Max’s Burgers~Bacon Marmalade Topped Goodness

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Sean

Attention burger lovers and addicts~there’s a new dealer in town and his name is Max and he’s gonna have you coming back for more!

Chef Connor Butler is the chef and rain’s behind the menu and the space used to be Max’s Deli owned by Bruce Redpath and Redpath Foods, he’s still the owner of the building and is the owner of Max’s Burgers.

It’s a step up from Vera’s and Sunset Burgers and is ment to appeal to the Stackhouse Burger Bar and Romer’s Burger Bar crowd with fresh ground chuck brought in from Alberta and in-house made Brioche bun’s, with extra add-ons like blue cheese, applewood smoked bacon and house-made bacon marmalade!, Hollandaise sauce, red onion rings, sautéed mushrooms he’s really setting himself apart from the others on the market. Besides burgers the menu also features ancho-chili spiced Sloppy Joes, pigs in blankets, real black truffle mayo dips, crab po’boys, a $55, 24 ounce “Behemoth” burger that comes with a pitcher of beer and all the types of fries they have~it’s gonna become a Vancouver go to spot for burgers I totally think.

My visit was on their 2nd day of opening, I walked in just 12pm and it was totally packed so I went and relaxed out of the pouring rain at the Starbucks close by. I got back in around 1:30 and it I got a table without an issue. When you walk in your intuition tells you to walk up to the counter and place your order and grab a seat but it’s not the case here and confused me and a lot of other people~grab a seat if you want to eat in and a server will come over and take your order.

The menu is full of really great sounding burgers and sandwiches and the boozy shakes sound great and something that I’m definitely going to try in a future visit.

For this adventure I wanted to try something that I heard great things about~the British Columbian Burger for $12.50, it has their house made bacon marmalade as well as Apple Wood Smoked Bacon on it as well as all there usual toppings~shredded lettuce, tomatoes and fried onions that are a free option as well as their house Big Max Sauce. All burgers come with hand cut Kennebec fries.

This bad boy was totally delicious, the different flavors from the bacon marmalade and the beef went totally beautifully together, I had to employ the Tripple D Guy Fieri move~the hunch, the juice would have totally ran down my arms!, it’s a 3 napkinr’ and a definite must try.

My fries unfortunately were the weakest part of the meal and needed to be cooked longer~I left 3/4 of them and just chowed on my burger, I’d totally try the onion rings that they have~I saw some orders of them and they looked really good.

Deacon’s Corner

Posted on November 12, 2011 by Sean

Deacons Corner sits on the border of the Downtown Eastside and Gastown and is serving up classic diner food and all day breakfasts. I can remember eating here years ago when it was a generic white box and the food was pretty so so. Now with the same owner as Gastown’s Cobre being the proprietor of this joint the good food and solid service have arrived at The Deacons Corner.

On my first visit I had the classic clubhouse with fries. For $11.75 you get the usual suspects in a classic clubhouse-freshly roasted chicken, fresh tomatoes and lettuce and perfectly cooked bacon. This was one of the best clubhouses I’ve ever had and it’s simply because of the fresh ingredients. The fries here are hand cut and tossed with salt and pepper and are totally addictive.

On another visit I tried their daily special-a ham steak sandwich with bacon, Swiss cheese and cheddar with a bowl of potato, ham and leek soup for $10.00. This was a bit hit and miss for me, the soup was the off part, I got a few big chunks of bay leaf on my first few spoonfuls and consequently that’s all I tasted in the soup from then on. The sandwich on the other had was good and full of porky goodness with the thick cut fried ham steak and the bacon. It’s a classic diner sandwich at the end of the day.

The burgers here are where it’s really at, the toppings are classic and fresh and again I went with the fries.

Each burger here comes with 2 homemade little patty’s, the meat is cooked on a flat top grill and I chose to add cheese. For $9.75 this is the best and cheapest burger I’ve had in a while, when it’s put all together you get this:

The perfect burger!, they have a couple of specialty burgers on the menu that look really good so if you’re looking to satisfy that craving for a perfect cheese burger check out the Deacon’s Corner and they’ll hook you up right.

