Back in 2015, New Brunswick-based ReLiSH Gourmet Burgers expanded to BC by opening two locations in Vancouver.  One shop opened on Commercial Drive and the other on Davie (see review here).  After about a year in business, their Davie location closed at the end of 2016.  Their only remaining Vancouver location is at 2290 Commerical Drive.  Some friends of mine hadn’t tried ReLiSH before even though they passed by it many times.  This evening, we decided to meet up there for some dinner.

Fast Casual

ReLiSh as a fast casual restaurant – that is, somewhere in between fast food (eg, McDonalds) and premium casual (eg, Joeys, Cactus Club).  Fast casual is a rapidly growing restaurant segment as customers desire better quality food.   At ReLiSh, there is quick counter service like at a typical fast food restaurant but the ingredient quality is better.  For example, they use 100% real, natural cheese rather than processed cheese and their beef patty is made of 100% ground chuck.  The environment at ReLiSh is more upscale and inviting compared to traditional fast food restaurants.

RELISH MENU

ReLiSH has ten types of burgers on their menu with your choice of patty including 100% certified Angus beef patty, ground turkey and a vegetarian patty made of ground buttom mushoom and chick peas.  Some of the burgers have special meaning in their names like The Great One after Wayne Gretsky and Le Nordique for the Quebec Nordiques.  ReLiSH is also very kid-friendly with a special kids menu that includes a cheeseburger, grilled cheese, grilled peanut butter and jam sandwich, and chicken strips.

WHAT We TRIED

My family and I had the following:

• LA is My Lady ($9.96)
• Under The Tuscan Sun Burger ($9.76)
• Sweet Potato Fries ($4.00)
• Kids Chicken Strips ($6.75)
• Diet Coke ($2.60)

The burgers have a “standard” 5 oz patty and come in a poppyseed bun.  Based on my previous experience, I suggest that you order a side in order to be full.  On average, you would be looking to spend around $15 for a meal at reLiSh.

I had the LA is My Lady which is a beef patty with sliced avocado, roasted peppers, basil pesto and creamy goat’s cheese.  From the list of ingredients, the basil pesto and creamy goat’s cheese intrigued me the most.  I thought the juicy and had lots of flavour and fitted my taste as it was a bit on the sweeter side.

The chicken tenders were for my son although he didn’t take much interest in them.  I thought they were perfect being crispy on the outside and very moist, tender on the inside.  These tenders are certainly one of the best I have tasted compared to other places I have tried (like KFC, Safeway hot section, Burger King.)

My husband had the Under The Tuscan Sun Burger.  The sun-dried tomato pesto, creamy goat cheese, pancetta, and balsamic syrup ingredients appealed to him.  I had a bite and it was certainly more savoury compared to the LA is My Lady.  The sweet potato fries were my least favourite of the meal as they seemed a bit dry and tasted really salty?!  They added too much salt on top such that it overpowered the sweetness of the sweet potato fries.

reLiSh versus McDonalds?

reLiSH’s burger prices are comparable to the Create Your Taste burgers at McDonald’s.  For $10, I think I would rather have reLiSH’s burgers which are way more juicy and flavourful than the angus burger I created at McDonalds (see review here).

Overall Impression of reLiSH Gourmet Burgers on Commerical

reLiSH serves up some juicy and tasty burgers but I suggest you get a side (fries, onion rings) to be full.  Rating: 4/5

Website: www.relishlife.com

McDonald’s introduced a new menu concept recently, Create Your Taste, which allows customers to build their own angus burger.  It’s in-restaurant kiosk experience where you select from 30 ingredients to create this gourmet burger.  And on top of that, the burger will be delivered right to your table after it is made in the kitchen.  This started to sound like some sort of five star fast food experience to me.  I needed to find out more.

Create Your Taste Locations

Before you run out to your local McDonald’s, you should know that not all McDonald’s restaurants have Create Your Taste.  The closest one to me was the McDonald’s at Main and Terminal in Vancouver.  Last month, I ventured to that location for my first Create Your Taste experience (not sponsored by McDonald’s Canada).

