New Montreal Restaurant Thread
- Thread starter EagerBeaver
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I'm mystified by your comment - the texture was gross but it was really good ? I thought those two were mutually exclusive.Karma said:
Is this a molten chocolate cake? It is served warm, and as you cut into it chocolate sauce oozes out.Karma said:
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Montreal Burger Taste Test, Round I
I was in Montreal last week to conduct the first Montreal Burger Taste Test. I should say that I anticipate that this taste test will be the first of several more, if the readers see fit to nominate additional eateries whose burgers are deemed worthy of the challenge.
RULES
There really were no rules. I randomly selected three downtown Montreal eateries and sampled their burgers. How did this come about? It was prompted by a comment by a friend to "stick to the basics" while we were eating lunch at the winning restaurant. The criteria I used, which are entirely subjective, were my own taste buds and many years of experience eating burgers dating back to large family backyard barbecues in my early childhood. I placed particular emphasis on taste and flavor (in particular juiciness and charbroil flavor of the burger), preparation, accompaniments, and whether the burger was or could be cooked to my specifications.
You will be very surprised by the results!
RESULTS
3. MR. STEER (St. Catherine Street).Third place of the 3 restaurants I visited was Mr. Steer. Mr Steer had been billed to me by many as serving the best burgers in Montreal. This assertion was proven false by my taste test. I was extremely disappointed with the Steerburger I ordered, for the specific reasons that follow.
Mr. Steer is one of these old fashioned "we do it one way, our way" type establishments. I don't have a problem with that philosophy, if your food is good. However, I did not find Mr. Steer's burgers to be anything more than painfully average.
I wanted to order the Steerburger with bacon and swiss cheese and fried onions. To me, a good burger should have melted swiss on top (or Monterey Jack). However, much to my chagrin and disappointment, the waitress informed me that Mr. Steer only puts cheddar cheese on their burgers, which kind of pissed me off. Cheddar cheese is a processed, blue collar, peasant cheese, and I was not happy that swiss could not be put on my burger. Swiss is the cheese that should be melted on the top of any really good burger, if you want to have a premium burger dining experience, i.e., a true HDH burger.
The Steerburger arrived cooked to my order (medium rare), with the bacon, onions and cheddar on top. The burger itself was kind of small and round (probably 5 ounces at most), and though cooked medium rare and pink inside, it was neither juicy nor could I taste that it had been on a grill. It actually tasted like it had been baked. Although I did eat the burger, it was very disappointing and not significantly better than McDonald's or Burger King in my judgment. Grade: C-
2. BATON ROUGE, COMPLEX DEJARDINS
I had a much better burger served to me at Baton Rouge. I ordered the Baton Rouge Burger, which is normally served with Bacon, Monterey Jack Cheese and Dijoinnaise, but I substituted Barbecue sauce in lieu of the Dijoinnaise. This burger was better than the one I ordered at Mr. Steer- it was bigger, juicier, and definitely had more of a charbroiled flavor. One disappointment was the Barbecue sauce which I ordered in lieu of Dijonnaise. The Baton Rouge Barbecue sauce has way too much molasses in it, and tastes so much like molasses that they really should rethink their recipe, because Sweet Baby Ray's and other barbecue sauces on the market whip ass on their sauce. Overall, however, I was very satisfied with the Baton Rouge burger. Grade: B+
1. WINNER: WINNIES, CRESCENT STREET
The shocking winner of round 1 of the Montreal Burger Taste Test, in a major upset, was Winnies a/k/a Sir Winston Churchill's Pub. So you may ask, how in the hell did I end up ordering a burger at Winnies? And how did it win? Well, here is the story.
I only went to Winnies on the day in question because the weather was beautiful, the terrase was open, and I wanted to have lunch on the terrase. I had no agenda of ordering a burger here. As soon as I arrived there, I got a call from a friend who said he would join me in a few minutes. As I waited for my friend, I examined the menu and noticed a table de hote lunch special which sounded interesting: raviliolis with smoked salmon and ricotta cheese in a pink sauce. My friend soon arrived, and after I told him what my dining intention was (the ravioli), he said to me: "at this place, stick to the basics."
