Magoo’s Burgers, West Toronto – Cheeseburger with Mushrooms

Date: Friday, June 05, 2009

Restaurant Name: Magoo’s

Location: 4242 Dundas Street West

Phone: 416-234-1148

Email: N/A

Web: N/A

Price Range (Burger): Under $7

Price Range (Total Meal): $8-$12

Service/Style: Fast Food/Counter

Reservations: Not Required

Short Review: Yum. Great diner burger – good beef, great topping selection. I recommend the mushrooms!

The Meal

Meat Type: Lean Beef

Patty Weight: N/A

Cheese Type: Shredded Jack/Cheddar Mix

Bun: Bakery Style with Sesame Seeds

Toppings: Lettuce, Tomato, Cucumber, Pickles, Sprouts, Sauteed Mushrooms

Garnishes:  Mayo, Mustard, Ketchup

Sides: Fries

Drink: Orange Crush

Service: Good

Presentation: Foil-wrapped, cafeteria tray

The Ratings (out of 10)

Burger: 8.2

Sides: 7.5

Service: 7.0

Atmosphere: 7.0

Overall: 8.1

The Long Story

I’ve done a few reviews of high-end burgers now, so it’s time to try something a little more reasonably-priced and homestyle. I’d never heard of Magoo’s before, but apparently it’s a long-standing, popular destination for those in the know in West Toronto. As much as I love trying out exotic $20+ burgers, most of the time that’s not on-strategy for either my stomach or my wallet. When it comes to $7 -ish burgers in Toronto, there are a lot of options and not that many gems, so in the hopes of a new find, we set off to Magoo’s.

At Dundas and Jane, Magoo’s is a bit of a drive, but as I found out, well worth it.  Located in a small strip mall, Magoo’s is a family-style fast-food/ordering-counter establishment, with lots of seating. If you’ve been to Harvey’s, or Lick’s (a popular burger chain here in Toronto), the M.O. is similar: you order your meal at the counter cash, grab a seat, and when they call your name you go back to the counter where they’ll put on your toppings and wrap your burger as you direct them to.

In fact, it was hard not to compare this experience to Lick’s. Both have a wide variety of toppings to offer, including cucumber and sprouts – both of which I love on a good home-style burger. Magoo’s offers more than one type of cheese, so people could choose from shredded Jack or shredded Cheddar, or a mix of both – which is great for cheeseburger lovers like me. And for an extra few cents you can add fried mushrooms. I highly recommend this option, as the mushrooms on my burger were absolutely delicious.

But the main difference was in the beef. Check out this sandwich. And apologies for the crappy picture quality from my cellphone camera; like I said, this was a spontaneous visit.

Beef nerds: See that beautiful, irregularly-shaped patty? It’s not often you’ll see one of those in a lunch-counter burger-joint, because that’s the sign of a burger made on site. Magoo’s, as I found out,  apparently grinds all their own meat in-house and makes patties daily. I’ve even been told by a few friends that Magoo’s actually has its own farm, so they actually grow their own beef too. Pretty impressive if it’s true, but I have yet to verify this.

Either way, believe me when I say you can really taste the difference. This patty didn’t look too different from other typical burger-counter patties, but it was fresh, juicy, and well-cooked. The fries were okay – not the best I’ve had, but nothing to complain about either. I won’t bother going into presentation or ambience. This is a burger joint, not fine dining. The place was clean, the staff was polite, and the meal was great.

All in all, Magoo’s totally won me over, and is on my list to visit again. I’ve actually had more than one craving for the taste of that delicious mushroom burger since having eaten there a couple weeks ago. For $10 , you can get a fast, tasty meal, with sides and a drink, and with fresh toppings, great beef, and not too much grease, you’ll actually feel good after eating it. If you’re looking for a good, down-home burger place to hit after a night at the movies or on the way downtown for the weekend, take the time to check it out.

New Burger Joint!

South Street Burgers is coming to Yonge and Eglinton! I haven’t done a formal review yet, but I’ve eaten at other South Street locations and enjoyed it. Go check them out if you’re in the neighbourhood.

