notes on poutine #3

Hi there! It’s Ryan Chen, reporting live from the hamlet of Harvie Heights with a NEW poutine review — this time eaten while driving down the Icefields Parkway.

We’re basically in the middle of nowhere. No reception. Passing through a valley of the most beautiful mountains and lakes I’d ever seen. And as we hit the Saskatchewan River Crossing — our turning point — I decide to make a gamble for the classic “middle of nowhere” poutine.

The inside of the cafeteria looks like it’s imported from the 1980s — the only hint of modernity is in the TV screen menus and the Starlink-enabled WiFi. The hard plastics orange seats were somehow reminiscent of something Canadian — maybe it’s all the Letterkenny clips I watched on YouTube.

And out comes the poutine. Another family tries to intercept my order but I fly out like a cornerback to make sure I get what’s mine.

I’ve decided to rank this in three parts: the fries, the gravy and the cheese. The fries are beautifully crispy — even under the thick gravy they hold up and retain some texture. The cheese is flavorful and plentiful, lending its creamy texture to the mix.

But this gravy man. This gravy was salty as hell. The salt overpowered all the flavor. Even worse — the saltiness was uneven. This one grave error really did their entire score a disservice because if it weren’t for the salt I’d have given it a 4/5.

So where does this leave us? Overall, a 3/5. Esteemed subscriber Vic and I deemed the rest of the materials to be 4/5 material but the gravy was so god damn bad I had to knock it down a full point. Here are the rankings thus far:

And now: some trip photos!