Changing up the menu every two months to keep customers coming back and trying new items, J. Red & Co is a restaurant not afraid to set trends on the gastro scene in Brampton. It prides itself on being a foodie trendsetter in the city and was one of the first eateries with chicken and waffles, and fried cauliflower ‘wings’. So I wasn’t surprised when I heard J. Red & Co had a poutine pizza on the menu. It sounds both amazing and terrifying. #Trending.
There have been monstrous mashups and additions to this iconic Canadian meal, not always ending with a palatable result. I was expecting a gooey, soggy mess of gravy and carbs.
As it turns out, J. Red’s Poutine Pizza was neither terrifying nor amazing. Please do not misunderstand: it was definitely good, and much less alarming than I anticipated. But, really, it was a very normal, good J. Red & Co wood fired pizza.
It uses the restaurant’s famous pizza dough base, the same delicious one found in the Hot Nutella Wood Fired Pizza. The base is covered in a bourbon gravy and sprinkled with a handful of crispy shoestring fries, shallots and a mix of mozzarella and provolone cheeses.
I’m tempted to use the word delicate when describing this pizza, but that somehow feels wrong. The gravy was rich and full without being too salty and the mix of cheeses were excellent. Nice and stringy as a proper pizza should be. I’m a huge fan of this crust. It’s crispy on the edges and softer in the middle. The thin crust and doesn’t come into competition with the fries which are also thin and crispy.
For $15 you get 8 slices, which is perfect for sharing with a friend.
The one thing this poutine pizza is lacking is cheese curd. A poutine without the ‘squeaky cheese’?! That’s like a butter tart without the maple syrup or KD without the florescent orange colouring. It’s downright un-Canadian! Despite that, this pizza creation is tasty and recommended.