Take it all back cause
it don't mean nothing
If you give it away
and you're looking for something back
Looking for something back
Wake up every morning when there's nothing there
No reason to die
but no reason to care
Another Tuesday... another Taste!
Seeing as one of my gigs happens to have me at BMO Field frequently on Saturday nights, and Liberty Village happens to have something happening to be regarded as a top notch Toronto burger, and I happened to be hungry after a busy shift, and they happen to close at ten o'clock which is very close to when I typically happen to finish a shift... well you can guess what happened. I went to Panago and got a crummy pizza, then went home and watched M.Night Shyamalan's The Happening.
In all seriousness... Panago is actually just very meh. Definition of damning with faint praise. Fortunately... that is not where I went, nor is it what we're talking about today. Instead, it's Burger Drops!
Hip smash burgers have become a trend here in Toronto, with many following the burger bible of the famed NYC legend Shake Shack (soon to open a spot in the 416 area code). It's not exactly a new thing to the Toronto food scene: for ages some old diners have surely been doing some variation on a greasy burger pressed into crunchy thinness, while Rudy got a big head-start on making it trendy in more recent years... yet now does seem quite an era of this specific style popping up to offer the Rudy/Shack more refined version of this burger.
Since their turn-of-the-decade inception, first as a pandemic curbside pop-up by chef Greg Bourolias (formerly of Aloette) which quickly evolved into the current Liberty Village spot... Burger Drops has appeared on most of any "Top Toronto Burgers" list, including one by the owner of another burger joint we reviewed not too long ago. Despite this success and popularity, Liberty remains their singular location... which normally and previously disqualified a spot for the TT review in these parts. But... as I wrote last week I can only review the absurdly huge fast food chains so many times before it becomes pointlessly redundant... plus Burger Drops background as a mobile pop-up and the apparent existence of a food truck means we'll let the old rules slide.
Going in, the plan was to keep things simple: their 'original' cheeseburger and some cheese fries (I cannot resist cheese fries in almost any form). Like most new Toronto burger joints of this vintage, Drops keep the menu very straightforward: your standard single or double burger option, some kind of fried chicken offering, a desserty-thing or two, a vegetarian choice, and maybe some kind of poutine or chili addition for the fries.
But oh... oh. Burger Drops offer something I delight in more than even cheese fries... curly fries! Man, I freaking love curly fries... and you have no idea, dear reader, how difficult it was for me to hold fast with my original plan. These cheese fries have a jalapeno relish on top as well... intriguing enough to end up as the tie-breaker.
Since we're talking about cheese fries, here be they. Those crinkle cuts, like these modernized smash burgers, are also really becoming a thing too, aren't they? Cool sure, but even writing this now I'm still thinking about what those curly fries might be like...
You might look at this and wonder, as I initially did: "Uh, where's the cheese?" It is definitely in there, just most of it pools at the bottom, and there's a good amount. This was a quick photo as well, maybe five minutes after getting my order... so not a case of things being jostled about en route.
As fries... they're fine. Pretty good even, at points. I'd like a little more crispiness with all of them, and the seasoning isn't really much. The ones that have the crisp are great... but other fries (about 50/50) were a little too soft and especially the ones swimming in the cheese pool.
As for that cheese... it's that classic American cheese taste. They nail the specific flavour: like a much better and authentically cheesier version of gooey nacho cheese-product you might buy in a jar, or find on tap at a 7/11. Full honesty, I love a good cheese sauce and this particular style of it has never quite been my thing... still I'll appreciate it when it is done with this strong level of quality. Plus, one positive of the pool of it at the bottom is controlling how much you want with each dipped fry.
The jalapeno relish was far more interesting. A really nice sweetness, some spice, a good consistency that gave some sting through that heavy sauce (which really just congeals as it cools). I quite liked this relish a lot, and think it would also work brilliantly on a burger (Drops thinks along with me, offering it as an addition for a couple bucks).
Onto the burger and... these guys really like their American cheese, don't they.
While I'll reiterate my "meh" feelings towards American cheese (especially on grilled cheese sandwiches, nope)... I'll concede that a hamburger, and especially this particular type of hamburger, is the exception. There is just something about that slightly plasticy taste combined with a greasy, fried crispy (on the outside) beef patty that just works so well. The cheese has to be well-melted for it to really work (another reason I can't stand McDonald's... that cheese could probably emerge from being thrown into the sun in still its packaged shape) and when it does, magic. Score one for Burger Drops.
There's quite some significant sweetness in this burger, mostly from the potato roll and the griddled onions. Still, the overall balance is on point (having some quality pickles to counteract the onion helps) and keeps the main attraction as being the beef itself. Man, it's another take on the old school greasy burger done right: the crispy edges, oily all around, lots of flavour in the beef and it's both juicy and still cooked more Medium-Well than Medium. Great textures throughout. Not a thin patty either: a single of this size was exactly what I am usually looking for.
Another little touch I greatly appreciated: the slight toast of the buns. In-N-Out are the masters of this, somehow keeping that center of the bun soft but having a perfect thin circle around the outer bottom edge of the bun have this amazing buttery crunch. Such a nice touch, and this Drops burger aims for that and gets it right as well.
