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Burger Quest: Yellow Griffin Pub

Dining Experience: Lunch
Specialty: Burgers
Location: 2202 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON
Menu items: Gringo Burger, Calypso Burger & Hold the Port Burger 

I have officially started my quest to find the best Burger joints in town. One would think that Toronto with its diversity, multiculturalism and its many food options flowing from all over the world, would definitely have many spots to choose from. That will be wrong. 

I have been to many burger joints in the hopes of having my "aha" moment with no such luck, so I have decided to blog about my top burger spots as I go on with this quest. 
Some places have passed the test, others have not. Yellow Griffin Pub (YGP) is one spot that has officially made it on this blog along with its crazy and out of this world menu of over 35 burgers to choose from. That said, there will be more reviews coming in the next few months. As I continue to stuff my belly with the precious delights, I will be advising you of where the best places in the city can be found. And when I finally find the "it" place, I will be sure to let you know of it too. By the way, at the end of this post you will find a list of "been there done that" joints that will never be in the Foodies Inc. reviews for obvious reasons. This list is for your reference, so you know which places have not hit the spot with me. Feel free to also send me a note or comment on this post with recommends on your fav joints...that will really help me in my quest. 

Ok Gringos, let's start off with YGP's Gringo burger.

With the option to choose from 8 different patties (like beef, bison, chicken, lamb or veggie) and 10 sides, I go for the beef version of The Gringo burger with onion rings. This comes with mixed Mexican beans, lettuce, sour cream, chili sauce, homemade guac (aka guacamole) and cheddar cheese. The meat is very well done and the bread is fresh. I would have liked a bit more juice on the beef patty, but with the many sauces topping it off, it actually helped the moisture level, so the overall experience was great. One of my favourites yet.

To try and keep up with the many burger options, we decided to add a little colour and go for the beef version of the Calypso burger.
Naming this burger after a Greek goddess is actually kind of cool. The menu at YGP has the Calypso burger topped off with desirous bacon, jealous avocado, envious mango and covetous cheddar cheese. Although not my personal favourite, we did find the choice of ingredients quite good and mixing in well. I never thought avocado, cheddar, bacon and mango slices can go this well. Kudos to YGP for making it work. I almost wonder what an Odysseus burger would have if they had it on the menu.

And from Greek, we go to the Hold the Port burger.
Now, this is where I get lost in translation with YGP's menu. Most burgers have an interesting story or theme to them, and then all of the sudden they hit you with a "Hold the Port" nonsense. Thank goodness the burger was good, 'cause I was about to minus some star ratings here otherwise. 
This burger holds its own with a nice big portobello mushroom topped with fresh crumbled blue cheese. Once again, the juiciness coming from the mushroom and the strong flavour deriving from the cheese make this burger a great choice. Definitely holding the flavour port here.

YGP's sides are also something worth mentioning. Even though this is a burger quest, I find that any burger review could just as easily be affected if one has saggy or plain sides to accompany it with. This is yet another reason why YGP made it on this blog. All sides we tried, the Onion Rings, Sweet Potato Fries and the Poutine were well executed. Nothing was too saggy, salty, plain or oily. If I had to choose, I would always go for the sweet potato fries.

As promised, here is my list of "been there done that" burger joints that have been tested and tried...they were ok, but not amazing.
  • Burger Bar
  • Craft Burger
  • Apache
  • Sliders
  • Grindhouse Burger Bar
  • Retail Chains like McDonald's, Burger King, Harvey's, etc.

Until next time Foodies!

Buen Provecho,
Foodies Inc.

Yellow Griffin Pub on Urbanspoon
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