Finding the best burgers the City of Edmonton has to offer is not a task for the faint of heart, though your heart may be considerably more faint when you’re done.

My YEG Burger Odyssey begins with this post, and will run until i’m sick to death of burgers or I’ve tried every noteworthy burger in this town. Whichever comes first. This is going to mean me eating a tonne of burgers over the next while, and it occurred to me that I’m starting this when everyone else is resolving to lose weight/ eat at home more/ eat healthier, due to their annual New Years lie to themselves. Thankfully we’re already into the second week of January so most of you probably gave up the resolutions already.

So what the hell is a Yeg Burger Odyssey, you ask?

WTF dude, didn’t you read my last post? The rest of us will just wait for you to click THIS link and check it out…….

You all caught up to the rest of us? Good.

The first stop of the Yeg Burger Odyssey is  the brand new Cactus Club Cafe in downtown Edmonton.

Robyn and I attended the grand opening party when Cactus Club opened, and were anxious to head back for a sample of full-sized meals. The grand opening party was fantastic, and by fantastic I mean there was free-flowing drinks.

The food we tried that night was all pretty decent too.

Because there’s no way I’m going to be able to sample the exact same burger at every restaurant, so I decided I would just order the burger that appeals to me the most at each location, and see which one I like best. At Cactus Club, I went for “The Burger”, you know, because that’s what I was there for.

“The Burger” is an angus beef patty, topped with bacon, mushrooms, aged cheddar, and red pepper relish. This Cactus Club burger makes a good first impression, with some oozing cheese, fresh and crisp lettuce, bright tomato, and a relatively un-obtrusive bun. But would it taste as good as it looked?

Cactus Club Burger

Sadly, no.

Here’s the breakdown of the Cactus Club burger:

• Meat- The patty was not dry, but but not overly juicy either. Thankfully, my burger was gristle-free, but didn’t have much of a flavour punch
• Bun- The bun was pretty soft, and I had no trouble chewing through it. It didn’t take away from the burger, and that’s really all I ask. To nit-pik, it was probably slightly too big for the patty. Or was the patty was slightly too small for the bun?
• Cheese- Topped with aged cheddar, the flavour was good but the quantity could have been heftier.
• Toppings and Condiments- The lettuce and tomato were fresh, and the bacon and cheddar were tasty, as bacon and cheese usually are. The bacon was also cooked nice and evenly. I would have liked more of the red pepper relish however.

Summary- Don’t get me wrong, this was by no means a bad burger, but somehow all these parts that individually sound great seemed to come together to negate each other and what you wound up with was a burger that didn’t have a lot going on flavour wise. Maybe more salt on the meat and an extra tablespoon of the red pepper relish could have made a difference, but as it was it didn’t leave me dying for more.

Cost: $16 and comes with fries.

As a side note, Robyn had the BBQ Duck Clubhouse, and that was delicious. I would certainly have that over the burger next time.

Cactus Club BBQ Duck Clubhouse

Stop number 2 on the YEG Burger Odyssey was popular Downtown Edmonton restaurant the Blue Plate Diner.

Blue Plate Diner is known as a hotspot for vegetarian and vegan cuisine, but don’t worry…. they’ve got plenty of meaty options for us carnivores. You didn’t really think I was about to have some quinoa tofu burger did you?

No chance.

Blue Plate let’s you choose your patty (veggie, elk, bison, chicken, or beef), and add the toppings of your choice for an extra charge. I got a beef patty topped with sauteed onions and mushrooms, bacon, and cheddar. There’s also an option to upgrade from fries to mac and cheese, so I did that too without hesitation.

I wish I had hesitated. The cheese sauce was more like plain cream sauce… no cheesy flavour at all and quite bland. Stick to the fries next time, bacon-guy. Stick to the fries.

Enough about the side dish; let’s talk burger. I’ll apologize in advance for the low quality pictures, as the dimly lit ambiance at the Blue Plate is geared more toward bow-chica-wow-wow than catering to high quality food blog photos.

Blue Plate Diner Burger

The burger arrived at the table and smelled delicious. Let’s see how it stacked up:

• Meat-  Very good flavour, and not over-seasoned. I found zero gristle in this burger, and the texture was good. The patty was quite juicy.
• Bun- The brioche bun looks very familiar, and i’m sure it’s the same one a lot of other restaurants and pubs use. That’s a good thing. It’s soft and easy to bite through. It was toasted perfectly, and had great crispy edges. Though the bun itself was good, the execution of the burger assembly was careless and resulted in the entire bun being soaked in a coating of grease, likely from the onions and mushrooms. How greasy? You could see your reflection in my hands after handling the burger.
• Cheese- Topped with real cheddar, though I could have had provolone if so desired. It was good, but i’m a bit of a cheese fiend and would have liked more, especially considering it cost $2 extra to add it on.
• Toppings and condiments- Blue Plate tops it’s burgers with it’s own mustard sauce, which if you like mustard was pretty good. I don’t really love mustard, but there wasn’t so much on it to bother me. The lettuce, tomato, and pickles were fresh. Since a lot of the juiciness came from the grease which I assume would not normally be there, I would probably like it saucier.

Summary- The Blue Plate burger was pretty good overall. but was not without flaws. This is not an easy burger to eat. The burger height  makes it difficult to get a good bite without making a mess, and I had to take the pickle and tomato off and eat it separately. Plus the grease soaked bun got so mushy that I had to eat the last half with a knife and fork. I suspect that wouldn’t be typical, but I’ve only got the one burger to judge from.

Cost- $16 base price Add on Cheese ($2), bacon ($2), sauteed onions ($1), sauteed mushrooms ($1) for a hefty total of $22.00.

So which burger came out on top overall?

My choice would be The Blue Plate Diner. Their burger hit the big points harder, and straight up had more flavour.