Toronto – Page 26 – Tasty Burgers

Gangster Burger

Published on July 14, 2013 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 607 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: http://www.gangsterburger.com/

Gangster Burger opened about a year ago, and at the time a lot of discussion was centered around the alleged tastelessness of the restaurant’s name and general theme; people were complaining that the theme was a celebration of thugs and murderers. This really does not bother me. For all I care you can name your restaurant Evil Burger and sell Hitler Hamburgers and Pol Pot Poutine — if it’s good, I’ll be eating there with a smile on my face. That’s pretty much all there is to it.

The furor eventually died down (Führer French Fries — another item I’d eat at Evil Burger. Okay, I’ll stop now) , which only leaves one thing: are the hamburgers any good?

Let me get one thing out of the way first. I’m not generally too perturbed about such things, but the ambiance here was horrifically, disastrously bad. Hindenburg bad. It’s a tiny little restaurant; probably about the size of the original Burger’s Priest, maybe a tad bigger. I came on a hot summer’s day, and it was immediately apparent that “air conditioning” is not a phrase in this restaurant’s vocabulary. It was hot. And I don’t just mean a little bit toasty. It had to have been a good 15, 20 degrees hotter in there than it was outside. It was an inferno.

Oh, the humanity.

You know when it gets really hot and they say that youths and the elderly are at risk? Don’t bring those people here on a hot day, because they will pass out. By the time I got my hamburger (an excruciatingly long twenty minute wait) I was quite literally soaked in sweat.

Between the heat and the aggressively loud hip-hop being blasted over the speakers, you’ve got an environment that pretty much defines the word unpleasant. At a certain point I was legitimately thinking about just getting out of there sans-burger, despite the fact that I had already paid. It was a horror show.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let me talk about the burger. It’s smashed and griddle-cooked a la Burger’s Priest, by a sweaty chef who kept wiping his perspiration-soaked face with his sleeve. Let’s put it this way: come here on a hot day and I can pretty much guarantee that some of the salt in the burger and fries will be from the chef’s sweat.

Appetizing, I know!

As I mentioned earlier, the burger took an agonizing twenty minutes to be ready. The wait seems to be due to the fact that, bafflingly, they only cook two or three burgers at a time, despite the fact that they have a fairly enormous griddle to work with. I guess the sweaty chef can only keep track of a couple of patties at once.

The burger came with a bit of a crust and looking fairly promising. I’m willing to walk over hot coals for a delicious burger, so if the burger was good, even after the misery of waiting in that restaurant, I probably would have been back.

That is thankfully not an issue I’ll ever have to deal with.

I could tell just by looking at the uncooked beef that it was too lean. And lo and behold, when I took a bite of the well done burger it was very, very dry. It was also a bit too tightly packed, resulting in a burger that required a fair amount of chewing power.

The flavour of the beef was fine. It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t bad either. It had a meh, nothing flavour that is typical of so-so quality meat.

I got the Don C burger, which is no-frills with just lettuce, tomato, and your choice of sauce. I went with the Gangster Goo (which has to win a prize for the most unappetizing sauce name ever), which is just spicy ketchup.

The bun was fine, though it was a bit on the dry side and a bit too big.

I hadn’t ordered any fries, though they gave me some anyway as an apology for the long wait. They weren’t bad. They had a decent flavour and seemed like they could have been above average, but they were very soggy.

All in all the burger here isn’t horrible, but it’s so aggressively mediocre that I couldn’t possibly foresee any scenario in which I would recommend it, unless you are an aficionado of loud hip-hop and sweating profusely. But even then, I’d say just get a burger from either Burger’s Priest or White Squirrel (which are not even a five minute walk away, making this place completely redundant) and then head over to your nearest sauna.

Wallace & Co.

Published on July 1, 2013 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: 299 Wallace Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.facebook.com/299WALLACE

I was browsing blogTO the other day when I saw, among their most recent reviews, a picture of a big, fat burger. I read up to “a fat ball of chuck is griddle-fried” and I was gone so fast that I’m pretty sure I left a dust outline where I was sitting.

