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.



Haro's Restaurant and Bar, Sidney BC Canada

Sadly the burger at Haro’s Restaurant and Bar was pretty much exactly what I expected. In corporate performance appraisal speak the Haro’s burger met expectations but sadly at 8/10 it did not exceed expectations.




Haros is the restaurant attached to the Pier Hotel in Sidney. The Pier is "the" high end Sidney hotel, on the waterfront, very new very modern very metropolitan very clean very antiseptic if you know what I mean. So, from the restaurant I was expecting a gourmet burger using top end ingredients delivering a very good burger. And sadly, again, it's pretty much what I got.


haro’s burger: courtenay cheddar, smoked bacon, house bbq sauce on house made brioche bun


The cheddar was tasty and perfectly melted. The bacon had extraordinary flavour the house baked bun also extraordinary. But then the patty was a letdown, made fresh in house, which is good but then overcooked and tasteless. In the end you get a good burger with some extraordinary components but much like the property a bit antiseptic.



I'd have it again, at least the Blue Buck on tap was cold and tasty, it was a ho hum good burger and certainly better then monstrosity of a burger across the street at the Beacon Landing Pub and Restaurant.



But then again there are many more burgers along the Sidney waterfront to explore.

The Beacon Landing Pub and Restaurant. Sidney, BC Canada

This is a fine example of why one should never pick a burger on the basis of a good looking pub and a great waterfront view. At the foot of Sidney, by the pier, on the water, the Beacon Landing Pub has a lot going for it. A good burger isn't one of them.


So much potential, ground chuck, roma tomatoes, caramelized onions, great home cut fries and yet a terrible burger. How can so much good stuff have so little flavour?

The patty was absolutely tasteless. Did they bother seasoning this thing?

But the kicker, that nudged this burger over the ledge of crappiness was the bun. This day, perhaps multi day, old monstrosity crumbled in my hands with every bite, making the burger impossible to eat and a hopeless mess.

3.5/10 and only for the fries and the view. For gods sake, just give me a fresh bun and you have an almost passable burger.

I will not be back. Haro's is across the street, next time I need to kill some time before catching the ferry. I'm hoping their burger is better. Let's face it, it's not going to be a big task.