This food crawl was all about
BURGERS. All of us food crawlers love and truly appreciate an awesome burger.
The burger is versatile and fits in just about anywhere. The burger can be
cheap eats, fast food, BBQ fare, comfort food, a blank palette to play with
wild ingredients and flavours, or even in some cases haute cuisine (foie gras,
white truffle, umami burgers).
The loose theme for this crawl was
issued as a “Very Intriguing Burger
Crawl” ; essentially we each had to pick a burger that we had seen, read
about, heard about, that seemed intriguing and delicious….basically burgers
that when you read the menu description make you say “I want that!”
With four hungry crawlers, each crawler
picks a burger at their determined burger location. Each burger and side is
split four ways.
Stop #1
Bruce and Jane’s
NOTE: They now have a big bold sign and are rockin’ the moniker “To
Dine For Eatery”
Kimchi Burger (add an egg)
Lifebitesmm
First stop was my pick, a small
diner/café on Terminal ave,
It’s not super obvious that there
its there and if you weren’t looking for it, you’d drive right by
This spot used to be called To Dine
For Eatery, just changed the name and have virtually no signage except for a
chalkboard sandwich board outside.
To Dine For had been on my “to eat”
list for about a year but I haven’t made it down there. Someone told me their
burgers were amazing, then I went on their facebook page to check out the menu
and I’ve wanted to go there ever since for a burger. When I first discovered
their menu, I was entranced with their creative, inventive sounding burgers
with amazing toppings like “The BJ” (with bacon jam, pork cracklings), “The
Smokehouse” (Farmers sausage, Dijon), “The PB & Bacon”, “The Vegan Hulk”
(black beand and corn guacamole, shoestring onions, house-made vegan
aioli)…..to name a few. Now recently, they’ve changed the name of the place and
made some slight menu changes. I got a chance to chat with one of the Justin,
who is a chef and owns/ runs the place with his parents. He said he recently
returned from a hiatus and decided to make some changes and really emphasize
keeping things high quality, organic, fresh, local with as much made in house
as possible.
Bruce and Jane’s Although all of
the burgers sounded great, my tastebuds were tempted by the Kimchi Burger ($14); house fermented
kimchi, mozzarella, kimchi aioli. I decided to give this burger an added fried egg ($2) to give it a
bimbap feel, combining the kimchi with a runny egg. Justin told us that they
get their meat from Two Rivers and grind it in-house. All burgers come with
endive, are served on brioche buns, and are accompanied with fries or salad. This
was a FANTASTIC burger. You could taste the quality in the ingredients, from
the light, fluffy, yet sturdy brioche bun to the juicy, tender, full-flavoured
beef patty. With the runny egg yolk saucing everything and melding all of the
elements together, this was pretty much messy burger heaven. This burger comes
with melted mozza, which is normally welcome, but for this particular burger, I
did feel like the cheese was a distraction and actually buried the kimchi
flavour. It was also served with mustard (which we found was a sous chef
mistake)- again a condiment that I normally love, that distracted from the
other flavours. The fries were fantastic; crispy and well seasoned with salt
and herbs. No special dips or fancy ketchup- just Heinz.
The space:
It’s a cozy space with a modern
diner meets café feel. The décor is orange and black and everything is shiny
and spotless. The atmosphere is warm and relaxed.
Although the place looks slice and
modern, everything has the warm, down-to-earth feel of a family-run operation.
Service was fast and super friendly. As I mentioned, the chef/owner actually
came out as we were finishing up to check in on how we enjoyed the food and
bring us complimentary pork cracklings
sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar (an unconventional and surprisingly tasty
and light dessert!!). It was awesome to be able to give him some feedback
(turns out his sous chef put mustard on the burger by mistake – he was pretty
disappointed in that) and talk to him about the menu. He is clearly a guy who
is passionate about making good food. I was totally charmed by this place, I’m
totally intrigued by many other menu options, would definitely recommend, and
will definitely be back.
