Burger de Ville ▪ Montréal

59 Westminster North
Montréal-Ouest, Québec
 514.564.9902
website

Once in a while, either I or Elle will get a burger craving. Not sure whose craving it was that brought us to Burger de Ville, but there we were one summer evening. Elle had already been to their Saint Laurent Boulevard location, but it was my first time at this burger joint.

Burger de Ville.

I ordered the bacon burger ($5.50) and asked for some harissa mayo on the side for our order of spicy fries. They added the mayo into the burger instead. There is a generous list of free toppings, including caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms. One can make quite a burger with the free toppings offered. 

The fresh burger patty - "Always fresh, never frozen" being the motto - is sandwiched between nicely grilled poppy seed buns.

Bacon burger.

Elle ordered the Saint-Paulin burger ($7.00) for the added cheese. Otherwise there are not too many other burger options as you can build your own but there is a vegetarian option that sounds tasty with grilled vegetables and goat cheese. Since there is no combo, we shared a plate of spicy fries ($3.00) that was plentiful for even more than two people. The spiciness came from the seasoning; the spicy fries were great dipped in the harissa mayo.

Spicy fries.

Burger de Ville offers fresh burgers at a great price point.Why go to fast food joints for burgers when such options exist in Montréal?

 

Eastern Standard ▪ Boston, MA

528 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts
617.532.9100
website

We had a day and a night planned in Boston.  After quitting the Cape after breakfast (and packing our camping equipment), we checked into our hotel in South Boston in the early afternoon.  We had planned to hit a Triple D Italian 'dive' but decided to have a burger at a pub instead.  As we rested before heading out to Newbury I did some research and found this Boston Burger Blog.

Finding one of the top tens in the neighbourhood where we were heading, we decided to drop in at Eastern Standard.  There were no tables available on OpenTable, but we stopped by to find out if they accepted drop ins and they did. We were informed by the friendly hostess that even at peak hours parties of two never have to wait long.

After some retail therapy, we returned famished and did not wait for a great banquette table.  Eastern Standard is a large American bistro style restaurant. The service was excellent and the menu varied.  The burger was easily the most affordable main on the menu at 13$ but there were plenty of other choices for more discerning diners.

We started with the ceviche of the day which happened to be one of my favourites: scallops. This came with a huge side of chips (crisps not fries) and I quickly asked the waitress to change my side order to a green salad.  The ceviche was perfectly citrusy and delicious.  I would have appreciated some heat from chilis but it was very good.

The Arnold Palmer I ordered came in layers and I thought was pretty enough to include here.

And the burger... The burger was a perfect specimen, juicy and delicous.  I thought the buttery brioche made it very rich and decadent.  But it was quite good.

We finished the meal with a classic bistro dessert of crème brûlée. We both thought the sugar crust was thick enough. It was very good and studded with vanilla pod seeds.

Not far from Fenway Park, this would be the perfect eatery after an afternoon game... as long as you don't indulge too much in park dogs beforehand.

Five Guys ▪ Brossard

8840 Boulevard Leduc
Brossard (Dix30)
450.462.2333
website

As a big fan of burger's, hubby and I had heard a lot about Five Guys and have pretty curious since they started opening shop in Québec.  We love In-n-Out and found the menu and decor very reminiscent of the California chain.  We opted out of the fries due to recent over-indulgences and according to Graceful Glutton's review, they were not worth it.

To be noted, their regular burgers have two patties and the small size has a single patty.  The prices are pretty steep and there are no combos; everything is à la carte.  That said, they offer a lot of free toppings.  The all-dressed combination is pretty good.  The burger was very good and you could definitely tell the ingredients were better than the usual fast food joints.

As we were leaving, we heard a family of four grumbling about prices and leaving to go to Mickey D's.  If you buy four burgers, four fries and four drinks, your bill would be close to 40$.  It is worth mentioning that according to my friend E, the regular size fries (smallest) are quite large and sharable and drinks seem to be bottomless.

We were quite happy with our burgers and would go back.  It's not as fast as Mickey D's but it's worth the little wait for a tailor-made burger...  with real meat.