Reviews – Page 30 – Tasty Burgers

Jessie’s

Published on May 4, 2014June 14, 2014 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 450 Matheson Boulevard East, Mississauga
Website: None

I was doing some random Google searches for the best burger in Mississauga, and Jessie’s popped up a couple of times. I really don’t need much more of an excuse to check out a place than that, so… here we are.

Jessie’s is a Greek Deli, with standard deli sandwiches on the menu, along with stuff like souvlaki and Greek salads. And a burger, of course. They offer a standard burger, a cheeseburger, and something called Jesse’s Burger. As usual, I went with the namesake item, which comes topped with Swiss cheese and peameal bacon, along with your choice of toppings.

There’s no point in beating around the bush: it’s a frozen, industrially-produced burger. By their standards, it’s better than average. It actually has some vague beefy flavour, and the texture — though chewy — isn’t quite as rubbery as some of these things tend to be (i.e. it actually tasted somewhat like a hamburger, and not like the flattened hot dog that so many of the lower quality frozen burgers taste like).

It’s not particularly good, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not nearly as appalling as a lot of the frozen burgers I’m subjected to.

I will say that Jessie’s do their best to disguise the less-than-stellar patty. It’s nicely grilled, giving it some smokiness without the burnt flavour you sometimes get with grilled burgers, and the swiss cheese is fully melted and satisfyingly gooey.

The thickly-sliced peameal bacon was also above average. Some peameal bacon has the tendency to be so tough that your teeth can’t quite make their way through it, resulting in the entire piece of bacon pulling out of the burger while still attached to your face. Thankfully, that’s not the case here. I actually tried a piece on its own and it was quite tasty: tender, not too salty, and slightly smoky. They sell this in a sandwich by itself, and I’m quite positive that it would be much more satisfying than the burger.

The dense, crusty roll would no doubt be completely overwhelming on a better hamburger; here, where I’m happy to let the sub-par burger be overwhelmed, it was perfectly fine.

This would be where I’d normally talk about the restaurant’s fries, but oddly enough, this place doesn’t serve them. I ordered a coleslaw instead, which was of the creamy variety and which was actually quite tasty. I’m not sure if they make it in-house, but I’m assuming they do; if it’s a store-bought brand, it’s probably the best one that I’ve tried.

Burger Legend

Published on April 20, 2014 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 236 Queen Street South, Mississauga
Website: https://www.facebook.com/BurgerLegend

I don’t typically find myself in Streetsville, but when I heard a new burger joint had opened there, I figured I’d head over and give it a shot. Burger Legend apparently started as a food truck, and I guess it did well enough to justify a stand-alone restaurant.

It’s a fairly small place, and kind of oddly laid out (it feels like there’s a lot of empty space where more tables could be put). It’s also weirdly quiet, which is a little bit off-putting.

They have a handful of burger choices on the menu, but The Great One is labeled as their signature item, so that’s what I went with. It’s topped with cheddar cheese, maple smoked bacon, mixed greens, tomato, and Bawss Sauce.

It’s a solid burger. Like with most of the new burger joints opening in the GTA, it’s a smashed/griddled burger. The beef is coarsely ground, it’s not too densely packed, and it has a little bit of crust from the griddle; it definitely has a pretty good texture. It’s not the juiciest burger I’ve ever had, but it certainly isn’t dry, either. It also has a decently beefy flavour. It’s pretty good.

The burger patty came piping hot, which means they probably aren’t giving it any time to rest after cooking. Not sure if that would make a huge difference in this case, but it’s worth noting.

The very thickly cut maple bacon tastes okay, but it’s completely overwhelming as a topping on a hamburger. Aside from its sheer thickness, it has an exceptionally strong maple flavour — it basically tastes like they dunked it in maple syrup immediately prior to serving. On the burger, it’s all you can taste. I removed it almost immediately (and even then, the maple flavour lingered).

The Bawss sauce, on the other hand, isn’t nearly as overwhelming as the bacon — pretty much the opposite, actually. It was so subtle that neither my dining companion nor I could figure out what it actually tasted like, other than that it was mayo-based. I typically like plain mayo on my burger, so this certainly wasn’t an issue for me.

