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I travel out to Buffalo, NY fairly often. And whenever I'm out there, I almost always make it a point to finish off a night out on Allentown with something from Allen Street Poutine Company. It makes perfect sense to head into familiar territory for my first review- especially at an establishment with such an incredible variety of poutines. However, it came to my attention that there was a second location in the northern part of the city that I hadn't been to yet. Hertel Avenue Poutine & Cream, which has been open since spring 2017, markets itself as “the first and only poutinerie and creamery in the area” (though their Allentown location now offers freakshakes and creamy buns as well). The idea came from one of their co-owners, who preferred his fries dipped in his milkshakes. The location is situated right in the middle of the Hertel Ave area, near The Buffalo Zoo, Delaware Park, and not too far away from the UB South Campus. Joining me on this adventure was my friend Emily, who was immediately entranced by the colors underneath the ice cream counter. I was excited for dessert as well- the promise of homemade ice cream after all the sodium I was about to ingest would definitely make this journey worth it. And whoever said having dessert before dinner has clearly never heard of free samples. I started with “Toasty Crunch”- cinnamon-swirled vanilla cream with whole pieces of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. Though I was relieved that I didn't have to wade through bits of cereal dust in order to get a touch of cinnamon flavor, I was not a fan of the singular soggy cereal piece that came in my sample spoon. I was expecting a crunch (I understand it's not the easiest to do with ice cream), but the flavors that I enjoy when I have a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch were, otherwise, all present. Emily took a liking to the “Charcoal Vanilla”, so I knew I had to give the pitch-black dessert a try myself. She said that it wasn't as gritty as she was expecting it to taste- it was just vanilla going through a goth phase. As science has shown, changing the color of food alters the perception of how it tastes- even if none of its ingredients have been altered. Sure enough, my spoonful didn't feel at all like it had been charcoal-infused, or that it was any different than a regular spoonful of vanilla, but it definitely didn't taste the same. I got more of the creaminess that Hertel Ave prides itself on, and in a way, it made me feel powerful. In a “it's not a phase, mom!" kind of way. The man behind the counter was amused by our sampling shenanigans, so he pulled out two flavors from the back freezer that were still in development! First up: “Gravy”. Yep, exactly what it sounds like- they mixed their house poutine gravy in with a regular batch of ice cream. The ice cream itself hit me first, which was pleasant, but the spices and the savory tones put me off almost immediately afterwards. Glad that one's still in testing. We both hope it stays that way. The second secret sample was “Laffy Taffy”, based on the green-apple flavored Willy Wonka candy creation. The greatest part about this wasn't the flavor (which was spot-on), but the texture of the ice cream seemed just a bit... different. It was almost a bit elastic, and you know how the candy has that trademark artificial smooth texture? It felt just a bit like that, which made "Laffy Taffy" a winner in my book. Now, onto the main attraction: Emily and I spent an eternity trying to figure out what in the world we were going to order. Though the poutine menu isn't as expansive as the one we were both used to at Allentown, it made choosing our courses for review a bit easier (and some of our favorites that weren't on the menu at Hertel will definitely be reviewed later on). We wanted to try a variety of meats, in various styles and combinations, to see if they added or strayed away from the magic of the original, traditional poutine. Here's what we tried, and how they fared: The Traditional (fries, cheese curds, gravy) $4.95 small, $5.95 large The fries were cut standard, with skins remaining fairly crispy. The curds were cut thin and long, stretching out that gooey melt across the bowl of fries and gravy; however, there weren't enough of them overall. It took a search party to find the 3 pieces of cheese in each dish that we ordered. The star of the show was the gravy; yes, even after the ice cream monstrosity we had just endured. It was exceptionally seasoned, with no holding back on the pepper and garlic, and it was perfectly thick enough to keep the fries from getting soggy and to keep the cheese melted. Rating: 4.5/5 cheese curds The General Tao (fries, cheese curds, sweet and sour sauce, General Tao chicken, sesame seeds, hot peppers) $8.20 small, $9.20 large I'm a firm believer that Chinese food is more versatile than you think, and it belongs with other mainstream staples. For example, beef and broccoli on top of a cheese pizza is fantastic- try it out for yourselves. Having sweet and sour sauce in lieu of gravy did throw me for a bit of a loop, but it wasn't the end of the world. The chicken was cut up fairly small, but all the flavor in the dish came from the sauce- which had just enough heat from the pepper slices that it didn't feel overwhelming. That being said... my body doesn't handle spicy