The American CheeseSteak Co.

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Sean

TV Chef and restaurateur Anthony Sedlak has opened the doors to his newest place-The American CheeseSteak Co. and he’s serving something right up my alley.

The sign say’s it all, the American CheeseSteak Co is totally bringing the authentic Philadelphia tradition and must eat if you’re there-the cheese steak sandwich. Thinly sliced steak with fried onions and peppers, topped with cheese wiz-that’s the traditional cheese steak but provolone is also another traditional option. The beauty here is the variations and primo ingredients that take the cheese steak to the next level.

I went with the beef option but they also offer a chicken sandwich and also a vegetarian option and fries & onion rings are also a side with gourmet dips.

Classic Cheese Steak 12″ $11. I went with the Philly classic in the large size, the meat was super tender and as you can see it was STUFFED in the sandwich. I also had sautéed onions and mushrooms in my sandwich and in the end I had to use a fork and knife to eat this cuz of the amount of ingredients. one thing that was a problem was the metal basket the sandwich is in-when you cuz it up you cut thru the was paper and hit the metal of the basket so a plate might be better to serve it on, I would think the smaller size cheese steak would be easier to hold and eat.

ACC Fries $4, hand cut fries with garlic, parsley and Parmesan. These were pretty good, the garlic isn’t too strong and is mixed up well with the parsley but I couldn’t really taste the parm.

I think Vancouver does have a new tradition from the city of brotherly love and so far it has been embraced with open arms by all us ravenous carnivores who love good comfort food.

Mc Donalds new Supreme Chicken Sandwiches

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Sean

Mc Donald’s Canada has launched a new line of premium or as they say “supreme” chicken sandwich’s this August. Coming in 3 different flavor combinations~Tangy Thai, Mushroom and Swiss and the classic chicken BLT~both available in crispy or grilled.

The sandwiches are oblong and the in this case the crispy chicken patty~I don’t know if I can call it a breast

it was all white meat and not the same texture as the Mc Chicken patty but at the end of the day it was an enjoyable eat and nicely seasoned.

As you can see I went with the crispy BLT sandwich $5.81 incl HST for the sandwich alone

the sandwich is a good size even if you’re a big eater, it’s on a soft tender bun that is special for the supreme sandwich line and its all nicely wrapped so you don’t wear it!

This ended up being a great chicken BLT and I really enjoyed my sandwich, I’d definitely order this one again.

The next day I stopped into the same Mc Donald’s that I got the above sandwich from and picked up the Swiss Mushroom Melt with the crispy chicken patty, this time there was a different crew working at the store~it was the Canada fire works at the Celebration Of Light so they were also busy, that being said this is that greeted me when I opened the box:

not wrapped nicely like this one:

so I peeled back the wrapping like a crappy Christmas gift:

now having worked in fast food in my teenage years this sad-looking “supreme” chicken sandwich screams “WHO PUT ME TOGETHER HATES THERE JOB!!”, the sandwich was sloppily put together, the lettuce was brown, wilted and frankly gross~I took it off and thus most of the sauce came off with it and half the cheese was in the box.

After doing some plastic surgery to my food I ate a couple bites, I wasn’t as happy this time as I was when I had the BLT, the mushrooms on this tasted like they were out of a can~limp and really soft, I went to put my sandwich down and then noticed this on the underside of the wrapper:

not what I like in my food, keep your hair on your body whoever cooked my food and head back for retraining at head office because you can’t make food to spec.

This all being said I’m going to wait to get the Thai sandwich when the regular crew is working and my Swiss sandwich is where it belongs~in the garbage.

Updated Post:

so it’s the next day and things are back to normal in the West End after the fireworks. I stopped in and grabbed a Tangy Thai Supreme Sandwich, I was hoping for a better experience and here it is in pictures:

someone missed the demo on how to build new sandwiches!

whats under the hood?

