Great Burger Kitchen

I contemplated whether or not to blog about this burger but I figured hey, what the hell- the picture I got looks pretty good. The disclaimer for this post is that I wasn't completely sober when I ate this burger, and we know that things do tend to taste better in that state. Thanks to Groupon's mobile app, all I had to do is pull out my phone and valiantly flash them the $15 coupon that I had previously bought for $7. In case you didn't know, I love coupon clipping, group buys, redflagdeals, etc. No, I am not hardcore like those guys who can buy like $800 worth of groceries for $20. 

the food menu

We went to the one at Church and Front, because we happened to be drinking nearby. This was the Friday-night-9pm-post-happy-hour-drinks-dinner; there was not a single soul in sight, aside from the lonely teenaged employee. I am going to assume that it gets a rush from the late night drinkers on Esplanade later throughout the night. I was also surprised to find that they serve beer- combine any burger, fries, and drink (pop, beer, or juice) and get $1 off. Whoopee. 

the beer menu

It's been so long that I threw out the receipt, but thanks to the menu on their site, I have an idea of what I had and the pricing. We shared the Great Burger (double patties), added brie and guacamole, and had spicy aioli and GBK sauce with a side of fries and a diet Coke (don't judge) because I was thirsty. I had absolutely no expectations of this burger, other than that it would be a nice, greasy addition to my night. I've heard reviews from friends that it was a very dry burger- I half believed it because one of them was torn between GBK and Gourmet Burger Co. when trying to tell me the name of the restaurant. 

am I right? isn't this a pretty good picture?

LOOK at the size of this monster. It was really hard to evaluate the burger as a whole when every bite I took only got a fraction of the burger. It was either beef, lettuce, or bread pretty much so I couldn't really put it together... kind of like the Quad C at Dangerous Dan's. For a grilled burger, it definitely was pretty juicy and flavourful though! I was scared at first because of the char on the outside, but relieved after I took a bite. This burger was also super filling- 2x 6oz patties. The cheese and guac were pretty good, they really added to the burger. The fries were also a greasy, soggy addition that we barely touched. I hate soggy fries. 


My verdict on this burger: I'm probably not going to try it again anytime soon. Despite my $15 off, I still had to pay a balance of $13. That's $28 for ONE hungry dude's meal!!! GBK got a bonus by catching me in my munchies state and still did not WOW me, which means it probably won't get any better. Location wise, the only reason I'd go is if I really wanted a burger after going to Bier Markt. 

Holy Chuck Burgers

Now that I've put Shake Shack on a pedestal, I might as well quit blogging. Seriously. When will I ever find such an amazing burger again??? I've eaten a few burgers in the past two months but I was so unimpressed that I didn't blog about it. Don't worry, I hadn't gone vegetarian - I was just being lazy. I ate this Bronx burger from Earl's and it was just awful - I didn't even want to blog about it because I had absolutely nothing nice to say about it. The mini mac from 416 Snack Bar was pretty good, but I wasn't sure I wanted to blog about a little Big Mac. Plus, our server told us that it was coming off the menu soon anyway! I'll never get sick of Big Macs <3.
So why does Holy Chuck get an entry? Obviously because it left a good impression!

Situated at Yonge/St Clair, I think I've found a close substitute for Burger's Priest. Holy Chuck is not so out of the way being on Yonge and all, but I'd still have to go all the way to the beaches if I want "the Option". Holy Chuck also has a deep-fried stuffed portobello mushroom which they call "animal feed", but feta and cream cheese stuffing just isn't the same. They have a pretty big menu, but I don't think I'd opt for a lamb or pork burger anytime soon.

My double cheese burger for $7.99. The only toppings I had on the burger were onions, lettuce, and mayo. The selection was even smaller than Burger's Priest- I'm guessing they prefer you eat the burger without any vegetables or excessive sauces in order to taste the beef. Frand got the Mad cow, which is the animal feed and a patty for $10.99. He also added an extra patty to the burger for an extra $2.99. Our burger chefs were ecstatic because they said we were the first ones to think of adding a patty to it, as they gathered around to take pictures of the work of art.

we'll name it one day

Again, the portobello mushroom was disappointing because we enjoy oozing cheese, not cheese chunks falling out of the burger. What we DID like about this burger was how well the buns were able to hold the weight of the patties and the portobello, where Burger's Priest had a grease-soaked bottom bun that fell apart as you eat it. The patties were juicy and tender. I may be biased, but the flat iron is much, much better than the grill. And guess what? The 4oz patties was freshly grounded in store, so they were able to keep it pink!