How It Works

The process behind building your own angus burger is very simple (as fast food should be).  You go up to a kiosk and follow the instructions on the screen to make the ingredient selections.  McDonald’s also notes the calories associated with each ingredient so that you are making an informed decision as to what to put in your burger.

You start off by choosing a bun, but not just a regular McDonald’s bun.  There are some really artisanal choices for buns including black & white sesame seed bun and artisan-style bakery roll.   And for the health conscious, you can forgo a bun altogether and go with a lettuce wrap.  You then proceed to choose the cheese (natural cheddar, swiss, crumbled blue cheese and more), sauce (garlic aioli, smokey BBQ, grainy mustard and more) and toppings (guacamole, leaf lettuce, sundried tomato pesto and more).

And if you really want to “turn up the taste,” you can add in some hickory smoked bacon pieces, hickory smoked strips and even an extra 100% Canadian angus beef patty.

After you make your selections, you come to a summary screen of all the choices you have made.  Because many of the ingredients are considered “premium,” there is often an extra cost for them.  However, these are noted clearly on the screen so there are no surprises.

What I Ordered

My angus burger came out to be a 800 calorie creation with an artisan-style bakery roll, lettuce, 4 slices of tomato, caramelized onions, a Monterey Jack Jalapeno, bacon strips, ketchup and grainy mustard.  At the time of my order, McDonalds gave a free combo upgrade of fries and a drink.  My total came out to be $9.45.

After you place your order, you pick up a table tracker from the kiosk, enter the number indicated on it, and wait for your order at a table.  A McDonald’s staff member served the burger to my table within 10 minutes.  It was service with a smile.

The Taste Test

The burger came on a cute wooden board and the fries were in a small basket.  Very cute presentation.  And how did the burger taste?  Really good.  The bun was soft and fluffy; the lettuce and tomatoes were fresh; and the bacon was nicely crispy.  Most important, the patty wasn’t dry.  It was moist and juicy for fast-food standards.

The angus burger I made was tasty indeed and I enjoyed the quality of the ingredients.  It was also 800 calories which is “up there” in terms calories compared to McDonald’s other burgers.  My usual go-to McDonald’s burger is the Filet-O-Fish sandwich which has half the number of calories (400 cal).  The potato rosti and bacon burger which was served this past holiday season has 790 calories.

Bottom Line

For the quality of the ingredients, choices available and portions given, the Create Your Taste did not disappoint.  When I’m hungry, this burger would definitely satisfy.  Most of all, I enjoyed the table service which was swift and very friendly.  Rating: 4.5/5

To learn more, visit www4.mcdonalds.ca/createyourtaste | This review is not sponsored by McDonald’s Canada.

Having heard great things about Upstairs at Campagnolo, I decided to visit them earlier today for brunch.  Unfortunately, the experience was lackluster and I left feeling disappointed and still hungry.  While I’ll go into more detail about why the meal went so poorly, I’ll just start off by saying it was a 2/5 dining experience.

Weekend Brunch

Upstairs at Campagnolo opened over two years ago and serves weekend brunch from 10:30 am to 2 pm on Saturday and Sundays.  The entrance to the restaurant is through a non-descriptive green door (no window, no address) just to the right of their main restaurant, Campagnolo’s, front door.  The doors to both Campagnolo restaurants are doubly secured via a chain fence which is locked during off-business hours.  After a staff member unlocked the chain fence and the door, we proceeded up a long, dark staircase to the restaurant.  It smelled of urine in the stairwell.  Although that is a very normal for the area, I still thought it was a bit of an unwelcome start to what is supposed to be a cozy and comforting weekend brunch.

The dining room is a divey sort of place: small and can only accommodate about 32 from what I read.  Most of the tables were just for 2 while a large group can be accommodated by pushing the tables together.  The green painted walls gave the room a dark, intimate kind of vibe.

