Vancouver, BC, and Western Canada Burger Club

[PaoPao]

Has anyone tried Vera's Chili Burger? They don't have it available for take out and I haven't had time to dine in yet.

Vera's is a once every couple month place for me. It hit's a bullseye everytime though I get a burger craving.

Another good burger is served up at the DQ on Denman. Followed by a vanilla cone. That's just good eatin' folks.

[HKDave]

Very late reporting in here... it's practical exam week at school and I've been neglecting my eGulletary duties. Last night at the stoves will be Monday, and the week after it's back to Hong Kong.

The Vera's burger (bacon/cheese single patty full dressed) I had Sunday was close to perfect. They said they would only cook it well done, but mine was still nice and juicy in the middle. One six oz patty was big enough, I'm still trying to figure out how Vancouver Lee managed to finish his double (and fries and 2 sodas and ice cream)! Even though I had overdone it on the garnishes, it still kicked the Red Onion's or Fresgo's butt, and was basically a match for Feenies. A great burger, at a decent price.

But.

Purely in the interest of research, I went again to the same Vera's last night, and the burger just wasn't as good. It was a more typically overcooked to the point of dryness patty (although not as dry as Red Onion), and somehow, even though I ordered the burg. garnished same as before, it tasted very different. Plus the place was seriously dirty - every table had crap on it, even though there were only 2 customers in the house. Nobody cleaned anything while I was there.

Anyway, the funny thing that Butter alluded to: after the Sunday burger, the 2 of us were talking to the cook, and told him we thought that his burger was as good as Feenie's. He had no clue who we were talking about, even though we tried to explain ("You know, Rob Feenie, the chef at Lumiere, the Iron Chef winner etc ?"). It was kind of refereshing. Clearly no hero worship in that kitchen.

[Vancouver Lee]

One six oz patty was big enough, I'm still trying to figure out how Vancouver Lee managed to finish his double (and fries and 2 sodas and ice cream)! 

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It's a gift, Dave.

Purely in the interest of research, I went again to the same Vera's last night, and the burger just wasn't as good.  It was a more typically overcooked to the point of dryness patty (although not as dry as Red Onion), and somehow, even though I ordered the burg. garnished same as before, it tasted very different.  Plus the place was seriously dirty - every table had crap on it, even though there were only 2 customers in the house.  Nobody cleaned anything while I was there.

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Interesting. The very attractive young lady working the cash register while we were there was Vera's Regional Manager, so perhaps the staff were on their best behaviour that night?

Anyway, the funny thing that Butter alluded to: after the Sunday burger, the 2 of us were talking to the cook, and told him we thought that his burger was as good as Feenie's.  He had no clue who we were talking about, even though we tried to explain ("You know, Rob Feenie, the chef at Lumiere, the Iron Chef winner etc ?").  It was kind of refereshing.  Clearly no hero worship in that kitchen.

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So HE'S the guy in Vancouver who hasn't heard of Feenie!

[*Deborah*]

[O/T]

Here's my In-N-Out Burger!!!! Delicious breakfast today

[/o/t]

[Vancouver Lee]

As the old commercial used to say.... "Where's the beef?" Seriously, that's an awfully thin patty - is that just the photo, Deborah?

BTW, I had a lamb burger at HSG today for the first time....

Edited April 29, 2005 by Vancouver Lee (log)

[snacky_cat]

Heh heh.. the In'n'Out burger is mostly onion. There's one outlet around Sunset and Highland in West Hollywood that I find myself at several times a year, and Mr Snacky Cat will attest to the fact that I stink like onion for a day or so after every visit.

[*Deborah*]

Lee, it didn't feel thin, particularly--I mean it wasn't a fat HSG burger or anything, but it was adequate, for sure. The buns are quite nice, and being in SoCal, the veggies are delish. We had our onions cooked, so we were not stinky!

I think it was at least as good as the Fatburger I had in Santa Monica last time I was in LA.

It definitely did the trick for my hangover breakfast, though

Sorry, Tricia, I'm out in the Coachella Valley now, can't bring you takeout!

[Vancouver Lee]

Burger Club this month was at Brown's on Lonsdale in North Van. In attendence were Peppyre, Daddy-A and Mrs Daddy-A, Editor@Waiterblog and Mrs. Editor@Waiterblog, the Mooshmouse family, Ling and myself. Before I get to the food, let me just say that Burger Club continues to set new highs in entertainment value. No doubt, photos to follow.

