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Burger: BR& burger ($19.99) — a 7-oz. patty made from sirloin, stuffed with short rib, which has, in turn, been stuffed with foie gras. It's topped with tomato confit, honey truffled onions and baby spinach on toasted brioche bread.
Sides: The burger is served with fries. Included as appetizers are a fresh green salad in a creamy Dijon dressing, followed by a warm Gruyère cheese popover. Frites sauces cost an additional $1.49 each and include two ketchups (banana or ginger), Dijon truffle honey or chipotle aioli.
Atmosphere: A fantastic, open room that still feels like an old bank. The staircase to the second level is grandiose, intriguing and inviting. Two big-screen televisions are mounted inside wooden frames and cycle through artwork so, as my hostess explained, "You don't get sick of looking at the same one all the time."
Menu: A fairly simple menu, focusing on steaks, frites and mussels. The dinner menu expands slightly on lunch, but it's all from the same mould.
Decision: BR& (pronounced Brand, but I'm pretty sure it should be Brampersand), has made a solid effort at creating a fine dining burger. The addition of foie gras and short rib has elevated it to something special. It certainly trumps the southwestern flare or Asian accents that get thrown around as "upgrades" at other joints.
Honestly, though, I found the whole thing to be excessive for lunch. BR& should consider adding this to its dinner menu.
The burger arrived cut in half, with fancy toothpicks keeping the deep patty in check. This burger has three different layers, and I like it. The short rib meat added a unique texture — almost stringy, but not chewy. The whole thing was rich in flavour. Although I couldn't pinpoint the foie gras in any specific bite, it was undoubtedly there — especially in the pile of grease left on the bottom of my plate.
Taking the whole meal into account, I believe there was $20 worth of value — especially considering the salad and fresh popover. This may not be a burger for the masses (I get that foie gras is not everyone's cup of tea), but for the rest of you, try the BR& burger, it’s a luxurious, flavourful meal.
Next Up: Mugs Pub, 1330 15 Ave. S.W.
Please email burger suggestions to darelleats@gmail.com.
Comments: 1
el Gordo wrote:
Whereas Darrel found the short rib component "almost stringy" the ribs in my burger were way overcooked. You have to braise short ribs for an awfully long time to dry them out, but mine were very dry. In addition, I could identify the foie gras and it was awful. To taste good, foie needs to have a nice sear on it. When I bit into the burger, a flabby, unseared chunk of foie slid out. As far as I can tell, it was put into the burger completely raw and since the burger was served rare, the foie wasn't even luke warm. Rather than ethereal, which a well cooked piece of foie can be, it was just a limp, tepid, slimey chunk of fat. Shouldn't have been in there in the first place. Leave it out and knock six or seven dollars off the price.
This leaves the main component of the burger, the beef. As I said, it was served rare. I love a good rare steak, but I like my burgers just a bit on the rare side of medium. This was more like seared tartar. To make matters worse, the whole burger was woefully under seasoned. Such a total lack of salt made the raw, mushy beef most unpleasant.
So where was the salt? I am sorry to say that it was on the frites. Now I love a good, salty fry, but the cap must have fallen off the shaker when the kitchen was seasoning these little babies. They were so salty that I had to tap them on the side of the cup they were served in. Even after salt showered off each fry as I tapped it, they were still salty to the point of being inedible. Two large cokes later, I was still in need of a glass of water.
I know this is a very negative review, and I will say that I was there shortly after Br& (yes, I agree with Darrel, it should be called Brampersand) opened, but this $20 burger was so bad that I would rather have had one of "Peter's" insipid burgers and I normally wouldn't eat at "Peter's" on a bet.
on Jul 15th, 2010 at 11:54am Report Abuse
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