This Kitsilano restaurant review appears in full on The Food Queen.
Little else makes me as happy as hearing a restaurant dub itself a Burger Bar.
Upon entering Romer’s Burger Bar, a trendy establishment on West 4th Avenue just beyond the Granville Street Bridge, I’m directed to one of their many spacious booths with a large, dark wood table and cushy, bright red seating. It’s my first time ever seeing the menu, and the array of burgers is fantastic: they’ve got everything and more. Myself, I couldn’t resist the Man’s Man Burger. Aptly titled, this beast of a burger comes equipped with thick applewood bacon, local creamery amber ale cheddar, smoked alder salts, and loads of crispy onion straws, sauced with a complementing whole grain mustard.
While my mouth was already watering at the menu’s description, I still needed a drink. But Romer’s doesn’t have Coca Cola, my staple. In fact, it doesn’t have Sprite or anything of the sort. Instead, the Kits burger bar sells Fentimans botanically brewed goods. I ordered the Curiosity Cola ($4), which they brought out in the bottle with an ice cube-filled glass and straw on the side. An elegant hybrid of Coke and root beer flavours, the ice-cold Fentimans was a deliciously refreshing surprise.
My dining companion ordered an off-the-menu “Back to School special” described to us by our waitress as a fantastic creation featuring pulled pork ($12):
“I ordered the back to school special burger, which was a beef burger patty topped with pulled pork, fresh green apple sticks, BBQ sauce, lettuce, tomato, and cheese on a soft buttery brioche bun. I liked that even though there was lots of meat on the burger you could still taste all the other elements and flavours of the burger. The BBQ sauce was tangy and a little sweet and the pulled pork was nice and tender. The burger was messy to eat but very delicious. This is one of the better burgers I’ve eaten and I love all of the different topping combinations you can get.”
One snag was the fact that burgers at Romer’s don’t come with fries (you get a garlic olive and pepperocini). They have fries you can order — garlic, yam, and poutine — and they’re pretty damn good. Our garlic fries were fresh, hot, and generously loaded with garlic and herbs. But this will run you a minimum of $4 on top of burgers that are already $12 and a drink notches you another $4-plus.
Soda and fries aside, the burger is what matters and it’s what Romer’s does best (they say so themselves, and they’re clearly not liars). Big, hardy, and full of rich, quality flavour, my Man’s Man Burger was a thrill ride for my taste buds down to the last bite. Will I be back. You betcha.
Last modified: September 14, 2011
