Poutine the pedal to the metal

After trips to Italy and the United Kingdom to test out pizza and fish and chips, our Best of the West team turned local this week, digging into an unhealthy amount of fries, cheese curds and gravy to figure out the best spot east of Lachine to pick up a poutine.

As usual, our team of five taste testers tried out versions of Quebec's iconic fare from three different restaurants based on The Chronicle and Cités-Nouvelles reader nominations.

In third place, with a total of 391 out of a possible 500 points, came Pizza Nikkos. The Dollard des Ormeaux pizzeria's was the only poutine that used a spicier, orange sauce out of the three contestants rather than the traditional brown gravy. "It's great for those who like barbecue sauce," wrote commercial classified ad sales rep Guylène Lacasse.

Digital sales representative Justine Cotton praised the "generous portion," adding it had "a lot of cheese and barbecue gravy. Very tasty."

In second place, with a total of 416 out of a possible 500 points, was La Roulotte. The St. Geneviève hot dog place, which won top honours at last year's best hot dog competition, was especially lauded for the taste of its fries. "The fries are great!" Noted sales co-ordinator Talia D'Costa.

"It tastes like home-made French fries," agreed Cotton.

Many of the judges noted the saltiness of the sauce on La Roulotte's poutine.

There was only room for one winner, however, and that honour went to Montreal Hot Dog Station in Pierrefonds, which collected 440 out of a possible 500 points.

"There is as much fries as there is cheese," praised Cités-Nouvelles reporter Marie-Hélène Verville.

For Lacasse, the key seemed to lay in consistently good ingredients across the board. "Excellent gravy, excellent fries, excellent cheese," she said.

"The cheese is well-melted," D'Costa said. "The gravy is the perfect consistency."

This week, our judges check out the best sweet treat in the West Island.For the week after, we'll be looking at best salad. Call news director Marc Lalonde at (514) 685-4690, ex. 243, or drop him a line at marc.lalonde@transcontinental.ca by June 10 to tell him where you think we should be eating some greens. Check out The Chronicle on the following publication dates to find out how your favourites fared: sweet treat (June 10), salad (June 17), backyard garden (send in your photo) (June 24), late night eats (July 1), community pool (July 8), steak (July 15), pasta dish (July 25), bagels (Aug. 5), breakfast ( Aug. 12), sandwich (Aug. 19), readers' choice (you pick the topic) (Aug. 26).

Chronicle, Raffy Boudjikanian