A Bonus Taste: A&W's "Best Burger Ever"

 

 

This week you get two food reviews for the price of one... which is none! Do hold me in your hearts, I hope. 

It was rather a spontaneous decision to review this particular item: basically it was 2:45 AM and I was drunk and hungry leaving The Only. However! To the credit of inebriated me... my initial writings getting home that night were pretty detailed and accurate from what I recall of chowing down on this thing after a healthy sampling of craft beers (with obviously some edits). So, as a bonus to the weekly Tuesday review... I present:

 

Best-Burger-Ever ---- by A&W

 

Obviously I have some reservations about such a bold claim, and some qualifications to judge thanks to previous experience (*cough* In-N-Out *cough*).

A&W Canada, to their immense credit, seems rather skillful at maximizing their own source material. I've commented many times how their regular burgers are enjoyable but inescapably salty regardless of latest creative innovation.

This one is a bit different. I didn't know it when eating it 2:45 AM Monday morning, but this "Best Ever Burger" is actually a collaboration between A&W and famous Canadian chef (and personality) Matty Matheson. Matheson, for all his larger than life hijinks, really does take the art of burgers extremely seriously. I was able to try the now deceased P&L burger spot on Queen West many years ago (before my reviewing days) and came away impressed. Matty's Patty's is his latest foray into burgers, located just further west down Queen, which I have yet to try (dunno if there are still long lineups for the place but I have strong disinclination towards traveling far to line up for almost anything). I'm sure I'll get around to it at some point soon.     

Getting to the burger itself. Admittedly (and recall I was oblivious of Matheson's involvement at the time of ordering)... I saw the price of this thing (almost ten bucks) and my interest in trying it at all was instantly waning. The combination seemed odd: fried pickles are a fun pub dish shared with friends, but a primary feature on a burger? Strong skepticism. 

Of course, hunger won out. Well... it's not at all the "best burger ever"... but A&W puts their bizarre and seemingly random creativity to use yet again (unlike many prominent burger chains that tie their growingly obese menus to trends). This perhaps explains how they got Matheson onboard for this collaboration (though I'm sure a giant dump-truck of money helped): a notable professional chef would probably want to work with a large brand serious about inventing a new interesting product, as opposed to something like McDonald's where the new Malibu Stacey has a new hat.   

I don't mean this to overtly praise A&W, because this particular burger does have some issues... merely that I appreciate the thoughtfulness of their conceptions. First off, this burger oozes in your fingers. It's grease city, which from what I know of Matty Matheson is a culinary staple of his stable, but not quite for me at this degree. Place both top and bottom beneath a paper towel for a moment each... it's dripping through. To be fair, consider what you're signing up for here: between two buns you have breaded and fried pickles, fried onions, melted cheese (there's so much going on here you barely notice it, the fried heat within gooifies it), plus a very salty garlic mayo slathered all over this thing (the dripping whiteness you see). 

Also for the record, when I ordered this it was approaching three in the morning... so a nice shoutout to the staff at Greenwood and Danforth. None of this tasted like it'd been prepared in a rush... or like a tricky obscure menu item ordered at a weird hour and thus leaving the delicate aspects in imbalance. I think they made this as best as it could be (I'll never know, I ain't trying this beast a second time).

It did rely on this garlic mayo way too much (this is coming from the mouth of a shameless mayo guzzler) but that heaviness paired well with the absurd oiliness of the beef here. Paired well in terms of sheer indulgence, I mean. Objectively, this burger is a lot. No bite of this will not taste like insane grease. Oily bun, deep fried bitter pickle crunch with the juice and batter dripping down... runny garlic mayo, fried onions (the same tiny circle ones from a Buddy Burger) and the prime rib patty soaking up all the flavours above and below.  

What I think makes this actually work pretty well, despite being an insane indulgence I surrendered to well beyond last call... is how each of these incredibly heavy flavours sort of click uniquely in their own ways here. They don't tread on each other at all. The fried pickles are tasty, add some crunchy bitter height to the affair but the breaded stingy crunch is merely a performer not the headliner of the show. The prime rib beef patty abandons the over-seasoned fallback of their regular offerings and oozes with beefy juice... definitely very different and a notch above in quality than your usual fast food burger. Much more tender by the bite, more flavour beyond salt and it lingers longer. It drips like crazy, swimming in it's juices and just adding to this gooey, mayo heavy, fried capsules and sweaty onion creation.

It's actually... good... yeah! Somewhat. It's just... I mean look at this damn thing. The main players (fried pickle, onions, beef) have presence when isolated from each other, yet combine nicely in any combination when occasionally crossing paths. The insane vision of it all is a success... but it's not for the faint of breath. It'll soak through your pores just holding the wrapper. Overall... I'd recommend trying it (especially if you are a fan of unique cheeseburgers) but maybe just once. Like a one night stand that always keeps that pleasant place in the corner of your memory.