The small restaurant has a sketchy, old-school diner vibe, with minimalist decor and a griddle — manned by a row of scruffy, bearded chefs — behind the counter.

I scanned the menu too late to notice that they make their own homemade sodas; I had already ordered a plain old ginger ale like a chump. Dear Wallace & Co. waitstaff: a little heads-up about this would be nice.

Of course, being here to review the burger, I went straight for the Dirty Burg, which comes topped with “cheddar, house bacon, fried onion, coleslaw, BBQ aioli, yellow mustard.” No, they aren’t shy with the toppings; not surprisingly, there is way, way too much going on here. The vinegary coleslaw and mustard in particular completely dominate the hamburger’s flavour profile.

All the other toppings are fine, but the strong vinegary bite of the coleslaw and the mustard make it pretty much impossible to discern too many other flavours.

The beef, however, helps to mask most of the hamburger’s shortcomings. A fairly substantial patty of fatty, wonderfully juicy beef that is nicely griddled and not overcooked makes me all-too-happy to suffer through an over-condimented hamburger. Though it’s not the beefiest meat I’ve ever had (in fact it has a disappointingly mild beefy flavour — which, of course, I was only able to discern in the few mouthfuls I got of the beef alone), it still had a decent enough taste. And man, it was so juicy.

Seriously: ask for extra napkins. It’s a saucy, juicy mess of a hamburger that fully justifies its Dirty Burger moniker. Between the fatty, loosely packed patty and the quickly disintegrating bun, it was a race against time for me to be able to finish this with my hands and not have to pick up a fork and knife.

And though the soft, fresh brioche bun had a bit of a hard time holding up to the burger and all of the toppings, it was still pretty great and definitely an above average hamburger bun. With a burger this messy, even the hardiest of buns would struggle to maintain its structural integrity, so it’s hard to fault the bun in this case.

As for the fries, they were crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside; they don’t come with the hamburger, but they are definitely worth ordering.

Blue Goose

Published on June 16, 2013 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: 235 Queens Quay West, Toronto (Harbourfront)
Website: None, but they do have some info on Twitter

I’ve eaten a lot of burgers over the course of my lifetime. This is actually the 50th hamburger that I’ve reviewed since starting this blog back in 2011. I’ve also eaten my share of un-reviewed hamburgers over the last three years, and of course, I was a fairly profligate burger-eater pre-Tasty Burgers. I’m going to guess that I’ve eaten a thousand hamburgers in my lifetime, and I’m going to say that this is a fairly conservative estimate.

This is all to say that when I make the statement that a particular hamburger is the best hamburger I’ve ever eaten in my entire life, this is not a statement I take lightly. So please, imagine that I have the gravitas of Morgan Freeman and the seriousness of Edward R. Murrow when I say this: The burger that I just had at Blue Goose is quite possibly the best hamburger that I’ve ever eaten in my entire life.

MY ENTIRE LIFE.

Blue Goose was actually started by Blue Goose Pure Foods, a producer of various types of “farm to fork” organic meats. Knowing that the restaurant was started by a company that takes its meat seriously, I had high hopes.

It’s based out of a shipping container on the Toronto Harbourfront (along with Sully’s Honest Dogs and Lobster Roll), which is odd. But who knows, maybe shipping containers are the new food truck. This is actually the second group of shipping container-based eateries to grace our city (the first being the Scadding Court ones near Kensington market — including Wiggle Room, a burger place I’ve been meaning to check out).

For obvious reasons, these ones are only sticking around until the end of the summer, so if you want to check out this burger (and trust me, you want to check out this burger) you’d better not dilly-dally too much.

Though I had high hopes from the get-go, I knew I was probably in for something special when the girl behind the grill began to prepare my hamburger. She pulled out a glorious ball of pink and white ground beef, and as soon as I saw it my eyes widened with joy. A Toronto establishment which knows that the words “lean” and “hamburger” should absolutely never be used in conjunction with each other is a rare treasure indeed.

