restaurant – Page 13 – Tasty Burgers

Jack Astor’s

Published on February 10, 2013 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

jack
Location: 1900 The Queensway, Etobicoke
Website: http://www.jackastors.com/

This is going to be a short one. It’s hard to write all that much about a burger that so conclusively straddles that middle ground between good and bad, and that is exactly where this burger falls. “Meh” is pretty much the perfect word to describe it.

Jack Astor’s is a casual chain restaurant, and as expected from a restaurant such as this, there are burgers on the menu. I wasn’t expecting much, and I got pretty much exactly what I expected: a perfectly edible hamburger that is almost instantly forgettable.

I ordered “The Classic,” which is their no-frills burger topped with lettuce, tomato, red onion (which I removed), and mayo.

The burger was fine. This being a chain place, I had feared that they might serve a frozen burger or a meatloaf burger, but this was thankfully not the case.

There are a couple of fairly significant issues that keep this burger firmly in the “meh” category. First, and most predictably, the burger is too dry. I know I sound like a broken record here; apparently wanting a hamburger to be juicy in Toronto is an unreasonable request, which is actually kind of maddening. But no, I’m not going to get into another rant about overcooking and acceptable fat percentages. Not for you, Jack Astor’s. Not for you.

And yes, the burger is overcooked, which just compounds the dryness issue. The grilled patty is a bit over-charred, resulting in a burger that is a bit too crunchy in spots. It’s also a little bit too tightly packed and dense, which makes it a tough chew.

The second issue is that it’s a bit bland. The beef is obviously not the greatest, and while it tastes okay, it doesn’t taste like much. Add in the fact that if it was seasoned with salt and pepper, I couldn’t taste it, and you’ve got a pretty bland burger.

Otherwise, the toppings were fine, and the fresh brioche bun, though slightly over-toasted, suited the burger well.

All in all, it’s not a bad hamburger — it’s just aggressively unmemorable.

As for the fries, though a tad on the soggy side, they were otherwise quite good.

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.

Stack

Published on December 2, 2012August 3, 2014 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3265 Yonge Street, Toronto
Website: http://stackrestaurant.ca/

Like The Stockyards, Stack is BBQ joint run by people who have clearly put a great deal of care into the burger selection on their menu. If their website is to be believed, they initially planned on specializing in burgers, but ultimately decided to shift their focus to southern-style BBQ.

It’s clear that they could have made Stack a burger joint and done just fine — these are burgers done (mostly) right.

There are some interesting looking burgers on the menu, but in keeping with my preference when I’m reviewing a place, I kept it simple with the Stack Classic, which comes topped with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and onion.

I also asked for mayonnaise on the side, which turned out to be a wise move; the creamy, flavourful mayo is infused with roasted garlic and is clearly made in-house — this ain’t no Hellmann’s, that’s for sure. It was good on the burger, but even better as a dipping sauce for their amazing fries.

Like at The Stockyards, the burger is griddle-cooked and seasoned with little more than salt and pepper (as it should be). Sadly, like at The Stockyards (and pretty much every other burger joint in Toronto), the beef in the burger is a little bit too lean, resulting in a burger that’s a bit drier than it should be. Thankfully, there is still some juiciness here, so it’s certainly a minor offender in Toronto’s ongoing quest to completely dry out my mouth with well-done, too-lean patties.

Aside from the dryness issue, this is an outstanding hamburger. The well-done, loosely packed patty had a good amount of crust from the griddle (though not quite as much as at The Stockyards or Burger’s Priest).

It’s also clear that Stack is using beef that is well above average, as this was one of the most richly beefy burgers I’ve had in quite a while. Eating it, I had something of a eureka moment: oh right, this is how a burger is supposed to taste.

The fresh sesame seed bun complimented the burger perfectly, as did the toppings (particularly the aforementioned fresh mayonnaise — if you find yourself at Stack, ask for this mayo).

As I mentioned earlier, the fries were crazy delicious. Perfectly crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, with an amazingly robust flavour, they were almost ludicrously good when dipped in that delicious garlicky mayonnaise.

