Boon Burger Cafe is Vegan-Licious!

I was so excited when I first read in the Winnipeg Free Press that the city was going to get its first all veggie burger joint! 

Love, love, love! An all vegetarian burger cafe and apparently Canada's first! I'm not even a vegetarian/vegan but I love this place! Boon hasn't been open for more than a month and I've dined there four times already. So yes, I've tried nearly all the items on their menu. I love eating red meat as much as the next person but I think even a carnivore would like this place.

Boon Burger is located in the former "Common Ground" location on Sherbrook Street.  It's a small beautifully decorated restaurant. The exterior of the little house is painted dark charcoal gray while the interior has 2 big communal tables to dine at. Yes, you'll have to sit with strangers as there are no individual tables, unless you snag one of the tiny tables outside in front of the cafe.There's even a bike-thru window on the side - how cute is that! You order and pay first, then they'll give you an toy animal identifier and bring the food to your table (like the ram that's featured in the picture above).

This isn't your typical burger joint as they don't even own a deep fryer or a microwave. I love that everything is made from scratch with a lot of organic products. And for those who are so inclined, all burgers can be made vegan. There are 9 burgers to choose from, ranging from $5.50-$7.50, and you can add a small soup, salad or fries for an extra $3. All the burgers come with a small dill pickle and a raw veg garnish. The home made whole grain bun is absolutely delicious - soft yet retained the integrity of the burger till the last bite. It doesn't taste "coarse" or "grainy" for those who normally eat white bread and are afraid of whole grain products. :-)

They make the most absolutely addictive homemade organic ice tea around! I love how refreshing this tea is and the delicious flavours. It's made with loose leaf tea and sweetened with cane sugar so it's nothing like those terribly sweet ice teas you get from other places. There's a different flavour daily - my favourite has been the green tea mango and just plain mango ice tea. I wasn't a fan of the strawberry and mint flavour as the minty freshness reminded me of toothpaste. There's also fruit lassi, and organic fair trade coffee. No coke or pepsi for you (at least I didn't spot any). 

I tried the "Euro cheese burger" ($6.75) - grilled mushroom-rice patty, mayo, dijon, swiss cheese, onion, lettuce and tomato (pic below). A delicious "basic" veggie burger that would please any palate. I loved my euro cheeseburger! The patty is so delicious, you won't miss the meat. I would have preferred cheddar cheese since Swiss is not as cheesy as good ol' cheddar. This is a good first try at Boon if you're not sure of what to order. 

The "Buddha Burger" ($7) has a curried chickpea patty, mayo, yogurt-cucumber sauce, peach chutney, cucumber, lettuce and tomato (pic below). Now this is the burger to get if you love chickpeas. I liked the buddha burger but I found the chickpea patty to be quite overwhelming because it was really thick and chickpeas are so filling. I can't finish a whole buddha burger so it's great for those who are really hungry! It had a great curry flavour to it although I don't recall tasting the peach chutney. 

Another favourite, is the "Salsa Burger" ($7.25), mushroom-rice patty, salsa, avocado, Swiss cheese, red onion and lettuce. Yummy mellow flavours! I'd love this burger more if they would add some spicy kick to this burger!

The "Greek Burger" ($7.25) has a breaded patty; it has black olive tapenade, feta, red onion, lettuce and cucumbers. Personally, I'd skip the tapenade as olives aren't my fav but otherwise, this burger screams Greek! The "Thanksgiving Burger" ($7.50) is another cute themed burger with a breaded rice patty mixture topped with yams, cranberry sauce, gravy, and crispy onion. A sweeter tasting burger than the others but definitely an interesting one.

They recently started serving daily special burgers. Yesterday I tried a potato and onion patty with mango chutney, peas, yams - I'd love to call this the "Bombay Burger" if I could name it but there was no name to speak of. I liked the potato and onion patty as it the burger tasted like a samosa. It's definitely another filling burger. I hope they make this one more often!

Now onto the sides! Let's say this cafe becomes even more successful than they already are, I think they should open up a spin-off sister restaurant that serves only vegan soups. Seriously. I love a good home made soup but it's hard to find one ever since Soup Pierre closed. Typically, I don't love pulses...you know, lentils, chickpeas, black beans etc. So a soup with with those items would normally turn me off but the soups here are AMAZING (and they happen to be vegan too - shocking)! Small soup $5.50 (12 oz), large $6.50 (16 oz). I've had the lentil soup, green pea soup and the Thai lemongrass soup and they are all equally yummy. The layers of flavours and hours of simmering really add so much depth to these soups.

