Joshua Tree Café

805 Edmonton Tr. N.E.

Burger: Blue cheese burger ($7.99) — a homemade beef patty topped with a mustard-mayo spread, onions, tomatoes, pickles, lettuce, maple bacon, mushroom sauce and garlic butter, all on a toasted bun.

Sides: Side salad.

Atmosphere: Joshua Tree is an inviting café, complete with couches. It's a little bit more than a coffee shop, but not quite a full-on restaurant. There is also a gift shop, selling greeting cards and the like.

Menu: Open for breakfast, it also serves sandwiches, burgers, paninis, salads and a wide variety of caffeinated drinks, tea and fruit slushies.

Decision: I suspect a lot of thought was put into the design of this burger, way more than I anticipated when I arrived. The mustard-mayo spread, mushroom sauce (derived from a balsamic reduction, I believe) and well-seasoned patty worked together to create a fairly complex burger. The produce was fresh and the open-faced presentation of the burger was visually pleasing.

The blue cheese was used sparingly enough that it added value to the whole package without stealing the show. It was a demonstration of restraint that I appreciated. Blue cheese can overpower pretty much anything, but that didn't happen here.

All of the sauces combined in each bite, with the residual liquid ending up in a goopy, sticky mess on my plate and all over my hands. A handwashing was needed at the end of this meal, but that’s not a deal-breaker in my world. This was a damn fine burger.

Next Up: Bocavino Lounge & Grill, 2220 Centre St. N.E.

Please email burger suggestions to darelleats@gmail.com.