Baldwin Street Burger

Sorry I'm so terrible at posting through out the week.

It's habit I'm working on breaking.

 

Last weekend John and I went for a drive to Brooklin Ontario to try the burgers at a place called Baldwin Street Burger that John and his work crew frequent when they're working in the area.

 

 

This day trip also fit in perfectly with my quest to find the best burger in the city (and surrounding areas)

 

The place is small and doesn't necessarily stand out on the street. Just a few signs to let you know who and where they are.

Inside is beautiful - large wooden tables and menus on chalkboards on the walls.

 

They even serve your food on thick cutting boards.

Very cute.

 

John got the steak burger with a side of mac & cheese.

The mac & cheese is creamy and extra cheese is melted overtop.

It's really good and very filling, which is why we opted for the 3 oz burgers (aka the kids burger) instead of the 6 oz patties.

 

I can't pull up the website on the computer so I can't give you an exact run down on what was on the burger but there was cheese and bacon and those delicious crispy fried onions.

 

I went with the Cesaer burger - lettuce, tomato, parmesan cheese, pepper, and bacon among other things. I also opted for a split order of fries and deep fried pickles as my side.

Very good.

 

While I don't know that this will break my top 3 for best burger ever, I highly recommend checking this place out if you're in the area.

They have a few burger options that I still want to try.

 

If you can view it check out the website (and hopefully the menu) here!

 

 

Gourmet Burger Company

My quest to eat every burger in the city of Toronto to (hopefully, but not likely) find the best one led me to revist a place I've been once before and is conveniently around the corner from me.

The Gourmet Burger Company.

After returning from the long weekend Niagara trip we took amazing naps before deciding we were too lazy to cook anything.

Burgers it was.

And fries/sweet potato fries.

 

 

John, never one to say no to bacon, got the smoky bacon burger.

I sampled it, it was pretty good.

 

But for my personal preference, it didn't top my choice.

The spicy cajun burger was amazing. It doesn't quite come through in the picture but the flavours were incredible. The creaminess of the avocado countered the spicy kick of the jalapenos and the burger itself was juicy and tender. I planned to only eat half and ate the whole thing it was so good.

 

I highly recommend checking this place out if you want to join me on the quest for the best burger in Toronto.

Or if you just want to enjoy a delicious burger this summer.

 

 

A Much Needed "Day-t" Day (+ 'Bamburger' Burgers!)

Last night I felt light headed, headachey, and nauseous.

Tonight I feel still a little headachey and tired, I won't lie, but much more refreshed and happy.

I got home this morning after a quick stop at McDonalds (I was convinced my nausea was actually the result of a lack of food and too much caffeine) and then quickly threw on my Hugh Hefner-esque red silk PJs and hopped into bed with John.

 

It was our planned "day-t" day as John called it.

 

 

I fell asleep and he watched Pawn shop shows on TV.

I woke up around 1 and we found a channel that was showing every Harry Potter movie in order. We caught the end of the first and started watching.

I made the much-craved eggs benedict and for a first attempt it turned out pretty well!

I will definitely go back and fine tune it a bit though.

Then I fell asleep again for a solid 2-3 hours.

When I roused around 6:30 pm we got up and with some gentle insistence on John's behalf (I was in a lazy, lazy mood) we went for a 6.25 km run around the neighbourhood.

His pace is similar to mine so I see this running partnership working out!

We took a nice long shower then got dressed to go out for dinner.

 

One of my foodie goals in life is to make my way around the city and find the best hamburgers.

Every year a list is published declaring certain restaurants the best with regards to burgers and I want to try them all.

After originally deciding to try a sandwich place called Boar Sandwiches (which closed at 8 pm and there was no way we would make it there before it closed), we walked to Bamburger (at 2112 Yonge Street, just north of Davisville).

I thought long and hard about getting a burger just to compare it to the others that I've had but my recent healthy-ish kick added to my desire to try specific toppings led me to the turkey burger.

My turkey burger came stacked with the standard lettuce, tomato and red onion, and then my personal choices of tzatziki, black olives, hot banana peppers, sauteed onions, and pickles.

John got a bison burger with maple bacon, goat cheese, sauteed onions, and spicy chipotle mayo.

Both were very good. The bison was a lot more tender than either of us were expecting. It had a melt in your mouth texture and coupled with the soft creamy goat cheese... he practically inhaled the burger.

John also got fries which are handcut at the restaurant along with their homemade gravy. Also well worth trying.

 

My burger was $8.95 plus $1 for the sauteed onions (John's bison burger was $14.95 plus the bacon and the cheese were an additional $1.50 each). It can be a bit pricier than your average burger but they were delicious and our server was fantastic.

 

I would definitely go back to this spot to try some of the other burgers and even just to re-order the exact same thing I had for dinner last night.

 

If you're interested, the website and menu can be found here.

 

All in all, yesterday was much needed. For my tired body, my sanity, and for John and I to just enjoy each other's company for an entire day.

