The Item
Wendy’s poutine is a new Canadian item on their menu, along with the chili cheese fries. It costs $3.99 alone, or $2.20 additional to upgrade normal fries in a combo.
The Visuals
The poutine looked pretty good. It is served in a plastic box, and came hot and steaming. The portion was larger than the normal fries you get with a combo order. The gravy was sparse over the fries, but it had just seeped to the bottom of the box. Overtop were a small handful of melting cheese curds.
The Smell
The smell was very savory, with the gravy being the main focus.
The Taste
I’ll admit here that I don’t actually like fast food french-fries. I found these fries soggy and limp, with a generic gravy taste. The gravy itself was artificial and starchy, with an unpleasant aftertaste. This was expected, but what I was surprised with were the cheese curds. They were fresh and had the squeaky teeth feeling that real curds should. I don’t know how Wendy’s did it, but the cheese was actually fantastic. It was so good that the gravy and limp fries redeemed themselves.
As an added note, I bought the poutine again and the fries were much better the second time. They were crisper and properly cooked.
Nutritional Facts
The poutine is a whopping 660 calories and has a 37 grams of fat, including 14.0 g of saturated fat. For a person eating 2100 calories a day, this is half the daily recommended fat content. It also has 1410mg of salt. On the plus side, the cheese brings the protein included up to a high 20 grams.
On the positive side, the ingredient list is straightforward. The cheese is made of everything you would expect to see. The gravy is basically your typical packet sauce found in every supermarket. The fries are just fried potatoes with sea salt. It almost sounds healthy, if you don’t consider the calories or fat.
The Final Results
I actually really enjoyed eating this. The cheese curds were fantastic, and that really made the dish. I recommend only having the poutine, as the high calories and protein make it a meal on its own. I would purchase this again.
Disclaimer: All products mentioned were purchased by myself. All of the opinions are my own and I strive to share them without bias.