The burger comes with both sides of the bun toasted on the griddle; it almost appears as though they toasted the assembled hamburger whole on the grill, as though it were a grilled cheese sandwich. It’s an interesting touch, though it does lead to a less photogenic (and messier) hamburger.

All in all it’s a pretty tasty hamburger, though if you’re not already in the vicinity of Streetsville, it’s not particularly worth going out of your way for.

As for the chunky fries, they were decent enough — though they were a bit soggy, and a touch undercooked in the middle.

The County General

Published on April 8, 2014April 8, 2014 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 936 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: http://thecountygeneral.ca/

Given that the burger at the County General has received pretty much nothing but praise (including nabbing the number nine spot on Toronto Life’s list of the best burgers in the city), I’m a little bit surprised that it’s taken me this long to check it out. But given my blistering biweekly update schedule, it can sometimes take me a while to get to a place I want to try.

The County General actually just opened a second location on the other side of Queen, so they’re obviously doing okay. I tend to gravitate towards the west end of the city, so I visited the original.

The place was pretty much packed when my dining companion and I arrived on a Saturday afternoon, though we were able to grab a couple of seats at the bar. We both ordered the 6oz. County Burger, which is described as follows on the menu: “Cumbraes Aged Beef, Mustard, Mayo, Pickle.”

They asked how each of us wanted it cooked, which is always a delightful question since the default in this city seems to be well done, and I prefer medium rare.

The grilled patty came out a perfect medium rare, and was absolutely outstanding. Coarsely ground and juicy, it had an amazing texture and a really pronounced beefy flavour. There is, however, a but. A big but.

BUT… the patty’s amazing flavour was largely diminished by an insanely overpowering horseradish mustard. And I mean insane. This was like horseradish mustard on steroids. If this mustard were a person, it would be on a Hulk-esque rampage, flipping over cars and leveling buildings with one monstrous blow.

It was strong, is what I’m saying.

I typically like my condiments on the subtler side — to extend my “if it were a person” analogy, I like my condiments to be less Incredible Hulk, and more Lionel Richie. But even my dining companion, who is typically unperturbed by such things, found the mustard to be overbearing. He actually suggested that they should rename the hamburger to a horseradish sandwich with meat; sadly, this wasn’t even much of an exaggeration.

It’s a real shame, because that patty was pretty damn close to perfection. It’s seriously good. It was hard to tell, but in the few bites I got where there wasn’t as much of the mustard, it was very obvious that the burger was made with top-shelf meat. Not to mention that it was cooked perfectly, and featured a really fresh bun that complimented it perfectly. Without that mustard it is easily a top ten contender. Probably even top five. But the mustard kind of kills it, as much as it pains me to say so.

As for the fries, they too were well above average: crispy, perfectly cooked french fry goodness.

Seriously though, as much as I hated that mustard, don’t let it dissuade you from ordering this hamburger, which is otherwise one of the best in the city. Just ask for the mustard on the side. Or even better, not at all. A burger this good has so much beefy flavour that any kind of mustard, even a non-radioactive-monster mustard, only serves to distract from what makes the burger so great in the first place.

Wally’s Restaurant

Published on March 23, 2014March 23, 2014 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3480 Hurontario Street, Mississauga
Website: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wallys-Family-Restaurant/223907720231

I recently found myself looking for a burger near my work, and again, I decided to refer to Urbanspoon’s list of the best burgers in Mississauga. This has worked out both well and not-so-well in the past, so I figured I’d give it another shot.

Wally’s is yet another old school diner in the GTA that looks pretty much exactly like every other old school diner in the GTA (I know I’ve mentioned this before, but what’s the deal? Was there just one guy designing every diner in the ’70s and ’80s?).

They’ve got two main burger choices on the menu: the hamburger and the “home made hamburger.” I asked what the difference was and was urged to order the homemade, which seems like the natural choice either way. I’m assuming the regular burger is a standard frozen patty; there’s only a sixty cent difference, so I’m honestly not sure why it’s even a choice. This is completely unfathomable to me, but I guess there must be people out there who prefer frozen? I would love to sit down with these people and tell them why they are completely insane, but I digress.

The combo, with fries and a drink, is less than eight bucks. Expensive it is not. But is it good?

