Sunday, December 2, 2012

Fast Food Fancy: Burger Bar Crescent

Ever feel like the typical burger giants like McDonalds and A&W aren't cutting it for you, and you're in the mood for something different, but the same? In Montreal, there are loads of gourmet burger joints for just this purpose. Burger Bar Crescent, one of my favorites, is on the corner of Crescent/Maisonneuve.


The interior of the restaurant has a real casual feel; people munching happily on burgers or sipping drink after drink. We were greeted by a perky and upbeat waitress who handed us our menus and served us water.

The menu, oh my god. So difficult to choose! The entrées page had the usual greasy fries and cheese sticks, but also included multiple varieties of wings and very interesting meal-sized poutines and mac&cheese. The burger section, in all its glory, displayed 16 solid choices, all with fries, slaw or salad on the side with options to upgrade. For quite a while, we simply peered at the ingredients in every burger, imagining the union of exotic and classic flavours in a juicy burger, and mentally screaming, "Hnnnnggggg what do I get!" At least, I was.


M had the Bison Burger for 16.95$. It looks like a mess -- a beautiful mess of butter-sautéed leeks, wild mushrooms, melted Brie cheese, and truffle mayo, adorning the bison patty centerpiece. The meat was manly and flavourful. Really, what else do you expect from bison? According to M, the burger itself lacked a certain kick; perhaps a different sauce would pair better with the ingredients. The coleslaw certainly looked different from other places, and tasted good too, but it's not easy to manage more than a few bites, although that might be because none of us were in the mood for slaw.


JH had the Classic Poutine for 7.95$. It's made with hand-cut fries with the potato skin still attached, and topped with a generous portion of cheese curds and gravy. Although good, it isn't terribly special, and if you're looking for more exotic tastes, try the more complex poutines on their menu.


S got the Baba Burger for 13.95$, topped with grilled red peppers, onions and zucchini, and roasted portabello mushrooms, with babaganoush, garlic mayo, and balsamic reduction. Dare I say girly? The juicy grilled veggies were fantastic with the AAA beef patty, and the babaganoush was certainly a unique touch. The zucchini was S's favourite part; however, she found the patty itself pretty dry. Nevertheless, it was a filling burger and she'd totally order it again!


I had the Wild Shrooms Burger for 16.95$. The juicy beef patty was topped with a bed of arugula so fresh, I'd suspect it were freshly picked from a secret garden if it wasn't frightfully frosty outside. Other topping were caramelized onions and garlic mayo, and of course, the main event: mushrooms! For those who are interested, their mushroom selection changes seasonally, and currently, they are using  a rich mixture of oyster, chikaki, king eryngii (AKA French Horn), beech, and elephant-ear mushrooms. Every bite was flavourful, and the burger was a delight to eat. 


We finished off with a slice of Fried Jack Daniels Pecan Pie, for the special price of 7$ (as opposed to the menu price of 7.95$). It was a surprisingly small portion for the price it came at. First, I'm not quite sure where the fried part went -- it was a regular pie, with a stale crust, no less. The Jack Daniels part also seemed to have been thrown out the window. Rather than using traditional brown sugar, they opted for chocolate filling and chocolate sauce, and although it was an interesting change, the sugar-pie lover in our group was certainly disappointed. Finally, the little scoop of ice creasm, which S identified as heavenly hash (from Nestle?) was too hard.

We had a fantastic time at Burger Bar! I'm already planning what I'm going to get next time I come by, I've got my eye on a couple more I want to try. The desserts aren't impressive, if you ask me, but I really want to try some of their starters, and MORE BURGERS!

1465, rue Crescent,
Montreal, QC, H3G 2B2
(514) 903-5575
http://www.burgerbarcrescent.com/

Burger Bar Crescent on Urbanspoon

1 comment:

  1. wow this is a real burger!! Love the ingredients mushrooms, onions and allot of meat.And looks a good prices. Great option!

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