Verdict on this burger? The value isn't great, but it can somewhat satisfy my craving. It's pretty expensive for what it is, and I wouldn't go again for no reason. I know, it's no Shake Shack, and I somewhat wish that I haven't tried it because it makes it that much harder to find something of that degree.

Shake Shack

Have you ever waited an hour and half for a burger in the middle of a park? I HAVE.  

worse than women at a MAC sale.

No seriously, do you see that long line for Shake Shack? Incredible! This little joint in Madison Square Park, NYC without any indoor seating or a washroom can generate this kind of revenue on a regular Friday at 12pm.  The line grew even longer by the time we got to the front. 

wonder how these seats are in winter...

After finally placing our order, we even get a little buzzer to notify us when our burgers were ready.

technology makes up for the lack of everything else. 

I got the double Shackburger and the Shackstack, which respectively is a double cheeseburger and a cheeseburger with a deep-fried portobello mushroom stuffed with cheese, similar to "The Priest" at Burger's Priest. I was surprised at the lack of condiment options, but with a burger like this, I don't see what else to put on there.  It comes with tomato, lettuce, and Shack sauce (some flavoured mayo). I got mine sans tomato of course.

ogod.

It was so delightfully heavenly.  Beef, cheese, bun... everything in the right proportions with the cheese oozing out. The beef was juicy and bigger than the one at Burger's priest, and the portobello was not as battered. Juicy but not greasy to the point where the bun cannot support the weight of the patties. Unfortunately, frand said that 2 patties wasn't enough and that I should've gotten him 2 patties PLUS the portobello.  Oops. There's no way I'm going back into that line, even though the wait was completely worth it.

oozing. cheese.

The cheese fries were also wonderful but quite small.  I didn't end up getting the milkshake because I figured that would be overindulging, and I was thirsty. This burger will definitely stay in my heart forever.  Just like these girls <3. *inserts big awwwwwwwwwwww*

four sexy burger models.

My verdict on this burger? Don't leave NYC without having Shakeshack.  It's gonna take 2 hours to line up for Statue of Liberty anyway and it's probably pretty lame.  They also have other locations in the States as well.  A blogger's tragic flaw, but I'm sincerely at a loss for words to describe this scrumptious burger. Sorry. :(

Joe's Hamburgers

I'm not sure why I decided to go eat a burger in Richmond Hill and blog about it today when I could've just waited a week until I'm in NYC eating Shake Shack.  The chicken shawarma at Joe's also looked quite appealing, but I decided to get a Big Joe's with cheese instead for $5.79. I find that Mediterranean people seem to like having burgers on their menu, like some signs I saw in Danforth for burgers in a Greek restaurant, or that Middle-Eastern man who made the horrible burger I had at Chef Burger (I don't even want to link to that blog post).  Quincy suggested that perhaps they like grilling souvlakis and kebabs so much that they decided to try grilling the burger.  But I kinda like flat-top burgers now...

Behold! Big Joe

So I decided to put some shawarma options on my burger in addition to the typical lettuce, onion, pickle, mayo, ketchup, mustard, etc.  I went for this mixed coleslaw stuff and tzaziki sauce. It was good!  It was kinda like a beef shawarma burger.  I liked how the burger was grilled so hot that my bottom bun felt too warm to pick up, but not the kind that starts getting soggy from all the juices, yet not so hard that all I taste is bun.  Good bun.  The patty itself has probably been frozen, but the 8oz patty was pretty juicy nonetheless.  The cheese was processed and kinda gross. Quincy liked his bacon if anyone cares.

In conclusion: I'm going back.  For the chicken shawarma.

Jetsun's Juicy Burger

I should really just quit blogging after trying The Burger's Priest. However, Richard is convinced that this Jetsun's Juicy Burger would be good, so I agreed to go.  Located right at Yonge/Empress, I saw so many options on Yonge that would make an equally great lunch, but the goal today was a good burger. For some reason, it kept reminding me of Johnny Rockets, but it's not a diner- more like a wannabe growing fast-food chain that only serves burgers.

quite the extensive menu

We both got the $5.49 Juicyburger and added cheese for $1.  Both got a small pop (free refills) and split the onion rings. What I really should've tried was their milkshake- they had 8 flavours of ice cream which could all have been turned into a delicious milkshake but too bad, I wasn't feeling it. Their menu was pretty boring, with only one type of burger and the options were either adding cheese, bacon, or chili, so I expected the condiment section to be a little more exciting.

not excited.