She placed the beef on the sizzling griddle, smashed it down and seasoned it liberally with salt. No other spices, no onions, no garlic, just great quality meat, salt, and searing heat. Perfection.

And make no mistake, this is great quality meat. Amazingly rich and almost obscenely beefy, it’s abundantly clear that Blue Goose is not kidding around when it comes to the quality of their beef. When I rally against overly-busy meatloaf burgers, this is why. Because I know that when you start out with really good meat and cook it properly, you can end up with an amazingly complex, incredibly satisfying flavour that you don’t want to mess with.

As for the refreshingly non-lean, fatty beef? Yes. It was so rich, so juicy, and so incredibly delectable. The beef was also — as it should be — coarsely ground and loosely packed, and had such a great texture. Seriously: perfection.

Look, I know this is all coming off as insanely hyperbolic, but what can I say? I loved this hamburger.

It has quite a few toppings (cheddar, caramelized onion, pickle, lettuce, and tomato); this would normally perturb me, but here all the ingredients work together such perfect harmony that I wouldn’t change a single thing. The cheddar comes perfectly melted and adds a creamy tang without ever threatening to overpower the beef. The richly unctuous caramelized onions compliment the meat quite fantastically. And the lettuce, tomato, and pickle help to give the burger balance and cut the richness of the onions, cheese, and beef.

The toasted sesame seed bun was fine. It was probably the only element of this hamburger that wasn’t knock-me-back amazing, but there was certainly nothing wrong with it and it complimented the burger well.

They serve a single burger, and a double. I started with the single, and it was so damn good that I did something that I’ve never done before: I went right back and ordered another one. A double this time (well, I split it with my dining companion — I’m not that gluttonous). These are not wimpy patties, so the double was fairly enormous, but I think I liked it even better. This one had a higher proportion of beef to the other ingredients, and was thus even more richly beefy. It was outstanding.

As I think should be pretty clear by now, this hamburger is absolutely essential. If you’re anywhere near the GTA and you have even a passing interest in burgers, you owe it to yourself to check it out. I’ve only given out four perfect ratings since starting this blog: Burger’s Priest, Holy Chuck, Allen’s, and White Squirrel Snack Shop. This one beats them all.

Go eat it. Now.

Burger Day 2013

Published on June 2, 2013March 23, 2014 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

burgerdayA
For the last couple of years, a bunch of places across Toronto have been participating in The Grid’s Burger Week, in which a five dollar burger is added to the menu of each participating restaurant. This year, the festivities culminated in Burger Day, which is pretty much the greatest food event I’ve been to in the city. Certainly the burgeriest.

It really was a sight to behold, with dozens of restaurants all offering a mini burger (they were calling these sliders, but I think we all know that a mini hamburger is not automatically a slider). It was an embarrassment of riches, and all told I sampled 10 different hamburgers, after which I was pretty much ready to crawl into a cave and hibernate.

The sad (and kind of awesome) thing is, there were a bunch more burgers I would have liked to try, but I am not a burger eating machine, as much as I would like to be. I was also worried that the crowds would be unbearable, but I arrived right when the gates opened at 11:00, and didn’t have to wait longer than a few minutes for pretty much any of the burgers. Suffice it to say, it was a great event and I will definitely be returning next year.

But let’s talk about the burgers. Keeping in mind that I’ve eaten an insane amount of hamburgers and they’re all kind of blending together in my memory, here are my brief thoughts on the burgers I tried, in the order in which I ate them (and in case you’re wondering why the photos get more and more angelic towards the end, yes, I got grease on the lens. No, it is not easy to photograph ten different burgers in an outdoor setting with no tables while also holding a bottle of water):

Kitch Bar

Not a great start. The patty itself was pretty meatloafy, with all kinds of stuff mixed in. It was also cooked a little bit past well done and very, very dry. The nacho-esque condiments (a couple of actual nachos, pico de gallo, guacamole, and jalapeno) were fine, if a little gimmicky. The bun was cold, which was unappealing. Perfectly edible, but nothing I’d want to have again.

