White Spot (Cardero) Beyond Burger

Ended up at White Spot for a friend's birthday party. Been absolutely ages since I was at any outlet. Maybe I remember them a bit too fondly but for what I got, price felt outrageous. Even their french fries were so disappointing my mom said not to reheat them and just throw it out for the birds (no really -- she actually suggested that).

Crispy Cauliflower Bites ($10.49) glazed in sweet chili sauce and served with mango herb salsa over cilantro sour cream; toasted almonds.

• Taste is quite decent although prone to being covered up by the various sauces and flavours on the plate.
• Not even remotely crispy.

Avocado Beyond Burger™ ($17.49) Chargrilled 100% plant-based Beyond Meat® patty with fresh avocado, pickled onions, roasted corn, lettuce & tomato. Jalapeño ranch & edamame hummus. Comes with choice of Caesar Salad, The Spot's Salad, or Creamy Coleslay and Endless Signature Kennebec Fries.

• Mediocre tasting burger. Not even particularly big. At $17.49 it is charitable to say what you get is disappointing for the price.
• I isolated a good chunk of the Beyond Meat patty to try, and it was actually really rather good. The look of the texture inside wasn't meat-like at all, but it was juicy, taste was good (though not really in a way you could positively identify which animal it's supposed to be), and the texture in your mouth was also ground burger patty like.
• They charred some of the patty, which is fine as that can give a nice flavour on its own. However I felt there was a bit too much charring such that it dominated the burger overall.
• I opted for the Creamy Coleslaw and Endless Signature Fries. If you substitute the fries for something else, it's not endless anymore.
• Coleslaw used sunflower seeds, which made it different and interesting, but at the same time the coleslaw didn't have a crisp, sharp, refreshing bite that coleslaws often have.
• The fries were limp. One step away from outright soggy. FAIL. I thought that might have been a fluke, so I asked for more fries (since it's endless, right?) and was careful to tell them I wasn't in a hurry and if I could get a freshly prepared order. Result was the same. FAIL.

Overall score would be a fail for such an expensive yet disappointing main. However, White Spot does have some non-food related redeeming qualities, such as being able to host large groups and unlike many restaurants, not being anxious about how long your party is there. Our largish party of almost 20 persons did not get a pre-calculated tip added to the bill.

Bonus point for our server Fergie who brought me my order of fries in a takeout box. It had apparently taken the kitchen long enough to fry up another batch and by then our party was almost ready to disperse. So bringing it to me in a takeout box was the correct move.