Overall! I think their placement in the upper tier of Toronto burgers is well deserved. But... are they actually the best as some might say? Or, at least one of my favourites that I've tried in my fairly limited burger adventures (what is this, pizza)?
Of the ones I've reviewed recently... I think Harry's blew me away just a little more, and Friday's was, while also a smash burger, one of similar strong quality to Drops but a bit more in tune with my particular tastes. Less sweet and oil, more body and dimension... hey though this is all good stuff and we're arguing in millimetres here.
Burger Drops is terrific, and I do highly recommend them. It's got more of that dirty, greasy griddle taste to it than those others... but in such a way that won't leave your stomach turning immediately afterwards. Like a dirty diner burger done with great prep, detail, and ingredients (those sweet onions really are an important secret weapon).
Since their main beef burger options are either the 'Original', which I had, or the 'American', which swaps out the pickles for a ketchup relish, lettuce, and diced onions instead of the sweet ones... well seems a good excuse for a second visit some day. Those curly fries will be calling my name anyhow.
---
Funky Jobs On The Run
I've worked a lot of various jobs in my adult life, the vast majority of them in bars/restaurants, and as such some of the extremely brief ones do stand out in my memory for something comedic and/or bizarre. Enjoy this new semi-short feature on the TT.
SPIN
Back into the weird first ten-ish weeks of 2020 (did anything notable happen after early March? Things cooled down I figure).
I'd actually been hired in February of 2020 by a job I still currently have, but the whole process of orientation, training, union stuff etc was dragging on and I needed cash quicker than this was playing out. There was a posting for support staff at a downtown bar near King and Spadina: I applied, got an interview the next day, and that very Friday was in for a training shift. Exactly March 6th, 2020.
I hadn't been support for a night-time establishment in over half a decade at this point (already being in my early 30s, already significant years of bartending experience... wonder why) but bills are bills. The thing with SPIN though: not a typical King West-like place. It's a huge space slightly below ground level... but instead of fancy couches, dance floors and bottle service under strobe lights... the place had about a dozen ping-pong tables. Which is their thing: they're a ping pong bar/event space.
A chunk of the job was your typical support/busboy stuff: clear glasses, wipe tables, take out garbages etc... all that fun stuff. Meeting my other co-workers here in the same role, I was at least ten years older than any of them (never a great feeling for the ol' pride). This is where the job gets unique though, because the most important aspect of this support job wasn't the usual stuff I just mentioned, no sir or mam.
Because this was a very busy ping pong bar, you've got plastic balls flying everywhere and ending up on the floor in corners and various random spots. So, the main priority was to collect them from the ground and continuously restock every table (there was some kind of basket thingy). How did we collect these dozens of ping pong balls flying everywhere? There were these Lacrosse-like sticks with nets that you would glide along the floor to scoop them up. And... you would be doing this constantly... at least every five minutes walking around with this netted device scooping up tiny balls.
It wasn't the worst thing? Not really? I've had some real bad jobs and this wasn't that. But... it was very repetitive and time did not flow quickly... also the "being open until 2am so working past 3am" thing... been there, done that.
My co-workers were all extremely nice. The bar manager bought me a beer once we'd closed on my second shift (the Saturday, March 7th) and I got paid in cash on the spot for both my hours and a bit of a support tipout. I knew this wasn't something I wanted to do (hell I was dreading both shifts on the streetcar rides there) but... possibly(?) I could've gotten through doing it a couple nights a week just for a while if the people and vibes were this generally positive.
I'll never know either way. They offered me a position early the next week, which I accepted while warning my other new job with MLSE could conflict (they were okay with this). Three days later, the oncoming hell storm could not be ignored any longer. March 13th, 2020 (a Friday the 13th actually, which could've been worth a chuckle in retrospect but no, definite no). That same Friday would've been my long awaited first training shift at MLSE... turns out I'd have to wait a year and a half for that.
As for SPIN... whenever it was they reopened, I never got an invitation back. Likely I was just forgotten in the craziest shuffle of a generation... a random dude who worked a random weekend before the hail of ping pong balls was halted indefinitely.
Looking back, it was a weird quirky gig I did for two weekend nights that doesn't hold any regret, disappointment, or pride in my memory. Can't even remember anyone's name. Just kinda... was there for a brief moment in time, a weird moment in a world about to be thrown off a cliff for a desperately long while. I still have the shirt they gave me though, and I do wear it sometimes.
Tuesday Tune
Sometimes I like my deep cuts. An overlooked tune on a less known record by an artist I dearly love. Other times, a song I dearly love might be their most famous, while I just kinda like a couple of their albums. This one is closer to the latter, although I do really like the first two records (the only two I know). And this song is a personal favourite regardless, one I've heard since a teen and still am as entranced by it as ever. Can't explain it.
Hey that's all for this week. Amazed I managed to get this done after four baseball games (okay three were Slo-pitch) and three long work shifts in the span of five days! Boo hoo, of course. Not getting my review done in time is hardly a universe altering event. But... it is an event of some relative accomplishment nevertheless. Until the next such event, stay cool out there, stay safe, and don't spill that mustard.
No comments:
Post a Comment