foods very well. But for the sake of this review, I tried one bite of General Tao with a full pepper slice. I almost immediately regretted that decision. I had to recover with bites of the Traditional and cautious amounts of water- we weren't quite milkshake ready at this point, though I know it would've helped immensely. Rating: 3.5/5 cheese curds The Pork Deluxe (fries, cheese curds, gravy, sausage, bacon, pulled pork) $8.95 small, $9.95 large Holy meat, Batman. The pork flavor seeped its way into the base of this creation- which, out of all the plates we tried, had the most volume. Was it because the varieties of cooked pig needed room to all fit in together, or were the cooks in the back being particularly generous that day? Who knows, but it definitely gave us plenty to work with. I found the pulled pork to be tender, but underseasoned. Same went for the sausage- another ingredient I don't particularly care for; however, I did like the fact that the pieces were adequately sized. On the contrary, I would've preferred the bacon to be cut up just a bit more, and it tasted like an average oven-baked slice. Though it's possible that the flavors that desperately needed to come out had sunken below the meaty surface, I still enjoyed the overall concept of the Pork Deluxe. Rating: 4/5 cheese curds Montreal Smoked Meat (fries, cheese curds, gravy, smoked brisket, pickles) $9.95 small, $10.95 large The colorful charm of the Montreal Smoked Meat caught Emily's attention right away- she started snacking on the pickles while I was sampling the first three poutines. On its own, the brisket wasn't bad- just like the meats in the Pork Deluxe, it could have used a touch more seasoning. But combined with the pickles and the base poutine, my taste buds were elevated to a new level. The acidity brought out the flavors in the meat that I couldn't seem to find on my own, and the gravy, fries, and the one large cheese curd I finally found brought it all together. Plus, this poutine arguably had the best cheese pull: Many of the choices we made for this review were based on poutines we hadn't tried yet at Allentown, and a lot of which brought us out of our palates' comfort zone. I'm not a huge fan of pickles, and that put me off from ordering the Montreal Smoked Meat when I was contemplating what to order. But now that I tasted the magic it has to offer when paired with one of my favorite foods, I'm more willing to branch out and order this combo on a night out- or a night in! Rating: 5/5 cheese curds The Stinger (fries, cheese curds, gravy, chicken, steak, buffalo sauce, bleu cheese) $8.95 small, $9.95 large We decided to save the most "Buffalo" plate for last. I can easily see this becoming a game time staple at tailgates and other parties; but for the time being, the only touchdown this was making was in my mouth. The dual specialty sauces, in combination with the base gravy, went perfectly with the chicken and steak bits that swam around in the flavors. Just like the General Tao, the chicken and steak bits were literally "bits"- it was hard to get them on the fork because of how small they were cut up. And even though it's been over a year since I lived in Buffalo, eating the Stinger felt like I was right at home again. Rating: 5/5 cheese curds To finish off the meal, we decided to take the plunge with one of Hertel's signature "freakshakes". After much debate, we settled on the not-so-humble Cake Shake. The cake-batter milkshake is rimmed with hot fudge, loaded with a generous amount of whipped cream, and topped with a full vanilla cupcake- and there's no shortage of sprinkles on this festive beverage! We made a bit of a mess trying to see if we could poke our straws through the cupcake like a lid, but it was worth it. The ice cream flavor initially strikes as subtle, but it packs a punch in combination with the rest of the shake. It felt and looked more like a sundae than a cake at points, but once we ended up submerging the cake into the shake, it hit us all over again. I would definitely recommend sharing any of the "freakshakes" with a friend- it's a lot for one person to handle, especially if you're not as inclined towards sweeter foods like I am. Overall: Hertel Ave Poutine was excellent! They had a great variety of choices, with both poutine and cream, as they so pride themselves on. A few hits and misses here and there, but as a relatively new establishment (taking their flagship store into account, they've been around since 2015), I'm sure that all the kinks can and will be worked out in due time. The Montreal Smoked Meat and the Stinger were the highlights of the afternoon- give Montreal a try if you're in the mood for something new; or if you're a WNY native, the Stinger is a great choice for an afternoon snack or a late-night find. This was a lot of fun, and special shoutout to Emily for joining me on this culinary adventure! If you have any recommendations as to where I should go and what I should try next, let me know in the comments. Plus- I might have another go at homemade poutine in the near future- stay tuned. -Hawklady Additional Images:
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About the HawkladyHawklady is actually several giant French fries stacked on top of each other, wrapped in a trench coat. Rumor has it they're currently hiding in Syracuse, NY. Archives
March 2019
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