burger – Page 13 – Tasty Burgers

Smashburger

Published on January 2, 2017 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 6301 Silver Dart Drive, Mississauga (Toronto Pearson International Airport)
Website: http://smashburger.com/

Though I’m assuming they’re going to expand a bit more at some point, right now if you’re in Ontario and you want to try Smashburger, you’re going to have to fly internationally out of Pearson. I actually was flying internationally recently, so I was pretty excited to try this (supposedly) higher end American fast food chain.

They’ve got the standard selection of hamburgers, chicken burgers, and salads that you’ll find at any of the big chains. I got the Classic Smash, which is a single-patty cheeseburger that comes with American cheese, Smash Sauce, ketchup, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and onion.

It’s… fine, I guess? I was expecting something more along the lines of places like Five Guys or In-N-Out, but this definitely isn’t that. It’s closer in quality to Wendy’s or A&W. Not bad in a pinch, but definitely not something I’d get excited about or go out of my way for.

The patty — with its dry, pebbly texture and lack of anything you’d recognize as a beefy flavour — is fast food through and through. As per the name of the joint, it’s smashed, with a bit of colour and texture from the griddle. This seems more cosmetic than anything else, as it doesn’t particularly add anything in the flavour department.

The slightly sweet bun is fine, as are the toppings (including the Smash Sauce, which is the typical tangy mayo that you’d expect). The whole thing is fine — it’s a bit of a shrug, but I certainly didn’t dislike eating it.

As for the fries, I tried the Smash Fries, which are tossed with olive oil, garlic, and rosemary. They were thinly-cut and tasty, but man were they oily. They were doused in olive oil; they were dripping with the stuff. I poured them out next to my burger, and they left a huge pool of oil in their wake. It was pretty ridiculous.

2.5 out of 4

Bar Reyna

Published on December 18, 2016December 3, 2016 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 158 Cumberland Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.barreyna.com/

If you’re charging over twenty bucks for a hamburger, that burger had better be damn good. It had better be foolproof.

The burger at Bar Reyna is 21 dollars. It is not foolproof.

Their burger is labelled Big A’s burger and fries (is that a play on “big ass”? An actual guy named Big A? What, no one cares?). I’ll let the menu describe it: “brisket + ribeye / sweet potato bun / muenster / caramelized onions / lettuce / tomato / chipotle aioli.”

There isn’t a single element here that particularly works.

They actually asked me how I wanted the burger cooked, which is always a delightful question. I asked for medium rare, and I know I wasn’t misheard, because the waitress proudly proclaimed “medium rare hamburger” as she set my plate down. It was closer to well done.

It was still actually fairly juicy, which was nice, but the texture was off; it was way too finely ground, and a bit mealy. It also had pretty much zero beefy flavour — considering the hefty price tag, it’s not unreasonable to expect that they’ll be using top-shelf beef. If they were, it certainly didn’t taste that way.

Then there were the toppings, which were mostly okay, though between the very sweet caramelized onions and the equally sweet “chipotle aioli” (which tasted exactly like thousand island dressing), it was sweet overload. I will say, however, that the muenster cheese was pretty much perfect — it had a subtle cheesy flavour and a perfect amount of gooey meltiness. I’m really not sure why you don’t find it on cheeseburgers more often.

But I’m not even going to sugar-coat it: the bun was the absolute worst. The texture was closer to a stale biscuit than a traditional hamburger bun. It was incredibly dense and so thoroughly inappropriate for a burger that I’m legitimately curious if the restaurant just made some kind of mistake and used the wrong bun. It had zero give — normally, when you pick up a hamburger, the bun absorbs most of the pressure from your fingers and leaves the insides of the burger undisturbed. But here? The bun was a solid, unyielding mass. As soon as I picked it up, the patty and all the toppings started squishing out of the sides. It was game over once I took a bite. I had to eat the majority of the burger with a fork and knife. Like a monster.

The shoestring fries, on the other hand, were really good. They were cut super thin, which can sometimes result in fries that are too crunchy, but the fries here still managed to retain a decent balance of crunchiness and creaminess. They were seasoned with smoked paprika as well as salt, which gave them a unique flavour and a bit of a kick.

