Toronto – Page 33 – Tasty Burgers

Location: 10 College Street, Toronto
Website: http://www.wburgerbar.com/

Unlike a lot of burger places in Toronto, the W Burger Bar is a real, no-foolin’ restaurant: waiters, tables and all. The prices, though, are about in line with what you’d typically pay at a burger place in Toronto, so you’re not getting charged extra just for the pleasure of sitting down in a restaurant and being served (aside from the tip, of course). That’s not to say that this place is cheap, only that paying in the ballpark of seven bucks for a burger is, sadly, pretty much the norm in Toronto.

The menu lists a variety of daily specials; thinking it was Wednesday, I was all set to order the Kobe burger, which normally costs 19 dollars (!) but is marked down to ten in the middle of the week. In fact, I did order it, or attempted to do so, at which point my waitress patiently explained to me that no, it is not Wednesday, it’s Tuesday. Whoops.

Tuesday’s special is the bison burger, but since this is a burger blog and not a sandwiches-that-kind-of-look-like-burgers-but-aren’t-actually-hamburgers-at-all blog, I opted to take a pass on that one.

I wound up ordering the regular beef burger. Which is fine — it probably makes for a more useful review, as I suspect that most people will be reluctant to spring for the pricier Kobe and will be getting plain ol’ beef.

I’ve been to the W Burger Bar once before, and I recall that last time I was given the choice to have my burger griddled or grilled. This time I wasn’t asked, and it came grilled. It wasn’t a problem for me, as I like both cooking methods pretty much equally, but if you have a preference one way or the other I’m assuming you can still request it.

The burger is actually pretty damn solid. Nicely grilled and not too densely constructed, this was probably one of the better tasting burgers I’ve had recently. It had a surprisingly complex beefy flavour, and was obviously made from higher quality beef. The biggest issue here is the pervasive dryness that plagues so many Toronto burger joints. The burger had some juiciness to it, but it was definitely drier than it needed to be.

Toronto burger establishments, take heed: fat is your friend. You’re not doing us a favour when you use leaner, “healthier” beef. A hamburger needs a a good amount of fat, especially when cooked to the legally-required well done.

Boy, do I wish that more burger places in the city would cook to order (there are a few restaurants that do this, but it is very, very rare). If this burger had been cooked to medium or medium rare, the too-lean issue would have mostly faded into the background. This could have been a great hamburger, instead of merely a good one.

As for the toppings, there’s a fairly lengthy selection to be had; I went relatively simple, with pickles, tomatoes and chipotle mayonnaise. The mayo added a creamy tanginess, though no actual heat (chipotles are supposed to be spicy, are they not?). The pickles and tomatoes were fine. The soft sesame seed bun was fresh and complimented the burger well.

My dining companion ordered the 50/50 fries (half regular fries, half sweet potato) of which I sampled a few. The thinly cut fries were a little soggy, but tasty nonetheless.

Location: 830 Yonge Street, Toronto
Website: http://bigsmokeburger.com/

In case you’re confused, this is the place that up until a few weeks ago was known as Craft Burger — apparently the owner wanted to trademark the name, but ran into problems thanks to American chef Tom Colicchio and his Craft-centric chain of restaurants (Craft, ‘wichcraft, Craftsteak, etc.). This is a complete aside, but if you ever find yourself at ‘wichcraft, order the turkey sandwich. Best turkey sandwich ever.

Anyway, Big Smoke Burger = Craft Burger. Nothing has changed but the name.

The location I visited, around Yonge and Bloor, is quite small. I showed up at around six and was able to find a seat without any difficulty, but by the time I left it was already pretty packed. There have been a few times in the past that I’ve wanted to eat here, discovered that there wasn’t a seat to be had, and left sad and burgerless. Be warned.

You can pick your own toppings, but they have a number of customized burgers that seem to be the main draw. Using the philosophy that it’s generally a safe bet to order an item on the menu if it shares a name with the restaurant, I got the Big Smoke Burger (I used this same philosophy on my last visit and ordered the Craft Burger, which didn’t particularly work out — but then I’m not crazy about mushrooms on a hamburger, and that burger featured mushrooms prominently. I dug my own grave on that one).

I ordered at the register, was given a number, and took my seat. It probably took about ten minutes to get my burger, but I was happy to wait. I’d much, much rather have to wait a bit than receive a pre-made burger from under a lamp.

As seems to be the trend at Toronto burger joints, classic rock was playing on the radio. What is it about burger places and classic rock? Not that I’m complaining; Riders on the Storm is a solid song to eat a burger by.

The burger is pretty good. The meat is tightly packed and a bit on the lean side, so the well-done burger is drier than it should be. But it’s good quality meat, it’s not overwhelmingly dry, and has a decent flavour — or at least it seemed to. Why am I not sure if the meat had a decent flavour? That’s a good question. A good question indeed.

The Big Smoke Burger is described as having “horseradish mayo, caramelized onions, smoked cheddar, tomato & lettuce.” The horseradish mayo, sadly, is the culprit behind my inability to properly discern the flavour of the beef. Sweet, strongly vinegary and completely overpowering (and oddly enough, without any discernible horseradish flavour), the sauce — which is slathered on the top and bottom bun — completely overwhelms the burger. I would order this hamburger again, but I would definitely either substitute the horseradish mayo for regular mayo, or just omit it altogether.

The other elements of the burger all worked quite well. The sweet caramelized onions were perfectly cooked, and were soft and yielding without being mushy. The smoked cheddar was nicely melted and added a welcome creaminess to the burger, though if it had any smoky flavour it was completely obliterated by the super-strong mayo (I didn’t like that mayo, can you tell?). The lettuce and tomato were good as well, and the bun was soft and fresh and complimented the burger perfectly.

I got the combo, which came with fries and a soda. The fries were pretty darn good, though they were a tad overcooked, and were a bit on the crunchy side. Despite this they were still some of the better fries I’ve had in a while, so I have to imagine that they’d normally be pretty fantastic.