Their fanciest sauce was probably the garlic mayo.  I got lettuce, pickle, garlic mayo, ketchup, and dijon mustard.  I didn't like how the onion was cut and I got the pickle anyway even though it didn't look too fresh. And banana peppers are just a disgrace on any burger. I saw that they toasted my bun, which was a +1.  Then I saw them put the patty on the bun with the cheese still looking cold and unmelted on top.  -5, one of my biggest pet peeves.

Iceberg lettuce totally fails.

Romaine lettuce would probably have been a better choice because it's more flat so it can actually stay inside the burger. The cheese ended up melting a bit, which was a bit better, and tasted like good, unprocessed cheddar that just needs to melt a little more. The bun was a little too thick so I ended up not eating most of the top bun.  The patty... was pretty good, 6oz or so and you can tell that it hasn't been frozen because of how tender it is despite looking somewhat overcooked on the outside.  I wouldn't exactly call it very "juicy", but still had a nice texture that kinda tastes like a thicker Harvey's burger.  

Overall, I don't really understand the niche, because they're not exactly competitive in style, originality, variety or value. We have new fads such as Hero Burger expanding everywhere with their varieties of gourmet burger toppings and condiments, the older burger joints with their regulars that have adapted the taste, other fast-food chains, and full-service restaurants which Jetsun's Juicy Burger is none of the above. Perhaps location, since there isn't a Harvey's around there. So I can see how people would like it, kinda like how people enjoy Harveys.

The Burger's Priest

Ta-da! Look where I finally went to after a two month hiatus from my burger soul searching.  There's never an opportune moment to go since it's far with nothing nearby- except for the beaches.  So after a tanning session we decided to go (well I decided to drag everyone) to this much raved hotspot.  

look how it's even glorified by the sun

We walked in to a cramped little place with literally six stools on the side. No more than 2 average sized people can stand comfortably side by side in the space between the counter and the stools.  How ironic, I thought yummy burgers were for fatties.  

They used a flat top instead of a grill, which is newer to me. I don't mind- unlike those other critics who think that a burger has to be grilled- because sometimes grilling makes the burger too charred and dry tasting. We ordered "The Priest", which was a $9.99 4oz cheeseburger with "the Option."  After 10 minutes of waiting, our burgers are ready.

"The Priest"

This isn't a fair fight. This burger was so amazing, so delicious, and everything went together so well.  They didn't have the fancy condiments, and I just got ketchup, mayo, mustard, lettuce, and onion.  The thinly sliced onion was quite delicious.  The cheese oozing out of "The Option" was quite heavenly.  

the cheese

But wait- where's the beef?  This burger would have tasted quite lovely even without that shrimpy 4oz patty. The beef seemed pretty tender, moist, and juicy without soaking up the bun, which is a positive thing. I was blinded by "The Option"- which is two portobello mushrooms sandwiching gooey cheese deep fried in panko breading.  The bread wasn't toasted and it carried a McDonald's bun sort of style to it.  It makes me wonder how it can hold up those secret menu items, because my burger felt heavy on the bottom bun already. The Priest was the perfect portion, making me completely satiated without feeling like I overindulged. 


The verdict? I need to go back and try a double-double so that I can decide whether or not to crown them for the best cheeseburger. On the other hand, I may just have found a perfectly constructed cheeseburger that I will continue to crave over and over. At first I thought $9.99 was a bit steep, since there wasn't even really any sitting space to enjoy my burger. But I have since changed my mind, it's worth it. I am salivating right now as I blog, thinking about this delicious combination of nature's gifts that man has enhanced. In other words, GO GET IT CUZ IT'S KICKASS.
  

Backyard BBQ

Believe it or not, I honestly have not had a burger since the last post except maybe a McDouble here and there. So, here I am blogging about the most recent burger I had that you'll never get because I'm not even quite sure what I had. I was hungry and just got off work to go to Quincy's birthday BBQ- who by the way, was doing the grilling. It's not a bad idea though; it's kinda like cooking- you can't have an unskilled person manning the grill or if a women sucks in the kitchen then just buy takeout.  So here it is:

it was dubbed "the double stacker" how original.