So I noticed that Winnies had burgers on the menu and ordered one with bacon and swiss cheese. Winnies, unlike Mr. Steer, had no problems gracing their burger with a few slices of swiss. The burger arrived cooked slightly more than ordered (medium as opposed to medium rare), but nevertheless was juicy and had a wonderful charbroil flavor, as if it had just come off a grill. It had bacon, swiss, lettuce, tomato and red onion on top, and was served with ketchup on the side. Now I don't know if I got lucky or hit Winnies on a good day, as several people have told me that they are not known for good food. But on this day they served me up a championship calibre burger. That burger was so good I wolfed it down in about 2 minutes. The only negative was the fries, which were greasy, tasteless and definitely not very crisp. However the burger was so outstanding that I give Winnies the gold medal in Round 1 of the Montreal Burger Taste Test. Grade: A-
Does anyone have additional nominee downtown restaurants for Round 2, which will be upcoming in a few weeks when I return again?
I was in Montreal last week to conduct the first Montreal Burger Taste Test. I should say that I anticipate that this taste test will be the first of several more, if the readers see fit to nominate additional eateries whose burgers are deemed worthy of the challenge.
RULES
There really were no rules. I randomly selected three downtown Montreal eateries and sampled their burgers. How did this come about? It was prompted by a comment by a friend to "stick to the basics" while we were eating lunch at the winning restaurant. The criteria I used, which are entirely subjective, were my own taste buds and many years of experience eating burgers dating back to large family backyard barbecues in my early childhood. I placed particular emphasis on taste and flavor (in particular juiciness and charbroil flavor of the burger), preparation, accompaniments, and whether the burger was or could be cooked to my specifications.
You will be very surprised by the results!
RESULTS
3. MR. STEER (St. Catherine Street).Third place of the 3 restaurants I visited was Mr. Steer. Mr Steer had been billed to me by many as serving the best burgers in Montreal. This assertion was proven false by my taste test. I was extremely disappointed with the Steerburger I ordered, for the specific reasons that follow.
Mr. Steer is one of these old fashioned "we do it one way, our way" type establishments. I don't have a problem with that philosophy, if your food is good. However, I did not find Mr. Steer's burgers to be anything more than painfully average.
I wanted to order the Steerburger with bacon and swiss cheese and fried onions. To me, a good burger should have melted swiss on top (or Monterey Jack). However, much to my chagrin and disappointment, the waitress informed me that Mr. Steer only puts cheddar cheese on their burgers, which kind of pissed me off. Cheddar cheese is a processed, blue collar, peasant cheese, and I was not happy that swiss could not be put on my burger. Swiss is the cheese that should be melted on the top of any really good burger, if you want to have a premium burger dining experience, i.e., a true HDH burger.
The Steerburger arrived cooked to my order (medium rare), with the bacon, onions and cheddar on top. The burger itself was kind of small and round (probably 5 ounces at most), and though cooked medium rare and pink inside, it was neither juicy nor could I taste that it had been on a grill. It actually tasted like it had been baked. Although I did eat the burger, it was very disappointing and not significantly better than McDonald's or Burger King in my judgment. Grade: C-
2. BATON ROUGE, COMPLEX DEJARDINS
I had a much better burger served to me at Baton Rouge. I ordered the Baton Rouge Burger, which is normally served with Bacon, Monterey Jack Cheese and Dijoinnaise, but I substituted Barbecue sauce in lieu of the Dijoinnaise. This burger was better than the one I ordered at Mr. Steer- it was bigger, juicier, and definitely had more of a charbroiled flavor. One disappointment was the Barbecue sauce which I ordered in lieu of Dijonnaise. The Baton Rouge Barbecue sauce has way too much molasses in it, and tastes so much like molasses that they really should rethink their recipe, because Sweet Baby Ray's and other barbecue sauces on the market whip ass on their sauce. Overall, however, I was very satisfied with the Baton Rouge burger. Grade: B+
1. WINNER: WINNIES, CRESCENT STREET
The shocking winner of round 1 of the Montreal Burger Taste Test, in a major upset, was Winnies a/k/a Sir Winston Churchill's Pub. So you may ask, how in the hell did I end up ordering a burger at Winnies? And how did it win? Well, here is the story.
