Thanks to Pickle Planet Moncton for inspiring this delicious dose of family fun!
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Cheezy does not even begin to describe our family’s poutine adventures! Last year I dove into Greater Moncton Poutine Fest with a playlist full of ridiculous songs about fries & gravy and a plan to spend time connecting with the teenagers over ooey gooey goodness. It worked so well I jumped at the chance to do it again this year – and knew I’d need to pick a poutine and a place that would compare to our first #PoutineParenting adventure.
Poutine Parenting: Using the lure of fresh fries and squeaky cheese to entice the teenagers in your life into creating one of those core memories the internet tells us we should be stockpiling.
Enter The Bunker / The Pit Stop and their incredible East Coast Maple Mustard Pork Crunch Poutine. Friends, this is a MUST try! We ordered two plates to share and it wasn’t enough – everyone was asking for more and it’s just been requested we make another stop before Poutine Fest is over!
The East Coast Maple Mustard Pork Crunch Poutine features delicious pulled pork with a house-made maple mustard sauce that’s just the right amount of sweet. We loved the ratio of gravy, onion straws, and green onion garnish – though with sharing we could always take more squeaky cheese! What really makes this a standout is the seasoned steak fries; a great base for the bulk of the pork, but wonderful on their own for the little dance they do on your tastebuds.
PRO TIP: Pick the teens up from school & head here on a Tuesday afternoon. You’ll sneak in before the dinner rush, have no problem booking time with the race simulators (just $19/30 minutes starting at 4pm), and you can score half-price wood-fired pizza, too!
While we were waiting for the East Coast Maple Mustard Pork Crunch Poutine (and Papa Pickle) to arrive, the kids & I spent time pouring over the 40+ other creations on offer this year. We’re trying to taste test at least one in each Poutingo zone; this meal ticked off the Downtown Block. We’ll likely grab an Angus the Bull Poutine at the Salisbury Big Stop for our Greater Moncton option, though the Cowboy Crunch Poutine at Havelock’s The Ridge Restaurant is pretty tempting, too! The Poutine Pizza from Tide & Boar Brewing seems like a slam dunk for our Moncton Center pick, while it seems fitting our North End choice would be the Pickle Poutine on offer from Freddie’s Pizza!
Looking for something to share with the kids? Try the Lemon Berry Bliss Poutine from Take the Cake (inside Classic Burger). It’s a dessert option with funnel cake fries, lemon pie filling, blueberry sauce, and whipped ricotta!
Honestly, there are so many incredible creations, you can’t go wrong – and you’re sure to be able to find something even for the pickiest eater in your family! We loved choosing The Bunker / The Pit Stop for the added fun of a little family time spent flexing our competitive streaks.
If you haven’t been in, The Bunker / The Pit Stop is right on Main Street in Downtown Moncton, with lots of parking options including the paid lot behind. Their regular menu is getting a refresh, so if you have been in before, now’s the perfect time to plan another visit! Some of our kids took golf lessons last year, so I thought they might be interested in the golf simulators at The Bunker, but it was the racing simulators at The Pit Stop that really grabbed everyone’s imagination!
There are four full-motion race simulators that link up, so you can race against each other on the same track (and there are literally dozens of options to choose from). Full-motion means that you feel the bumps and shakes and the wheel spinning in your hand when you bounce off the track. There are headsets so you can hear each other and the staff are phenomenal at showing you how everything works.
Before heading in, I wasn’t sure how the balance between sports bar and kid-friendly would work, but on a weekday afternoon it was perfect for a family outing with teens. And since our kids are still talking about the poutine and the racing, I’d say it’s a huge win on the #PoutineParenting front, giving us more than just a quick meal out together.
Bottom line: don’t curd your enthusiasm. I fully recommend pulling out every eye rolling pun and even a little crazy gravy to create your own #PoutineParenting experience your kids will reminisce about – even if it’s at your expense on the race track.