The Frip
Fantastic patty!!! The in house
ground two rivers meats gives it amazing flavour and texture. Overall
presentation was great and flavour profile of the kimchi burger was ok could
have had more kimchi and no mustard... Great value for the menu price and
quality
Definitely will hit BJs to try
their other options. Too bad they aren't licensed.
-beef (6 oz hand-made patty, fresh
daily from Jacksons Meat & Deli): quality tastes oh-so juicy & soft.
- brioche bun (from a Swiss
bakery): yields to the bite yet sturdy enough to handle everything in between.
-handcut fries: looong thick shoestrings,
majorly tasty & crunchy, really well seasoned
The Bad Jew aka The Scoop
Daring choice by LifeBites. Located in an industrial park down by the
river. Not really, it’s on Terminal a
few blocks east of Main Street. There’s
just not much else out there in the way of dining. Bruce and Janes is located in the bottom of
an office building which probably explains the unusual 7 pm closing time – I
expect they cater to a lunch crowd.
Regardless of the odd location, the décor was better than I was
expecting – clean and tasteful.
I looked at the menu after
inserting my press pass into my hat and got excited – brioche bun? Two Rivers
Meats organic local beef? Hand ground on premises? Served medium rare? OMG – Yes! Why don’t more restaurants serve burgers this
way (as long as it’s quality meat)?
B&Js has some really interesting burgers on the menu – like the BJ
Burger (Stands for Bacon Jam – the Bad Jew shall return for you). Many of the burgers are served with atypical
cheeses, like emmental, and often sport endive instead of lettuce. Nice!
We ordered the Kimchi Burger and added an egg (hells yah!). The kitchen gave us a bread knife to cut this
into four which we sloppily did. Very
juicy and the kimchi added a nice tang.
Brioche bun was great. The
mozzarella cheese on this was probably not needed – but didn’t take away from
the burger. And I didn’t catch the endive
– but maybe my quarter section didn’t get any.
Fries were pretty good – although they did serve regular Heinz
ketchup. Not out of place at Bruce and
Janes.
Couple of off notes – there was
regular mustard on our burger – which conflicted with the kimchi. Also – horrors, the burger was served well
done not medium rare. The chef came out
and talked with us – he informed us that the mustard was a mistake – that makes
sense. He was quite sorry. He explained that they only serve the burgers
medium rare if the patron asks for it because too many people kept sending
their dishes back as being under cooked.
Sigh. Point noted for next
time.
Did they make up for it – YOU
BET!! They sent us out a plate of
cinnamon sprinkled pork crackling for dessert!
THE BAD JEW APPROVES – you are forgiven for your sins. Bruce and Jane’s you get tonights second
spot.
The Leggy Redhead
- inconspicuous family run business
on Terminal Ave that I had never heard of. Decor is clean and simple,
leaning towards modern fast food feel. We had the Kimchi Burger.
Bun and patty were great quality(Two Rivers meat, yum).
Unfortunately the mustard in the burger didn't work for any of us.
When we gave the server (who ended up being one of the owners) our
feedback on the mustard overpowering the other flavours...lol, he let us know
it wasn't supposed to have mustard in it! He was so apologetic.
I'd go back if I was in the neighbourhood and try another one.
Think we were just unlucky with the kitchen's mistake and worth another
try.
Stop #2
Romers’s Burger Bar- West 4th
The Ultimate Kobe Classic
Lifebitesmm
For the Leggy Redhead’s pick we hit
the Romer’s on West 4th in Kitsilano. I had never been to a Romer’s before but
knew that they specialize in gourmet burgers and pride themselves on being all
natural and all local ingredients (All-natural Heritage Farms range-fed Angus
beef, natural Fraser Valley pork, turkey, free-run chicken or wild salmon). The
Leggy Redhead selected The Ultimate Kobe
Classic Burger; Kobe classic beef, horseradish jack, local wild mushrooms,
onion strings, truffle aioli, organic watercress, garlic mustard, robust red
wine demi-glaze ($18). Wow…. That’s a drool-worthy description. All burgers
are served on a lightly griddled brioche bun with a garlic olive and
pepperoncini on the side. Note: NO SIDES come automatically with these burgers.