The Burger? Good, but a little thin for my liking. I had the Hollywood, and doubling up the patties would have made this burger go from good to great. Excellent sauce (both in terms of taste and quantity), a good soft bun, and proper cheese.

For the first time tonight I tried tomato and lettuce on my burger, and was most impressed. The bad news is that I've now invalidated all the previous burger reference points I have. Guess I'll just have to re-trace my steps and eat more burgers....

The highlight of the meal was the fries - Very thin, perfectly cooked and salty. Worth the drive to North Van for the fries alone.

[Andrew Morrison]

Brown's is a welcome addition to the North Shore. Nice people. Great food beyond the burgers, too...but I must confess I dig the burgers!

And most of all, the Hickory Burger. Great housemade BBQ sauce with a tang kick and zero spice heat. The bun was soft and easy to manage - built to maintain a patty I thought was just the right size (though I could imagine folks who like big Vera burgers and the like to hmm on the size). Add a thick slice of bacon and skip the tomato. Just right in my books, so much so that I'd claim this was the best damned burger I've had in recent times.

The whole package, really.

The fries were awesome. They were one size up from those "hickory stick" chips you've been able to buy from gas stations for decades, yet moist...just pliable enough to drag through the cranberry basil mayo.

My wife and I set upon the Key Lime Pie like ravenous squirrels.

The two pints were great, too.

Thanks for the company.

Edited May 2, 2005 by editor@waiterblog (log)

[Mooshmouse]

Burger Clubbers tackled the North Shore's hippest burgers at Brown's on Sunday evening.

Hickory Burger

Fabulous smokey barbecue sauce is the best part of this burger. Big on slop factor, perhaps because of the rather soft bun. Thank goodness I skipped the mushrooms this time around, or I would've been wearing more of the burger than I consumed. Like Lee, I found the patty to be a bit on the thin side; admittedly, I do prefer a thicker hamburger. Overall, quite tasty -- "Excellent," says Ian -- but I'd still give Vera's the nod. However, Brown's does serve some damn tasty french fries... probably the food highlight of the evening for me. Sliced and cooked exactly the way I like them: thin (almost shoestring style), crispy on the outside and just tender enough on the inside. I prefer my fries a little saltier, though... chalk it up to my Asian tastebuds.

Hollywood Burger

Oreo Ice Cream Sandwich

Ian, Noah and I all enjoyed our piece of Key Lime Pie. Not knowing what Key Lime Pie is supposed to taste like, I'm throroughly unqualified to add any other comment than "yum". I do know that Arne snapped a photo of his slice, so I'm including this shot of Lee's Oreo Ice Cream Sandwich instead.

And here's the happy cholesterol-laden crew.

Starting from the back left, there's Ling, Mr. and Mrs. editor@waiterblog, Peppyre, "J" and Daddy-A, Vancouver Lee, and me with Junior and Mr. Mouse.

I mentioned that the fries were the evening's food highlight... stay tuned for photographic evidence of Ling's tutorial on Hide And Seek 101.

Edited because I forgot to caption the Burger Man himself. Doh!

Edited May 3, 2005 by Mooshmouse (log)

[appreciator]

That burger and fries.... oh my Must - go - to - Brown's - soonish! Thanks for the pics Joie

[peppyre]

Since this was my first foray into Burger Club, I can only compare this to the last burger I had at Moderne. Ummm...it doesn't compare.

I also had the Hickory burger, but considering how often I eat this kind of thing, the patty was just the right thickness for me. It certainly wasn't a small patty as mine was hanging off the bun. The bun was great, but I do like mine to be a little toasted. It was messy, which is the best part. You shouldn't have a burger and not end up with juices running down your chin. This hickory sauce added a nice smokiness and well, you can't go wrong with bacon of any form. This had Canadian bacon on it.

The fries... Best fries I've ever had in a restaurant. They were brilliant. Thin, crisp, moist....I agree that they could have used a tad more salt but the malt vinegar and pesto mayo took care of that issue.

Overall, a very good burger. I would go back for it.

[Ling]

I enjoyed my Hollywood burger as well, but I prefer slightly thicker patties. Mine was cooked all the way through, but the sauce and tomato kept it juicy.

