King Street Sizzle

The King Street Sizzle is located on the ground floor of the Four Points Sheraton at King & Clarence. I had assumed it was a steak-house type outfit, which it mostly is, but it puts a spanish/portuguese twist on its menu. As it is a fancier place, the burger is only offered on the lunch menu. Which is unfortunate, cause it was really good.


The Sizzle Burger is an 8oz beef patty, topped with a slice of smoked chourico salami and pepper jack cheese, on a swiss chiabatta bun (I have no idea what makes it swiss) for $11. The patty was huge, actually larger than the square bun, almost negating the superfluous bread corner issue. The patty was very well seasoned and charbroiled without being burnt. The salami and cheese added a subtle heat and some extra flavour that married well with each other and the rest of the burger. The onions were red and slightly pickled - again, another layer of flavour, and pickles were somewhere between dill and bread & butter. All in all, a delicious and pleasing combination.

However, the bun, for reasons passing understanding, appeared to be buttered. On top of the juicy patty and all the vegetables, the melted butter pushed the sogginess too far. The bun was a thick-but-not-too-tough ciabatta, toasted and tasty, but by the end it was sopping. This is really my only criticism.

The fries, either yukon gold potato or sweet potato, were great. The potato fries were thick, crispy and tossed in seasoned salt. The sweet potato fries are also salted which balanced out the sweetness quite nicely.

4.5 out of 5 Pickles

Brass Pub

The Brass is another 'Hub' establishment and caters to the student crowd that is too old and too lazy for either of its sibling establishments, Ale House and Stages. The Brass is first and foremost a bar and isn't particularly known for its food, except maybe Tuesday wings and weekend breakfast. However, as luck would have it, Wednesday night was burger night, and so we went.


This was a surprisingly good little burger. Clocking in at 4 oz (a quarter pound), the homemade patty was perfectly grilled, compact, and not at all greasy. The bun was a rather plain sesame seed bun that held up well, through there wasn't any cheese or tomato to get it soggy. The fries were properly cooked dark-style fries.

The best part of all this was the price: $1.75 for the burger, $2.50 with fries. Ya.

The rest of the week the Brass offers burgers off its regular menu which I imagine to be of similar quality, though slightly bigger. Selections include a Western Burger with bbq sauce, onion rings, bacon and cheese, and a Bacon Mushroom Swiss Burger. Prices range from $7.75-8.95 and include fries.

And then there is the O-line Burger. The Brass has a habit of hiring the Queen's football team as bouncers which is probably where the idea, and the name, came from. The O-line Burger, a double patty burger with bacon, substitutes two grilled cheese sandwiches for the bun.


And yes, we ate it. It took four of us. No regrets.

3 out of 5 Pickles

Established in 1839, the Queen's Inn is one of the oldest continuously operating Inns in Canada. It had to take a break a few years ago when it caught fire, but its up and running again. Technically speaking, there are two restaurants on the ground floor, Copper's Pub and The Sport's Tap and Grill, but since they share a menu and a kitchen, they get a single review.

And what a menu it is. There are 18 burgers available, ranging from the Bison Bacon Burger, to the Pancho Villa (cheeseburger with salsa & jalepenos), to the British Burger (fried onions, smoked bacon, & cheddar). There are also a few ground turkey and ground chicken burgers, and a Veggie Burger, with mozzarella and basil mayo. All the burgers are made in house, one at a time on order. I went for the Fat City Burger, apparently one of their most popular, topped with back bacon and cheddar, for $10.99.

This was a huge burger but certainly not impossible to eat. The patty was enormous but relatively thin, savoury and nicely grilled. There was a lot of cheese and even more back bacon, which really didn't taste of too much, but was a nice soft and chewy alternative to crispy strips of bacon. The bun was soft and compressed well but didn't get soggy while eating. This isn't a flashy burger, but it is very good.

I also got to try the Sweet Hot Bacon burger, with a homemade sweet chili sauce, bacon and cheddar. While the one bite I had was delicious, I was a little wary that the sweet chili sauce would get old after a while. My husband, who inhaled the rest of the burger, assured me this was not the case.

The fries were enormous yukon gold potato fries - fluffy, crispy, buttery, awesome.

4 out of 5 Pickles.