Beautiful, buttery, soft brioche bun. Awesome thick flavourful patty. And the
demi glaze dipping sauce was delicious and took the whole burger experience up
a notch. But unfortunately, I felt like the texture and the flavour of the
onion strings didn’t really pop in this burger and I didn’t notice the special
truffle aioli or the local wild mushrooms- which I expected to stand out a bit
more. A great burger but $18 felt like a bit much for a great burger than
doesn’t even come with a side. We did order a side of truffle fries and I was a
bit underwhelmed. No fancy ketchup here either.
The space:
Great for summer, no patio per se,
but big garage door style windows that really open up the front dining area,
giving a breezy, patio feel. Clean, modern décor, large wrap around bar in the
centre of the restaurant.
The service:
Nice, smiling, cute female servers.
Attentive and chatty- which I like. The manager actually came out at the end of
the meal with complementary drunken donuts and for a chat about burgers. I
REALLY enjoyed this, both the donuts and chatting with a restauranteur that
really LOVES what he does. Back to the donuts, SWEET JESUS these are tasty.
They are made fresh to order and served warm so the powdered sugar melts into
them. They come with three dipping sauces- Kahlua Nutella, Limoncello and maple
whisky. My favourite was the Limoncello . I liked this place and would
definitely come back….I think I might have actually preferred one of their
mid-range burgers over the high end Kobe Classic.
The Frip
Kobe burger patty was less than
exciting and almost seemed like it was a frozen per-fab patty. However the
garnish and au jus made it all come together.
A la carte Menu price was pretty
high for the burger. I don't think the quality warranted the cost.
Loved the decor& service!!
The Bad Jew aka The Scoop
West 4th burger spot – now with two
more locations, Yaletown and Riverfront District. Must be doing something right. Pretty lively atmosphere. We sat up front where the store front was
open to the street on an amazing July evening.
Another brioche bun – great
work! Firm but not too hard. I know a proper burger should be on a soft
white chewy bun – but I really prefer brioche.
Nice and juicy the way I like it.
Flavour packed. The red wine jus
was a great addition and combo’d well with the light and tangy truffle
aioli. Was a pleasant surprise that the
aioli wasn’t too heavy or creamy.
Overall great mouthfeel. The burger was fully cooked through (ie not
medium rare – boooo) and it was really hard to tell if the Kobe Beef made any
difference – well except in price; $18 for a burger is a bit steep. Couldn’t pick up the horseradish jack
cheese.
We paired the burger with a side of
truffle fries with truffle aioli. Their
fries weren’t crispy enough for my liking.
I don’t think our server had that problem. “Those truffle fries are my vice”. My wisecrack retort – “At least it isn’t
herion”. Ketchup served with the burger
– yup, Heinz from a squeeze bottle. Come
on – can’t you provide a fancier ketchup that than? At least put it in a different
container. Ordered a $7 Beerita – combo
of beer and margarita ingredients – hit the spot on a warm sunshiny day.
We got talking to the manager when
they found out we were going to be blogging the food crawl – we got our second
free dessert of the evening. Drunken
donuts – so incredibly good (seems to pay to photograph your food in
restaurants these days) Three sauces –
Kahlua Nutella / Limoncello / Maple Whisky.
So decadent! First was OK, second
was great, the third was amaze-balls!
But the Bad Jew has principals – he won’t be bought. Romers placed 3rd out of four places tonight
due to a combo of the price/Kobe beef, the fries and the ketchup.
The Leggy Redhead
I hadn't been to a Romer's before
and they get a lot of great write ups. I wanted to try the Ultimate Kobe
Classic because of the toppings: crsipy onion strings, local wild mushrooms
& horseradish jack cheese. Pretty perfect sounding to me.
When the lonely burger was placed on our table, we realized no sides or
fries come with the burgers (wish the server would have mentioned that).
