Category: Poutine

SP Food Truck

THE PIZZA:

The pizza was ordered by slice rather than as a whole. It was a Sicilian-style pizza on a thick focaccia crust. Despite its thickness, the focaccia crust was relatively light and had a good amount of salt. The sauce was pretty intensely tomatoey, with very little sweetness. There was a decent amount of cheese and the quality of the meat was good. 

Pizza Rating: 7.9/10

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THE POUTINE:

The poutine featured good quality frozen fries. They were very crispy and held up well to the other ingredients. There was a good amount of gravy. It was a pretty standard brown gravy with a nice consistency. It covered a generous amount of cheese curds.

Poutine Rating: 7.1/10

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Overall, this was a fun spot to try. The pizza was unique for the area and could be someone’s favourite if the focaccia crust resonated with them (I suspect their Italian sandwiches are very good). The poutine is clearly not their specialty but it was definitely serviceable in spite of the absence of fresh-cut fries.

SP Food Truck is located at 994 Airport Rd. in North Bay.

Beef and Brand

THE BURGER:

The burger came with a rather thick 8oz patty grilled well-done. It was topped with a nice piece of cheddar. The vegetables were fresh, though I wish they’d used iceberg instead of leaf lettuce. The bun was a nicely dense sesame and poppy seed bun.

Burger Rating: 8.6/10

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THE POUTINE:

The poutine had some frozen fries as a base. While I’m not typically a fan of frozen fries, these were of pretty good quality and were a little bit seasoned. There was a generous amount of cheese curds. The gravy was excellent with a strong beefy flavour and a thick texture.

Poutine Rating: 7.4/10

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Overall, this was a very serviceable meal. I expected the burger to be good based on the theme of the restaurant (in fairness, it is more of a family restaurant than a steakhouse), but the poutine was a bit of a revelation. Had the fries been real, it would have ranked even more highly for me. 

Beef and Brand is located at 260 Pinewood Park Drive in North Bay.

Bay Truck Stop

THE BURGER:

The burger came with a 6oz patty cooked well-done and topped with a slice of cheddar cheese. The vegetables were fresh. It was all served on a fairly standard sesame seed bun. I would have loved the bun a little more toasted. 

Burger Rating: 8.3/10

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THE POUTINE:

The fries were hand-cut, skinless fries. They were quite crispy, but seemed a little dry inside. There were just enough cheese curds. The gravy was standard brown gravy, but a little thin for my liking. I needed to add quite a bit of salt to it.

Poutine Rating: 7.8/10

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Overall, this was pretty much exactly what I was expecting. Bay Truck Stop is known to make homemade food which consists mostly of diner classics and this was just solid stuff.

Bay Truck Stop is located at 3060 on Highway-11.

Monique’s Chip Stand

THE BURGER:

The burger had a 1/4lb charbroiled party topped with a slice of processed cheese. The vegetables were fresh. Everything was on a smaller, plain burger bun that seemed like it could have used more toasting.

Burger Rating: 7.7/10

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THE POUTINE:

The poutine was made with skinless hand-cut fries. They were well cooked but they left an oily film in my mouth. The gravy was a pretty standard gravy. I requested mixed cheese (combination of curds and shredded), of which there was just enough.

Poutine Rating: 8.4/10

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Overall, this was ok, but the fries leaving that oily film just bugged me a little bit. It was still better than a lot of chip stands/huts/trucks. It was just not up to the level of the other two better known chip stands in town.

Monique’s Cgip Stand is located at 276 Nipissing Street in Sturgeon Falls.

RJ Spudz Sizzle ‘N’ Grill

THE BURGER:

The burger featured a pre-fabricated patty that had a rubbery texture and little flavour that was covered by a slice of processed cheese. The vegetables were good. The bun was a decent quality sesame seed bun, but it really could have used some toasting as it was a little dry.

Burger Rating: 5.2/10

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THE POUTINE:

The fries were quite crispy. They were actually a little bit dry. The gravy was a little thin and required extra salt. There was a reasonable amount of cheese curds.

Poutine Rating: 7.2/10

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Overall, this was not one of the stronger chip truck/stand offerings I’ve had so far. The poutine was definitely decent (apologies for my worst photo yet), but the burger was pretty underwhelming.

RJ Spudz Sizzle “N” Grill is located in Corbeil Corners, 6 Highway-94.

