Location: 53 Baldwin Street North, Whitby
Website: http://baldwinstreetburger.com/

You know what the best thing about having this blog is?  When I’m with people who want to have a meal and I strongly suggest a burger joint so I can review it, and it turns out to be lousy, and everyone gives me the “thanks for making us eat that garbage, chump” evil eyes.

Sorry, did I say the best thing?  I meant the worst thing.

Though that’s probably harsh in this case.  Baldwin Street Burger certainly wasn’t garbage — but it wasn’t particularly good, either.

The menu features the usual assortment of pre-topped burgers.  I went with the Classic, which comes with ketchup, mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles, and hot peppers (I opted to forego the ketchup, mustard, and onion).

I really only had one problem with the burger, though it’s a fairly substantial one.  There was something very off about the texture of the beef — it had a tough, steaky chew, and was downright unpleasant to eat.  I’m honestly not sure what the issue was.  The grind seemed okay, and it wasn’t too tightly packed, but it was tough and vaguely rubbery.  One of my dining companions had the same issue, so it wasn’t just me.

The grilled patty was otherwise decent enough.  It was cooked to well done but still fairly juicy, it had a mild beefy flavour, and a nice smoky tang from the grill.  It’s hard to overlook that weird texture, though.

The mayo was a bit over-applied, but the toppings were otherwise fine, and the fresh, lightly toasted bun suited the burger well.

As for the fries, they were amazing.  You’d think that good fries would be tougher to make than a good burger, but given how many burger joints I’ve visited with a middling hamburger and delicious fries, that is clearly not the case.