What We Tried

My husband and I ordered the following though many of the items end being comped (more on that after):

• Dirty Burger ($11)
• Bacon Pancakes ($12)
• Homer Simpson Donut ($3.50)
• Coffee ($3)
• Tea (3$)

Campagnolo is famous for their Dirty Burger having been named “Best Burger in the City” by Scout Magazine.   We came for brunch to see if that was really the case.  The Dirty Burger really is very underwhelming in terms of appearance as reported.  First of all, it’s small with the patty being only 4 oz.  The patty is served in a irregularly-shaped, housemade Scottish Bap (soft and floury) bun.  In the case of the Dirty Burger, you really are going for “quality” rather than looks.  The patty is a 40 day dry aged beef patty which is ground-in-house.   Throw in some American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and a sweet-salty housemade secret sauce and you’ve got a burger that is known as one of the best in Vancouver.

Without a doubt, the flavour was very good and I enjoyed it.  A lack of sides was an issue and I had overlooked that part when ordering.  I certainly didn’t feel much excitement to see one small burger on a dinner plate with no sides.  It just looked lonely and even perhaps pathetic in terms of presentation.  I think it would be better if the burger was priced higher (say $15) and had some sides.  And if you look at the picture below, it looks like a small bun, small patty and overarching large pieces of lettuce.

The Homer Simpson Donut was of a denser texture but still pretty good.  The glazing wasn’t overly sweet.

Moving on, we had to endure a bit of a fiasco with the bacon pancakes.  Why?  Because the pancakes and bacon were burnt on the edges.  When we received the dish, we brought it up with the server immediately.  He took it back to the kitchen and we were to receive a newly prepared version.

On the second round, the pancakes and bacon were still burnt around the edges just a bit less than the first time.  We again raised the issue with staff who offered to bring a different entree for us.  It was too late, however, as we had to get going.  The fruit puree was still pretty good from what I could tell.

I commend the servers for being polite, professional and gracious in the matter.  They comped the donut, tea and the two attempts for the bacon pancakes.

Overall Impression of Campagnolo

The Dirty Burger had a very good flavour overall but nothing to entice me to come back again.  After two unsuccessful attempts at the bacon pancakes, I left hungry and wishing I had had gone elsewhere for brunch.  Service was solid and professional.  Rating: 2/5

Website: www.campagnolorestaurant.ca

My friend, Melissa, was moving back to Ontario and on her last day in Vancouver we went for dinner in Mount Pleasant.  Our dinner was family-style and most of us were generally satisfied with what we ate.  However, Melissa somehow did not manage to eat enough so we needed to go to another restaurant after that.   Walking around Main Street, we stumbled upon Lucy’s Eastside Diner.  It is open 24 hours and serves classic diner food like burgers and milkshakes.  Looking at the menu posted outside, it seemed like a good place for some fast and filling eats.

The interior of Lucy’s is quite charming being 50s retro-inspired.  I enjoyed the warm and inviting atmosphere and we sat at the bar on a few stainless steel bar stools.

Melissa got the Everyday All Day Burger ($13) with fries and a strawberry milkshake as the sides.  She described the burger as being as good as McDonald’s which really isn’t saying much.  I dabbled on a few of her fries and they were crispy but too salty.

We shared the strawberry milkshake which was one of the sides from Melissa’s burger.  Good consistency, not too thick and reasonable strawberry flavour.

We also got an apple crumble pie which had sweet and tender apples and a nice golden topping.  It was okay but nothing really to write home about.

Overall Impression of Lucy’s Eastside Diner

While I only sampled a few of the dishes at Lucy’s Eastside Diner, I wasn’t particularly impressed.  The food didn’t exactly entice me to return for a full-on meal.  The appeal of Lucy’s is mostly due to the convenience factor of them being open 24 hours.  But the food wasn’t stellar and I wouldn’t exactly say that they are any better than a big-name fast food joint.  Realistically speaking, it’s hard for a restaurant that is open 24 hours to have really fresh tasting and amazing food.  I guess this is as good as it gets when you factor in convenience.  Rating: 3/5

Website: www.lucyseastsidediner.com