I don’t know. It’s not bad. I have a couple of issues with the grilled, well done patty. There’s definitely stuff mixed into the burger, but whatever it is, it’s fairly subtle. Honestly, aside from the smokiness and the mild bitterness imparted from the grill, there’s not much flavour to the burger at all. Pretty much zero beefy flavour; it could have been made out of ground pork for all the flavour of beef that it had. Who knows — maybe it was.

It also had a soft, vaguely sausagey texture that was a bit off, though nothing I’d get too worked up over.

It’s not terrible. It’s quite juicy, at least, and there’s nothing terribly offensive about it. If you put another one in front of me, I’d probably eat it. But there’s nothing particularly good about it either. The flavour is nonexistent, the texture is slightly off, and the toppings don’t do much to redeem it — the tomatoes were okay, the pickles were fine (but they were wadded in the centre so I got a couple of pickley bites and then nothing for the remainder), and the mayo was actually Miracle Whip. The plain, fresh sesame seed bun was unspectacular and fit right in with the patty.

As for the fries, they were fine, but they tasted like the most generic frozen fries that you’ve ever had.

Jackson’s Burger

Published on March 9, 2014March 9, 2014 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: 374 Yonge Street, Toronto
Website: http://www.jacksonsburger.com/

After a few mediocre (or worse) burgers in a row, it’s nice to be reminded that good things do exist in the world. Jackson’s Burger is definitely a good thing.

It’s a small place on Yonge right near Gerrard; it’s easy to miss, and even easier to overlook since it is surrounded by other quick, casual eateries (not to mention a Five Guys just a couple of blocks over). But you’d definitely be remiss to skip this one; it’s a gem.

There’s only a handful of tables in the small restaurant, so if it gets popular you may have a hard time getting a seat. This, sadly, doesn’t seem to be an issue at the moment, but with burgers this good, the word will hopefully be getting out soon (though I said the same thing about White Squirrel, and that didn’t exactly pan out, so… who knows).

Like most of the burger joints that have been popping up in the last couple of years, they serve diner-style griddled burgers. On top of beef, they also serve chicken, lamb, vegetable, and fish burgers. I’m of the opinion that a “hamburger” made of anything other than beef is a sandwich on a bun masquerading as a burger, so I obviously stuck with beef.

The burger comes with your choice of cheddar or mozzarella; I went with cheddar. I had it topped with tomato, pickle, and Jackson’s Sauce — a house-made garlic mayo.

I unwrapped the paper and immediately noticed the rich, dark brown crust on the patty — a good sign that the person behind the griddle knows what he’s doing. I suspected that I was in good hands, and taking a bite confirmed it; it’s a very good hamburger.

That great crust adds a ton of texture and flavour. It’s also obvious that the place is using above-average beef, because the burger has a really nice beefy flavour. It’s not the beefiest hamburger I’ve ever had, but it’s definitely above average.

The well done patty could stand to be a bit juicier, but that’s a fairly small complaint as it certainly isn’t dry (the beef is also a little tightly packed, but again, that’s a small complaint). I also wish that the patty were a bit bigger, because even on my sparsely-topped burger I felt like it wasn’t quite as prominent as it should have been; I wanted more. A double burger is probably a better bet, though that’s technically not on the menu, so you can request it but they may or may not do it (though I don’t see why not).

The pickle and tomatoes were both good, though I’d strongly advise against the Jackson’s Sauce. Cloyingly sweet and aggressively garlicky, it was completely overwhelming, and was trying very hard to overwhelm the taste of the patty. If they weren’t using such good quality beef this wouldn’t be as big of an issue, but when the burger is this good I want to taste it.

The soft, fresh bun was a great compliment to the patty.

As for the fries, they were absolutely outstanding. They were perfectly cooked and amazingly flavourful; it’s been a while since I’ve had fries that tasted so good. My only complaint is the ridiculously large portion they give you. I know that’s an odd thing to complain about, but it’s an insane amount of fries for one person and they’re just so damn good. When you first get them you think to yourself “oh, well I’ll eat about half of these and leave it at that” but then you start eating them and that immediately goes out the window. They’re impossible to stop eating.