Potato Champion is the grandaddy of Portland poutine. I have no doubt that more Portlanders tried poutine for the first time at this modest food cart parked at the corner of SE Hawthorne and 12th than at any other poutine purveyor in town.
The fries are excellent, and there are plenty of cheese curds plopped on top. The gravy though, is strange. It’s oniony and tart (but not vinegary, and not sweet like at Fats Pub). Due to the tang, It’s not my personal favorite, though plenty of Portlander swear by Potato Champion’s poutine.
Indeed, my brother Steve, visiting from Elko, Nevada, tried Potato Champion poutine for his first time on recent return to Portland, and he was quite amenable to the tang.
Potato Champion
SE 12 and Hawthorne Food Cart Pod
Portland, OR
Web: www.potatochampion.com
Sarah
on Jun 27th, 2010
@ 10:35 pm:
Also the only place in town (that I know of) that offers vegan poutine as well.
Dave
on Jun 28th, 2010
@ 5:11 pm:
Sarah – Good point! I haven’t tried it myself. What do they use instead of cheese curds?
mallie
on Jul 2nd, 2010
@ 12:19 pm:
They use a fairly good soy-based cheese, crumbled. Good stuff. We need more vegan poutine.
Ian
on Jul 22nd, 2010
@ 7:27 pm:
do they still have onions in the gravy?
Lise
on Jul 30th, 2010
@ 8:57 am:
My brother works in that cart!
C Bar « Portland Poutine
on Oct 19th, 2010
@ 4:37 am:
[...] tart, and spiked with morsels of bacon. Two other Portland poutines sport tart gravies, that from Potato Champion, and [the now defunct] Fats. Of the three, this was our favorite. Where in the other examples the [...]