Fidel Gastro’s Lisa Marie
burgerdayC
After the poor offering from the Kitch Bar, I was afraid that I had a bunch of overcooked, poorly thought-out mediocrities in my future, but this one quickly put me at ease. It was amazing. Probably the best burger I ate at the event, and one of the best burgers I’ve had in a while, period. The beef was absolutely outstanding — coarsely ground, with an amazingly rich and beefy flavour. I was afraid the condiments — pineapple chili ketchup and banh-mi slaw — would overpower the burger, but they were pretty great, adding a tangy zip while still making sure that the glorious patty was the star of the show. The sweet, soft bun was also pretty perfect. I’m not rating these burgers, but if I were I think I’d have to give this one a rare four out of four. I’ve never been to Lisa Marie, but if they’re serving food of this caliber then I clearly need to check the place out.

This End Up
burgerdayD
This one was fine. Nothing too special, but fine. The rich pork belly, the cheese, and the umami mayo were actually all quite tasty, but the burger itself was a bit dry and ho-hum.

The Rude Boy
burgerdayE
Another so-so burger. With the pastrami, thousand island, cheese, and sauerkraut, it was essentially a Rueben in a bun with a burger patty. The patty was okay, but a bit dry and underwhelming. I’ve actually been meaning to check out The Rude Boy for a while now, but if this is their level of burger cookery, I don’t think I need to be in any rush.

The Dakota Tavern
burgerdayF
I actually thought this one had a lot of potential, as the patty had a really satisfyingly beefy flavour, and the grilled, almost burnt onions complimented the burger quite well. But like the last couple of hamburgers, it was overcooked and very dry.

Goods & Provisions
burgerdayG
I was pretty excited to try this one, as I figured the addition of bone marrow into the burger would have added a beefy richness. There was no beefy richness to be found here — just an unpleasant, almost gamy flavour that was quite off-putting. The pallid, wan patty looked and tasted like it had been boiled. It was gross, quite frankly. As for the tomato and shallot relish, it basically tasted like they boiled a tomato, threw it in the blender, and then dumped the resultant slurry onto the burger. Worst burger of the day, and one of the worst burgers I’ve had in a long while.

The Good Fork
burgerdayH
This was a grilled cheese burger, and unlike all the other burgers I tried, they just cooked a full one and then cut it into quarters. It was actually pretty good, though not particularly cheesy, oddly enough. The shallot-teragon jam and the remoulade were both quite good, if a little overpowering. It’s too bad, because the burger itself was fairly juicy and seemed quite tasty, but it was a bit overwhelmed by the other stuff.

Frank

If it weren’t for the unusually awful burger from Goods & Provisions, this would have easily been the worst burger of the event. The patty was super dense, dry, and way, way, way too finely ground. It tasted like they blended the beef until it became a fine paste, and then formed the paste into a patty and cooked it all the way to well done. It was pretty horrible. The condiments were mostly okay, though the pickled red onions were completely overwhelming.

Holy Chuck
burgerdayJ
Well, it’s Holy Chuck so you know it’s going to be good. The beef patty was as juicy and delicious as ever. The burger also featured an additional patty of ground up bacon, which sounds gluttonously amazing in theory, but which was kind of overwhelming in practice. It was tasty enough, but the smoky, salty bacon patty completely overpowered the beef. And when you’re dealing with beef as good as what Holy Chuck uses, that’s definitely not a good thing.

