Big Smoke Burger Faster than the speed of McDonalds

OK, not really faster than McDonalds, but fast. It's a tiny cafeteria with communal seats. The small kitchen back there is sardined with maybe over 10 people who are probably mostly grilling, because my burger came FAST.
They were slammed, but fast service kept things moving with McDonalds-worthy speed. They only *sometimes* asked for a customer's name so some orders got kind of confused, but it's early days and they're working out the kinks. Impressively swift operation with thankfully adequate kitchen staffing to keep the burgers coming (and hence, keeping the customer queue moving).

(Signature) Big Smoke Burger ($8.99?) horseradish mayo, caramelized onions, smoked cheddar, tomato, lettuce

Really, really, decent grilled-to "medium" rarity burger. Moist enough. No pink, but you are warned that the patties may come out with some pink. Good regulation thickness at approximately 1 cm thick.
Rest of the burger is a waste of time. Too boring: Not enough horseradish bite, not enough caramelized onions.
McDonalds style burger construction. This *may* be due to their being so busy at the time we walked in.
Price is OK due to the patty, but overall I would recommend you instead try another of their more interesting signatures.

Hand-Cut Fries ($3.89 to $5.69 as part of a combo)

A bit soft on the outside. Fresh but did not seem crispy enough to make them really good fries.
Portion for $3.49 is about the same as what you can get a The Cannibal Café for $1.95, so if you are going to get fries at all, do one of their combo deals and get a drink with it.

They are still newish so cut them a bit of slack if they are awkward in conversation or struggling to remember protocol and lines.

Comments

Trafalgar's European Explorer 2006 memoirs part 3

A picture from my 2006 trip, a Trafalgar 's bus tour, on an itinerary called the European Explorer. I can't remember why I had this couple in the picture, but I do vaguely remember this to be in London, on the first official day of the tour group getting together. Their insistence on my helping them take a picture caused the three of us to be late getting back to the bus. The local tour guide had a "rule" about lateness, that we had to buy chocolate to share with everyone. As it turned out, later in the trip, on at least two occasions, we were stuck on the highway on either a long commute or a traffic jam, and I had chocolate and chocolate-covered marzipan to share. About the chocolate-covered marzipan -- Apparently we were in Austria just as they were celebrating Mozart's birthday with special marzipans wrapped in foil with the famous composer's picture. I'm pretty sure it was Mirabell Mozartkugeln . Anyway, there were enough to go around the en

Trafalgar's European Explorer 2006 memoirs part 10

The last of my pictures (at least the ones that survived the cheesy disposable cameras) from my 2006 trip, a Trafalgar 's bus tour, on an itinerary called the European Explorer. Below is the obligatory group photo. Not sure everyone's in it, actually. I'm pretty sure this one was taken by the tour director, Mike Scrimshire as I'm in the back row, on the right side.

Trafalgar's European Explorer 2006 memoirs part 9

More assorted couples on my 2006 trip, a Trafalgar 's bus tour, on an itinerary called the European Explorer. An American couple who joked about being from "the land of the giants" -- and with good reason, because both of them were really tall! A cute Jewish mother-daughter pair who ducked out part-way to divert to Israel. I vaguely remember the issue of the daughter being an orthodox Jew was highlighted in France when, to make things easy, she just declared herself vegetarian for the wait staff. I also remember there was some logistics error in France because our party size was way underestimated or simply relayed incorrectly, and there was a shortage of food at dinner. Dessert came as an unopened can of yogurt. It did not seem like they tried to make it up to us later, either. Plus there was smoking every which way in France, and I had a helluva time with that. We were also in a hotel that seemed tucked away in the burbs, and not walking distance from anythin

Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Search This Blog