The fries were quite good--they are the same as the ones served at Cactus Club. Like Mooshmouse, I would have liked them better if they were salted a bit more. I also prefer my fries on the darker side. I loved how thin and crisp these fries were, though.

[butter]

Thought I would add this link for those with burger interests.

http://www.ahamburgertoday.com/

[Ling]

I mentioned that the fries were the evening's food highlight... stay tuned for photographic evidence of Ling's tutorial on Hide And Seek 101. 

And here it is....

[Ling]

I had a bite of my friend's burger today from Feenie's. I know the old Burger Club has already been to Feenie's, but I think this place deserves another visit. This burger was, imo, much better than the one we had at Brown's. The patty is thick and juicy (comes with mushrooms and cheese too!) and the fries are nicely browned (you hear that, Joie? ). The fries were especially delicious with the dill dijonnaise sauce!

The burgers seemed to be the most popular item at lunch today. The room was packed by 12:30pm.

Edited May 26, 2005 by Ling (log)

[PaoPao]

I had a bite of my friend's burger today from Feenie's. I know the old Burger Club has already been to Feenie's, but I think this place deserves another visit. This burger was, imo, much better than the one we had at Brown's. The patty is thick and juicy (comes with mushrooms and cheese too!) and the fries are nicely browned (you hear that, Joie?  ). The fries were especially delicious with the dill dijonnaise sauce!

The burgers seemed to be the most popular item at lunch today. The room was packed by 12:30pm.

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I had this burger about two weeks ago and agree with Ling that it was very tasty. If it wasn't for the fact it took an entire hour to get it in front of me from when I ordered it I would probably be back. I've heard this was unusual, but nonetheless especially for a lunch I thought it was just annoying.

[Vancouver Lee]

As this is the last time I'll be in Calgary for the foreseeable future, I decided I had to stop in at Peter's Drive-In and sample their burger.

I understand that Peter's had a little problem a few weeks back. Apparantly a dozen or so people who had eaten at Peter's contracted e-coli, and the source was traced back to the marshmellow milkshake these people had with their food. Fortunately nobody died, no doubt due to the cast-iron stomachs of anyone who would order a marshmellow milkshake. Being a big believer in the pervasiveness of the "locking-the-barn-door-after-the-horse-is-gone" school of crisis management, I was confident that I wasn't risking serious illness or possibly death with my cheeseburger.

The restaurant is not much to look at. It's drive-thru only, with the exception of picnic tables out front (and a parking lot with more picnic tables next door), but otherwise the building looks like every slighly seedy independent burger shop you've ever seen, right down to the local toughs hanging out in front. The line up was long at 9pm, and I'm told line-ups at all hours of the day are not at all unusual.

The line of cars moved quickly, and with only a few minutes wait I made my way to the speaker. The first thing I noticed was the wide strip of masking tape covering the "Marshmellow Milkshake" item on the menu board. ( ) The second thing was how many other milkshake flavours they have - I didn't think to count, but there were lots. I really don't like milkshakes so I didn't order one (sorry, I know Peter's supposedly makes great shakes, but since I don't like them anyway, what would the point have been?). I managed to stop myself from ordering an "Extra Value Meal" and instead ordered the traditional "burger/fries/coke", but with a double cheeseburger when I noticed the menu said it was their specialty.

Which raises another point. The clerk who took my order seemed rude to me, but on second thought it wasn't so much that she was rude, it was just that she wasn't repeating the insincere-but-polite-sounding McSpeak you hear at a chain fast food restaurant. Not sure if my being originally put off is a good thing or a bad thing....but I digress.

Anyway, the food is ready very fast, clearly they don't make their burgers to order. With the volume they are doing, I suppose that should have been obvious to me. I wasn't asked what I wanted on my burger (not sure if you can specify toppings/condiments or not), but it came with mustard, pickles, onions and about three gallons of ketchup.

The patties are very thin, and even a double burger felt underweight. The cheese was cheddar - well, wait, I guess all I can say for sure was that the cheese was orange . The bun was soft but very generic - no flavour at all. The overall taste of the burger was quite sweet. It wasn't at all enjoyable.

The fries were just OK. I had heard that they were homemade, and I certainly don't have any hard evidence to back this up, I would bet a bunch of money that they were frozen. Moosh would have hated them - they were mostly soft, with a few getting within sight of crispy but just not quite there.