Order of truffle fries to the rescue! Burger was good, but not
amazing. Loved the horseradish jack cheese, but Kobe patty wasn't as good
as it should have been for the price. In checking on our table, the
manager explained that all the other burgers on the menu are house made patties
that are actually more flavourful than the Kobe. Manager ended up
treating us to some of their amazing looking drunken donuts with 3 different
dipping sauces. Yummy! I'd love to go back to try one of the house
made burger patties, and definitely some more of the drunken donuts! Was
a great runner up for me.
Stop #3
Stackhouse
The Lamb Burger
Lifebitesmm
Located on the busy Granville strip
is "Stackhouse.” This is a burger bar with a hip downtown club/bar
feel…they even had a DJ spinning on the Thurs eve of our crawl. This was The
Frip’s pick and she chose the Lamb Burger ($17) 6.5 oz lamb patty with goat
cheese, cilantro aioli and butter lettuce, served on a brioche bun. Everything
inside this burger was wonderful. The patty, the crumbly, creamy goat cheese,
the kicked up cilantro aioli and the soft butter lettuce all melded together
for a wonderful burger combo. Unfortunately, the bun tasted and felt stale. It
was dry and bland. So essentially this was a burger with a great personality
and not so great on the outside.
We also had their poutine- and it
was really really good. I loved their truffle demi-glace instead of typical
gravy. The fries were nicely salted, light and fluffy.
The Space: Urban downtown hipster
vibe. A bit too cool for school and felt a bit cold and sterile but you can’t
deny the cool, funky decor details and modern light fixtures.
Service: The service was attentive.
We were greeted by a cheerful server once we entered the restaurant, and she
brought us a big glass bottle of water and glasses as soon as we sat down. She
was enthusiastic and cheerful. My big beef with the service was when she asked
us how the burger was, we told her the bun tasted a bit stale and she said “ya,
I noticed that they didn’t look as good as they usually do…” She seemed sorry
we didn’t love the bun, but seemed okay with serving us something that she
noticed didn’t look up to par….Not really cool in my books.
The Frip
Lamb burger patty was great and
condiments and garnish worked well. Bun was a big disappointment as it was dry
and bland. Super funky room but lacked atmosphere. Can't say I would
return to try their other options
The Bad Jew aka The Scoop
Located on Granville street
downtown at the south end of the nightlife district. Very clean and modern décor – bit of a Bao
Bei rip off of using a series of painted knives for décor. I think they were going for a hipster vibe – like Meat
and Bread. Unfortunately the atmosphere
felt more douchey than hipster – ooops.
At least it fits with the neighbourhood.
Be forewarned –bring a baseball cap and make sure to turn it backwards
before entering.
Well – we all guessed whether they
would be serving the ever present Heinz – life bites expected fancy
ketchup. The Bad Jew was skeptical. Disappointment reigned – it was Heinz. At least it was served in a cute
ramekin. Did you know Warren Buffet’s
Berkshire Hathaway just purchased Heinz for $23 billion. Can you guess why?
So the lamb patty was great, the
cilantro aioli went really well with it and the goat cheese blended well and
gave a great texture. But the bun – oh,
it was terrible. Not brioche. Not the soft white buns of NYC. It was bready, dry and much too firm – it
overwhelmed the burger. We even
mentioned to the server about the bun “Oh yah, I noticed that earlier”. Not really the best way to handle the
situation.
We did order some poutine to go
with the lamb burger because – well, we just hadn’t had any yet this
night. Gravy was tasty and salty – but
the curds weren’t squeaky. Overall, Stackhouse
was marginal and worst stop of the night.
OK – we’re out of here pronto.
Next stop – meat sweats!
The Leggy Redhead
Liked the simple, trendy decor, but
totally not impressed with the burger. Lamb patty was good, but the bun
was really dry which took away from the overall enjoyment. When we
mentioned it to the server...basically her response was...'yeah we noticed that
today, usually they aren't that dry even though delivered a few days ago'
Really, you know the buns are stale and served them anyways! Not
impressed. In no rush to go back with all the other great choices in town.
