Canada has a cheap fast-food chain famous for its poutine, and it's actually very good

• Poutine — or french fries topped with cheese curds and gravy — is an iconic Québécois dish.
• In Quebec, there's an entire fast-food chain famous for it called Chez Ashton.
• I sampled two kinds of poutine — the classic and one with sausages on top — and found it to be fast and cheap.
• I found the poutine delicious, though I felt a little sluggish afterwards, as I do after most fast food.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Poutine — french fries topped with cheese curds and gravy — is probably the most iconic French-Canadian dish there is. So it comes as no surprise that, in Quebec, there's an entire fast-food chain famous for its poutine.

Despite finding the dish on the menu of even the most high-end restaurants around Quebec, when researching the best poutine in Quebec City, I kept seeing recommendations for the fast-food version at Chez Ashton, so I had to try it.

Here's what the poutine at Chez Ashton was like.

Chez Ashton currently has 24 locations around Québec, a predominantly French-speaking Canadian province.

The chain dates back to a food truck founded by Ashton Leblond in 1969, though poutine wasn't added to the menu until 1972. The first brick-and-mortar shop opened in 1976.

The design is simple, almost bare. With the red benches it felt a little like a McDonald's, but starker.

There are five different poutines on the menu, with toppings like ground beef, chicken and green peas, and sausage.

Each comes in three sizes: Bébé, Mini, and Regular. They ranged in cost from $3 ($4.70 CAD) to $8 ($10.75 CAD).

Chez Ashton's poutine comes with cheese curds, hand-sliced ​​Île d'Orléans potatoes, and homemade brown sauce, which can be ordered regular or spicy, for an extra fee.

"She is our success, she is our star. Thanks to her, Chez Ashton is THE benchmark in poutine," Chez Ashton's (translated) website says about its famous dish.

I tried the classic, as well as one with sausage slices, as that seemed to be a popular add-on in most restaurants that served poutine.

The fries were typical fast-food fries: crispy perfection. The cheese was firm, but nothing to write home about, in my opinion, and the homemade gravy was nice and salty.

That said, the sausage was a touch too salty for my liking, and I felt like the many fries could have used a little more gravy to soak up.

The portions, however, are massive. This is a Bébé, the smallest size, and only $3.

All in all, this was a solid poutine. Like most fast food, it's perfectly good, delicious even, while you eat it, though you might feel a little sluggish after.

Source: Read Full Article