Field of Dreams

THE BURGER:

The burger came with a patty of about 1/4lb. It had nice grill marks. It might have been a little too lean or a little over-cooked because it was a hint dry. It would have benefitted from a thicker slice of cheese. Maybe the weakest aspect of the burger was the shredded leaf lettuce which became soggy under the heat of the patty. It was all served on a nice kaiser bun, though.

Burger Rating: 7.1/10

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THE POUTINE:

The poutine was made up of nicely crispy hand-cut fries with the skin on. It had a generous amount of cheese curds. The gravy definitely appeared to be homemade with a really nice consistency. I’m pretty sure it also had a significant amount of thyme in it.

Poutine Rating: 8.6/10

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Overall, this was pretty typical chip hut/stand/truck fare, though the gravy was certainly the best reason to visit. 

Field of Dreams is a food truck located at 581 Lakeshore Drive.

Dr. Pizza

THE PIZZA:

The pizza featured a medium-thick crust. It was crispy in parts with occasional bits of char, but still relatively easy to chew. The sauce had a deep tomato flavour reminiscent of tomato paste. The pepperoni was moderately salty. The sausage seemed to be of good quality. The meats were actually mostly under the cheese, of which there was a fair amount. Small pieces of onions were laid on top of the pizza.

Pizza Rating: 7.8/10

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THE POUTINE:

The poutine featured frozen fries that didn’t hold up very well to the gravy, which was fairly standard brown gravy. There was a good amount of shredded cheese.

Poutine Rating: 5.5/10

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Overall, it’s hard to complain with any local (non-chain) pizza places these days, because they’ve become fairly obsolete. This pizza pretty tasty, though not necessarily my favourite. The poutine was just serviceable, but one shouldn’t expect much more than that from a pizza joint.

Dr. Pizza is a takeout only restaurant located at 1495 Seymour Street.

Redbridge General Store

THE BURGER:

The burger had a patty of about ¼ lb. It wasn’t packed as tightly as most, which made it a lot easier to chew. It had a really nice beefy taste and it was pretty moist. I got it with cheese. The truck did not offer lettuce, so I couldn’t review that. The bun was a pretty standard sesame seed bun. I do wish that it had been toasted. 

Burger Rating: 7.8/10

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THE POUTINE:

The poutine featured real, hand-cut, skin-off fries. They were reasonably crispy. There weren’t quite as many cheese curds as I typically like, though I must acknowledge that the poutine was actually layered (which gets bonus points from me), so the picture doesn’t do justice to the actual amount of cheese in it. The gravy was pretty standard brown gravy. It was a hint thinner than my preference.

Poutine Rating: 7.5/10

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Overall, this was completely serviceable food. I will say that the burger patty itself was one of the better ones I’ve had at similar establishments and worth a try.

Redbridge General Store is located at 8401 Highway-63 in Redbridge.

Big Bay Burgers

THE BURGER:

The burger came with a very thin patty (I would order a double if I were to return) of probably 3 oz or so. It was well-seasoned and topped with processed cheese. The vegetables were very fresh. The bun was in the style of a brioche, very soft but also well-toasted.

Burger Rating: 6.5/10

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THE POUTINE:

The poutine featured hand-cut, skin-on fries. They were quite crispy. There was just an adequate amount of cheese curds. I would have loved more. The gravy was fairly standard brown gravy with a really nice consistency.

Poutine Rating: 8.6/10

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Overall, this was a solid meal. The poutine was easily the better of the two items, but the burger wasn’t bad.

Big Bay Burgers is a food truck located in the North Bay Canadian Tire parking lot at 890 McKeown Avenue.

6-Eleven Multi-Mart

THE BURGER:

The burger featured a relatively small patty (¼ lb at most). It was topped with a slice of processed cheese. I was really pleased to see a piece of iceberg lettuce on it. The bun was a brioche that was well toasted.

Burger Rating: 6.8/10

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THE POUTINE:

The poutine featured pretty standard frozen fries (possibly McCain Superfries). There was a good amount of cheese curds. The gravy might have been my favourite part. It seemed to be more of a chicken gravy. It was quite thick and there was a lot of it.

Poutine Rating: 6.5/10

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Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with this meal. Neither the burger, nor the poutine was going to win any awards for me, but they were both serviceable, and you wouldn’t expect to get that kind of food from a place located inside of a convenience store.

6-Eleven Multi-Mart is a convenience store with a small takeout counter inside. It’s located at 512 Lakeshore Drive in North Bay