Canada – Page 28 – Tasty Burgers

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.

Tilted Kilt

Published on February 9, 2014February 18, 2014 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: 157 York Blvd, Richmond Hill
Website: http://www.tiltedkilt.com/

The Tilted Kilt is basically a Hooters knockoff — it’s got lots of TVs playing whatever sporting event happens to be on at the moment, and of course, lots of busty, very cleavage-y waitresses for the clientele to gawk at.

I don’t know if it’s even fair for me to shine too bright of a light on the food, because let’s face it — food isn’t high on the list of reasons that people come here. And while the discussion of whether a place like this is completely misogynistic or just harmless fun is certainly a conversation worth having, this is a burger blog, so… let’s forget about that and talk about the burger.

They have a handful of hamburgers on the menu, but the BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger is the only one labeled as a signature item, so that’s what I got. It’s topped with “Applewood smoked bacon, cheddar cheese, crispy shoestring onions and Guinness BBQ sauce.”

The patty is promisingly described on the menu as being made from their “choice butcher’s blend” and “always fresh,” so I had hopes that it would perhaps be a bit better than your standard chain fare. These hopes were quickly dashed, but it was a nice thought.

The burger was grilled (though perhaps incinerated is a better word) and was cooked about as far past well done as a burger can get and still be served in good conscience.

It didn’t have that telltale rubbery texture that you tend to get from frozen patties, but it certainly tasted prefabricated.

And it was dry. Oh dear lord was it ever dry. It may have been the driest burger I’ve ever had; if not, it was certainly a strong contender. It was very tightly packed and super dense, which certainly didn’t help matters.

It had surprisingly little taste. There was a slight off beef flavour, and some acrid bitterness from the charred exterior, but mostly it just tasted like a big unpleasant hunk of tough, chewy nothing. Towards the end I was actually dreading each mouth-drying bite, but I soldiered on and I finished it. Partially because I was reviewing it, but mostly because I’m a glutton who will eat pretty much anything you put on a plate in front of me.

The burger also — oddly enough — had a funky, vaguely fishy aroma that made it all the more off-putting. That was a first.

This was labeled as a BBQ burger, and while I typically find BBQ sauce to be a little bit too overwhelming as a topping on a burger, they either applied it so sparingly that I couldn’t taste it, or they forgot it altogether.

There were also supposed to be crispy shoestring onions on there, but like the BBQ sauce they seemed to be missing in action. Normally I appreciate a sparsely-topped hamburger, but in this case the patty was so dry and horrible that these condiments were sorely missed.

The bacon and cheddar were both definitely present, and they were both fine, though they couldn’t do much to make this hamburger even remotely worth eating.

The bun was the sole bright point. Buttery, slightly sweet, and just dense enough to hold up to the burger without ever becoming overwhelming, it absolutely deserved to be a part of a better hamburger.

As for the fries, they were about on par with the burger — they were bland, cardboardy, and required gobs of ketchup to be even remotely edible.

Toma Burger Addiction

Published on January 26, 2014January 26, 2014 by Michael Nusair4 Comments

Location: 712 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: http://toma-burgeraddiction.com/

I am confounded. Toma Burger Addiction confounds me. This is a burger place that, somehow, gets almost every single element of their hamburger completely wrong. Even if you were trying to make the ultimate mediocre hamburger, I don’t think you could succeed quite as brilliantly as Toma Burger Addiction has.

I will say that the design of the restaurant is quite nice. Bright, spacious, and handsomely designed, it’s actually one of the more inviting-looking burger joints I’ve visited for this blog.

Unlike a lot of burger places in the city, it’s a sit-down restaurant. The service was fine; another non-food-related plus in this restaurant’s favour.

They have about a dozen burger choices on the menu. I went with The Classic, which comes topped with “Angus beef, cheddar, caramelized onions, pickles, arugula, tomato, Toma secret sauce.”

They don’t specify how big the patty is, but I’d guess it’s about six ounces. It’s not very good. Though it’s not particularly dry (which is nice), the texture is off. It’s ever-so-slightly mushy, and kind of sausagey.

There’s definitely some kind of seasoning mixed into the beef, which doesn’t help. I also think it’s ground a little bit too finely. It’s off. It’s weird.

The patty has a muddled flavour that, just like the texture, is a little bit off. It’s nothing that’ll make you pound your fist onto the table and decry the state of humanity; it’s perfectly edible, it just doesn’t taste right. There’s no real beefy flavour. There’s no flavour of anything, in particular. It’s muddled. I don’t know. It was weird. It was off-putting in a way that I can’t exactly put my finger on.

The bun, on the other hand, was clearly disastrous. It was quite possibly the worst bun I’ve ever had on a hamburger. As soon as I saw it, I knew I was probably in trouble. It looks dense and impenetrable. Cutting into it confirmed my suspicions; it was thick and unyielding and surprisingly difficult to saw in half.

Impossibly dense and sugary sweet, it was completely overwhelming and should not be allowed within fifty feet of a hamburger patty. Of all the things that are confoundingly bad about this burger, the bun is clearly the most baffling. I honestly cannot think of a worse bun for a burger. It’s just so chewy and doughy and intensely flavoured. It’s actually kind of insane how terrible it is. It’s like someone took a pretzel bun, soaked it in sugar water and then left it out in the sun until they were satisfied that it had reached a properly brick-like consistency.

The condiments don’t fare much better. The mushy, colourless caramelized onions look and taste as though they’ve been boiled. Granted, I’m not a professional chef, but I’m fairly certain that caramelized onions are supposed to be caramelized.

The Toma sauce was mostly just sweet and uninspired. It’s only been a few hours since I ate this burger, and I already forget what it tasted like. If only I could forget the rest of the burger quite so easily, but I fear it will be haunting my nightmares for weeks to come.

As for the fries, they were actually really good. Thinly cut and perfectly cooked, they would have easily been the bright spot of the meal — but not only were they not served hot, they weren’t served warm. They were room temperature. Because why ruin the perfect storm of mediocrity, right?