
Tasted similar to British shepherds pie but the lamb was very strong.

The poutine which I was really looking forward to was disappointing because there was not enough gravy and it was lumpy.
Hopefully they will improve on the gravy and serving it in a bowl might be better.

+++
Gyros:

++++
[Mr. Greek]
45-53 Garley Building,
Graham Street,
Central.

New York Fries - I love poutine

I got my fair share of fries today, poutine, classic and the veggie works.

They were not as good as the ones I tried at TST, they are somehow Hongkonised, they are slightly overfried and made crunchy to suit the Hong Konger's.

Other than that, their poutine is the best in Hong Kong, and I need to try the poutine at Chips republic too.

Bago with brilliance @ Yo Bago

I have wanted to try this place for ages, but Quarry Bay is one of the worst stations in Hong Kong; you can never seem to get out of the station with endless passages and escalators.

Finally got motivated to visit this place on a fine afternoon and managed to find it successfully after previous attempted visits where I couldn’t find that road.

When I got there, it looked just like how I saw it from the pictures, the shop was on the elevated side of the road behind a metal rail.

As I knew I wouldn’t be able to make up my mind even though I had an idea of roughly what I was going to get, I sat down and studied the menu for ages.

The choices were amazing, there was about four bagel sandwiches I wanted to try, and the bago’s with spread too. In the end I got a bagel sandwich set with bago bits and tea.
The owner was very nice, he came over and took my order so I needn’t go to the counter to order.

Although the Coffee there is famous, the notorious Tim Horton’s from Canada, that serves donuts and recently serving bagels too, I am not a coffee person so I got my Breakfast tea instead.
There was Earl grey and Breakfast to choose from, since my bagel was the Western breakfast, I matched it with Breakfast tea.

The Bago bits came first, bruchetta topped with diced tomato, drizzled with vinaigrette and melted mozzarella on top. It tasted nice as a starter. Then my bago sandwiche came with the tea. The tea looked watery at first, but the contents were boiling hot, so the tea infused itself very well and came out strong.

My bago sandwiche consisted of beef sausage, egg, lettuce, tomato and cheese.
The bago was very filling which was good, but the only problem was, I was too full to try the other bago’s.

The lettuce in the bago was very leafy and sweet, also they did a very good job with the lettuce, it was dried thoroughly after washing. Whilst I had my bago, I took sips of the tea, and from the beginning to finishing my bago, the tea remained hot throughout, which is also worth praising too.

Apart from the food, the café had a nice atmosphere and ambience, most of the customers were westerners.
The choice was bagels were good too, the ones I would recommend are Poppy seed, chocolate, spinach, and honey wheat. They have a big range on bagel spread, some are home-made such as the blueberry, pineapple cream cheeses which would go well with the chocolate bagel.

Anyway, don’t know when my next visit will be, but hopefully soon, I want more bagels.

It's waffling good @ Green Waffle Diner

It's name is intriging, green waffles?? It turns out the green waffles are made with Pandan.

I assumed it was a place for waffles, but they also do meals too.

It is located nicely, a few doors away from the ABC hangout Berrygood, and now there is a sandwich place next to it as well.

There were so many things to choose from, so opted for two mains and a waffle at the end.
As I wanted to try the green waffle, I opted for the chicken meal which had 3 drumsticks, coleslaw and mash with gravy,
Actually I ordered it because of the mash and gravy.
The other dish ordered was the pit beef sandwich.

Chicken meal:
When it came, it was just chicken and fries, so I asked the waitress where the mash was, and she said they made a mistake, so they gave me the mash and gravy later on.
Despite that, the drumsticks were huge and juicy.
I felt that it was a lighter version of KFC, not so salty and strong on the MSG.
The quality is as good as UK's PFC, where the coating is light and crunchy.
Each drumstick was equal in size and shape, not like some of the deformed drumsticks at KFC.
The coleslaw was also like a bland version of KFC's but not sweet.
Finally the mash and gravy which I ordered this dish primarily for was so delicious, it was very buttery but not to the sickly extent.
There were lumps of potato in it, which gave it some potato taste, and the gravy was nice and strong.

Pit beef sandwich:
This was nicely presented with thinly sliced roast beef and cheese sauce on top.
The beef was freshly roasted beef.

Lastly ordered a "plain green waffle" which the waitress repeated, but when it came it was the plain one, so I said "shouldnt the waffle be green" and so she took it away and came back with a green one a while later.
Since the table opposite also asked for a green waffle, she asked them again to confirm if it was green one they wanted to ensure they got the right one too.
Finally it came, the texture was just right, crunchy on the outside and soft inside, however I was slighty disspointed as I couldnt smell or taste any pandan.

Overall the service is ok, however I think they could offer a glass of water when people sit down, considering its the scorching summer and most of Central is uphill.
They provided water when asked, and there was a slight lemon taste in it, so I reckon they had a jug of water with lemons in it, probably for customers, so why don't they offer it before people ask.