1.5 out of 4

Baldwin Street Burger

Published on December 4, 2016December 3, 2016 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

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.

2.5 out of 4

Oliver and Bonacini Cafe Grill

Published on November 20, 2016 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 33 Yonge Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.oliverbonacini.com/Yonge-Front.aspx

The last burger I tried from an O&B joint was thoroughly forgettable, but when I found myself at Café Grill, I figured, sure, why not? I’m here, the burger is here, let’s do this.

(And I did debate whether I should even be reviewing more than one O&B restaurant, or if all their locations count as one big chain. But since each menu seems to be completely different, I think they’re all fair game.)

Though I approach each burger I eat hoping for the best, I sort of figured the burger here would be much like the one I had from O&B Canteen — passable, but mediocre.

As it turns out, I was longing for the comparative delights of “passable, but mediocre.”

The Café Grill calls their hamburger the Smashed Ground Chuck Burger, and it comes topped with “housemade BBQ sauce, bacon, cheddar, iceberg lettuce, special sauce.”

I rant about overly dry patties all the time on this blog, and I really don’t feel like doing it again right now. I’ll just say this: the griddled patty was punishingly gray throughout and was devoid of anything even resembling moisture. It was also really substantial, making each mouthful a bit of an ordeal.

It actually tasted pretty okay, but since it had the approximate texture of a bunch of mashed-up saltines held together with glue, does it matter?

And though the bun was a bit over-toasted and more dense than it needed to be, the toppings were all tasty enough. But again: dry saltines. Glue. Agony.

Oh, and it also cost 19 bucks, putting it on the more expensive end of burgers in the GTA.

As for the thickly-cut fries, they were quite good. Nothing too special, but they were solid French fries.

1.5 out of 4

The Federal

Published on November 6, 2016 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1438 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: http://thefed.ca/

This was actually my second attempt to try the burger at the Federal — the first time, it was so busy that I wound up at Royale’s Luncheonette instead (which turned out to be a pretty pleasant surprise).

It was actually really busy again, so I think it’s safe to say that you have to be prepared to wait if you want to try this place. But you know that expression about the wisdom of the crowd? Yeah, that definitely applies here. Turns out there’s a reason the Federal is so busy.

Their burger is dubbed the Four Guys burger, and is described as “griddle-smashed beef, bacon, pickles, american cheese, caramelized onion, lettuce, mustard, special sauce.”

With a really good burger, all it takes is one bite to know that you’re dealing with something special, and that was clearly the case here. One bite, and yeah, there was that really distinctive flavour you only get from really good quality beef. That’s a flavour that’s way harder to come by in Toronto than you’d think. It’s a face-punch of beefiness that immediately tells you that you’re in good hands.

The texture of the beef was pretty great, too — though it could have used a bit more crust from the griddle, the medium well patty was otherwise stellar. It was coarsely ground, loosely packed, and was nice and tender without ever tipping the scales into soft or mushy territory. It was great.

But it’s actually really impressive that the burger’s beefy flavour managed to be as prominent as it was, because there was so much going on here. Between the sweet caramelized onions, the salty bacon and cheese, the vinegary pickles and mustard, and the tangy special sauce, the burger was kind of a mess. A tasty mess, don’t get me wrong, but there’s definitely more going on here than I typically prefer.

It’s hard to fault the burger too much, though; my problem with a heavily-topped burger is usually that the flavour of the beef has been overwhelmed. But here, that great beefy flavour is front and centre, minimizing that issue to an impressive degree.

The soft, toasted bun had enough substance to hold up to all those toppings, but was light enough to stay in the background, which is exactly where it should be. So yeah, all around a pretty impressive burger.

I came at brunch, and instead of fries the burger came with a side of potato rosti and a really simple salad. The rosti had a great layer of crispy goodness on the outside and was nice and creamy within; however, I don’t think it was seasoned at all. It was pretty bland.

3.5 out of 4