Roulotte du Coin: Best Canard Confit Poutine in Quebec

So, I am known as someone enthusiastic and perserverant. 

But.

But, those things that trigger my enthusiasm and perseverance are mostly none of the mainstreams (read: simply completely utterly unimportant, socially unacceptable, or sometimes borderline with crime). 

Yet, this time it's different. Let me tell you something that has picked my curiosity for the last three years: to taste the duck confit poutine from Roulotte du Coin. I live in the capital of poutine, Quebec City, where you can find a bowl of duck confit poutine easily. So, what’s so special about this, you might ask. 

First of all, for those who are not familiar with our national cardiac-arrest-on-a-plate dish, poutine might sound unappetizing and rather unhealthy. It’s like the epitome of junk food because let’s be honest, it actually is. Poutine is basically a bowl of fries, topped with a generous amount of fresh curd cheese, and a dollop of gravy enough to fill a bath tub cover the entire plate. You know, the kind of food that gives extreme satisfaction, guilt, and worry at the same time. Much like unsafe sex. We all crave for it from times to time, don’t we? I meant the food. 

The thing is, I don’t know what magic is involved in poutinerie, but the mixture of those generously calorific ingredients are just sort of perfect. If it is executed correctly, that is. My favorite poutine is canard confit poutine, it’s a poutine, but fancy. 

Faraway in the Ile d’Orleans (okay, it was 30 minutes drive from Quebec City, but it felt like forever because I was hungry), an island known for its gastronomy, there is a humble duck farm called La Ferme d’Oc. This farm specializes in raising ducks and goose, and they produce everything you can imagine related to duck and geese meat, but their most ingenious move in business is when they put their fancy ingredients such as duck confit and foie gras, and our ‘pedestrian’ dish, poutine, together in a holy matrimony known as canard confit poutine, sold out by the road on their casse croute stall, the Roulotte du Coin. 

Every Quebecers know that the best poutine is the one sold at a casse croute (snack bar) by the road. Roulotte du Coin is a casse croute inspired humble stand that sells poutine (and all other conceptually alike food like hotdogs, burgers, and all that jazz) with fancy toppings such as duck confit (pulled duck), foie gras, smoked duck, etc. 

And why did it takes us three flippin years just taste it? Well, Roulotte du Coin, like any other casse croutes in Quebec, only opens on summer months. On our first attempt, the Roulotte only accepted cash, which we didn’t have at that time (I mean come on, who still bring cash more than 20$ in their pockets, apart from my mom, nowadays?), and finding an ATM around wasn’t easy. The second year, we went there in the beginning of autumn, and the Roulotte was already in hibernation mode on. Drat!

It’s only this year (read: last Friday), that we finally managed to taste their poutine. And was it actually worth it after so many attempts just for a bowl of poutine located at the furthest end of Ile d’Orleans island? Holy flippin’ giraffe, it was!! 

The fries were freshly cut and the skin wasn’t peeled off (best kind of fries), the cheese curds were made for the day from the nearby farm, because whatever is sold here is produced exclusively from the island. The gravy was savory, and the duck confit was sweet and juicy. It’s crunchy but soft on the inside, melted, rich, salty and sweet altogether on every bite. How is that not giving you a palategasm??? 

And to wash that fatty goodness down, we had a glass of homemade lavender tea and a glass of Tigidou fresh raspberry soda. It was nose licking good!