A little behind on reviews; I’ll have another one up later this week.

Inaugural Review – Nota Bene, Part 2

Date and Restaurant Info: Same as the last post.

Short Review: A burger probably best tried well-done. Extremely Rich,Oily, and Decadent. Not for the average burger-goer or faint of stomach!

 

The Meal

Meat Type: House-ground Wagyu Beef

Patty Weight: 9oz

Cheese Type: None

Bun: Plain White, Toasted

Toppings: Foie Gras

Garnishes: Ketchup, Mayo, Mustard

Sides: Fries, Baby Pickles

Drink: Rum and Soda

Service: Top-Notch

Presentation: Simple but pleasing

 

The Ratings

Burger  6.4

Sides     9.0

Service 9.5

Atmosphere      9.0

Overall  7.0

 

The Long Story:

This was my “main course” burger for my birthday dinner, and I want to put a qualifier on this particular burger review: the main reason this burger didn’t get a higher rating could be considered my own fault in the ordering. The moral of this story is burgers –  even Wagyu beef burgers, which are made from the same breed of cow as Kobe beef  – aren’t steaks, and shouldn’t be ordered as such. I suspect this burger might have been much tastier if I had ordered it medium-well instead of medium-rare.

Previous to this I had thought it was prohibited in Ontario to cook burgers less than medium-well, but apparently there is an exception for establishments that grind their own meat in-house. So I learned something new with my birthday dinner.

I won’t repeat too much detail about Nota Bene as a restaurant, which I already covered in my previous, first, Beef Whisper post – great fine dining atmosphere, pricey but delicious, and top-notch service. Our server was actually the guy who sold me on trying the Wagyu burger. I noticed it on the menu and asked him about it when ordering.

“What’s the 9-oz Wagyu Beef Burger with Foie Gras like?”

He rubbed his stomach and literally got a far-off gaze for a second. “Decadent. You might need a knife and fork. It’s so rich it’s actually hard to finish.”

“This,” I thought, “”I have to try.” So I went for it.

 

Burger Blog Beef Whisperer Review - Wagyu Beef Burger with Foie Gras, Nota Bene

The Wagyu beef patty – oily as one would expect from such a fatty meat – arrived on a plain white bun that also glistened with juice from the patty as well as from the thick slice of foie gras, the only topping, which draped the burger like a slice of extremely rich cheese. Like the other Nota Bene burger, it came with 3 condiment plates for self-garnishing of mayo, ketchup, and mustard, as well as the crispy french fries. The sides were as delicious as they were last time.

 

This paragraph is for the Beef Nerds. A few details about the meat: the patty was made of coarsely-ground, loosely packed, Wagyu beef. I did not detect any spices or seasoning, so you get to really taste the meat. The outer cooked part of the burger had a nice lumpy homemade consistency, and by itself tasted flavourful and juicy.

Overall though, the burger was an unusual taste, and in the end I didn’t love it. I had no problem with the Wagyu beef in itself; I am definitely a fan of fattier types of beef in burgers. I also liked the blend of flavour that came from the addition of the foie gras to the beef and bun. Even though many people might find the idea of foie gras on a burger freaky, I’m all for unusual toppings as long as they taste good, and this mix worked for me. My problem was the cooking of the beef – again, probably my fault, as I ordered my burger medium-rare and got exactly what I asked for. Medium-rare steak lovers, you know when you get to the centre of your steak and you get to the red part? That extreme flavour, combined with the rubbery, buttery, chewy texture is a delicious experience, right? Well, if you ask me, it does not translate over well to ground beef. The outside of this burger tasted pretty great, but the rare center of ground-up meat tendrils had a texture akin to lumpy, chewy pudding: not what I look for in a burger.

Again, to be fair I suspect this burger, when well-cooked, might be a damn tasty. Although it’s kind of my fault for ordering it that way, Nota Bene should make a point of recommending people get this burger medium-well or better. My feeling with this meal was that although it was kind of an interesting gastronomic experience, it was not a great burger experience, and certainly not worth the price tag. Maybe I’ll change my mind if I do a second review sometime in order to try this burger more well-cooked. But then, at $40+ for this particular plate, it might be a while before I get around to it.