Grizzly Grill

For those of you who may not be aware, The Grizzly Grill is part of the 'Hub' group, which includes The Brass, Ale House, Stages, Gustos/Legendz/Elysium, the Pizza Pizza building, and the building that used to house Jumbo video. The Hub used to be a family business, but after the unfortunate events at Ale House (then AJs) a few years back, the parts were sold off to the various managers, though there continues to be much cooperation between them.

I somehow manage to forget how big the Grizzly Grill is and marvel at its size every time I go in there (admittedly, not very often). I am also suitably impressed with their menu, which is both large and diverse, though they only one burger, the creatively named "Grizzly Burger". Unfortunately, this is a beef burger, and not bear meat. I would pay good money for a bear burger.

The patty was clearly homemade, evidenced by its 'abstract' shape, but was very juicy and had a pleasant crispy exterior. The veg were fine, and the bun, though a tad dry, was unremarkable. This burger seemed very much like something you'd find at a back yard bbq - a solid, beefy burger; tasty, and yet you eat it without paying much attention.

The fries were, once again, the dark style chip-truck fries. I don't know who is hawking these things to all the Kingston restaurants, but they're having quite a lot of success. The fries at the Griz, however, were properly cooked and didn't have the burnt flavour I found at other places.

3 out of 5 pickles

Merchant Tap House

Formerly The Merchant McLiam, and probably several other names before that, the Merchant Tap House has been around, in one form or another, for quite a long time. The Merchant is located at the very bottom of Princess Street and is the quintessential tavern - poorly lit, poorly laid out, and well equipped with beer taps.

The Merchant is best known for its live music acts and extensive selection of beer, but not so much for its food offerings, which are your typical restau-pub fair. They offer one burger - The Gourmet Burger - which is the standard 8 oz patty with the vegetables, chipotle mayo, and a side of fries, for $9. I added cheddar cheese for good measure.


The burger seemed so promising on the plate. The patty was huge and clearly homemade. The veggies were fresh and thick-cut. The bun was soft, lightly toasted, and matched the patty size. And the first bite was good. But, that was about it.

The burger seemed to get progressively blander the more I ate. I think most of the blame for this falls on the bun which was very dry, and turned out to be not as soft and squishy as I originally though, leaving a lot of bun in every mouthful. The measly amount of barely-flavoured chipotle mayo didn't help with this either. The patty too, once you got past the tasty char-broiled edges, was unimpressive and still a tad pink in the middle.

The fries were excellent. They were the 'dark style' chip-truck type, but were perfectly cooked, nicely salty and crispy.

1 out of 5 Pickles

Pan Chancho

Pan Chancho, and its other half Chez Piggy, are Kingston institutions. They've been around forever, they're in all the tourist guides, and they do a whole lotta business. I am slightly wary that this is leading to inflated prices and sloppy work. In any case, I was not impressed with their burger.

Pan Chancho offers two burgers on their lunch menu, the Meaty Meat Burger - a plain 7 ouncer for $13.25 - and the Mo' Better Meaty Meat Burger - the same thing but with stilton pate and crispy pancetta, or $14.75. Both come with frites and aoili.


I doubt it was on purpose, but the chefs at Pan Chancho seem to have gone out of their way to make this burger hard to eat. First of all, the patty was extremely thick, nearly spherical, making it a challenge to fit in your mouth. On top of that, the square (ugh) ciabatta bun was so crusty and tough, that it was impossibly to bite though with the front teeth, I actually had to rip pieces off in a very ungraceful way. I am sure that somewhere in all the bakery offerings there is a softer and easier to eat bun. This one was just annoying.

The patty itself was very herby and nice tasting, but besides some leaves and tomato and pickle slices, this was a very naked burger and was really not worth the price.

The fries were excellent, crispy and salty, although the aioli was too garlicky (something I don't think I've ever complained about before).

2 out of 5 Pickles.

Olivea

Olivea is the new kid on the market square block, but its owners are hardly rookie restaurateurs. Olivea is the slightly fancier little sister of Bella Bistro, the long-loved establishment out in Collin's Bay - if you haven't been, I recommend it, and don't let the slightly shabby exterior put you off.