The Stockyards
burgerdayK
At this point my body was beginning to shut down from the abundance of beef, so naturally it was time to eat a battered, deep fried hamburger. I questioned the wisdom of eating something this heavy when I was already catastrophically full, but am I going to say no to a cheese-stuffed battered and fried burger? No, I am not. I was not alone in this, either, because this was the only place I had to wait longer than five minutes for. And boy, am I glad that I did, because it was crazy delicious. I was afraid that it would be more of a novelty than anything else, but it was legitimately good. The crispy, crunchy, peppery batter was outstanding. I know that The Stockyards is supposed to serve some of the best fried chicken in the city, and if this is the batter they use, I can see why. Note to self: try their chicken. As for the beef, I usually find the burgers at The Stockyards to be above average, but a bit too lean. Here, being deep fried and stuffed with cheese, that wasn’t an issue. The whole thing was really, really good, and while it was far from traditional, it was so damn tasty.

And there you have it. Ten burgers later I was pretty much ready to pass out, but it was a great event and one that I will happily return to for as long as it’s around.

White Squirrel Snack Shop

Published on May 20, 2013July 6, 2014 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: ~~507 Queen Street West, Toronto~~
UPDATE: Tragically, this place is no more. It has been replaced by another burger joint, P&L Burger.
Website: http://whitesquirrelcoffee.com/

To say that the hamburger at White Squirrel Snack Shop was a pleasant surprise would be a pretty huge understatement. The place just opened a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve already been hearing some good things about the burger — but I still wasn’t expecting anything particularly great.

White Squirrel is an offshoot of a coffee shop, which doesn’t exactly fill you with confidence for their burger, but oh my god. Oh my god, that burger. Oh my god.

The restaurant is weirdly narrow, with a few seats along the wall and a couple of tables at the end. It was pretty empty when I went, but if the place gets popular (and I expect it will with a burger this good) it might be tricky to get a seat.

The grungy, minimalist industrial decor doesn’t do the place any favours, but this is really a pop in, pop out restaurant rather than a place you’ll linger, so it’s not a big deal. And seriously, if you’re going to serve a burger this good, you could serve it to me in a gas station bathroom and I’d eat it with a big smile on my face. So who cares what the place looks like.

The restaurant is laid out so that you order from the man behind the bar, pay, then when your food is ready someone in the kitchen yells out your name and you pick it up.

Here’s what the menu says about the Snack Shop Burger: “1/2 lb. house-ground chuck, caramelized onion, pickles, Dijon, steamed egg bun.”

The amazing patty is grilled to perfection, with a good amount of satisfyingly crispy char from the grill, but not so much that it overwhelms the burger. It’s cooked to a perfect medium, with a pleasingly pink interior.

The chuck is coarsely ground and loosely packed, and unlike so many burgers in the city, it is fantastically juicy. Seasoned with nothing but salt and pepper to let the beefy flavour shine through, it’s pretty outstanding.

The soft, rich caramelized onions compliment the burger perfectly, as do the pickles.

The Dijon mustard, on the other hand, is superfluous. It basically works with the burger, but its flavour is a little bit too assertive. The pickles do a perfectly fine job of cutting the richness of the juicy patty and the onions; mustard only serves to detract from the gloriousness of this hamburger. It is a small detraction, but a detraction nonetheless.

I have some minor quibbles with the bun as well. Slightly sweet, soft, and fresh, it is a great bun for the most part. However, it is slightly too chewy and substantial, which, like the mustard, detracts slightly from the gloriousness of the hamburger. Again, it is not a large issue, but when you serve a burger this magnificent, even the smallest of imperfections will be magnified.

I also got a small order of fries, which were fine, if nothing too memorable. They actually seemed like they had the potential to be above average, but they were slightly undercooked and a bit soggy.

But that burger… that burger. It was so good. I honestly think it’s one of the best burgers I’ve had in the city. Rich, beefy, juicy, and just amazingly tasty, it’s the kind of burger that dreams are made of. It lingered in my mind for the rest of the afternoon. It lodged itself in my brain and refused to let go. I need another.

Interestingly, White Squirrel Snack Shop is maybe a two minute walk from the soon-to-open third location of The Burger’s Priest. Which means that this small stretch of Queen has become a burger lover’s paradise: a perfect griddled burger and a perfect grilled burger within mere steps of each other. Who could ask for anything more?