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.