French fries – Page 25 – Tasty Burgers

Barque Smokehouse

Published on January 13, 2013February 28, 2013 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: 299 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto
Website: http://barque.ca/

I’ve eaten a lot of bad burgers for this blog, but I don’t think any has disappointed me as much as the one from Barque. Though I hadn’t heard a whole lot about their burger, I’ve heard pretty much nothing but good things about the restaurant itself, and certainly went in with high hopes for their hamburger. One of the best burgers I’ve had recently has been from Stack, another Southern-style BBQ place with a burger on the menu. I had hoped for similar greatness from Barque.

Spoiler alert: this wasn’t a great burger. Heck, I would have settled for good. But this wasn’t even that.

Before I get to the hamburger, let me talk about the service, which was surprisingly poor. I showed up at around one on a Sunday afternoon and the place was packed, so they are clearly doing okay, despite the lacklustre service and food. We wound up sitting at the bar, which wouldn’t have been my choice, but was fine.

Less fine was the way we were completely ignored after our order was taken for the entire 45 minutes it took for our food to come. Even less fine was the fact that I received a beef brisket sandwich with a salad on the side, despite the fact that I ordered a burger and fries. So my dining companion and I wound up taking turns watching each other eat.

But this is a burger review, so let me talk about the burger. As horrible as the experience was up to that point, I was completely ready for it to be redeemed by an amazing burger. Sadly, no such redemption was in the cards that day.

I came during Barque’s brunch service, so I ordered the Brunch Burger, which is described as being topped with “Caramelized onions, gruyere, pickles, onion ring.” It’s a bit more topping-heavy than I typically like for a burger that I’m reviewing, but I’m okay with making an exception every now and then.

It’s a meatloaf burger, and though the seasoning wasn’t particularly strong, it was still enough to completely wipe out whatever beefy flavour the (presumably low quality) beef might have once had.

Much, much more problematic was the burger’s downright repulsive texture, which was puzzlingly and off-puttingly mushy despite being cooked to well done and fully gray throughout. I have no idea what was going on there — perhaps the meat had been ground too finely, or perhaps it was the stuff they mixed in, but the hamburger was inarguably a textural disaster.

As for the toppings: though I typically like caramelized onions on a burger, here their soft texture only emphasized the patty’s mushiness, and was highly unwelcome. Same goes for the melty gruyere cheese. The onion ring was fine, as was the fresh brioche bun, but there isn’t much that would have been able to save that weird, squishy patty.

The fries, too, were kind of puzzling. They were completely dried out and crunchy, and bore a striking resemblance to a larger version of Hickory Sticks. I’m honestly not sure if this was intentional or if they were simply overcooked. They weren’t awful, but I didn’t have any particular desire to eat more than a handful.

I should probably note that when the bill came the hamburger had been comped, so at least they were willing to acknowledge that the service was fairly disastrous.

(Image of the sign in the header photo courtesy of alanosaur on flickr. I was going to take the photo on my way out, but I guess I was in such a rush to get out of there that it completely slipped my mind.)

South St. Burger Co.

Published on December 30, 2012January 1, 2013 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

south
Location: 1020 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: http://www.southstburger.com/

South St. Burger Co. is a fast casual burger chain (“fast casual” denoting a fast food restaurant with — supposedly — better food than a place like McDonald’s or Burger King, and prices to match). I want to like South St. — I really do. I can appreciate that they’re a chain with loftier goals than, say, Hero Certified Burgers, who use the absolute cheapest, most odious frozen patties they can find.

South St. proudly proclaim that they use only fresh beef, and kudos to them for that. Sadly, although this is a step in the right direction, there is more to making a good burger than simply using fresh beef.

The restaurant has a pretty standard set up — you order your burger, wait for it to be ready, then pick from the toppings behind the glass.

Actually, those toppings warrant mention: though I went simple with just mayo, tomato, and pickles, they have a fairly impressive selection, including different types of mayo (garlic, wasabi, or curry), relishes, and chutney.

I actually remember liking this place a lot more when it first opened — I think the quality used to be higher. On top of this, South St. came to Toronto slightly before the burger trend hit this city hard, when a place serving fresh, non-frozen, non-meatloaf burgers was much more of a novelty.

