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| - After nearly four months, I think I finally got over my poutine overload during Nelson Q's awesome UYE. [Disclaimer: I was motivated today by a free promo open to all social media followers of this business.]
Smoke's Poutinerie is a chain that originated in Canada (to hardly anyone's surprise) and has a number of outposts in its southerly neighbor. One of the more recently added locations is nestled in the corner of the first floor of Pawn Plaza, a small and colorful set of shops near the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop (made famous by the TV show Pawn Stars) and owned by Rick Harrison of said pawn shop.
The first time that I tried this eatery (or any sort of poutine, for that matter) was in a very difficult scenario - namely, an amateur team eating competition. It was a race, so we had precious little time to wolf down the fries, gravy, and cheese curds. I knew I'd have to wait until a future opportunity for a real shot at experiencing this Canadian creation, and I found a great chance when I learned of their free poutine offer.
After mentioning/showing their Facebook post and whipping out my Nevada ID (free upgrade from snack size to meal size), it was a few short minutes until my piping hot food was ready. I slowly started to eat the poutine, and I was quickly glad that they'd offered the bacon as a topping. The flavor of their poutine gets a bit boring otherwise, as does the texture of their soft, thick-cut fries (think Five Guys, not steakhouse). The gravy doesn't do much for me, but the cheese was very nice.
But that bacon was boss. It held the whole thing together. When I ran out of bacon near the end of the box (which indeed is a meal-size portion), I had to douse the soggy remnants in ketchup and a light squeeze of sriracha sauce just to get through the end. It's a chore if you don't add toppings, so trust me when I suggest ponying up for the specialty poutines (such as delightful bacon poutine).
I'm not sure if Smoke's Poutinerie delivers a great traditional poutine, but it can put forth a delicious meal nonetheless. It's something I'll have to keep in my mental map, and it's worth your while if you're a fan of starchy, fatty goodness.
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