Johnny Rockets

Johnny Rockets (Vaughan Mills, 1 Bass Pro Mills Drive, Vaughan, Ontario)

905-669-0944

They have cool straw holders... but it'd make me feel a little better if the straws were individually wrapped.

My Route 66 burger and fries. 

The cheese made the burger. The onions were very flavourful as well. Along with the mushrooms, it was like omelette contents in a burger without the egg. The fries were hot, fresh, and crispy, but they could've used seasoning. That being said, I was fine with making snow with the salt shaker.

Jo's burger and fries.

The actual meat in the burger was of decent thickness, but so dry. It was so dry that it made me a little sad. Jo agreed that the meat in her burger was dry, but she said it was passable towards the centre of hers. I guess I got the hockey puck. 

Would I return? I don't know. It seemed a little pricey for such a dry burger. The worst part was that everything except the meat was fine. Jo seemed to like the bun as it reminded her of the Filet-o-fish buns from McD's. 

Total damage: $17 for my burger, fries and Sprite.

Burger Shack

Burger Shack (233 Eglinton Avenue West, Toronto)
416-487-1974‎

I heard good things about this burger joint near Eglinton Avenue and Avenue Road. Good burgers? Naturally, I had to check it out.

The first thing that I thought when I walked in was 'Golden Star'. It has that old school feel like it's been around before I was born. It has limited seating, and I was nervous to say "for here" when the cashier asked if my food was to go because I feared that there would be no tables left by the time I got my food. The few parking spots were all taken when we got there at about 1 p.m. on a Friday.

Though there was a sign outside for a special that included fries, drink, and a banquet burger for $8 (tax included), I wanted to try the onion rings. 

Homemade banquet burger ($5.25) with onion rings ($3.50): 

I couldn't help but smile back when the guy finished making the onion rings, passed my tray over, and flashed me a wide grin. It made me feel like the onion rings would be very exciting. 

The onion rings were too fresh to handle at first. Heavily battered, and super crispy, they tasted pretty classic. The batter is noticeably thicker than other burger places that I've eaten at.

The bun of the burger was sturdier and more helpful at holding things together than the one at Golden Star. No sesame seeds on top, but that's okay. Banquet burger comes with bacon and cheese. Bacon was crispy. The cheese added a nice touch. Other toppings were my choice (Harvey's style) and they looked pretty fresh. Barbecue sauce isn't as good as Golden Star's (or maybe I didn't get enough). Meat had a nice charred taste to it. It was either meat juice leaking from my burger or watery barbecue sauce. The size of the burger is also comparable to Golden Star, and unless you're a beast (or a ravenous teenager), you'll most likely be full after one.

Total damage: $9.89.

Dri's recommendation: I'd go back... if someone else is driving. Oh yeah, I asked for a homemade burger as directed on a review I read... don't know what happens if you don't specify homemade.

Swan Restaurant

Swan Restaurant (892 Queen Street West, Toronto)
(647) 258-7952

This retro-looking joint was pretty busy on the Sunday that I went. All of the four waiting chairs outside the restaurant were occupied and still there were more people standing. Must be a good sign.

The freshly squeezed orange juice is much larger than what I'm used to. It comes in a glass that's sized for cheap soft drinks. It's laden with pulp and the colour separation is near the top of the glass.

Soup of the day:

The soup of the day was carrot, sweet potato and ginger. The ginger taste was very prevalent and the whole thing reminded me a bit of butternut squash soup. The bowl was quite large, and I'm glad I split it with Berta. I think it could've been a meal on its own for one person. She enjoyed it much more after adding salt.

Berta's omelette of the day:

She thought it was weird that they put Chinese vegetables in the omelette. I tried a piece and though I agreed with her, I think they at least cooked the Chinese vegetables properly. Often times, people will cook them to unacceptable mushiness, but these vegetables had just the right crunch without being raw. 

My eggs benedict with caviar:

The eggs are perfectly oozing with yolk as I fork into them. The caviar adds a nice salty touch. The overall benedict part was great and Berta also preferred my meal over hers. 

We both agreed that the potatoes with cumin were delicious. It saves them from being regular old side potatoes. Some of the potatoes in the pictures may look a bit blackened, but it didn't look that dark in reality. Besides, I like much of my food to be a bit on the charred side anyway. Adds texture and flavour.

I enjoyed the side of fruit, but I was mildly jealous of the toast that came with the omelette. I appreciate the fact that the honey dew wasn't overly ripe.

Berta had recommended this restaurant, stating that their potato salad is awesome. Unfortunately, they don't serve that for brunch on Sundays. Regardless, I thought the food was great and the service was equally pleasant. It's diner type food with added details and care that make it special.

I like.

Total damage for me: $25.

Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe

Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe (429 Columbus Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts)

Before our trip to Boston, I had Googled some local favourites for our crew to visit since I don't like eating crap. Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe was the recipient of a James Beard Award in 2005. That sounded like anti-crap to me!

There weren't any tables when we got there, so we ordered our food to go. Luckily for us, there was a park nearby where we could eat breakfast peacefully and take in the Boston breeze.

The menu advertises their turkey hash specialty, but I really wanted some pancakes that day.

Banana pancakes, to be precise. In the three large flapjacks, there were banana slices lodged inside. I thought this was pretty cool because for some reason I imagined bananas being mashed into the pancake batter instead. My favourite bits were the caramelized brown bits on the banana pieces.

Casey ordered the turkey hash, and it was quite flavourful and filling.

It should also be noted that there are no washrooms at this old school joint.

Total damage: approximately $10 USD.

The Senator Restaurant

The Senator Restaurant (249 Victoria Street, Toronto)

The Senator Restaurant looks like a diner, and the wait staff is pleasant like a diner's usually is. 

Smoked salmon and brie omelette with potatoes and Challah toast:
The Challah toast was nice, but I would've liked some extra butter to go with it, since I'm not a fan of jam. The omelette was good, but I didn't really taste the cheese.

Freshly squeezed orange juice:
I wasn't expecting the pulp that was in it. I guess I've been spoiled recently. Berta said that the pulp was good, and that she generally doesn't like the pulp in orange juice from grocery stores because it tastes "fake".

Left: bacon and eggs. Right: French toast with apple slices and syrup.
The sunny side eggs were cooked well, with the yolks runny enough. Berta is a big fan of the French toast. I thought they were okay, but I secretly prefer the ones I make because they have more character.

Overall, I thought the dishes had good portions of food on them. I just think that they run a bit on the pricier side for breakfast food. 

Total damage: $18 for 1/3 of all the dishes and a split jug of orange juice.