Olivea is housed at the now-fabulous King & Brock location, overlooking market square. I say 'now fabulous' because the building went through several renovations over the years that never made any improvement. In fact, construction photos made their way into my 3rd year structural analysis class as examples of things to never, ever do to a building. These were 'before' photos however, and the place looks much better - and safer - now.

Being an Italian trattoria, I was surprised, but pleased, to find a burger on the lunch menu. The Olivea Burger is made with local Angus beef, Wilton cheddar, tomato relish and bacon on a homemade ciabatta roll and comes with a choice of soup, frites, or green salad for $13.

This burger, although straying from what might be considered 'traditional' for a burger, does everything right. The burger is thick and nicely grilled without tasting like burnt. The tomato relish is savoury and unusual, but highly addictive. The bacon is thick-cut and smokey. The bun is the ideal combination of crusty outside and soft interior, perfects fits the patty size, and never gets soggy. The frites and crispy and salty, and the saffron aoili is delicious and won't give you garlic breath.

During the Casa Domenico review I talked about fancy burgers that ended up being more like fancy sandwiches. This is definitely a burger. A really really awesome burger.

5 out of 5 Pickles.

Casa Domenico

Casa is the first of the 'Posh' restaurants on the list. The Posh designation is relatively arbitrary, but it's usually going to apply to places that only have burgers on their lunch menus, have cloth napkins, and you feel a bit self conscious wearing jeans to.

Casa Domenico may be the finest restaurant in Kingston and is certainly one of my favourite places to eat. I was therefore delighted to find they had a burger on their lunch menu, and got to try it one gorgeous sunny Saturday afternoon on their patio.


The burger can be found under the 'Panini' section on the menu, which raised some rather philosophical questions about the difference between a burger and a sandwich. This burger definitely blurs the line between the two, and, in my opinion, actually edges a little bit towards the sandwich side. Really, the only difference between this 'panini', and the other two on the menu, was that this was made with a ground beef patty, instead of a chicken breast or assorted italian cold cuts. (As an aside, all three paninis are delicious). There was nothing distinctly hamburger-y about this, but that doesn't take away from how good it was.

The Casa Burger is made from Angus beef, topped with caramelized onions, roasted tomatoes, aged cheddar, truffled chevril mayonnaise, and comes with pecorino fries. It was every bit as delicious and fancy-pants as its sounds. The patty was moist without being greasy, the tomatoes were incredibly flavourful, and the onions, cheese, and mayonnaise all melted together into a saucy deliciousness that got all over the place. The bun - grilled but not crunchy - was a square ciabatta which once again left superfluous bread corners outside of the patty. But, the aforementioned melty-sauce helped with that issue.

The fries were very skinny 'frites' style, well seasoned with herbs and cheese. Also delicious.

At $15, this may be the most expensive burger in town, but it totally earns the price tag. 4.5 out of 5 Pickles.

Iron Duke on Wellington

The Iron Duke, while it may seem like an old-style pub, is actually brand spanking new, at least by Kingston standards. Opened in 2008 by a former Toucan bartender, the Duke is named after Arthur Wellesley, 1s Duke of Wellington and hero of the Napoleonic Wars. The Duke may look like your typical english pub, but the menu goes way beyond fish & chips and club sandwiches, including items like Red Curry Mussels, Falafel Wrap, and arguably the best nachos in town.

But this is not about nachos (although maybe my next blog will be). This is about burgers. 'The Duke' is an 8 oz. burger with white cheddar and the usual vegetables on a sesame seed bun, with fries, for $12.29.
I would like to point out that the burger usually comes with more fries than this, but I really wanted the soup du jour. I kinda regret that decision, cause the fries were awesome.

The Duke burger was pretty good. The patty was huge, held together well, but didn't taste too much of anything (except char, because mine happened to be kinda burnt on this occasion). The mustard-mayo was very mild, but the cheese, which I suspect came from Cookes around the corner, was sharp and delicious. The bun was soft and pleasantly toasted, but was a bit too big for the patty.

The fries were truly excellent though.

I should also add that the Duke has recently added a Bison Burger to their menu with sweet pepper relish, crispy onions, and stilton aioli. If I still like burgers at the end of all this, I'll be heading back to give this one a try.

3 out of 5 Pickles