This episode of the YEG Burger Odyssey features 2 more burgers recommended by you, the readers. Neither Select, or Cha Island Tea were on my radar screen until the suggestions, proving again that soliciting suggestions from all of you is a worthwhile endeavour.

Select- 10018- 106st

Select, formerly Cafe Select, is located on a quieter street downtown, which is probably why it’s not somewhere that jumps to mind for me when deciding on a place to eat. The place was pretty busy for a Wednesday evening, though the staff informed us they were really busy due to their groupon expiring at the end of the week. Like us, everyone was trying to use their deal before it’s too late.

I ordered the Select Burger, made with ground sirloin, pancetta, aged cheddar, tomato, greens, and dijon/gherkin mayo.

Select Burger

Meat– The sirloin patty was nice and juicy, and had a nice flavour. There was a good char on the thick patty, and the texture was nice and loose but still held together well. The clearly handmade patty was really quite good, and was thankfully gristle-free.

Bun– The white bun was sufficiently soft, and lightly toasted. It held up to the big burger patty well, and while you’re not going to leave the restaurant raving about this bun, it accomplishes what you need it to. That’s really all I ask.

Toppings– The white cheddar covered the whole patty, which I appreciate, but could have been thicker. The mustard and pickle mayo was on both the top and bottom of the bun, and was a tasty addition. The big piece of frisee used as the greens was an interesting choice, but ultimately I don’t love the texture of it. Especially for a burger topping. The real confusing topping here however is the pancetta. On one hand, the flavour of it is good, and there’s a good portion of it on the burger. On the other hand, it was overly salty, and kind of hard and chewy. The texture made it difficult to chew through, and I found myself grinding my teeth like a cow to get through it. It probably would have worked better sliced thinner and made crispy instead of thick and chewy.

Select Burger

Taken as a whole package, this burger was pretty good. The patty was one of the better ones in the Odyssey to date, and though it doesn’t blow the doors off creatively, it’s a pretty solid entry worthy of a look.

Cost – $15

Cha Island Tea- 10332 81 ave

I had driven past Cha Island Tea numerous times without really knowing anything about it, so when a local daily paper came out recently with their “Best of Edmonton” list that had Cha Island Tea coming out on top for best burger, I had to do a double take.

Really? Some tea place has the best burger in Edmonton? Somehow I doubt that. I should qualify that by saying the publication in question just compiles votes from the public, and doesn’t provide any meaningful input themselves, thus the results are obviously open to manipulation.

But of course I had to see for myself, so we dropped by a few weeks ago on a weeknight to check it out.

Slight problem. They only make burgers on weekends. Oops.

On top of that, the burger changes weekly, so you’re never going to know what you’re going to get when you go. I decided at the beginning of this search for Edmonton’s best burger that I would only review burgers that are going to be available for you all to go try, and not just once a week special kind of things. I decided to make an exception this time, mostly due to this dubious poll result.

We returned on a Saturday afternoon and had he burger of the week, which was the Taco-Loco Burger, made with guacamole and salsa.

Cha Island Tea Burger

Meat–  The patty, which had the taco seasoning mixed right into it, was fairly tasty and juicy. There was also a bit of corn mixed into the patty, but not so much that it wouldn’t stay together. The patty still had a fairly loose texture, which was a bit surprising given that mixing the salt and seasonings into the patty in advance normally leads to a tighter, more sausage like texture. The patty was quite a bit smaller than the bun though, which is a no-no for me.

Bun-There’s not much to say about the bun other than if you’ve had a McGavins or Dempsters plain white sesame seed bun, you’ve had this one. I was surprised to find that not only was the bun not toasted at all, there weren’t any condiments on the bun either. It’s straight from the bag to the plate, totally bypassing a major opportunity for flavour building. I say toasted is better, and you’ll never convince me otherwise.

Toppings– Both the guacamole and salsa were there in good quantities, and added some much needed moisture to the undressed bun. You definitely get that taco flavour, but it probably could have used a couple more components to round out the idea, most importantly cheese. There were some greens on the side, I assume to add to the burger since they weren’t dressed.

Cha Island Tea Burger

Though the patty was decent, I found the burger as a whole to be a letdown. They’ve got some good flavours going on, and the burgers are grilled to order on the patio bbq, so it seemed a lot more like having a drink and a burger at your buddy’s place than a restaurant. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as the place itself is pretty cool with lots of drink options and a large menu of tasty sounding waffles, but wouldn’t be somewhere I’d target for a burger.

Cost – $9 (no sides included)

Cha Island Tea may have better burgers on other weeks, but for this week anyway I’d give the nod to Select. Their burger was done well, and had a really tasty patty. That’s the one I’d have again.