Delicious Poutine

I was driving around Tsukuba one sunny afternoon when I suddenly had a craving for fries. I don't know where the craving came from but I knew I would get fries for lunch that day. I had a few options but I didn't want to go to a burger shop. For some reason, and this is very rare, I didn't want a burger. I just wanted fries. I had heard from a few of my Tsukuba friends that there was a place in Tsukuba that did burgers but their main selling point was fries. Not only fries, but poutine fries. I did a U-turn from Tsukuba Station and headed straight to Potato's Cafe.

Potato's Cafe

Potato's Cafe is a small poutine specialty shop located in the Matsushiro area of Tsukuba. If you are coming from Tsukuba Station, head down Route 408 going towards the WonderRex. After you pass WonderRex, you will see a lit-up sign that says "Potato's Cafe" on it. This is not the entrance to the cafe. When you pass that sign there is a small intersection which you need to turn left. Once you are on that narrow road, take the first left and you will see the entrance to the cafe followed by an izakaya and a bakery. There is parking at the front of the cafe.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Ibaraki Eats has yet to try Potato's Cafe since it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays which are her usual holidays. So I will be talking about my solo adventures when it comes to this cafe.

Inside

Walking into Potato's Cafe, I was surprised by how small a place it was. It is quite a tight fit when you walk in as there is only an ordering counter and four tables that fit up to two people each. In fact, when you want to sit down at your table, you have to do a side shuffle to fit through the opening between the tables to get to your chair.
I went up to the counter and knew that I wanted to try Potato's Cafe's poutine. I just wasn't sure which one I wanted since they had a few selections.

The Menu

I am not sure if I should write my usual line of "Sorry my non-Japanese speakers." I did not see an English menu but I think the cafe does have one. I am not 100% sure about that, but the good news is that the menu has plenty of pictures. The first part of the menu is fries with different dipping sauces. Garlic herb, whipped mayo, whipped garlic bacon mayo, whipped basil mayo, and whipped mentaiko mayo. Under that are the burgers. You can order a burger with regular fries as a set, or a poutine set. Under that is the kids menu and the poutine sets. There is German poutine which brings sausages, Canadian poutine which is regular style poutine, and American poutine which brings fried chicken.
I haven't tried the burgers yet but I have tried two of the poutines on the menu and they were both pretty tasty.

Canadian Style Poutine

This is the number one food item on Potato's Cafe's menu. This poutine brings fries, easy cheese (which is cheese squeezed out of a bottle), and gravy. I know that normally, Canadian poutine uses cheese curds, but I have rarely seen cheese curds in Japan. This poutine was not too bad. I liked that there were regular fries in this poutine and these extra crispy fries that went really well with the easy cheese. The gravy may have been a mixture of Worcestershire sauce and beef stock, but there was no pepper in it which was not a deal breaker but a little disappointing. I grabbed my fork and dug in. The fries were fresh and tasty. They were great with Potato's Cafe's gravy. I loved every fry I was taking a bit out of. As I got more into the poutine, the fries did start to get soggy which took some of the magic out of this poutine, but that is to be expected. All and all, a delicious and satisfying lunch. Thank you Potato's Cafe.

American Style Poutine

I am not saying this because of American patriotism rah rah rah, but I am sorry Canadians, this American poutine blows the Canadian poutine out of the water. I am mainly talking about Potato's Cafe American poutine, I have yet to try real Canadian poutine.
The second time I went to Potato's Cafe, I ordered the American Style Poutine. This brings everything that the Canadian Style Poutine brings but with fried chicken and a tasty garlic sour cream on top. The fried chicken with that sour cream was incredible. Grab a French fry covered in gravy followed by that fried chicken with sour cream and you have yourself a party in your mouth that you never want to end. Getting that crunch from the fries and then that juicy fried chicken with all those sauces and creams mixed together is truly a lunch I will not forget any time soon. I loved every bite of this poutine and want to have it again.
After finishing my poutine, I was extremely full. I had a meeting I had to get to and during that meeting, it took all my willpower not to fall asleep from all that chicken and fries rolling around in my stomach.

Potato's Cafe, you make a mean poutine. I hope I can come by soon and try some of your burgers with a side of poutine of course. I only hope that I can finish it all.

So if you are in the mood for some fries, but want a little extra interesting sauce on them, why not give Potato's Cafe a chance? Who knows, you might see me there, enjoying a burger while having a side of American Style Poutine.
Enjoy!

For more information on Potato's Cafe, check out their Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/potatocafe_craftfries/