Mr. Lew's Great Burger Search

Annex 97: Trattoria Mangione

705 Sainte-Catherine O.
Eaton Center
Montreal, Quebec

Metro: McGill
Bus: STM 15, 24, 61, 107, 125, 168, 420, 715

Visit: February 9, 2013

In this day and age, not everyone can afford to spend ridiculous amounts of money on food. A lot of people are forced to settle for the offerings of the common food court. Located in Montreal’s Eaton Center, Trattoria Mangione is one of the many vendors that serves the jam-packed food court every day.

Burger 98: Brasserie Les Enfants Terribles

1257 Bernard O.
Montreal, Quebec

Metro: Outremont
Bus: STM 46, 80, 119, 160, 161, 435, 935

Visit: May 24, 2011

http://www.lesenfantsterriblesbrasserie.ca/

This is the second week I find myself in the part of town known as Outremont. As a matter of fact, last week’s burger was right next door. The first thing I noticed was the immense amount of staff working the busy floor of this establishment. There was a person for water, a person for bread, a person for seating, and a person to take your order. There was so much staff that any free space was just taken up. The big positive is that the restaurant was full, obviously because of the reach of the establishment. The server was cordial, but telling me that I had to wait to place my order when I was obviously ready didn’t rub me the right way.

Burger de Boeuf

This burger contains lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, cheddar, and bacon.

The first thing one notices is the size of the burger. For the price, you get something that barely fits in your hands. All of the ingredients are present and hopefully the end result is what it should be. To be honest, I was disappointed. Even though the burger was big, what was missing was the taste. I take bites of the meat and I get nothing. I look for the presence of the bacon and I find out that it took a vacation. The cheese is just standing in a corner waiting for something to happen, rather than making something happen by itself. Ideally, all these ingredients should add up, but in this particular burger, it just doesn’t. The other big whammy was the price. For the entire meal, I paid a Burger Search record of $35, including taxes and tip. You could probably get the same package, with some taste, for a whole lot less money.

Poutine

The poutine was a $4 upgrade. This was the first thing I noticed when I received the entire meal. I noticed that it was a lot smaller than expected. Much like the burger, this poutine was non-descript. There is nothing much I can say other than the fact that I like the varying size of cheese curds in the poutine.

Annex 7: Elio’s

351 Bellechasse
Montreal, Quebec

Metro: Beaubien, Rosemont

Bus: STM 13, 18, 25, 30, 31, 160, 161, 197

Visit: March 23, 2011

I had no idea I was coming here until a colleague announced they wanted to come here. I like ped days because it gives us teachers the chance to relax and mingle while trying some of the best food in the Greater Montreal Area. The story goes as follows, I enter the staff room and a teacher tells me that we’re going to Elio’s. Apparently, one of the others teachers used to work here and says the pizza was awesome. My only inquiry about Elio’s was whether or not there was bacon. So, after the ped day was done, we caravanned down to this restaurant. After almost losing one of our colleagues, we were ready to dine.

Pizza w/Pepperoni, Sausage, and Bacon

Tried: March 23, 2011

This pizza contains pepperoni, sausage, cheese, and bacon.

I am a huge pizza fan. Years of watching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles helped cement that. For the last few years, I’ve been eating sub-par pizza and I wanted to get out of that. This was my chance to see what else there was out there. The first thing I noticed is that this pizza was extremely hot. It burned the roof of my mouth. I felt that for days. The taste was fine but the burning sensation really affected me throughout the meal. The one aspect of the pizza I could’ve done without was the sausage. I am not a big sausage person. If they offered a bacon only pizza, I would’ve been on that. For the size, this pizza was could enough for the one person who ordered it. I made sure to finish every morsel.

Annex 1: La Banquise

Mr. Lew’s Great Burger Search: The Annex - INTRODUCTION

Mr. Lew doesn’t just like to keep himself to burgers. From time to time, other restaurants are visited to see what Montreal truly has to offer. As always, all suggestions are welcomed.

Much like the burger search, I have a list of things I’m looking for:

“Best” Won Ton Soup in Montreal (You have a hard sell ahead of you.)
Steak
Pizza
Poutine

So, with further adieu, I present to you, La Banquise:

994 Rachel Est
Montreal, Quebec

Bus: STM 11, 14, 29

First Visit: May 22, 2009

http://www.restolabanquise.com/

This restaurant has a reputation for having many different types of poutine. With over 25 varieties of poutine, the menu lists a all-star line-up that no one can ignore. I, myself, am a big fan of poutine. I needed to see what the hype was all about.

Bacon Poutine

Tried: May 22, 2009

This is a poutine that includes fries, cheese curds, sauce, and bacon pieces.

Choosing from a list of over 25 varieties can be difficult, unless one of those options is very clear. I cannot ever turn away the challenge of a bacon poutine. Now, the portion size itself turns this poutine into a meal. The fries are made from red potatoes. Red potato fries are either hit or miss. In this case, they were appropriate. The cheese curds really needed to be drenched in the sauce to be more effective. The bacon itself can’t be denied. We all know that bacon makes everything better, including death, which is what completing this dish almost made me feel. The overall product was great in my opinion. All the components went well together and the bacon just made it so much better.