Stop #4
Forage
Rangeland Game Burger
Lifebitesmm
The final stop of the burger crawl.
The Bad Jew’s pick was Forage on Robson street, closer to Denman. At this
point, I still had some room in my stomach and a hankering for more tasty grub,
but some of my co-crawlers were starting to fade, full-to-the-brim from
previous stops. But with some trash talking and encouragement, we hit Forage. Forage
bills its food as being casual and unpretentious yet innovative, and they have
a HUGE emphasis on local and sustainable. Looking at their menu, my hunger was
further revitalized…everything sounded delicious! But we knew what we were
there for…The Rangeland Game Burger
($16); Caramelized Onion preserve, house-cured bacon, Golden Ears Cheddar,
fries. This was absolutely delicious and close to burger perfection. You
could taste every element and ingredient of this burger…they all worked well
together, yet blended together for a perfect bit. The burger patty is mainly
bison but also contains some venison and elk. The patty was juicy and robust,
lean and tasty. There was a slight pleasing gami-ness that worked well with the
sweet caramelized onions and sharp mustard. The bacon was smoky and crispy. The
bun was fluffy with the perfect amount of give. Fries were crispy and perfect.
And a special shout out to their housemade ketchup. Smoky, deep tomatoe-y
goodness.
The Space: The atmosphere is warm-
lots of wood and dark tones. It feels upscale and classy without feeling too
formal.
The Service: Friendly and eager to
talk your ear off about their dishes, their mandate, their suppliers, and ingredients.
The Frip
Oh forage... Such high hopes for
you and you came thru with flying colours!!
Service was fantastic and our
server had a wealth of knowledge on all the ingredients. The rangeland burger
was an amazing combination of local ingredients. Every piece of the burger was
locally sourced and made in house, even the ketchup. Hands down best tasting
and presented burger. Will be dinning again soon at forage to check out the
rest of the menu.
The Bad Jew aka The Scoop
Let’s be clear, we each picked a
burger for the crawl and Forage was my choice.
So by this point, the Leggy Redhead
and Frip were wanting to tag out as if this were a wrestling match. But it’s not – it’s a food crawl. Suck it up buttercup!
Forage’s Rangeland Game Burger was
made from 80% Bison with the remaining 20% a blend of Elk and Venison. It came out on a wooden board and the burger
was higher than it was wide. Great
presentation – best of the evening.
Burger employed 20 different kinds of microgreens and came with a side
of …. wait for it … housemade IPA mustard ketchup. Up yours, Buffet!
Bit into this beauty and such a
wonderful meat flavour. Absolutely no
gaminess from the elk or venison. And
low and behold, a little pink in the middle.
Medium well instead of medium or medium rare – but I’ll take it!! Melted gouda from local artisanal cheese
makers – Golden Ears was a perfect accompaniment along with the caramelized
onions. And the slight bitterness of the
microgreens (all 20 of them) was awesome.
The burger bun was right proper squishy.
And the ketchup – super yummy. A
nice rough texture with some spice/curry notes.
Fantastic.
Overall best burger of the
night. Hit everything right. Even had bacon in it – what’s not to love for
the Bad Jew. Except for the fries – we
really didn’t need more fries. Glad my
home is downhill from Forage – I was stuffed and rolled myself there.
The Leggy Redhead
This was 'Bad Jew's' choice.
I've tried a few things from Forage at foodie events and they were always
great, but I hadn't been to the restaurant yet. All I can say...what a
great little gem on Robson Street (an area of town I rarely go to for food).
Burger was small, but perfect...everything in it great quality & well
paired. The mix of bison, elk & venison patty...lean but flavourful.
Even the ketchup for the fries was house made with a light curry flavour
(surprisingly the only place that made it from scratch out of the 4 places we
tried). Yum! I've told people about the great meal & service
and they have tried their food since, having just as great an experience
as we did on the crawl. Their entire menu is locally sourced, great
quality and so well thought out. If I hadn't been so full, I would have tried
at least one other thing. I look forward to going back soon! This
was definitely my winner on the crawl