Bier Markt

Published on November 18, 2012December 2, 2012 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: 199 North Queen Street, Etobicoke
Website: http://www.thebiermarkt.com/

Bier Markt is an upscale Toronto-area chain, akin to Milestones or Earl’s. They’ve recently expanded into the west-end with an Etobicoke location, which is the one that I checked out. I went on a Sunday afternoon and they had a musician performing live, which thankfully wasn’t too loud, as I didn’t particularly feel like having to yell and strain to hear my dining companion (how much of an old curmudgeon am I, exactly?).

The menu features two burgers: the Classic Burger, and the T-Bone Burger, which is made with Kobe beef. The T-Bone Burger is 24 dollars (!), so I went with the Classic Burger, which isn’t cheap itself at 15 dollars.

No, this place isn’t exactly the best deal in the city.

I wasn’t in a beer mood, so I just went for a soda, but the place has an impressive beer list (over 150, according to the website), which is probably one of its bigger selling points.

The burger comes topped with lettuce, tomato, onion (which I removed), and pickles, with two small ramekins of ketchup and mustard on the side.

The grilled burger was (of course) cooked to well done, and had a pleasantly beefy flavour. Clearly, they’re using above-average meat. As well, the burger had some char from the grill, which added a good amount of flavour and texture.

Sadly, there’s a big caveat here: what should have been a great burger was marred by excessive dryness.

Of course, cooking a burger to well done never helps in the juiciness department, but even then it’s clear that the beef Bier Markt is using is far too lean. The menu specifies sirloin, which if true does explain a lot. Sirloin is an exceptionally lean cut of beef, and thus is completely inappropriate for use in a hamburger.

I’m tempted to go off on a rant about how a hamburger needs a decent amount of fat to be really good, but I think I’ve done that in at least half of the reviews I’ve written for this blog, so I’ll just point you to the archives. Seriously: I love Toronto, but an alarming amount of people here just have no conception of what makes a hamburger great. It’s frustrating, but what can you do? Ultimately it’s an American food, and we’re not in America.

As for the rest of the burger: the toppings were all quite good, and the fresh brioche bun complimented the patty perfectly.

All the components were there — good toppings, good quality beef, good cooking technique, and a nice, fresh bun. If only they were using fattier beef, this could have been an amazing burger. C’est la vie.

Oddly, the burger came with “root vegetable crisps” on the side instead of fries. They were essentially like thickly-cut chips, and were a bit bland, but were satisfyingly crunchy and kind of addictive.

The Works

Published on November 4, 2012November 18, 2012 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 2245 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: http://www.worksburger.com/

Though it’s been around in Ottawa for over a decade, The Works has only recently made its way into Toronto, opening a location on the Danforth earlier in the year, and more recently, in Bloor West Village. There are supposedly more locations on the way; if my recent experience at the Bloor West location is any indication, this is definitely, as Martha Stewart would say, a good thing.

Unlike many (most?) of Toronto’s burger joints, The Works is a full service restaurant, so don’t expect to pop in for a quick bite.

The menu is full of choices, with six different patty choices, three buns, and over 70 customized burgers, with toppings ranging from standard fare like bacon and various cheeses to more bizarre selections like mac and cheese and peanut butter.

Scanning right past the novelty items on the menu (peanut butter!), I landed on the Plain Jane, and asked for it topped with my usual mayo, tomato, and pickles.

Most of the burgers seem to be in the 12 dollar ballpark, which does seem bit pricey; that does, however, include a side, so it’s pretty much in line with what other places are charging.

The grilled burger came out looking nicely charred and attractive; I took a bite and was heartened to discover that it tasted just as good as it looked. It’s not a great burger — but it was a very, very good one.

For one thing, the well done burger was actually reasonably juicy. It could have certainly been juicier — the meat was still, like pretty much every other burger in Toronto, a bit too lean. But it was far from dry, and I guess that’s all you can really hope for in this city.

The loosely packed patty, seasoned only with salt and pepper, also had a nicely beefy flavour, and a decent amount of crust from the grill.

The soft, fresh bun complimented the burger perfectly, and the toppings were fine (though the burger did come out with onions instead of pickles, a mistake that was quickly rectified).

It’s not exactly a burger I’ll remember forever, but it was one that was very well executed on every level.

As for the fries, they were a tad soggy, but were otherwise perfectly cooked and quite tasty.