Detroit, MI - Brooklyn Street Local; With only open approximately eight months, their food tastes as though they have been in business for twenty years. You would expect them to still experiment with their dishes and flavors. However, you can taste their "20-year" experience in the three dishes we tried.

I was introduced to the idea of Poutine by my brother who has some extensive travels through Ontario. Returning from a trip there, he insisted that I try Poutine and this truly Canadian dish is one that will stick with him for a long time.

I saw a write up in the Metro Times about Brooklyn Street Local and how they not only have Poutine, but it's prepared traditionally with their Canadian staff's approval. I mentioned to our server, who's Canadian, that this was my inaugural Poutine experience. She did exactly what I had hoped. She immersed me into the background of Poutine and how there are poutineries that specialize In all types of toppings and that it's traditionally eaten as that "late night" after the bar kind of food. I can see why. It's heavy, greasy, and salty. All the things you want after an evening out.

Starting with the traditional Poutine, it contains hand cut fries, beef gravy, and cheese curds. The real highlight of this dish is the delicious beef gravy. However, each component is a highlight and without one of them, the dish doesn't have a chance to being a star. Each element needs each other. The cheese curds will probably surprise you. They have a very mild flavor, but it's their texture that intrigued me. They don't crumble when biting into it, but it actually sounds like a squeegee on your teeth. So weird and fun at the same time.

The BSL Poutine with hand cut fries, beef gravy, cheese curds, caramelized onions, and crispy bacon is one that you would find at poutineries according to our Canadian server. In this dish, you loose the beef flavor in the gravy because of the onions and bacon. It's still there and adds the accenting flavor, it's just not the dominant taste throughout the dish. The onions are will grab you.

I thought I was going to like one over the other and pick a favorite. However, I really loved each one independently. I could easily move back and forth while still appreciating each one.

Lastly, our server said to take the full Canadian journey, we have to try the Peameal Bacon, Canadian bacon cooked with cornmeal sprinkled on top. I envisioned a completely different look, which is always nice to be surprised. The cornmeal was lightly sprinkled on top rather on the edges or completed submerged. The visual had me thrown off and so did the taste. The flavor turned out to be just like having a pork chop. Its the texture of the meat and the cornmeal that really develops the flavor in that direction. The reason it taste like pork chops is that it's not real Canadian bacon. It is actual pork loin fried to order. According to their website, they didn't have a supplier so they created their own.