I was eating that mini chicken slider before my burger was ready in case you were wondering why that pussy cracker was sharing the royal plate with the burger.  It was pretty dry, until I dousted it with some mayo I found on the counter.  I think it was something like this

Smokin'

It became kickass after that.  So I decided to try it on my garnishless bun with the whole double burger and process cheese, which was way too salty. But I didn't care because I was hungry so it was good.  I don't get it, how come process cheese from home never taste like the ones from the restaurants??!!  Am I doing something wrong?  Because that reminds me of the many individuals that I have spoken to recently who don't know the difference between mayonnaise and miracle whip.  They wonder why mayo in restaurants taste so much better than at home.  My answer: "cuz your mom's buying miracle whip."  So now I'm wondering, is that me with processed cheese? Is that why they rip you off and charge an extra dollar for cheese that you can't even taste on your burger?!!  

P.S. Sorry for the overdramatic use of exclamation marks, it would appear that I'm not quite emotionally stable from the burger withdrawal

Grindhouse Burger Bar

On King West, hungry, didn't want fast food, and m:brgr closed down before I got to try it? Grindhouse it is.  We were actually looking for a rooftop patio and it looked like there may have been one there.  By the time we went inside and asked we had already given up and decided to settle for a burger.  I didn't really have any expectations and I was too tired to think of what I wanted in my burger, so I just got the Big Grind burger for $10.  

ok it doesn't look appealing I know

It contained lettuce, cheese, pickles, and their house sauce.  I got a whole wheat bun in case you were wondering.  Not too sure what I was thinking there but it wasn't bad! Unfortunately I think that the beef was lacking a bit since the bun was too big for it.  What I have noticed however is that I can now tell whether the beef is fresh or frozen/defrosted etc, there really is a distinguished texture.  This one was definitely fresh - they were also light on the seasoning which is good, because a good beef burger should not rely on sodium.  Frand had the black and blue burger, but I have yet to acquire the taste for strong cheeses so it wasn't that great tasting for me. We had them done medium rare, but it still can't compare to the medium rare at Allen's.

couches!

If you believe that you are some beer connoisseur who enjoys burgers, this might be the place for you.  They have quite a few craft/local beers available to go with that so called local burger. That reminds me - how do you keep kangaroos local?  And no, I do not plan to eat kangaroos, as common as they are in Australia. It's like the same as us eating raccoons. But maybe we'll keep this killing raccoon thing underground after all the controversy.  

 In conclusion, Grindhouse has the right recipe going on but could use perhaps a bigger patty and maybe a juicier one too.  It was definitely fresh, but can use some improvement to make the side-less burger actually worth $10 and perhaps attract more customers, since the 10 table burger bar wasn't very full on a King West Friday night for dinner time.

Origin Restaurant

I really haven't had many burgers lately because A) I need to be on a beach diet for Cancun, B) work, and C) the past 3 weeks of summer school had been more intense than regular school. So today I decided to take my mother out at Origin for a cute little expensive brunch so that I can get a burger. Two birds with one stone!

no reason really, just more taking pictures cuz I wasn't hungry

I didn't even have an appetite but I ordered a blood orange mimosa with my Origin burger ($17) anyway. The burger didn't have much garnish and I didn't have to go through all the condiments to figure out what I want, which I think is better that way anyway. It contained: arugula, chipotle aioli, and guacamole. Yum. It didn't have cheese, but this burger definitely did not need it.  And they do it medium rare!!!

big, thick, and juicy mmm.

It didn't juice out and it wasn't that pink inside but still very good! The beef wasn't highly seasoned but had a subtle flavour, super juicy without being too greasy, and the sea salt on the bun really adds to the burger.  The guac kept falling out but I was pretty thrilled that they actually gave a decent portion of it.  Even though it was a little too early for such a heavy burger, I still thought it tasted delicious.  My mom got the oysters and deviled eggs, and my sister got the french toast with the berry compote.  They both loved their meals.

pretty place...

They also had a very nice patio which we didn't go to because we're Asian duh. I contemplated convincing my mom to sit in the shade but decided to give our server a table instead. Speaking of servers, I finally have evidence that good burgers are correlated with hipsters as stated in previous posts.  Observe.

I love how iphone doesn't make a sound taking pictures

So turns out whoever said hipsters are always unemployed need to understand that they they do work as baristas or servers who wear their framed sunglasses indoors. Was it worth the drive to King/Church just for brunch? Yes, but make sure your wallet is full. 
Consensus: Definitely a very, very good burger.  It makes me wonder how it'd taste with cheese, but it was wonderful even without it. The bun wasn't toasted, but the beef totally made up for it. HIGHLY recommended.   