Inaugural Review – Nota Bene, Part 1

Date: Friday, May 29, 2009

Restaurant Name: Nota Bene

Location: 180 Queen St West

Phone: 416-922-6400

Email: info@notabenerestaurant.com

Web: http://notabenerestaurant.com/

Price Range (Burger): $20-$30

Price Range (Total Meal): $30-$40

Service/Style: Fine Dining

Reservations: Recommended

The Short Story: A Tasty, Rich Steakhouse-Style Burger. Delicious but Pricey. Sharp cheese and sweet onions provide a nice flavour complement. Excellent Service!

 

The Meal

Meat Type: Brisket

Patty Weight: 6oz

Cheese Type: Sharp Stilton

Bun: Plain White, Toasted

Toppings: Caramelized Onions

Garnishes: Ketchup, Mayo, Mustard

Sides: Fries, Baby Pickles

Drink: Water

Service: Top-Notch

Presentation: Simple but pleasing

 

The Ratings (out of 10):

Burger: 8.2

Sides: 8.5

Service: 9.5

Atmosphere: 8.5

Overall: 8.7

 

The Long Story:

Welcome to the first review of the Beef Whisperer! This is a special entry: not only is it the first review for this site, it’s also a double-review day, with two burgers reviewed, and on my birthday! Hell of an inaugural entry, if I do say so myself.

But I digress….

So in celebration of my birthday I got taken out to Nota Bene Restaurant, here in downtown Toronto. A fairly new restaurant, Nota Bene is located near the Entertainment District on Queen St. West, right near University Avenue, and has a dark but clean modern look and decor. Very much a fine dining atmosphere, the ambience was busy but cozy, the decor was comfortable and uncluttered, and the service was excellent. Our waiter was the perfect blend of attentive and unobtrusive, and was able to give a lot of advice and opinions about the items on the menu. I hadn’t actually planned to eat a burger that night, but upon reviewing the menu I saw that they had not one, but two burgers, both with different meats and toppings, and I decided I had to try them both, starting with the “”Jennifer’s Stilton Brisket Beef Burger”” – that’s the actual name on the menu.

So, on to the meal:

The burger was a ground brisket patty, with Stilton cheese and caramelized onions as toppings. The sharp cheese and onion tastes might be strong for the more conservative eater, and I myself am not usually a fan of Stilton, but it the flavours actually worked out really well. The burger was presented on a large plain white plate, which it shared with a bowl of fries that were (I suspect) deliciously double-fried. The plate came with three small garnish bowls, so I could add ketchup, mustard, and mayo as I liked. The whole meal was capped by a small plate of tiny sweet pickled gherkins.

My First Blog Review Burger - Nota Bene - Brisket Beef with Stilton and Caramelized Onions.

 

Beef Nerds, this paragraph is for you: the patty was ground brisket, and tasted lean without being overly dry. The texture was a little fibrous, which added to the flavour experience. A medium grind and a well-packed patty created a homogenous texture without making the burger overly smooth or overly lumpy.  Tasting it on its own, I felt the flavour and texture reminded me of a spicy, shredded roast beef – in a good way.

 

From the first bite, this burger was great, if a little oily. Served on a small bun – exactly the same size as the patty inside, and the burger was properly cooked – medium-well with a consistent flavour experience from start to finish. The meat was well ground and tasty, not overdone with spices or filler in the burger. You could really taste the beefy briskety goodness, which was very well complemented by the sharp-but-not-too-sharp Stilton. The caramelized onions added a sweet aftertaste that served as a great contrast to the cheese.

All in all, a lovely experience. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for an upscale burger. The fries were delicious, hot, fresh, and perfectly seasoned to go along with the meat.

My only complaints with this burger would be that it was a little oily, and that delicious as it was, it might not warrant the $20+ price tag; I’ve eaten several $12-14 burgers in Toronto that could give this brisket a run for its money. But combined with the service, decor, atmosphere, the overall experience was still good value, and I would definitely come back for second bites.