I only went to Winnies on the day in question because the weather was beautiful, the terrase was open, and I wanted to have lunch on the terrase. I had no agenda of ordering a burger here. As soon as I arrived there, I got a call from a friend who said he would join me in a few minutes. As I waited for my friend, I examined the menu and noticed a table de hote lunch special which sounded interesting: raviliolis with smoked salmon and ricotta cheese in a pink sauce. My friend soon arrived, and after I told him what my dining intention was (the ravioli), he said to me: "at this place, stick to the basics."
So I noticed that Winnies had burgers on the menu and ordered one with bacon and swiss cheese. Winnies, unlike Mr. Steer, had no problems gracing their burger with a few slices of swiss. The burger arrived cooked slightly more than ordered (medium as opposed to medium rare), but nevertheless was juicy and had a wonderful charbroil flavor, as if it had just come off a grill. It had bacon, swiss, lettuce, tomato and red onion on top, and was served with ketchup on the side. Now I don't know if I got lucky or hit Winnies on a good day, as several people have told me that they are not known for good food. But on this day they served me up a championship calibre burger. That burger was so good I wolfed it down in about 2 minutes. The only negative was the fries, which were greasy, tasteless and definitely not very crisp. However the burger was so outstanding that I give Winnies the gold medal in Round 1 of the Montreal Burger Taste Test. Grade: A-
Does anyone have additional nominee downtown restaurants for Round 2, which will be upcoming in a few weeks when I return again?
FYI EB, lots of places in Quebec won't serve you a medium-rare burger. Ground meat is a great place to start a food poisonning case. This is Quebec health regulation. I found the site in french on the site for the Food Ministery but can't find an english translation so, here's mine:
All ground meat, except poultry, must be cooked so the center temperature reach 155F for at least 15 seconds. The center of the meat and the dripping juice can't be pink.
Here's the French site:
http://www.mapaq.gouv.qc.ca/cgi-bin...ry=hachée&hiword=HACHé+HACHéES+HACHéS+hachée+
A restaurant serving "pinkish" burgers will get in trouble if he's cought doing so. Health issue.
All ground meat, except poultry, must be cooked so the center temperature reach 155F for at least 15 seconds. The center of the meat and the dripping juice can't be pink.
Here's the French site:
http://www.mapaq.gouv.qc.ca/cgi-bin...ry=hachée&hiword=HACHé+HACHéES+HACHéS+hachée+
A restaurant serving "pinkish" burgers will get in trouble if he's cought doing so. Health issue.
metoo4,
If this is true, then isn't it fraud to accept a medium rare order from a customer?
I should note that Mr. Steer did cook my burger medium rare, but Winnies cooked it medium. Even so, the Winnies burger was great.
If this is true, then isn't it fraud to accept a medium rare order from a customer?
I should note that Mr. Steer did cook my burger medium rare, but Winnies cooked it medium. Even so, the Winnies burger was great.
I totally agree that Sir Winston Churchill's pub has the best burgers in DT Montreal. The scenery is good there too!
I'll give it to Mr. Steer for having the weirdest looking burgers.
I'll give it to Mr. Steer for having the weirdest looking burgers.
O.Noir....
Anyone try O.Noir yet? I am tempted to try it on my next visit. It is the place where you eat in the dark, and the waitstaff are blind. You choose what you want to eat in the dimly-lit bar beforehand.
http://www.onoir.com
Merci à l'avance....
Anyone try O.Noir yet? I am tempted to try it on my next visit. It is the place where you eat in the dark, and the waitstaff are blind. You choose what you want to eat in the dimly-lit bar beforehand.
http://www.onoir.com
Merci à l'avance....
Mmmm... Good question!
I'd say most places don't even know this law and the risks inherent to improperly cooked burgers. So, in order to invoke fraud, don't you need to imply an intent to trick the other party? If the burger is delivered as requested, there's no fraud, right?