W Burger Bar

Don't worry y'all, I'm still alive. I know, I haven't been updating for a while so you probably thought that I've been hospitalized after consuming the Quad C burger. Or perhaps died from getting stuck in my chair. 

ohh, so that's why stools were invented!

I felt bad for neglecting the blog these past couple of weeks so I took a break today and went to W Burger Bar at Yonge & College. My friend and I were debating what to eat before class as I subtly implanted an idea in her head that a burger would be a great idea. Seeing that she's my classmate from my fitting study of nutrition, she didn't need to know my secret identity: a burger blogger.  Hence, I didn't get a picture of her $9.99 bison burger. But here's my beef burger!

There was a kobe beef burger which was $18.99, described as "American beef raised Japanese way." PSH. Knock off. At least have the beef be Canadian for that price! So I opt for the regular beef burger and the beef is allegedly hormone and antibiotic free. It started at $6.99 with a $1.50 option for cheeses, $1.25 for bacon/egg, and $2.50 for guac/portobello. Along with that, they had a pretty wide option for complimentary condiments and garnishes. I stuck with Montery Jack cheese, chipotle mayo, horseradish, mixed greens, jalapeno, and sauteed onions.  We also shared a sweet potato fries for $3.99, which we didn't end up finishing anyway.  They also had $2 shooters, which unless you're a lightweight, you'd probably end up with diabetes before you get drunk. And I'm not sure if I've made an appearance in a hipsturr place again, because a pint of Pabst Blue Ribbon was only $3.99 while other domestics were $5.99.

it's only a matter of time before I catch myself a hipster.

Sorry I really don't know why I keep making fun of hipsters. Maybe there's some undiscovered link between them and burgers.  Anyway my burger was quite mediocre- I asked what was the most rare they can cook it and got medium well with a bit pink inside but it probably would have tasted no different than well done. The bun was the kind that was cold and not toasted and got soggy pretty fast, and the beef, though a good thickness, was not very juicy nor flavourful.  I feel as the more burgers I eat, the further I am getting away from achieving the perfect burger... Is this normal?  

Overall, this is probably not somewhere to go if you're looking for a great burger, but it gets the job done.  Even though W Burger is not a particularly big place, they do have quite a few draughts on tap if you're looking for somewhere to drink with friends and have a decent burger on Yonge st. The seats are just a bunch of wooden tables and chairs, so I would pick Bamburger though if I wanted to sit a while with a few drinks and a burger.

   

Dangerous Dan's Diner

Since I was going with Penny to eat "Niger"s today (our little joke about my iphone autocorrect fail), I decided we should go to a sit down place, rather than the eating your burger in your car thing so that we have nice little girl chat time while monstrously scarfing down burgers.  We walked into Dangerous Dan's to find that it was well, half-half, as in half sit down restaurant and half sit in your car kinda place.  

nice luxurious leather car seats

It wasn't the kind of diner we expected: we ordered our food and paid and they bring it to the table.  They also seem to do a lot of take out and deliveries, as we heard one of the employees complaining about needing an extra delivery driver or a better one. Ew, wouldn't my burger be soggy by the time it gets to me? Instead of sitting down at the table and meticulously go through our options, we had to decide on the spot. Go big or go home. We got what we came for- the $24.49 Quadruple C Collosal Colon Clogging Combo: a 24oz burger with a quarter pound of cheese, 4 slices of bacon, 2 fried eggs, a poutine, and a milkshake.  And just for comparison, we got the 8oz $5.99 mozzarella and mushroom burger.  

they referred to the 8oz as the "little guy"

This was one of those rare foods that look just like the picture or better. It'd be a good model for those Dove campaigns - no photoshop needed. Just in case you thought I'm now some pro photographer with immense perspective photo taking skills, here's a picture of the Quad C with my burger model:

perhaps she just had a small head?