The Boon house salad ($5.95 small, $7.75 large) is a mixed green salad, sunflower seeds served with a garlicky house dressing. The salad isn't that unique compared to other places but a good healthy side instead of fries.

The fries here are made from fresh local potatoes, tossed in extra virgin olive oil with salt, pepper and sesame seeds and baked, not fried! The flavour is delicious - I didn't even use any ketchup! Their fries have been a work in progress as it was quite limp on my first visit. I think they're baking them longer now so the texture is pretty good now. Really, you won't miss the deep fried stuff and will be happy to think about the calories you saved! You can even "poutinize" your burger with a side of delicious vegan poutine or order them separately. Although ordering the poutine as a side to your burger is cheaper than ordering it separately. Small poutine $5.95, large $7.50. Yes, you heard it, vegan poutine. It's made with baked sesame fries, vegan cheese and vegan gravy - it is absolutely heavenly. Vegan cheese is a bit blander than dairy cheese but the texture and meltabilty works in this dish.

I suggest the "super supper platter" for $13.95 - it's a great deal where you can try a lot of things and can be a light meal to share with another person. It includes one burger of your choice, side of salad, small fries w/ gravy and a small soup.

This place has been consistently busy since they opened. They have even closed down for a few days to catch up on prep work and train new staff because of the raging popularity of this place. Orders take about 15-20 minutes depending on how busy they are. 

For those of you who are questioning the validity of an all veggie burger joint - go check it out and expand your palate to new horizons. It's worth a try.
 

Boon Burger Cafe

79 Sherbrook Street

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Tel: 204.415.1391

www.boonburger.ca

Closed Monday
Tuesday through Saturday 11 am to 10 pm
Sunday 11 am to 4 pm

Fusion Grill Disappoints Again

My first dining experience at Fusion Grill was great! It was back when locally sourced regional cuisine was still a new if not niche area. But today, so many restaurants have latched onto the whole locally sourced program so there are many establishments that offer locally raised bison and arctic char amongst other local goodies. 

After that nice visit, I returned for another meal soon after but the service I received can be summed up as "condescending." I mean, I've eaten at my fair share of restaurants but this one takes the cake as being the most snooty. We ordered a bison rib dish, which was about $38-$40. The bison dish came out very cool (NOT room temperature), while my dish was piping hot. So we told our server about the bison dish, he then passed us onto the manager. Well, the manager didn't seem too happy to talk to us even though we were polite and just asked that the dish be warmed up. The manager leaned in close to my bf and said in a very condescending voice "well, if we heat it up, it won't be medium rare anymore." In a tone that was like "the meat will be warmed up but don't complain when the bison comes back well done instead of how you asked for it." The bison came back a little over medium. But at this point, the dish was so far gone cause I was nearly done with my entree by the time my bf got his and really, who pays nearly $40 for reheated food with some attitude on the side. We never demanded anything or even asked to be comped, we just wanted the dish served the way it's suppose to be. Isn't that fair when you're paying $40 for a main?

I think it was the tone that bothered me the most because he just didn't care. To me, service is as important as the food in a restaurant - both have to be great! No, we don't live in River Heights and are not his "regulars" but you should treat everyone with respect especially when we were polite. I doubt he would ever treat his other diners like that. I eat out a lot in restaurants of all levels and have never been treated like that before. So I vowed never to return because of the terrible service especially since this city is full of great restaurants!

But I am not one to hold onto grudges so I decided to return here recently after several years of boycott. I am opinionated but I strive to be balanced in my reviews and that's how I approached the dinner. And to be honest, I really wanted to like it cause I don't have money to burn so why would I want to have a bad meal?

But my first annoyance came early. My bf called to make a reservation at a specific time but the man on the other line told him that it couldn't be done at that time and made him take a much earlier sitting. When we arrived, it was dead. Literally, there was one table of diners and they were finishing up their meals. So we thought, maybe more people will arrive at the time we wanted. NOPE! Diners came in sporadically (most were walk ins) and the place was barely half full by the time we left. I understand if they only had seatings at certain hours like Tre Visi (on the weekends) but the person on the phone didn't mention that. It just seemed like he wanted us to eat earlier in case he had more late walk-ins.

