Vancouver, BC, and Western Canada Burger Club

[Vancouver Lee]

On a burger related note ... on our way over to Sechelt last weekend, Matthew & I "enjoyed" a BC Burger platters from the White Spot on BC Ferries.  I gotta say, I'm starting to side with Keith on this.  WTF was Feenie thinking??

A.

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I agree 100%. We were eyeballing the burgers on other ferry passengers' plates and congratulting ourselves for packing a lunch. After seeing them my son didn't even want to order one, and he devours a McDonalds hamburger like Elvis on a donut.

[peppyre]

3 letters: PMS

3 letters: TMI

(Too Much Information!)

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Get over it

I have to agree that White Spot Burgers are certainly not what they once were. Especially on the ferries. The former ferry burger was quite good in that greasy-must-sop-up-alcohol-to-kill-this-hangover kind of way.

[Mooshmouse]

Still in Salt Spring holiday mode, the Mouse family ordered some burgers to go from the Vera's Denman Street location for an impromptu picnic at Third Beach. Junior Mouse had a kid-sized hot dog (1/2 a Hebrew National dog) which falls outside of the Burger Club realm; hence, no photo.

Vancouver at its best

Vera's Lamb Burger

Topped with dijon, mayo, ketchup, lettuce, tomato, pickles, raw onion and blue cheese. Ian demolished it so quickly that I didn't even get a chance to taste it!

Vera's Natural Burger

My burger: a Blue Goose organic beef patty topped with dijon, Vera's sauce (heavenly), ketchup, lettuce, tomato, pickles, sauteed mushrooms and provolone cheese. Nicely seasoned patty, a bit drier than the regular Vera Burger but the Vera's Sauce compensated nicely.

Boylan's Grape Soda

The perfect accompaniment to any burger (or kolachy, for that matter!).

Couldn't have asked for a finer evening. Feenie's, I'm waiting to be impressed!

[Daddy-A]

Junior Mouse had a kid-sized hot dog (1/2 a Hebrew National dog) which falls outside of the Burger Club realm; hence, no photo.

Vera's has Hebrew National??????? I am so there!!

Sorry, back to your burgers.

A.

[butter]

Note to self: do not look at the burger thread when doing the "avoiding beef" month. I can already hear you all screaming, "Avoiding beef, WTF?" I'm so glad I'm car less right now otherwise I'd be at Vera's.

Reading Mooshmouse's message, how many others have found Vera's burgers to be dry/overcooked occasionally. (Although Ian's lamb burger looks perfect.) The last time we were at the Denman location my husband's burger was quite dry and hard to swallow. It seems to be hit and miss. BTW, I don't see any onion rings on that beach blanket?

[eatrustic]

I've found Vera's organic burger to be a tad on the dry side but I had the classic Vera Burger the other day and for a well done it was acceptably moist (juicy would be pushing it).

[inanimate]

The burger I had at vera's on davie was rather dry and after a long absence, did nothing to make me want to come back.

I should have known trouble was abrew when I saw the cooks pressing the patties on the grill. After all the raves about vera's burgers, I was a bit disappointed (though the fries and onion rings were good). I ended up adding quite a bit of ketchup to make it go down alright.

maybe I'm just spoiled on the moderne turkey burger; a wonderful, juicy, delicious work of art.

[*Deborah*]

My last Davie Street Vera burger was dripping...I'm pretty sure there was meat juice in there along with the toppings.

*drooling*

Must go to Moderne burger soon to try them!

[Mooshmouse]

I've found Vera's organic burger to be a tad on the dry side but I had the classic Vera Burger the other day and for a well done it was acceptably moist (juicy would be pushing it).

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I had the same experience last night with the Natural burger vis-à-vis the classic Vera Burgers that I've ordered in the past. Mind you, perhaps this has more to do with the leanness of the meat rather than the method of cooking.

Just speculating is all.

[gerald]

Hi Guys

We are working with blue goose regarding leanness and fat content, we are happy but not thrilled with the amount of fat, we need a little bit more. As for the squeezing of the patty I will certainly speak to the staff about it.

Thanks for the support.

Gerald

[butter]

Hi Guys

We are working with blue goose regarding leanness and fat content, we are happy but not thrilled with the amount of fat, we need a little bit more.  As for the squeezing of the patty I will certainly speak to the staff about it. 

Thanks for the support.