The chocolate milkshake was also gigantically delicious.  And so was the poutine.  A very nice classic fries with cheese curds and gravy, and I don't usually care for poutines.  As for the burger, we ate "little guy" as if it was nothing.  I had to get it just to have a burger that I can comment on, as I did not see any probability of holding Quad C to my mouth with my hands, and eating a burger with your fork is too undignified to let it keep its name as a burger. It was possibly the greasiest burger I've had thus far, as the beef started falling apart.  That gets negative points- the patty should not be falling apart.  The tables beside us saw the Quad C approach our table and repeatedly said "I wanna watch her eat it!" progressively louder as if we didn't hear them the first time. 

the quitter's way of eating it

Don't get me wrong- I did in fact attempt to compress the burger for consumption. I tried my hardest and all I got was some beef.  Unfortunately it was so greasy that the bottom bun was actually sticking to the plate, making it even harder to lift the 2lb burger.  To Penny's pleasant surprise, the middle of the burger was still hot after 15 minutes.  This is also great from a food/safety point of view - that they can cook the thick meat to the right temperature without overcooking the burger. The 1/4 pound of cheese was not just any processed cheese - it actually tasted like the Black Diamond cheddar cheese that you complement with crackers.  The bacon was good and fried eggs on a burger is a pretty good idea.  The bun wasn't toasted but it's ok, because I don't think we're even supposed to notice that the bun was there.  

My verdict on this burger: Definitely not something you can have more than once- it was so distractingly difficult to eat that taste wasn't even a concern.  The cheese was good but didn't melt very well, and the burger breaks apart too easily.  However, the "little guy" is a definitely well worth the mere price of $5.99.  Nothing to crave for though, but their club sandwich did look yummy and the poutine was definitely yummy. 

Steer Inn Burgers

I really can't believe this is my first time at Steer Inn after 14 years of living in Richmond Hill. I imagine this place was built when everything around it was still farmland. This joint is right in my own backyard- it's literally a 7 minute walk from my house.

apparently my backyard is huge, thats how fresh my beef is

I was deciding between getting this or the third pounder from McD's since I still have yet to try it. We were having an intense game of Scrabble on a rainy Saturday evening when we decided to go for a wine and food run really quickly so that we can resume our game.

warning: playing Scrabble causes burger cravings

Irrelevancy aside, we parked in the empty lot of the ghetto joint passing by teenagers smoking up in their car.  Note to self: munchies food.  The old man taking our orders looks like he hates his job and the other old man who made our burgers told us that we're gonna become regulars. I got the $5.10 banquet burger, which was a wide 4oz thin patty with yummy bacon and too little cheese.  The buns that enclosed my beef was tasty but toasted to a little too hard for my liking, and there was too much of it.  

bun to beef ratio 3:2, needs to be the other way around

They had some homemade secret sauce which I couldn't distinguish whether it was the sauce that gave the flavour or the beef.  It was little saltier than other burgers I've had.  There was nothing special about it but it wasn't bad. Maybe next time I'll get the double cheeseburger instead to get a better bun to beef ratio.  Yes, I suppose there is a next time since it is incredibly nearby and it closes at 3am, perfect for post-drinking munchies.

Wednesdays at London Pub

$2.  I think thats all I need to say for this post.  Well, also this, cuz that's what we usually go for: 

its pitchers of beer, duh. what else would it be

If you're looking for somewhere to kick back on hump day with cheap beer and burgers and you happen to live in the boonies of Richmond Hill like me, you will feel like a winner at London Pub. Wow I never knew they had a website!  I just thought I'd throw in that their toonie tuesday wings are also a steal.

y'know, like an actual hump to get over? 

$11.50 domestic pitchers and $2 Big Ben Burgers, what can really go wrong?  If you insist that the burger sucks, well.... look buddy its a fucking toonie with any drink, even a coke.

 even cheaper than KFC's toonie tuesdays.

I got the sweet potato fries as a side for $3.99 (it doesn't come with one obviously).  They had chipotle mayo as the dip which I used for my burger.  I can see from my screen that you're anticipating for my review of this inexpensive burger.  Really, it came nowhere close to sucking.  A good 5oz or so of tender, flavoured meat.  Was it just a frozen patty from President's choice? It's very probable, but it was pretty decent!  However they toasted my bun so it was kind of hard and somewhat thick hence it kept hitting the side of my mouth.  You can also add cheddar, swiss, or mozzarella cheese for $0.99 which we found out later.  It's not part of my best burger candidates, but its cheap, better than Harveys, and there's beer. Just go, you can't blame me for trying to save you some money at a pub after upper scale pubs like Allen's. Only on wednesdays though, regular price is like $10.

