Cozmos Cappuccino Bar & Grill. Burnaby



The judges scores:

 4, 5, 6.

Dwight at 4/10 was sitting in as the East German judge with his low score, but then he had the BBQ sauce option on his burger and the sauce took over and decided to be the star of the show. He couldn't taste anything but the sauce.

Not that Dwight was missing all that much, let me break it down:

Cozmos is a nice neighbour joint with a good reputation for brunch and a ton of regulars. For lack of a better description its the kind of place were everyone knows your name. I wonder if my name will be mud after this posting. The food is typical cafe like with a Greek twist and Greek options.

Our burgers had a Greek twist to it. The patty was a classis keftedes style, Greek spices, onions, garlic, eggs, bread – please do not refer to this as meatloaf. In the burger the texture for me was a bit mushy in parts. But then this is where the Greek influence ends and Costco influence takes over. The triangular Costco bun! Regular readers will know that I’m a bit OCD about the burger bun thing. It’s not like I have a list of preferences mostly its just got to be fresh and tasty and fresh and fresh. Did I mention fresh? Here, not so fresh. Let me guess what happens: Mr. Cozmo goes to Costco for his weekly shop and picks up a couple bags of triangular buns. What is it, about 50 to a bag? Said buns sit in the kitchen and are slowly used over the course of the week. As the week progresses the buns get older and harder and staler. So I guess it depends what day of the week you order your burger as to how fresh the bun is going to be. Friday night mine was semi hard, it was placed on the grill but even the grilling couldn’t save it, just singed the top.


Mico give the burger a 5/10, I was a bit more generous with a 6, but this burger needs a re-think.


And it doesn't have to be more "authentic", round or less ethnic, it just has to be good.


In case you think I’m intolerant of triangular burgers check out one of the best burgers anywhere from The Edge in Sooke. Not round, certainly out of the box, and perhaps a bit Middle Eastern but in any case awesome.


So, Mr Cozmo, please just make a good Greek Burger, and please, use fresh bread.

Dockside Grill, Sidney BC

The Dockside Grill is a little bistro in Sydney a bit out of town and out of the way but well worth the 3 minute effort from downtown to drive there. It has a great view of the marina, you are actually sitting right over the water, and more importantly it has a great burger.



The menu caught my eye: Fresh, Local Seasonal. Dockside supports local producers and they list them on there menu. Like. The emphasis on fresh local ingredients is a big deal to me when I eat out. It’s probably a bit more work then ordering from Sysco but then I think the quality and care translates to the plate



The Dockside burger was a pleasant surprise, easily 9/10.
This is a pure, simple burger. And simple can be outstanding. A flavourful patty, all the ingredients come together, nothing stands out, no specials sauce no fancy shmancy creativity just one of those, the sum is greater the parts type of great burgers.

I am usually not a fan of chibatta buns because if not super fresh in most cases the buns are hard and inedible.


Case in point the Gillnetter in POCO, I still have nightmares.

But here, no worries, perfectly fresh.


And since I mentioned a "bad chibatta burger" here's a good one you should check out at Molly’s Reach in Gibsons.





Fried Artichoke Appie



But I digress, back to the Dockside cafe,



So far the best Sydney burger I've had. Definitely check them out, a great location a great burger.



West Coast Taphouse, Langdale, BC

From the menu:


Tap House Beef Burger

Our award winning beef burger is made in house combining a perfect mixture of ground sirloin, brisket, and veal to create a burger of exceptional flavour and consistency 13.95-



The conversation:Me: what award did your award winning burger win?
The Server: (smiling) oh I don't know. I've only been here for 5 months.
Me: so it hasn't won an award in the last 5 months?
The Server: ( now a nervous smile) ha ha your so funny! ( as she backs away and disappears into the darkness)
Hey wait a second stop; I was going to order the burger.
It was a simple question. Luckily she came back and I was able to order said award winner.

I have since learned from the Taphouse website that the award in question was: Top Three in Jack FM's Best Burger Competition.

Really? Award winner? The voters at Jack FM need to get out more.

The patty was a super cooked, yummy tasteless hockey puck.

OK, nice pretzel bun.

It was an ok burger a perfectly adequate pub burger, 7/10, but not in my mind an award winner.

Unless I have business at the Sheraton I’ll have my burgers elsewhere.