Nanaimo, you have a winner.
The kick Ass Burger at Simon Holt, stacked high with barbeque pulled pork, crispy bacon, aged white cheddar and chipotle aioli.
10/10
But first let me bitch a little. I'm not a fan of the open face burger display/concept or whatever its called. The skeptical bastard in me can't help thinking that the restaurant is just trying to fill up the plate, less fries, ha.
And it's not that I'm lazy as an objection to personally having to take the cold side of the dastardly presentation with the tomatoes and pickles and lettuce and place it on the hot side of the burger. But really can the kitchen not do this? I thing the burger cools off too quickly leaving it open face, plus I like a the juice to meld a bit, get acquainted so to speak. Anyone remember the failed McDLT experience? Get over it, just put the damn burger together for me please. Now, the reason I'm on this tangent is that Simon Holts takes this lunacy one step further. Granted they put the bun on the burger, but they put all of the veg, the pickles, the onions, the tomatoes and the lettuce on the plate next to the burger. Really? What the hell is up with that? Now I have to take my burger apart and rebuild it myself? I'm sure someone is already working on the de-constructed burger concept. "We bring you all the pieces of a burger, separately, on the plate and you put it together".
Luckily for Simon Holt they make, with my assistance at the table, a pretty damn outstanding burger.
This Kick Ass Burger is combination of two favorites, burgers and pulled pork sandwiches. To be fair, I think the burger is more about the pulled pork then the beef. I would love to see this burger with a bit of slaw instead of the regular tomatoes pickles and lettuce; that would be out of bounds. Just put the slaw in the burger not the plate ;)
Everything works here; the bun, perfectly chewy and soft. Mega juicy interior, drippings galore.
I've never heard of Simon Holt before a friend recommended it to me for the burgers. I don't think it’s a chain but it certainly looks to me like a chain wanna be. Which, if they keep the quality of the burgers up wouldn't be such a bad thing.
After many many mediocre, read crappy burgers in Nanaimo, I've been referred to Mrs. Riches by some of my local friends. I'm told it's the best burger in Nanaimo, a claim by the way that is also confirmed on the Mrs Riches menu. They don’t reference the best burger claim, I guess its like all of those best pizza joints you see around town. I'm also worried because this is the place of the K2 mountain burger a 2 pound behemoth that is just waiting to be featured on Man v food.
I'm not even temped. I don't need my Polaroid on the wall of fame. I'm worried because I'm thinking this place is all about quantity over quality. If your claim to fame is the monster burger how much attention are you going to give the lonely sautéed onion bacon cheeseburger, a mere 6 once patty.
My first impression, really good. This is a nice looking burger even with the Costco fries ruining the frame. The taste, well, let's call this the coulda burger. The onions coulda been juicier and better sautéed. The onion rings coulda made an impact. (I didn't even taste them) The cheese coulda been melted (shredded yet not melted- I hate that). The patty coulda been juicier and bigger, you really have to go with 8 once for a burger this size. The bun coulda been fresher (it broke up and crumbled while eating). There you have it the coulda burger. And yet this coulda burger was still pretty good above average 8/10. Not bad for Nanaimo.
Is it the best burger in Nanaimo? I'm not so sure or at least I hope not. Readers please let me know.
There is something about a cool neon sign. I don’t know why but for some reason a neon sign makes restaurants more appealing. I haven’t conducted a scientific trial but I can guess with some certainly that if there were two restaurants side by side, both serving similar fair and looking pretty much the same on the inside with the only difference being one catchy neon sign, the one with the neon sign wins. Neon sign equals huge eat here restaurant magnet but for me the name, ACME, also draws me in given that childhood memoires of Will E Coyote still bring a smile to may face.
Were the hell is everyone? Perhaps I’ve made a mistake? Midweek 6:30 PM, it should be the dinner rush or so you would think and there is no one in the restaurant. Bad sign! Well, good sign on the outside, bad sign on the inside. What the hell, looks like a nice place, even empty. Plus, look around; there are a whole bunch of framed award certificates attesting to the quality of the restaurant. My favourite: “Best Place to Socialize” in Nanaimo. I wonder who won? Maybe they trade of nights? Maybe everyone’s hanging out with the winner tonight?
Tonight I will be socializing with my burger. I had the bacon cheddar and sautéed onion burger. Pretty good a solid 7/10, a passable restaurant burger from an establishment that obviously doesn’t really care about making awesome food. Enough said. If the neon ever draws me back in the future I’ll order something besides the burger. I’ll need to call ahead make a reservation to avoid disappointment.