The grilled, well done burger is very, very dry. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I’ll note that they’re clearly using beef that is way too lean. The patty is very tightly packed and very dense, making the whole thing a bit of a jaw workout.

It’s also clear that the beef just isn’t that great, as it has that vaguely unpleasant taste that you associate with lower quality beef.

The bun was nothing too special, but it was fine, and the pickles, tomato, and mayo were pretty standard. I suspect to make a South St. burger worth eating, you need to be really aggressive with their more unique condiments. My dining companion got a variety of toppings on his burger, and he enjoyed it.

As for the fries, they’re made by New York Fries, and are expectedly good. I asked for the curry mayo and the garlic mayo on the side for dipping, which I would strongly recommend. The curry mayo in particular was quite delicious, and really kicked up the already tasty fries.

Peter’s on Eglinton

Published on December 16, 2012 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

peter
Location: 1035 Eglinton Avenue East, Mississauga
Website: http://www.petersoneglinton.com/

Peter’s on Eglinton kind of saddens me. Unpretentious to a fault, serving generous portions of unassuming diner fare, with clientele who look like they’ve been frequenting the place for years, it’s the kind of place that you really want to like. Sadly, I’ve been here a few times now, and I’ve yet to have a meal that was particularly good.

The varied menu ranges from breakfast fare to stuff like souvlaki and pasta to (of course) hamburgers. I ordered the standard burger, and asked for it topped with tomato, pickles, and mayo.

I was concerned that with such a variety on their menu they’d go the frozen patty route, but thankfully this is not the case.

It is, however, a meatloaf burger, and they certainly aren’t shy with the seasonings. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that it’s the meatloafiest meatloaf burger that I’ve ever had. The flavour of the beef is absolutely annihilated by all the spices and miscellanea in the burger. It also has a somewhat mushy texture — perhaps from all the stuff that’s been mixed in.

It’s actually kind of absurd how strongly-spiced this “hamburger” is, but if you’re in the mood for a meatloaf sandwich, you could do worse, I suppose.

Aside from the prodigious spicing, the grilled burger is cooked to well done but not overcooked, and it’s actually reasonably juicy. The bun is a bit too bready, but basically fine, and the toppings are okay (though the pickles are sliced a bit too thick). Like I said, as a meatloaf sandwich it’s not horrible, but as a hamburger it’s almost hilariously misguided.

The burger also comes with a generous portion of fries (which are frozen and fairly mediocre), and a baseball-sized mound of tasty, vinegary coleslaw. It’s a pretty good deal for just about ten bucks.

On The Bun

Published on October 21, 2012March 23, 2018 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: 5030 Maingate Drive, Mississauga
Website: None

I actually found out about On The Bun via an email from a reader of this blog, though whether he was just an anonymous customer or the owner of the joint is a matter of some debate. It doesn’t affect my review either way, but it is clear that I wouldn’t have discovered the place if it weren’t for that email; it’s brand new, and there is nary a trace of it on the internet.

It’s an unusually large restaurant (I don’t think finding a seat will ever be an issue here), and there was only one other customer when I visited on a Saturday afternoon. Clearly, word has yet to get out.

I ordered the hamburger combo with fries and a drink, which is a pretty good deal at less than ten bucks. The restaurant has a fairly typical setup — you order your burger, wait, then pick from the toppings behind the glass. I went with tomato, pickles, and mayo, and noticing that they didn’t have any plastic knives, asked for my burger to be cut in half.

That’s when something unusual happened: the owner of the place (who was manning the register and cooking up the burgers solo), noticing me taking pictures and asking for my burger cut in half, sussed out my identity as a blogger. That was a first. Thankfully it happened after my burger had been prepared, so I don’t have to worry that he paid my burger any special attention, knowing that I’d be reviewing it (not that I’m exactly the Toronto Star, but I suppose this will be the first word on the place on the internet).

He did, however, send over an order of masala fries, but that was the extent of any special treatment that I received.

That being said, hopefully you’ll trust the impartiality of my opinion when I say that it was a solid burger. It’s nothing I’d go crazy over, but you could certainly do worse.

The burger is cooked on a griddle, and unlike another Mississauga burger joint, Burger Factory, it has a decent amount of crust. This is always a good thing.

