burgers Archives - Curiously Carmen

The Pink Bicycle

January 19, 2017

While in Victoria, the boyfriend and I tried a few locally loved restaurants. I mean, you’re not truly visiting a place if you don’t try their food, right? When we were looking up restaurants to eat, The Pink Bicycle rose to the top of both of our lists.

We made the decision to walk from our hotel to The Pink Bicycle to save on parking and see more of the city, but the walk was longer and more difficult than we expected. We got a bit lost, it was still really cold from the snow storm warning, and I was getting blisters from the new winter boots I had just bought in preparation.

The restaurant is dark and doesn’t really have much signage, except for a pink bicycle on the window.
As expected on a Friday night, there was a bit of a wait. The restaurant is pretty small, and the kitchen is on the top floor. I always feel a bit bad for restaurants where the kitchen is on another level, because of the servers who have to walk up and down.

If that was me, I probably would slip a few times.
Pink Bike Cheeseburger, $12.50: I ordered their standard cheeseburger, but without the cheese due to my dairy restriction =(. It came on a toasted sesame bun, naturally raised local beef, veggies, and the pink bike sauce (a combination of mustard, ketchup, and relish).

This burger was such a delight! You could really taste the quality in it. The patty was thick and juicy, and full of flavour. You know it’s a good burger when the juices are oozing out onto your plate and getting all over your fingers.

I also really enjoyed the sesame bun. It was nice and thick, and reminded me of a classic burger. Although the pink bike sauce is just a combination of mustard, ketchup, and relish, they really nailed down the ratio because it tasted really good.

For my side, I stuck with the regular fries. They were nice and crispy.
BBQ Island Bison Burger, $15.50: The boyfriend also really enjoyed the bison burger. As with my beef burger, his bison burger was thick and juicy as well. It was topped with smoky cheddar and BBQ sauce.

Since we were on vacation, he went all out and upgraded to the mac and cheese sticks. I really wish I could have tried them because he kept raving about how delicious and cheesy they are.

He also added a zesty lime mayo dip, which he said was alright. The star of the dinner was definitely the mac & cheese sticks for him!

Overall, we really enjoyed our food at The Pink Bicycle and I would highly recommend giving it a try if you’re a burger lover! Service was a bit slow since they were busy, but they were all very friendly and catered to my food restrictions nicely!

Yay!

Red Robins

July 30, 2014

I suddenly had a craving for Red Robins one afternoon before school. I really wanted their freckled lemonade and chicken tenders! Unfortunately, both the locations I used to go to shut down, so I haven’t been in awhile 🙁 . We ended up going to the Red Robins in North Vancouver, which was closer to my house than I thought!

At first, we were seated at the patio but for some reason, our table had no umbrella or shade and it got wayy too hot to comfortably enjoy lunch. We ended up moving back to the a/c filled restaurant, right in front of a tv playing the World Cup!

Of course, I had to get my freckled lemonade ($4.29)! A freckled lemonade is a fruity lemonade with strawberry syrup, with real strawberries inside. Granted, the strawberries inside are like the syrup-saturated ones you would find in a McDonalds sundae but I enjoyed it anyways.

Freckled lemonade also comes with bottomless refills and the staff do a great job in ensuring your cup is never empty. We had different staff come by to ask for a refill, which I greatly appreciated.

I mentioned in my Elephant and Castle post that I love chicken tenders. I especially LOVE the chicken tenders at Red Robins because they’re always piping hot, crispy on the outside but tender in the inside, and seasoned well. I am also addicted to the Red Robins seasoning, and over loaded on it. #Sorrynotsorry 🙂

Anyways, since it was our first time at this location, I was a bit hesitant but it had the familiar, delicious taste I was used to. The chicken tenders were perfect. As well, fries are unlimited and our server did a great job in making sure we had enough. We didn’t take advantage on the fry refill though, cause our portions of food were so big.

Also, I could tell the server was busy and a bit flustered, but he was really nice and tried his hardest to check up on all the tables.

Next up was our shrimp and chips platter. It was a pretty big portion and we didn’t end up finishing all the fries. The batter on the shrimp was very crispy and the shrimp inside was very juicy and tasty as well. It didn’t taste over fried or re-fried either.

All in all, my craving for Red Robins was satisfied and I am very glad I gave this location a chance. The food was up to par, and our server was probably the nicest server I have had at Red Robins.

-Carmen

Burgers Etc BBQ House, N. Burnaby

April 27, 2014

Last weekend, a group of friends and I decided to have lunch at Burgers Etc. I haven’t been here for awhile so I was delighted! This is a local and neighbourhood favourite, well known for their pulled pork sandwich specials and alcoholic ice cream milkshakes. Yummmm!

Unfortunately, I am kicking myself in the face for forgetting to take a picture of my own food, but managing to take a picture of all my friend’s plates. So, I regretfully tell you guys that I will not have a picture of my own plate :(.

Burgers Etc has won many restaurant awards in the past. They have certificates lined up against the waiting area to prove it. There was one server working while we were there. Later on, a busser joined her. Both workers were very friendly and attentative.
One thing I really liked about Burgers Etc was their open concept kitchen. On the other side of these tables, was the grill area for the burgers. We got to see them cook our food!

The open concept kitchen speaks volumes about a restaurant’s practices, because it shows that they don’t have anything bad to hide (well, less compared to regular restaurants I guess).
Let’s start with my friend’s BBQ combo platter ($17). You choose two types of BBQ meats, and two sides. My friend got the pulled pork and beef brisket, with potato salad and baked beans.

Both the meats were extremely tender, soft, and juicy. Every bite oozed delicious BBQ goodness and smokiness! I also tried his baked beans, which I was surprised because I didn’t expect them to have a sweet taste to them.
My friend’s grilled chicken burger with macaroni salad. I got the same thing as her, expect I had fries with my burger. Since I forgot to take a picture of mine, I’ll just include it here. Their grilled chicken was grilled perfectly, and slightly charred. It was juicy, perfectly cooked, and seeping with flavour. The toppings in the burger were also really fresh!
My friend’s beef burger! For extra charge, you are able to add additional, fancier toppings such as peppers, cheese, and bacon which is what my friend did. I didn’t try it, but it looked really good and he had no complaints. It also came with an overwhelming amount of jalapeno peppers, which were scattered generously on half his plate. Yum!
Another burger! This one was the pulled pork BBQ sandwich, topped with cole slaw. I would imagine this burger was heavenly as well, since their pulled pork is so flavourful and tender.
My friend ordered the beef dip BBQ sandwich, which came with mushrooms, onions, mayo. Each burger included a dill pickle. She couldn’t finish hers, and I was curious as to what it tasted like. This burger was SO. GOOD. The beef melted in your mouth, along with mushrooms and melted cheese. The beef dip that came of it was really flavourful as well. I believe it was made with beef stock, and it was pretty light. The warm, juicy burger and beef dip are a serious match made in heaven.

All the meats from Burgers ETC were cooked perfectly. They were tender, juicy, and well seasoned- some of the meats practically melt in your mouth! Added with the great service and atmosphere, this is a great place to have a burger.

-Carmen