Their website seems to be well maintained yet the online menu is very different from the actual menu (on the SAME DAY). Once again, this is annoying because I decided to try this place after seeing some specific dishes that piqued my interest. But that's fine, I can roll with the punches and try something else.

We asked to look at the 4x4 menu but the server had to check with the chef to see if the kitchen even had all the ingredients. Kinda odd but whatever. The ingredients were available so we opted for the tasting menu since it was $45 for 4 courses. Many of the tasting menu dishes are the same as the a la carte menu.

First

Panko crusted pickerel cheeks - a nice starter with 2 small crispy pickerel cheeks, creme fraiche and pickled fiddleheads. The flavours were balanced and really, who doesn't like pickerel cheeks? 

The other course was the crispy grass-fed beef dumplings with noodles. The dumpling was fried well and piping hot inside. But it tasted like an average Asian dumpling with a sweet soy sauce.

Second

White truffle perogie with duck sausage with a walnut cream sauce.  As you can see in the picture, it was a very thick cream sauce. Actually, I thought the walnut cream sauce overpowered the entire dish. The truffle oil is a nice touch but should be used sparingly. 

The tomato and arugula parmesan salad was fairly pedestrian. The unfortunate part was that the kitchen used tomatoes right out of the fridge - the tomatoes were tooth numbingly cold! That really killed the taste of the salad with such a shocking temperature difference! And, keeping tomatoes in the fridge kills their flavour. So that dish was a huge disappointment.

Third

For the main, I had the duo of beef. A three ounce or so tenderloin sits on top of a heaping pile of mashed potatoes which is then set on a small pile of braised beef served with carrots and asparagus. I love beef duos but this one didn't do it for me. I hate to sound foo-foo but this was a muddled dish of flavours. It's one of those dishes where there are different components but everything ends up tasting the same (I had a similar experience at Mise). The beef was cooked correctly but the sauce didn't taste appropriate for the dish. The potatoes fluffy and deliciously well seasoned and a delight to eat. 

The other main was the northern pike à la Forestière with fresh herb potato hash in white truffle vinaigrette, spinach and wild mushroom demi-glace. Once again, I like truffles but it shouldn't be added to any dish just cause it's trendy to do so, but because it complements and enhances the flavours of the dish. The scent of truffles is very earthy and overpowering especially in this pike dish.

Dessert

For the last course, I had the mascarpone cheesecake with Saskatoon berry topping; it was a rich and dense cheesecake - always a plus in my books! I've never been a fan of Saskatoon berries and could have done without the topping but overall, a good cheesecake. The warm apple crumble with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream was warm and yummy. A great summer dessert!

Service

Our server was great. She was very friendly and warm. The only improvement I'd like to suggest is for the server to describe the dish to the diner. Any tasting menu I've ever had, the servers always describe the dish to you because who can remember all the courses that one gets in a tasting menu! We had to prompt her to tell us but that should not be the case.

Pricing

Starters are $10-$15 with mains averaging around $30, the vegetarian pasta at $22 and the highest price item is the bison at $43. Consequently, the 4x4 tasting menu is a good deal at $45. All the wines are from Canadian wineries.

Overall, the ambiance in this place is a very casual neighbourhood sort of place. So one can be dressy and somewhat casual without feeling too out of place. It's a bright but small space, feels like one is dining in NYC as you are spaced very closely to your fellow diners. It's very loud when it's full and when it's not, you can clearly hear your neighbour's conversation. The restaurant is definitely starting to show its age as the ceiling is cracked and there's a very bad patch job. The restaurant feels like it's trying to be casual yet their prices are nearly identical to meals I've had at Mirlycourtois (before it closed), Velvet Glove, and Sydney's (5 course at $51). These are fine dining establishments where service, ambiance and food are highly correlated to the price they charge. Hence my disappointment with Fusion Grill as they charge big prices for "quality" ingredients but yet there are so many glaring mis-steps. I wish them well and I know they have a big following but with so many great restaurants in the city that provide a far superior experience, I won't be dining here anytime soon. 

Fusion Grill

550 Academy Road

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Tel 204.489.6963

Tuesday through Saturday 

Lunch 11:30 am - 2 pm

Dinner starts at 5:30 pm