Allen's

A busy pub on the Danforth for the older crowd with a more upscale menu – not the typical pub food.  They had a whole page on the menu dedicated to their burgers, including a history about their fresh organic hormone free cows or something along those lines.  Clearly I hadn’t read it – there was too much text and I was hungry and already had too much to read, choosing their non-complimentary toppings for my burger.  The most basic burger started at $10.25 without any sides – which is quite reasonable for a pub, until you realize that each piece of lettuce and slice of tomato costs $0.25. I also ordered what I thought was a side Caesar, to realize when I got the bill it was a $9.25 caesar salad, so I guess it was literally $0.25 per piece of lettuce plus charges for cheese and croutons.  

10 pieces of juicy romaine heart + chunky parmesan and homemade Caesar dressing

I ended up getting a burger with swiss cheese, bacon, and a piece of lettuce - $13.50, which isn't bad at all.  My server asked how I would like my burger done – I was totally caught off guard! I never knew that it was safe to eat a burger not well done.  So I got medium rare as per my steaks and it came like this:

singular $0.25 piece of lettuce beside my sexy burger

I took a bite, and this starts happening:

bloody awesome.

Definitely a juicy, succulent, burger with a nice flavour but not too overwhelming.  It’s also a thick, tender patty between nicely toasted buns, which should have met all my criteria; yet the more burgers I eat, the more demanding I'd inevitably get.  Sort of like when you woo a girl with Tiffany’s and her expectations increase overtime. I paid $1.50 for cheese, but it was nowhere to be seen.  Unlike Apache or Bamburger’s oozing cheese.  I also really care about sauce I suppose, cuz those garlic, chipotle, or horseradish mayos or homemade bbq sauces (which they didnt have) totally replace the typical ketchup, mustard, and relish.

thanks mayo, for making everything taste better

On another note, I got an iPhone, which should explain the photo quality difference if anyone noticed that it went from shitty to shittier. Despite the 5.0mp camera, I still think my Blackberry took better pictures. I thought that apps like instagram would help enhance the pictures, but even that wasn't helpful.  In fact, it just made the burgers look hipster.

see how hipsturr my caesar turned

In conclusion: the patty definitely met my standards for thickness and juiciness.  I personally think Allen's in the top spot but barely beating its competitors by a hair, all because of the lack of cheese. Highly recommended, but do make reservations if you plan to go around dinner time.

Bamburger

So after that disgusting, pitiful burger last friday, I decided I needed to drown out that taste with another burger asap.  Coincidentally, Tim messages me yesterday and suggests for me to go to Bamburger at Yonge/Eglinton.  I've seen it on blogto for best cheeseburgers, so I expected another older style burger joint. To our astonishment, it looked like this:

Am I in the right place?

It had such a nice ambiance that I wondered if I'm supposed to eat my burger with the knife and fork placed in front of me. When I first started this blog, I told myself I wouldn't critique the setting, but its too hard to resist.

pretty...

The menu had so many delicious choices of condiments and toppings but there's only so many you can get without doubling the price of your burger. I settled on classic cheese with sauteed onions on the bamburger and frand had the buttery mushrooms and brie on the bambamburger.  On the side, we got creamy horseradish, chipotle mayo, garlic mayo, curry, and mango chutney as per Tim's recommendation. But I didn't like the mango chutney.

ironically I wanted Indian food earlier in the day, but combining the two didn't work out

The bamburger was a satisfying 5.5oz at $7.95 while the bambamburger was an overwhelming 11oz at $11.50 before adding toppings. It comes with a side of fries which you can upgrade for salad, onion rings, or yam fries for $1.  Being lame as I am, I felt like eating a caesar salad for some reason... Yes I know, you don't win friends with salad. :(

Going back to the burger, the meat was juicy and thick, but the bun wasn't toasted. Surprisingly I didn't mind, because the patty was cooked at such a high temperature that the homemade bun got warm from the patty.

definitely deserves the bambam title

Usually brie cheese doesn't melt too well on a burger, but this time my friend, the brie oozed out. See, I normally give a more irrelevant review when the burger did not thrill me enough for a good review, but this one was just that great.  So great that I even got dessert, and I don't even like desserts much (except for souffles and ice cream). It was only $2.95 for this petit trio of brownie, sundae, and apple pie.  Such a good price for the perfect portion of sweets for my non-sweet tooth.

I can't believe I'm raving about dessert

Conclusion: Bamburger is definitely two thumbs up if you want to take your date to eat yummy burgers at a nice place.  But if you're poor and lonely- well you can still go, but I'd recommend Apache Burgers for now... until I find a cheaper and more delicious burger.