REALLY!, roasted red peppers and 4 1/2 moon cucumber slices topped off with sweet Thai chilli sauce.

overall not taking appearance into account because if it was made text-book I still wouldn’t have liked it, it was crying for some lettuce and some kind of mayo to cut the chilli sauce. This was my least favorite sandwich and crispy is the way to go with these bad boys~the patty fits the bun better. Also below is a lesson why these sandwiches should be wrapped in the paper the are supposed to come in:

it’s freaking messy and the ingredients fall out~not good when 50% of the veg falls into the box but hey~there wasn’t any hair in my food this time!. To see properly made sandwiches check Foodology.ca and Diana’s take on Mc Donald’s new offering’s.

www.mcdonalds.ca

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@mcd_canada

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Foodology.ca

Save On Meats Diner-Pig’s Can Fly!

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Sean

Yes pigs can fly!, the Vancouver icon Save On Meats has been reborn and I must say that it manages to keep the best parts and more have been added~the booths are wired for laptops and there’s WiFi !.

Originally opened in 1957 it went strong for all of my life~things that stand out in my mind from childhood are Woodwards and Save On Meats and the big pig sign, the business finally closed it’s doors in 2009 when Al DesLauriers retired. I know I was now very happy to see it close, it was a go to place for summer BBQ eats and good deals on roasts for family dinners for me and my friends and a kick ass burger for pennies on the dollar, here’s a video I found that documents the last day of the old Save On Meats uploaded by Davely70. The new owner Mark Brand is the owner of the higher end restaurant Boneta in Gastown as well as Sea Monstr Sushi, The Diamond, Sharks + Hammers and the Catalog Gallery, this Vancouverite was eager to see something good happen to the building and not let it become another victim to the wrecking ball. After a year and a half full renovation and more than $1,000,000.00 pumped into the facility it’s a welcome and needed business in the Downtown Eastside.

There is a lot going on in the space now, part of the four-story building is leased to SOLE Food, an urban farm, run by local residents, who use it as a distribution center for produce. Brand is planning a commissary kitchen for neighborhood residents who might wish to start a food business. The complex also includes a bakery for the restaurant and baked goods are also sold next door in the butcher shop. It’s one of the few places where almost everything is made in~house, the bakery grind their own flour for baking, using wheat from various farms on Vancouver Island and this ends up in the homemade killer bread, baked goods and the brioche hamburger buns.

The ice cream for the triple thick shakes and soda fountain ice cream deserts is all made in-house and is DIVINE!. I’ve had the chocolate, banana and the coffee shakes here and have been a happy camper every time.

Having the butcher shop as part of the building helps keep the costs down on the restaurant side so you can have a filling home cooked meal and it won’t break the bank and also lets the neighborhood residents get benefit of being able to get quality affordable meat and baked goods on a limited budget. At the front where the windows used to separate the 2 entrances is now a take out sandwich and quick eats window where you can get an all day breakfast sandwich on homemade biscuit for $1.50

The menu speaks for itself:

they do the big 3 here~breakfast, lunch and dinner here, opening at 7am and closing at 10pm you have ample time to get over and get some good eats, the addition of a $4 kids menu with dishes that all come with your or your little one’s choice of salad, fries, coleslaw or fruit cup and milk or juice. makes it kid friendly and headache free for mom and dad.

Now on to the food I’ve had:

the Save On Meats burger with bacon and cheese with fries on the side $6, yes that price is right~six bucks!, its made from ground chuck and flank steak, it has house made bacon, cheese and all the usually suspects on a brioche bun, any other place this would be $10-$12 easy. I really liked it and it was the first thing I tried on my initial visit, the burger was flavorful and juicy, the bun was buttery and a bit sweet. It’s like the original Save On Meats burger got grown up and refined during the building makeover and still remained dirt cheap~a deal that you can’t miss in my books. One issue that I do have is the fact that the burger patty was a lot smaller than the bun and is something I’ve seen in other bloggers pictures, it’s not a deal breaker in my eyes~just a minor grumble and the pickle on top made up for it!.

