Poutineville Open in Toronto

poutine... The delicious combination of fries, gravy and cheese curds is often known as Canada’s national food and this summer marks the opening of Poutineville’s first location in Toronto. Based out of Montreal, Poutineville has taken poutine concepts to another level! The menu consists of a variety of signature poutines with customizable toppings and their famous All You Can Eat Poutine deal! I was recently invited to preview their new location in the Annex near Bloor and Brunswick. When I first got there, I was surprised by how nice the restaurant itself was. Unlike the usual take out poutine joints, Poutineville offers a full service sit down dining experience focused on Poutines! They definitely know how to have a good time, as we were happily sharing shots and cocktails and stories with the owner, Kosta within minutes of entering the restaurant. We were then ready to eat some poutine!
I had a chance to try their signature “The Poutineville,” ($12+ tax) a poutine topped with five-hour braised beef, cheese curds, mozzarella and red wine gravy. One thing you immediately notice is that they use special crushed potatoes for this poutine, giving it a little more crisp. The “Filet Mignon Poutine” ($18+ tax) was another memorable one- fresh crispy home fries, topped with cubed tender AAA Filet Mignon, sautéed mushrooms, caramelized onions, cheese curds, blue cheese and pepper sauce! The steak cubes were perfectly tender and juicy! “The Montrealer” ($12+ tax) was another amazing poutine with smoked meat and a giant fried pickle! We barely had room for more poutine and then they brought out “The Heart Attack" ($100+ tax).  2 of the servers were dressed in white doctors' coats and brought out this poutine mountain…a GIANT 15 LB POUTINE, easily the largest poutine in Toronto. It is also one of the most insane food challenges, as they offer the entire poutine for free if you can finish it in 1 Hour. It is a mountain of deliciousness, loaded with crispy potatoes, chicken, bacon, hot dogs, minced beef, ham, onions, green peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, cheese curds, mozzarella and gravy! “The Heart Attack” would be a challenge for even the craziest competitive eaters (1 person in Poutineville’s history has completed the challenge). If you and your friends love poutine, this could be shared with a group of 10-15 people!
It is a unique take on Poutine, as Poutineville focuses on giving Poutine lovers a fine dining experience in addition to epic Poutine concepts. They even welcome you to make a late night reservation (open til 4 am Fridays-Saturdays) to get your fix of poutine after a night of drinking! Poutineville already has 6 locations in Montreal, Quebec City and now Toronto.

Poutineville Toronto

296 Brunswick Ave.

Toronto, ON

M5S 2M7

647-349-2345

Super Pho Challenge at WonderPho! July 25 & 26

If you have read my blog over the years, you may have come across the time that I completed the 72 OZ steak challenge and received a free steak.  I even documented an epic training regime where I ate a ton of cabbages to prepare for the challenge.  I could never do that again.. LOL. Instead, we’re throwing down Toronto’s first Pho Challenge!  The Super Pho Challenge is happening at WonderPho Restaurant on July 25 & 26.  You get 15 minutes to finish the entire bowl (the bowl must be empty.. Soup too!).  The Reward: $38 Super Pho is free, T-Shirt, Your photo on the Super Pho Hall of Fame wall, ultimate bragging rights!!! Everyone is welcome to try the challenge… If you’re not a big eater, come cheer on your friends attempting the Superpho challenge.  $10 pitchers available during the challenge!

Only available July 25 & 26

Sign Up by calling WonderPho @ 647-352-5777 

If you do not finish the bowl, you will risk looking like a fool and will have to pay for the $38 bowl of Super Pho.  The challenge is difficult but not impossible. You can see exactly how the Super Pho looks in the picture, and exactly what is in it.

Wonderpho Restaurant

865 York Mills Rd
Toronto, ON M3B 1Y6

(647) 352-5777

The Lone Star 72 Oz. Steak Challenge.

the steak... Last Wednesday, we finally went to the Lone Star Cafe to take on the 72 Oz steak challenge. 2/3 people who attempted it succeeded and tasted the sweet victory of a huge free steak. (RECAP: Lone Star Steak Challenge , Training Day 1 , Training Day 2 , Training Day 3, Training Day 4). We called in 2 days before to reserve the steaks and they took our credit card number just in case we didn't show up to eat the steaks. I felt good that day and I prepared myself for the meal (at 9pm) by constantly eating very small bits of food all day (mostly yogourt and fruit). Daniel prepared himself on the day of the steak by playing some rugby to build up an appetite. The third contestant, Yale, went another route as he prepared his body to eat the steak by eating an XL bowl of Pho for lunch (beast!). When we walked into the restaurant, our other friends who came to witness the challenge ordered first and our steaks came soon after. The steaks were 72 Ounces (4.5 lbs) and each one sat on a sizzling hot plate. Each of us had to choose 1 side as well (Daniel and I got the garden salad, Yale got the mashed potatoes with gravy). Right when we sat down, our server brought over some nacho chips as well (Yale also killed these, he just keeps eating!). We all ordered the steaks medium rare, and they came out to be more like medium (if you want to try it, I would suggest ordering rare). As you can see in the pictures, the steaks are huge! Not only are they wide, but they are really thick. At the thickest point, they were probably over 3 inches thick.
If we finished the 72 Oz. Steak + Side in under 1 hour it would be free. When we first started eating it tasted pretty good, but as we approached the halfway mark, that was when things started slowing down. One person started to give up, as Daniel stopped at half the steak (he still ate an impressive 2.25 pounds of meat). Yale and I kept going, and by 3/4 of the way, I seriously started to not feel so well (haha!). I did not want to eat the steak anymore, but I continued to cut and chew. The hardest part was that my jaw was getting tired and the meat was quite dry on some parts (especially the charred parts). We did tell the waiter that the steak was way too well done for medium rare and they said we could get 25% off if we couldn't finish it (Daniel definitely benefited from this as the steak cost $54.99+tax if you can't finish it). At about the 50 minute mark, both Yale and I finished the entire 72 Oz steaks and quickly inhaled our sides!!! I wish I could say that I felt really happy about finishing it (LOL) but I really felt jealous of Daniel, who stopped eating his and felt great. The craziest thing that happened was that Yale then went on to finish off some Ribs from somebody elses plate. "When are we going to do the steak challenge again?!" was the first thing Yale asked me the next day.
Quick Notes: I could not have completed this challenge without the training that we did. Eating entire cabbages actually stretched my stomach, increased my appetite and helped me mentally when I didn't want to eat any more of the giant steak. In terms of price, this was the "DEAL OF THE YEAR." As you can see in the picture of the receipt, the two steaks me and Yale finished came to a total of $0. Between the 2 of us, that was 144 Ounces of meat + sides for nothing. "Some people run marathons, we eat!"
Can you do it? The staff at Lonestar told us that around 1/10 people who attempt the steak are able to finish it. My advice to you is to make sure you train and are able to eat a lot of the same thing in one sitting (ex. entire 4.5 lb heads of cabbage lol). On the day of, eat as light as possible, but make sure you eat little things throughout the day so your stomach doesn't shrink. During the challenge, my strategy was to cut the steak from one side only, to keep as much moisture and warmth in the giant steak as possible. Yale's strategy was to use huge amounts of HP steak sauce (a total of 3 bottles were used between Daniel and Yale). In addition to this, it is important to watch the time and to continuously cut and not stop chewing. If you can complete it, it is a free meal. I'm pretty sure that I have eaten much more at some all you can eat sushi places, but the huge steak and the 1 hr time constraint was a definite challenge. Try it at your own risk. Click here for locations

Here are 2 videos documenting our challenge.lol: 1. before we ate the steak and 2. the process of us eating the steaks...