But if you get food poisonning, you could probably sue them if you can show you were served a medium-rare burger. You could argue they should have warn you of the risks and refuse to serve it to you that way, as per the regulations.
Am I legally sound?
I'd say most places don't even know this law and the risks inherent to improperly cooked burgers. So, in order to invoke fraud, don't you need to imply an intent to trick the other party? If the burger is delivered as requested, there's no fraud, right?
But if you get food poisonning, you could probably sue them if you can show you were served a medium-rare burger. You could argue they should have warn you of the risks and refuse to serve it to you that way, as per the regulations.
Am I legally sound?
Elizabeth: Careful! They check the place with IR cameras! There's monitors and VCR in the back just for that! They see peoples like in daylight with these cameras! (just kidding!)
Seriously, that's a weird experience!
Seriously, that's a weird experience!
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metoo4 said:Am I legally sound?
You may be legally sound, but as a practical matter, I have been ordering and eating medium rare burgers my whole life, and I never got sick from one. In any event, none of the three restaurants I went to advised me that they could not cook my burger medium rare, nor did any of them warn me of the risks of eating such burgers, which I am in any event well aware of despite having spent a lifetime eating such medium rare burgers and never having gotten sick from them.
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I agree with EB about the risk of medium rare hamburgers. If the restaurant uses quality meat and follows proper handling procedures there should be no problems eating a medium rare burger. The risk is greatly increased in the summer when people make burgers on the back yard grill as they are often careless in handling the ground beef. I often eat raw hamburger meat, fresh ground only of course, with salt and pepper and have never been sick from it. The only time a burger ever made me ill was from Burger King and I've never eaten at one since and never will again.
Techman said:
Arrghhh!! You're right! I was at thop of the page so I tought it was a new thread! Arrgghhh!!!
My previous post was edited!
I remember going to a place in Vancouver last year and being told that it was against provincial BC law to serve my burger medium rare- because of mad cow disease.. I had it "medium"...maybe someone from PERB is on this board ?
Ck NJ- ever been to "White Manna " ?
Regards
Smuler
Ck NJ- ever been to "White Manna " ?
Regards
Smuler
Agreed, the risk is minimal. I know lots of peoples who do same as you guys and never get sick. But can`t never be certain how the meat was handled.
A while ago I was told by a food inspector to avoid some restaurant on certain days because that was far from their delivery day and stuff wasn`t refrigerated properly. He told me they have lots of food poisonning complaints where they can correlate it was 5-6 days after the meat was delivered, for places where deliveries are once a week. He said better go on day 2 or 3. This way, it`s still relatively fresh and there`s less risk of getting leftovers from previous week!
But again, this is like : it`s all about the risk implied vs what we think it`s worth!
A while ago I was told by a food inspector to avoid some restaurant on certain days because that was far from their delivery day and stuff wasn`t refrigerated properly. He told me they have lots of food poisonning complaints where they can correlate it was 5-6 days after the meat was delivered, for places where deliveries are once a week. He said better go on day 2 or 3. This way, it`s still relatively fresh and there`s less risk of getting leftovers from previous week!
But again, this is like : it`s all about the risk implied vs what we think it`s worth!
La Paryse
I haven't eaten at any of the establishments you've mentionned so I don't know how my suggestion compares, but IMHO the best burgers in Montreal are served at La Paryse (302 Ontario E. - 514-842-2040) it's usually quite busy, maybe reservations are in order.EagerBeaver said:
O.Noir
I did, and it's a great place for a date.
You are really in the dark 100%, you will see nothing. Be sure you check your cell phone, watch, and anything else that emits any light.
For first timers, I recommend that you order the easier to eat food (eg: shrimp is easier to eat than chicken, which must be cut.)
ck_nj said:
I did, and it's a great place for a date.
You are really in the dark 100%, you will see nothing. Be sure you check your cell phone, watch, and anything else that emits any light.
For first timers, I recommend that you order the easier to eat food (eg: shrimp is easier to eat than chicken, which must be cut.)
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