And I'm sorry to say the coke sucked, too. Way too much syrup and no ice. Man, I hate it when you get tepid, syruppy coke with no ice. It makes you realize you are drinking liquid sugar.

The bill came to $7.30, cash only.

Needless to say, I was most disappointed. I had heard from several people how good the burgers are here, so perhaps I had inflated expectations. I should also qualify my impressions by saying that I was Ling'ing at Peter's tonight: I stopped in for dinner on my way back from a previous dinner. Perhaps I was just too full to properly appreciate the taste. In any event, Peter's doesn't live up to the hype, IMHO.

[style councillor]

Do yourself a favour - really. Either with the burger club or on your own. Once again I will suggest Flagg's Bistro on Alma btw Broadway and... the next street south of that.

I am trying very hard to not make any disparaging comments regarding past burger club haunts as I've eaten at them all... but i guess I can't help myself,

either there is a wide ranging lack of knowledge of cookery or some very untrained palates out there. I know it's all about what you like - but until you've tasted some of the best cooking, what do you have to compare it to? I think a forum to learn and trade experiences about eating and restuarants etc is the BEST thing ever - so get out there and try someting that there already isnt a thousand posts on! (except for eating in Victoria, they are generally bang on - it's small town)

[Vancouver Lee]

Our location this week is The Rodeo Drive-In on 152nd at Highway 10 in Surrey.

So what happened y'all? I've heard nothing from the club except *Deborah* whining about driving outside of city limits It must have been so good you're keeping it as a secret right?? I'm in the area next week ... should I drop by?

A.

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Daddy-A, I've been known (on more than one occasion) to drive 350 km (each way) for a good burger, so please don't think my whine was about the drive.

Edited to correct the distance.

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Good for you, Deborah. I'm happy to see that I'm not alone in my willingness to go to extremes in the pursuit of the perfect burger. One of the reasons I'm learning to fly is to expand the geographic area over which I can conduct my search...

After last night, the search must clearly go on. Last night we got the car tuned up, fired up the GPS and headed off to the exotic wilds of South Surrey for a night at the Rodeo Drive-In.

From the road, the place has promise. It's clearly been there for longer than I've walked the earth (over 40 years, according to Mooshmouse's Uncle), and is sufficiently larger than your average roadside burger joint to make one assume they are very successful, ergo they must serve good food. (I threw in the word "ergo" for your sake, Ling. )

The menu is pretty standard burger and fries fare, but with several deep-fried additions: mushrooms, fish, etc. There is a regular single patty burger, a doouble patty burger called the "Rodeo" and a triple patty option called, appropriately, the "Rambo Burger". I opted for the Rodeo.

The burger comes with fried onions, lettuce, tomatoes and some type of pinkish mayo that I presume is a secret sauce. Other condiements like ketchup and mustard are self serve, and 'shrooms and bacon are available, too. The bun had a crust but was properly soft, just the way I like it.

So how was it, you ask? Well, the tomatoes were very fresh. And the burgers are made of real meat. That's about all I can say in favour of the burger. The patties are shamefuly small and of uneven thickness, which as Deborah pointed out above, provides you the unfortunate experience of many bites of bun-and-condiments, and a few bites of lotsa-meat-less-of-everything-else. We debated what kind of cheese was being used, or more correctly what it's atomic weight was. Clearly it wasn't cheddar or some other naturally-occuring variety. Here's a photo (note the strange resemblence that my burger has to an angry crab....):

The fries were quite good, but the onion rings were not. I tried one of Mooshmouse's deep fried mushrooms and honestly could not swallow it for all the grease. Yuck.

The shakes, of which there are numerous varieties to choose from, were disappointing, too. My wife tried the chocolate shake, which was essentially vanilla ice cream with a squirt of chocolate syrup in the middle. The shake menu:

One interesting thing about the shakes: it seems they have a gingerbread shake available:

Out of respect for Neil, no one tried it. I hear the HSG's crack legal team are working on a massive lawsuit as you read this.

*******************

Next Burger Club:

Feenie's on July 17th at 7:00pm. I suspect demand will be high for this event, so I'll call the good people at Feenie's this week and inquire about how many people they can accomodate. Stay tuned.