the Clubhouse with fries and house made coleslaw $7

the roasted chicken in this bad boy was moist, tender and in my eyes needs to me a meal on its own!, it’s a classic done right in my eyes and is a solid choice of a sandwich. One thing that I didn’t mention above in talking about the burger were the fries~there crisp and tender inside like great fries should be and I’ve found myself craving them at 11pm at night a few times last week. When I order this again I’m going have to insist my sandwich be on more regular bread~I don’t know if I got the 2 ends from a loaf but the outsides were hard and difficult to eat around the edges, also on this visit my sandwich order was taken but got lost in translation in the kitchen and wasn’t made for 30 mins when I finally had enough and asked WTF, even the waitress couldn’t understand what happened back there in the kitchen, at the end of the day I had a free coffee triple thick shake for my trouble (as pictured above).

the open-faced roasted chicken sandwich with house made brown gravy with fries and coleslaw $8, I really liked this sandwich, the bread was super soft in the middle where the chicken was placed and the crust had some slight chew to it-if my clubhouse was on this It would have been a perfect sandwich, the roasted chicken was moist and tender. The house made brown gravy was not overly salty and added the right moisture to this classic knife and fork sandwich. The coleslaw they make here is vinegar biased I think, all I know it’s not the gloopy mayo kind and I really love it!. One thing that I will say is that this menu item needs to have another piece of bread with chicken and gravy on it to be a open-faced chicken sandwich and to fill you up, I was still hungry and could have easily downed a burger or a couple of pieces of pie from Acme Cafe 2 doors down from Save On Meats.

The Damn Fine Ruben $7, this was ordered by a lady sitting next to me, she asked the waitress to surprise her with a sandwich that is killer and this magnificent treat was brought to her, the sandwich lived up to expectations of something great and I think I’ll have to have one of these next time I’m in.

The Meatloaf plate with Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes and fresh peas & carrots $9, classic meatloaf with gravy minus the tomato soup top like mom used to make. This plate comes with your choice of fries or buttermilk mashed potatoes and fresh carrots & peas, the mashed potatoes are killer here and are not to me missed. I really enjoyed most of my meatloaf, it has a nice rich beef flavor and the gravy is great without being salty, the one issue I ran into was 3/4 of the way through someone next to me pointed that some of my meatloaf looked pretty pink and boy was she right!, the waitress took my plate back to the kitchen and returned a few minutes later, I was informed that one of the owners looked at it and wasn’t comfortable serving it, she offered me something else off the menu so I chose a sandwich, when she returned from putting in my new order she told me that they use nitrate in the meatloaf~or as she said “salt peter”, I was relieved that I didn’t eat undercooked meat but then I was kinda pissed at the fact I was fed nitrates when I wasn’t expecting them to be in this dish.

the Corned Beef Sandwich on Caraway Rye $7, after my meatloaf incident this is what I ordered, it solidified the fact I have to try the Damn Fine Ruben because the corned beef here is really good!, the mustard cut the richness of the meat just fine and the bread used is really good, it had caraway seeds and they add a great flavor to this and the ruben.

Sitting near the cakes and pies is a dangerous thing, I watched as this beauty was brought out by the pastry chef

the Save On Meats version of a Black forest Cake $6, I didn’t have any of this but it looked damn good and the chocolate glaze on top added to its decadence. One thing I did have a piece of but didn’t get a photo was one of their chocolate chip, macadamia nut and BACON cookies!, the lady next to me ordered some to go, they weren’t my thing~too crisp and crunchy and I didn’t get any bacon flavor.

I’d say that once all the opening kinks get worked out Save On Meats will enjoy another long life in its original home and will be feeding a whole new generation to come. Mark Brand you have done a great thing for the community and me and a lot of other Vancouverites thank you!.

@saveonmeatsdine

@saveonmeats

www.saveonmeats.ca