Gerald

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Thanks, Gerald. Next time I'm there I'll ask them not to squeeze the patty and see how it turns out. I know sometimes the pressure of lineups makes staff squeezy.

[gerald]

Hi Guys

We are working with blue goose regarding leanness and fat content, we are happy but not thrilled with the amount of fat, we need a little bit more.  As for the squeezing of the patty I will certainly speak to the staff about it. 

Thanks for the support.

Gerald

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Thanks, Gerald. Next time I'm there I'll ask them not to squeeze the patty and see how it turns out. I know sometimes the pressure of lineups makes staff squeezy.

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I like that "squeezy", For all egulleters and anyone else for that matter If you ever see my staff getting squeezy, tell them to make it the right way NO SQUEEZING.

[seanw]

It was refreshing to be asked how i liked my burger cooked when i was in NY last week! Lots of Beef was displayed in dry aging chambers, going to show that New Yorkers know how to appreciate Beef, it really makes a difference guys..as my porterhouse at Peter Luger's proved.

[Daddy-A]

It was refreshing to be asked how i liked my burger cooked when i was in NY last week! Lots of Beef  was displayed in dry aging chambers, going to show that New Yorkers know how to appreciate Beef, it really makes a difference guys..as my porterhouse at Peter Luger's proved.

I expect most burger places in BC would be happy to cook your burger to doneness if they were permitted to by law.

A.

[nwyles]

It was refreshing to be asked how i liked my burger cooked when i was in NY last week! Lots of Beef  was displayed in dry aging chambers, going to show that New Yorkers know how to appreciate Beef, it really makes a difference guys..as my porterhouse at Peter Luger's proved.

I expect most burger places in BC would be happy to cook your burger to doneness if they were permitted to by law.

A.

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I think this " law " is an old wives tale. Does anyone have the goods on this ?

I recall something about this ages ago and I am not sure where it ended up. I might have even checked into it myself and posted about it but with soooo many posts, I have not the time to scan the old posts. I need a research assistant !

Anyone ? Low pay, lots of abuse, heavy use of spell check. Sounds like a great job.

Edited July 15, 2005 by nwyles (log)

[gerald]

as i understand it the following are "laws", because by saying its a law people won't challenge it.

burgers must be cooked to well done, it is amazing the number of complaints I get when people see pink in a burger

eggs cannot be served runny

I'll still respect you in the morning, i swear

[seanw]

I think i would have less confidence asking for burger's cooked medium rare here. I just had the impression that NY purveyors of beef knew what they were doing,(e.g.properly aged beef etc.) no "beef in the bag" here. I think that confidence is important(justifiable i'm not sure!!).

Gerald why don't you ask Doug to mince some backfat to add to your patty recipe!

[Ling]

On Watermark's menu:

• Beef hamburger with lettuce, tomato, house mayo on a toasted walnut and onion bun ($11.95)

Another $12 burger here. I wonder if it will give the (quite tasty) burger at Feenie's a run for it's money.

[*Deborah*]

Photos of the Feenie Burger to come (I got some decent burger porn!) later today.

I like a burger joint with valet parking, but maybe that's just me (there's your solution, Lorna, let the valet guy park your car! then nobody can make fun of your parking job.)

[Daddy-A]

as i understand it the following are "laws", because by saying its a law people won't challenge it.

My experience is that many places won't cook it any other way than "well done" even if you ask them to. Our experience last night at Feenie's however would indicate that a med-rare burger is allowable ... either that or I just bought Chef Feenie a mess of trouble. Ironically I received my burger slightly-pinkish, yet I was never asked how I wanted it cooked. Damned if you do ...

I'll post pictures later, though judging from the number of pictures Moosh took, it probably won't be necessary.

The burger at the Feenie's edition of Burger Club was by all accounts, very good.

• Meat was nice and moist, but most importantly tasted like beef.
  
• Toppings were simple (mushrooms, cheese & bacon), and I liked the little condiment trays. Mustard was an obvious omission IMO, but the two aiolies almost made up for that.
  
• The bun was excellent, second only to the Portuguese buns like Neil uses at HSG, but that can be put down to personal preference.
  
• Fries were a bit of a letdown for me ... but again, personal preference.
  

