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Loungeburger

Why open another hamburger joint? The sheer ubiquity of the burger suggests crippling competition; it’s the theme dish of most fast food chains, and every non-ethnic restaurant serves a selection. However, these are the exact reasons we do need more dedicated burger joints. The burger chains are bland and homogenous, and burgers are not the specialty at most other restaurants.

Loungeburger, near the Stampede LRT Station on Macleod Trail, is the city’s latest. Trimly designed with a castle-like, brick-and-wood interior, it bills itself as a “gourmet dining and lounge experience,” with emphasis on the “burger connoisseur.” The classy-meets-trashy dichotomy this suggests is dialed up at 9:30 on this noisy Saturday evening. Though the lounge proper is separate from the dining area, both rooms have a singles-club vibe. Word is, the place is much more laid-back during the week.

At the door, a well-dressed young guy pretends to be the host but is too drunk to pull it off. He mistakenly tells my wife and I we can stand in the restaurant or be seated in the lounge. The act is for the real hostess’s benefit, and she’s not assertive enough to cut the dumb charade short. We head for the restaurant as drunky struggles to sputter out a check-your-ID joke on his way back to the lounge.

Thankfully, the service is consistently good from here on, and the other patrons mind their own business. Our waitress wears the customary low-cut, club-scene waitress top. She leans in, fully revealing her cleavage, and gives us a short menu briefing. The non-burger portion is suitably short, and there’s the option of customizing or choosing a featured burger.

I start with a wild mushroom bisque ($5) appetizer. In a cup-shaped bowl, it’s thick, creamy and loaded with chopped mushrooms. Two herb-and-garlic buttered, toasted focaccia triangles accompany. The bread nicely complements the bisque, which is lovely, with deep mushroom flavour and pleasing texture.

A great start, but the too-loud garden-variety dance music begins to grate as our generously portioned meals arrive. The first bite of my smoked chicken burger ($14) is tasty. The meat is plump and moist, though it’s not exactly as advertised. That hint of smoke is not from the meat, which is clearly not smoked chicken, but the regular kind. Rather, the bacon is smoked, and deliciously so. The jalapeno jack cheese provides a low, spicy heat; the sautéed onions are sweetly caramelized; and the burgundy barbecue sauce pulls all the ingredients together. Unfortunately, the advertised chipotle cheddar bun is just a regular fluffy kaiser. I’ve ordered poutine ($2.50) as my side. It’s as it should be: just-melted cheese curds on crisp, hot gravy-smothered fries.

My wife’s Butters Beef burger ($12.50) comes with waffle-cut fries as her chosen side. The restaurant is out of the organic, hormone-free version of this Alberta-grown beef patty, so Butters’s non-organic variety is the substitution. Under the same plain kaiser bun, the meat is joined by lettuce, tomato, blue cheese and caramelized pear. The cheese and pear combination is good, but the burger patty is dry. The beef is a bit overcooked for its leanness. Again, the fries are done just right: crispy and hot.

For dessert, we both order a civilized and satisfying wedge of chocolate peanut butter cheesecake ($8.50).

The elevated intent of Loungeburger’s burger-centric menu is wonderful, though I am disappointed with the substitutions. I’ll chalk them up to tinkering, because our meals were quite good, the service militarily precise and all smiles. I’d also prefer to eat in a quieter venue, so I would return to Loungeburger during the day or earlier in the evening. However, the lounge-plus vibe after dark is a good fit for club-goers looking for pre- or post-party food (the kitchen is open until 10 p.m. weekdays, midnight weekends). On this note, Loungeburger would greatly benefit from the services of a competent DJ.