Lovely lady
mystifying eyes
Lovely lady
She don't tell me no lies
I know I'll never leave ya
I'm never gonna leave ya
anymore
Another Tuesday... another Taste! The Unofficial Month of Burgers concludes with our entry this week, a science-meets-culinary (culincience?) franchise with three locations throughout Toronto called Matt's Burger Lab.
As far as I can tell, all three MBL locations opened up sometime between 2019 and 2021... with the multi-floor flagship-like Parkdale one at Queen and Dufferin likely being the first. The internets are stingy on further backstory, although the concept does appear born from co-owner/chef Matt Vilmaz's combining his love of science and food. It is also Halal, and there was a Hamilton location that opened in 2020 (after serious hurdles, unsurprisingly) but seems to have since bitten the dust.
This does give me some space and excuse to talk about Queen and Dufferin, an intersection that has undergone a massive transformation in the past twenty years. In the mid-late 2000s as a wee lad I was working at the Drake Hotel nearby and always found it so bizarre how Dufferin Street would suddenly end for a block and then restart southward from Queen Street. It made the already brutal rides on the 29 bus all the more colourful.
Right around the time I left the Drake in 2009, the city had begun correcting this odd quirk. The underpass from the train tracks remained of course, but now there was a north road underneath the bridge connecting the south stretch of Dufferin (rather than just untamed urban wilderness). This, combined with the old plaza on the southwest corner being ripped out around this same time... has made Queen and Dufferin a very strange and unfamiliar intersection. It's been almost fifteen years in its current form and yet to me (an east ender now for the majority of that period) this all feels new and curious.
Replacing that old plaza is a low-rise building which houses the very Matt's Burger Lab location I visited on a blistering, sunny and windy Sunday afternoon. See, sometimes my long winded rambles actually do tie back together!
As mentioned the location is a multi-floor open space flooded with an abundance of natural light (as will happen when most of your walls are windows). Adding to the semi-laboratory test chamber feel of the place are the science-y black and white mural sketches by local artist Mike Parsons throughout. The counter from which to order is upstairs on a little lookout terrace, with a couple of stools directly in front of the air conditioner (you can presume correctly I took a full dose of that on this particularly sweaty day).
While known for their (quite Instagramable) burger "experiments", MBL also offer a variety of daily specials... the Sunday one being their cheese smash with fries, a drink and two dips. While their Hawaiian smash burger did tickle my curiousity with its spicy BBQ and grilled pineapple... I thought it best to keep things simple for my review intentions. I made my order, chilled in front of that air conditioner and then quickly rode off to work a Cyndi Lauper concert (couldn't leave those girls who just wanna have fun hanging now, could I).
Fries and dip! It was so hot this afternoon that these dips were quite warm once I was able to stop and get them out of this silver paper bag. I elected upon their "Lab Sauce" and Rosemary Garlic as my selections.
The Lab Sauce is... a fairly classic and typical burger sauce. Very mayo and ketchup forward, which is fine (those two do mix very well) without much mustard or peppery sting to it. Sweet and a thicker creaminess. Their Rosemary Garlic dip, however... absolutely stellar. There aren't any bits of rosemary in the dip but the essence of it is completely there, that refreshing fragrant taste matching with a rich garlicky undercurrent very nicely. It's a bit different and absolutely terrific: this would be welcome on any sandwich or as a compliment to any french fry in my humble household.
As for the fries themselves... the flavour is absolutely on point but the texture is somewhat lacking. Definitely loaded with terrific potato taste and the seasoning is heavy but simple and not overwhelming. The sweet spot as far as salty fries go. But that texture... sadly these aren't all that crispy and there's a slight firm floppiness to them.
The fact that they taste so much of real potato definitely saves them. These are fine as far as french fries go but I definitely prefer at least a little bit of crispiness. It gets everything else right.
It looks less like a burger and more like a floating bun in a sea of beef patty! Visually I'm reminded of a schnitzel sandwich where the circumference of schnitzel is nearly double that to the nucleus of bread.
Just a simple smash cheeseburger. Pickle, cheese, lettuce. The edges are more crumbly than oily or crispy, the potato bun soft and squishy, with the sauce and melted cheese dripping and plentiful.
The burger itself is also truly excellent. That crumbly beef is well cooked but has enough moisture not to be all that chewy... while the flavour is just beef, salt and pepper lingering nicely on the tongue. With the good burgers that's all it needs.
Even once cold (I only had time for a few bites before my shift started) it loses none of it's wonderful taste or texture. A burger like this just tastes like southern California: sunshine, a beach, maybe a surfboard and one of these. That combination of flavours... melted fake cheese blanketed over the crumbly beef patty with the dripping ketchup/mayo... lettuce giving a minor crunch and pickle an occasional zing... it's a classic for a food reason. Extremely enjoyable and, because there's so much flattened beef on this thing... quite satisfying also.
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Overall! While I was torn on whether or not to recommend the decent-ish Burgers N' Fries Forever... this occasion requires no such deliberation. Matt's Burger Lab is indeed worth checking out if you're craving a smash burger that really brings that extra "oh yeah" (for lack of a better term). Even a single patty has an absurd amount of beef (a sea of beef!) and the seasoning on the burger is spot on. As I find myself often saying in these burger reviews... you know it's a good one when the last bite is as enjoyable as the first.
I was less impressed with the fries, despite tasting pretty good... but they don't call themselves "Matt's French Fry Lab" so it's far from a deal breaker. With all the data collected and tests complete, I think we can call this project a success and inform the public. Check it out!
Tuesday Tune
RIP to the Prince of Darkness.
That's all for this week! Like I said, July ended up being an accidental burger month (surely one of the better kinds of accidents). Will August continue the trend? Who knows! I don't! Until then... stay safe, stay cool out there and don't spill that mustard.
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