Edited June 6, 2005 by Vancouver Lee (log)

[Keith Talent]

Who here thinks they could differentiate Blue Raspberry from Black Raspberry in a blind tasting?

[Vancouver Lee]

Peppyre, Daddy-A and I had lunch today at Fatburger on Denman, just a few doors North of Vera's.

The restaurant is probably 50% larger than your average Vera's, with four times the staff. Everyone was very friendly, not a Squidward in sight. You place your order at the cash, pay, and your food is delivered to your table. It took about 5-10 minutes for our food to arrive, which I'm sure depends on how busy they are. They started getting slammed as we were finishing our lunch, and one of the staffers still found time to come to the table and offer to refill Arne's drink.

I had the Double Fatburger with cheese, which was, as I discovered *after* I ordered, 2/3rd of a pound of beef. Available toppings are fairly standard, except that no mushrooms are available. I had bacon, lettuce, tomato, mustard and relish. It was as close to a perfect fast food burger as I've ever had, bar none. Lean meat but not tough or flavourless. Soft bun that was just the right size in relation to the rest of the burger. Cheese that was fully melted and added some flavour. Fresh condiments, too. Yummy. Sorry, no photos.

The fries, based on the ones I stole from Peppyre are pretty good. They are very very thin, lightly salted, and cooked just shy of crispy. A tad overcooked to my taste, but being that thin it works for me.

The onion rings, however, were AWESOME. Perfectly cooked, battered rings without feeling greasy or heavy. When you go, you must try the rings.....

My meal was $14 and change, but the relatively high cost was due to the double burger being quite a bit more than the single. My companions had a more human-sized serving and their lunch was ~$8, IIRC. I'm sure we will hear from them shortly.

[nwyles]

Lee : I must disagree with you on the onion rings. I thought them to be bland, tasteless and greasy. I actually left some. Those of you who know me know I do not leave food, ever. I thionk that A & W onions rings are far, far superior to that of Fatburger.

Now, as for the milkshake: probably the best that I have ever had, including any that I have made. I can imagine that you all must be rocked by that statement : A chef actually saying that something was better than he could make, but it is true. I will edit this part out later so it can never come back and haunt me.

The burger was OK , the bun being a bit soft and "Wonderbread" like for me. As you know, I serve a Portugese bun on my burgers as I like a bit more "chew" to the bun. If I could get away with serving burgers on Ciabatta bread, I would.

Arne made to offer to deliver one to me but I turned him down as I am starting to reach maximum density.

[Vancouver Lee]

Lee : I must disagree with you on the onion rings. I thought them to be bland, tasteless and greasy. I actually left some. Those of you who know me know I do not leave food, ever. I thionk that A & W onions rings are far, far superior to that of Fatburger.

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To each his own, Neil. I may just have to stop by an A&W and try their rings so I can compare....

Now, as for the milkshake: probably the best that I have ever had, including any that I have made. I can imagine that you all must be rocked by that statement : A chef actually saying that something was better than he could make, but it is true. I will edit this part out later so it can never come back and haunt me.

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I'm not a milkshake guy, so I can't speak to the FatShake. But I'm impressed with your humility....

The burger was OK , the bun being a bit soft and "Wonderbread" like for me. As you know, I serve a Portugese bun on my burgers as I like a bit more "chew" to the bun. If I could get away with serving burgers on Ciabatta bread, I would.

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The burgers you make at the eGullet Temple (otherwise known as the HSG) are in a different class altogether. IMHO, your lamb burger, the Feenie burger. etc should not be compared to a FatBurger or a VeraBurger. Different markets, different kitchen, etc. Re the bun specifically, on a fast food burger like the Fatty, I actually like the Wonder bread-ish bun....

Arne made to offer to deliver one to me but I turned him down as I am starting to reach maximum density.

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I resemble that comment.....

[Ling]

A&W onion rings are the best fast-food onion rings you can get.

I've been to the Fatburger in Issaquah (in the same complex as Krispy Kreme, where we usually went for dessert back in when it was cool to drive 3 hours for donuts ). I remember the patties to be thick and juicy--much better than Burger King, or McDonald's. They had the regular fries and also the wedge fries at that location.

Is the Double Fatburger the same as the King burger? If so, my friend ate one and a half of those bad boys, and then hit KK for half a dozen donuts.

Edited June 11, 2005 by Ling (log)