The beef itself had a decent flavour; it’s not the beefiest hamburger you’ll ever eat, but it’s reasonably flavourful. I think it’s seasoned with something other than salt and pepper (I couldn’t put my finger on what), but it’s subtle, so it’s not a big deal.

The meat had a slightly odd texture, like it was perhaps ground too finely. However, the well done burger was also quite juicy, which I definitely appreciated, and which was enough to allow me overlook any textural nitpicks.

The bun, on the other hand, is harder to overlook: dense, over-sized, and vaguely stale, it completely threw off the beef-to-bun ratio, and was constantly threatening to overwhelm the burger. In my conversation with the owner, he mentioned that he was eyeing a new bun supplier, which is definitely a good thing.

As for the fries, they were crispy, greasy, and delicious; they actually reminded me quite a bit of chip truck fries. The masala fries, with their addictively curry-tinged seasoning, were even better.

Union Social Eatery

Published on October 7, 2012October 7, 2012 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: http://www.unionsocial.ca/
Website: 6986 Financial Drive, Unit 6, Mississauga

While trying to figure out what burger to review next, I checked out Urbanspoon’s list of the top-rated burgers in Mississauga (an unimpressive list to be sure — if you think Toronto has a lack of really good burger joints, go to Mississauga and prepare to be horrified). The number three spot on that list was Union Social Eatery, a restaurant I hadn’t heard of. Though a high Urbanspoon ranking is generally a questionable gauge of quality, I decided to check the place out.

It’s basically a family-friendly pub, with an all-over-the-place menu that ranges from pub standbys like wings and nachos to Pad Thai and swordfish steaks.

The restaurant’s family-friendly status was in full display when I went, with a birthday party full of screeching, excited kids sitting a stone’s throw away from my table. That was a bit grating, but I can hardly fault the restaurant for that.

What I can fault the place for was the glacial service. There was exactly one waitress serving the entire restaurant, which was fairly busy for a Saturday afternoon. Naturally, this resulted in service that wasn’t exactly speedy. The waitress did her best given the circumstances, but the management never should have put her in that position.

So it wasn’t the best dining experience ever. Slow service + whooping, hollering children = me contemplating suicide.

But let’s talk about the food. When the waitress was finally able to make her way to my table, I ordered the U.F.O. (Union’s Fresh Original) Burger, which is advertised as coming with “ancho BBQ sauce and all the trimmings.” Though I generally find barbecue sauce to be a little bit overwhelming for a hamburger, I decided to get the burger as is.

A little while later (okay, a long while later), the burger came. “All the trimmings” turned out to be lettuce, tomatoes, and red onion (which I removed). There was also some kind of mayo/mustard-based sauce.

I’ve gotta hand it to the place, though my expectations weren’t too high, this was actually a pretty solid burger. Let me get the bad out of the way first: the grilled burger was cooked all the way to well done and then some, hitting the upper reaches of how much you can cook a hamburger before it hits the point of no return.

Miraculously, despite the hamburger’s borderline-overcooked, fully gray interior, it still managed to be quite juicy — meaning that the beef actually had a reasonable fat content. Too-lean beef is the norm in the GTA, so for this alone I was tempted to wander back into the kitchen and shake the chef’s hand.

The loosely packed patty also had a very pleasant, mildly beefy flavour. It wasn’t the beefiest burger I’ve ever had, but considering the caliber of the last few burgers I’ve reviewed, it was practically a revelation. It also had a bit of flavour from the grill, but not so much to overwhelm the beef.

The condiments, too, were pretty good. Though I feared that the barbecue sauce would overpower the burger, it was sparingly brushed onto the patty and gave the burger a mild tang while still making sure that the beef was the star of the show. The mayo, too, added creaminess without over-asserting itself.

The lettuce and tomatoes were fine, and the fresh, buttered-and-toasted bun complimented the burger quite well.

As for the fries, they were crispy, with a fluffy interior, and were kind of perfect.

I should note that the quality of the burger and fries doesn’t necessarily translate to all of the items on the menu; my dining companion had one of the flatbreads and was underwhelmed, commenting that it tasted like something he could have thrown together at home with leftovers.