In Los Angeles, when we think of food from across the border, we immediately think of tacos and sopes, moles and salsa verdes. There's another border, though, and while we're much further from our Northern neighbors, the influences and tastes of Canadian expats are starting to pop up in L.A. More specifically? Canada’s most famous culinary export, poutine, is gaining ground. A kissing-cousin to the U.S.A.’s own disco fries, poutine typically consists of thick-cut french fries covered in chicken gravy and mild, squeaky white cheese curds. So where can you find the decadent dish? Check out these French restaurants, dive bars and even an Indian restaurant serving Canadian-style poutine in Los Angeles.
L.A.'s best poutine
Jay's Bar isn't a restaurant, but a bar that serves food—albeit a bar that serves great food. Known for their delicious hamburger, Jay’s serves up a mighty delicious poutine. Like all great bar food, hungry customers order at the bar alongside a craft beer or an on-tap old-fashioned. Regardless of how many drinks you’ve had before the server brings it out, the poutine, served in a piping hot boat dish, definitely satisfies. Thicker style fries are topped with an excellent gravy, cheese curds and a sprinkling of fresh parsley that elevates poutine into the hallowed annals of American “bar food.”
One of Los Angeles’s defining restaurants sells, peculiarly, Canada’s most recognizable dish. Known far and wide as the ultimate temple of meat, Animal specializes in serving underappreciated bits of cows, pigs, lambs and chickens. It’s no wonder then, that the chefs decided to reimagine something as overlooked as poutine (at least in the States). Creating the perfect fine dining version of the venerable street food, Animal’s version of the dish utilizes a gourmet oxtail gravy instead of the more standard chicken-based gravy. This classed-up rendition has become one of the restaurant’s beloved mainstays and helped introduce the dish to L.A.’s gourmands.
Why is an Indian restaurant serving poutine? Well, when it’s as well done as Badmaash’s, it doesn’t honestly matter that much (though, it also helps that the owners, the Mahendro family, spent a considerable time living in Canada). One of the exclamation points on their Indian-fusion menu (alongside a hamburger, cioppino and mussels), this poutine really wears the restaurant’s sub-continental influences on its sleeve. Topped with tender, smoky, lightly-dressed tikka chicken thigh meat, the dish serves as both a shared appetizer or an entire meal for an individual. Crispy garam seasoned fries stand up to the hot beef gravy, staying sturdy until the dish is empty, while a gentle dusting of chopped cilantro adds a lingering freshness to the proceedings.
With a classic New Orleans menu that includes po’boys, muffallettas and gumbo, Little Jewel might not seem like a place to try Canadian food. But just as Canada is influenced by French culture and cuisine, so too is New Orleans—and poutine’s components (fries, gravy and cheese) are also ingredients in the most traditional type of po’boy. Still, Little Jewel does have poutine on the menu, called “French Fry Poutine with Debris Gravy and Cheese,” and it is a delicious Cajun take on the Canadian classic. Nicely spiced roast beef gravy covers thick, bright hot french fries. Shredded cheddar cheese is used in place of curds, which swaps out texture for tang, though the heat of the potatoes melts everything down into a gooey sauce.
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