This was not the penultimate burger I was expecting, but I suppose few things live up to their hype. I was eternally grateful for "J"'s presence at the table, since she, not being an official Burger Club member, was able to order something other than a hamburger. We split the burger, and the spaghettini (which was tasty although a bit stingy on the seafood). A nice way to avoid burger overload. Dessert was a shared assortment of gelato and an ice cream soda (thanks canucklehead ... it wasn't so girly after all! )

As far as an overall restaurant experience goes ... not bad, but not great. I try to avoid critiquing service when dining with a large group (we were 15). However, they did know we were coming, so I thought they might have put more than 1 server on our group. A table of eGulleters is not easy to handle once we get chatting, but our guy did pretty good. Still, he could have used some help.

As an aside, thanks to Foodie in Vancouver (Karole) & Nels for hosting us before Burger Club. With no disrespect to Feenies, I could have easily spent the evening in Karole's back yard sipping "Tragically Vidal" and stuffing my face with that amazing bread!

A.

[Ling]

as i understand it the following are "laws", because by saying its a law people won't challenge it.

My experience is that many places won't cook it any other way than "well done" even if you ask them to. Our experience last night at Feenie's however would indicate that a med-rare burger is allowable ... either that or I just bought Chef Feenie a mess of trouble. Ironically I received my burger slightly-pinkish, yet I was never asked how I wanted it cooked. Damned if you do ...

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On the menu, it says that the burger is served medium. so I guess it's OK to serve a burger that's slightly pink in Vancouver after all?

[Daddy-A]

as i understand it the following are "laws", because by saying its a law people won't challenge it.

My experience is that many places won't cook it any other way than "well done" even if you ask them to. Our experience last night at Feenie's however would indicate that a med-rare burger is allowable ... either that or I just bought Chef Feenie a mess of trouble. Ironically I received my burger slightly-pinkish, yet I was never asked how I wanted it cooked. Damned if you do ...

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On the menu, it says that the burger is served medium. so I guess it's OK to serve a burger that's slightly pink in Vancouver after all?

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Yes, I now realise it did say "medium" on the menu, so now foul was comitted.

Still, if they'll cook it medium, it would stand to reason that they would cook it med-rare?

A.

[canucklehead]

I really enjoyed the burger at Feenie's - and @ $12, it did not seem overpriced at all to me. I mean WS burgers are floating pretty close to the $10 range and the quality is vastly superior. Though when you are eating at Feenie's the tab has a way of really clicking upwards.

I really like the bun - crazy sesame seeds, crunchy exterior, soft fluffy slightly sweet interior. The patty was very very good - as Daddy-A said - it really tasted beefy. Juicy and pink with a soft yielding texture (hey - sounds like certain people I know). I think that they must rest the meat a little because it was juicy throughout (or the fat content is way higher then I would like to concede). Certainly the meat was not overhandled - I'm guessing just patted together from ground steak.

Also - the meat was not over seasoned. I think alot of places like salting the meat overnight (a la Zuni Cafe) - but sometimes I find that results in an over-seasoned patty that has shades of 'sausage meat' texture to it. The chipotle mayo was a good addition - nice bite to brighten the meaty burger. (Is it just me - or is chipotle everywhere now? Still - it works in this instance)

The fries were good but I did not eat alot of them because frankly the burger had me satiated.

Big issue for me though was how frigging hot the room was. I had lunch earlier in the day at Stella and it was the same thing there. Nothing kills my appettite and enjoyment of food faster then when a room is hot and muggy. And the womblike interior design of Feenie's just adds to the feel. Please - even though your patio door is open - turn on the A/C if it feels like Dante's inferno inside or at least have your fans suck up some of the hot air (and I concede - much of it emenating from my table mates ). Surely it is bad for business when everyone's appetite is off from the muggy room.

The waiter did a good job trying to juggle two tables of loud hamburger demanding egulleteers. You got to feel for the poor sap that draws that short straw - I am sure that it brought back Chuck E Cheeses flash backs from earlier waiting gigs.

I will defintely go back - I think that this is one of the best burgers that I have had in a long time. But I will sit outside to ensure access to cooling breezes.

[*Deborah*]

The condiments:

L-R - Relish, Dill Mayonnaise, Ketchup, Chipotle Mayonnaise

The whole burger and those luxe fries:

And opened:

[seanw]

Deborah,

I assume that they cut the burger for you, just in case a major artery was in danger of being severed......i also assume that cutlery was also provided?? Don't understand why places do this, but the burger does look appetising, just strikes me as a superflous excercise.