On a snowy Saturday night, another burger tour came to pass. Sadly, Small Fry was unable to join us; however he was aptly replaced with a special out-of-town guest, Triple Bypass.
We decided to hit the Burger Bar in Kensington Market. One of several in the area, and I'd heard good things.
The Burger Bar is located just south of College on Augusta. Distressed wooden panels on the outside give it a cowboy-esque feel and the inside is no different. The tv was playing an old episode of Bonanza! It's small but cozy, with lots of interesting paraphernalia decorating the shelves. The menu boasts craft beer and ground in-house fresh beef. Excellent!
We ordered the saag poutine to begin. If you're not an Indian food fan, you may be turned off by this. Saag is creamed spinach with paneer, a type of soft cubed cheese. It's one of my personal favourites, and to have it smothering fresh cut fries was heaven in green. The minimum score for this was 9, with Triple-B giving it a hefty 9.5.
The beer selection was interesting and varied, although Hamburglar's delicate constitution seemed to have issues with his wheat beer. Of note, the Burger Bar boasts an incredible tequila menu, although none of us imbibed. Triple-B ordered a Ryan's soda, which has been around Niagara Falls, NY area since 1935. It was good and sweet, however he did find a bit of an after-taste. This didn't stop him from drinking down 2 of them.
As I mentioned, the fresh cut fries were amazing. There was a combo of 50/50 also available, sweet potato and regular. The portion was ridiculously generous, and we could easily have shared between us. Everybody scored the fries no lower than a 9. The Meister and I went for the healthy option of the arugala salad. He scored it an 8 but I'd have to go with 9, one of the best salads I've had in a very long time. A crisp, light dressing made it the perfect compliment to the fries and burger.
For our mains, we had a good variety chosen from the many varied and delicious options available.
Burgermeister had cheddar, bacon, tomatillo and scored it a 9.
Hamburglar went for something more basic, in honour of Small Fry's absence, with cheddar, bacon, bbq sauce. Again - a 9 score.
Triple-B did us proud by going for something completely different. He ordered the Bison burger, with bleu, bacon, and mushrooms. His gargantuan order paid off though, and he gave his meal a 9.5, with a warning of not partaking of too many toppings lest you need a triple-B yourself. Fortunately, bison is a leaner meat.
And as for me, I had smoked provolone, tapenade and carmlied onion. I scored an 8.5, as it's still missing that flamey taste I crave.
The burgers were lean, meaty, moist and flavourful. I'm still missing that down home smokey bbq perfection, but it was pretty darn close.
Other mentionables, lovely bird song music piped into the clean washrooms.
Ambiance was high at 8.5, with twinkle lights and wild west decor, it was kitchy but charming. Our server was friendly but inconsistent. Burgermeister is, in my opinion, overly forgiving of poor service. I, however, am a stickler for this. I don't want to be doted on, but I do want someone to check on me occasionally. Our server all but disappeared, and that's not easy in a place of this size. The only other issue was the cold temperature. It's a small place, and although they had a big curtain in front of the door, every time someone came in, we were chilled to the bone. But spring is upon us now, and we can return without this coming up.
All in all, Triple-bypass's first burger tour was a gastronomical success. We look forward to having him on another one soon, and we also look forward to another visit to the Burger Bar.
www.theburgerbar.ca