 

I'm also thankful for my mom, who can give the best advice and put things into a better perspective.

She and I have a date this afternoon to do some shopping, perhaps a few more episodes of GoT, then turkey!

 

 

 

Restaurant Review: The Burger Cellar

A little more than a week ago John and I went out for dinner to celebrate the end of my 8-shifts-in-a-row.

We decided to try The Burger Cellar, a restaurant in the neighbourhood that we'd been meaning to check out for awhile.

After making the waiter come back several times we finally decided on a wine. We went with a pinot noir from Kacaba.

The selling point was the winery - it was one of the ones that we visited during our Niagara honeymoon weekend.

It wasn't the Cab Franc that we spent $45 on but this bottle was still good (and about the same price, thank you restaurant mark-ups). 

 

Feeling like I needed to live large with my upcoming big pay cheque, we ordered the Duck Poutine ($11) to start.

It was, in a word, phenomenal.

The duck was tender, the cheese curds and the gravy were both amazing.

The dish didn't last too long once it hit the table.

 

 

Having checked out the menu earlier, I was tempted by the write-up for the vegetarian option ($11):

"panko breaded golden fried patty of roasted red peppers, grilled zucchini, red onions, baby spinach, pumpkin, cream cheese, chick peas and kidney beans, topped with avocado and tomato relish and Woolwich Farm goat cheese"

 

It was really really good and very filling.

 

 

John opted for the meatier Burger Cellar Burger ($12):

"two-year old Bothwell smoked cheddar, apple cider bacon, sauteed mushrooms, chipotle BBQ sauce and a beer-battered onion ring"

 

And having taken a few bites from his I can confirm it was also delicious.

 

 

The place is lovely (we were seated right next to a fireplace) and the service was good.

I'd go back!

Good Things: Hamburger Edition

Sorry I've been MIA for the last week.

I got back from the canoe trip late Monday night and have been working or busy ever since!

I had an interview for a nursing job on Tuesday morning (ahhhh!) and it seemed to go well. They've also been calling my references so.... fingers crossed they don't find someone better with more experience.

Of the things I love, hamburgers are close to the top. Nothing satisfies a deep hunger, or says 'hey, it's summer. Come have a beer in my backyard' quite like a burger does.

Last summer I saw an article ranking the best burgers in Toronto and I set out on a mission to get myself the #1 ranked burger in the city. When The Burger's Priest opened their Yonge St. location I was in there pretty shortly after to get my hands on ThePriest burger (which is a cheeseburger topped with a portobello mushroom stuffed with cheese then fried). I hate to say it wasn't the best burger I've ever had. It could be because I'm not a huge fan of mushrooms though.

Anyway, Toronto Life has ranked the best burgers in the city this year. Here are some of them.

#6. The Double Cheeseburger at The Burger's Priest ($8)

#5. Cowlorie at Holy Chuck ($12)

and the #1 burger in Toronto goes to....

Naturally Braised Beef Burger at The Harbourd Room ($16)

...Where you will find me at some point this summer.

Here's a link to the article if you're interested.

HAMBURGERS!

All photos from www.torontolife.com

The Best of T.O.: Hamburger Edition

Yesterday at work (before I was afflicted with the mother of all migraines), I was reading through a list of the 50 Best Burgers in Toronto.

I love hamburgers.

I love Toronto.

I live in Toronto.

It's a list I couldn't help but get into.

I've never been to most of the places on the list but I'm inspired now to start expanding my hamburger horizons and try out some of the top picks.

Since many of you do not reside in Toronto I challenge you to find the best burger in your city.

From the pages of NOW Magazine Toronto, I present to you ...

The Top 10 Burgers (under $10) in Toronto.

1. Burger's Priest (1636 Queen St. East at Coxwell) - order The Double Double Cheeseburger
2. Stockyards Smokehouse & Larder (699 St. Clair West at Christie) - order The Butter Burger
3. Woody's Burgers (3795 Lake Shore Blvd West at Brown's Line)
4. Golden Star (7123 Yonge St. at Doncaster) - order the All-Star Burger Deluxe
5. W Burger Bar (10 College St. at Yonge)
6. European Meats (176 Baldwin, at Kensington) - order The Texas Burger
7. Gourmet Burger Company (482 Parliament at Carlton) - order The Aussie Burger
8. Chuck and Co. (672 St. Clair West, at Christie) - order the Bacon Cheddar Burger
9. Burger Shack (223 Eglinton Ave W at Oriole Pkwy) - order The Homemade Banquet Burger
10. BQM Burger (354 Queen St. at Christie) - order the BQM Banquet Burger

Having only had a burger from one of the Top Ten Under Ten list, I have to recommend the Homemade Banquet Burger from Burger Shack.

It's big and it's delicious.

And it's walking distance from my apartment.

Keep in mind this list went on to recommend 40 more burgers - including those over $10, vegetarian burgers, and more.

If you want to check out the rest of the list you can see Toronto's Best Burgers in all of their glory here.

Someone take me to Burger's Priest please.

ASAP.