ottawa foodies

Recently a friend suggested we go to The Butchery in Bells Corners who own and operate a restaurant within their store called Vera Burgers. A family member owns the 12 Vera Burgers in Vancouver and another family member has now opened this up in their retail meat store.

The burger seems to be charcoaled but I am not positive. What I am positive about is this burger is to die for. It is magnificant. I have since brought some friends and also brought my wife and they were all impressed with the food at Vera Burger.

The Butchery also sells the patties if anyone wants to make the burgers themselves. It is located in Bells Corners in the very first plaza on the right if you are coming from either Baseline or Richmond Road and driving into Bells Corners. It is worth a drive to get there, you will not be disappointed.

You can't tell if it's charcoal? They make them right in front of you. I attempted to try this place when they first opened, but they were closing right at that moment, 6pm if I recall. Never been back, way too in the boonies and inconvenient hours.

I tried their vera patties but didn't see anything great about them.

I went once near the time they opened for a Saturday lunch and the wife really liked it and I thought it was good as well. We went back on a Friday evening(when they're open till 8:00) and the burgers were very charred. We have not been back since.

I've always had good experience with the burgers there. Juicy, tasty and huge

My favourite burger is Fraser's which is on the weekend brunch menu. Very juicy, double-smoked bacon, sharp cheddar, sweet mayo, on a nice bun with an egg wash. Great fries too.

Absinthe has a good burger too and great fries. Allium as well, the burger tastes a bit gamey, wonder if it's organic, antibiotic-free and all that. Petit Bill's very good. From the fast food joints I've tried, Hintonburger is up there.

My favourite burger comes from a rather unlikely location - the bar at Mont Cascades ski resort.
Now don't get this confused with the regular canteen there - which is quite frankly disgusting. You'd think the bar area used the same kitchen, but the food is MUCH better.

I'm addicted to the heart stopping "Atomic" burger. It looks and tastes like a handmade patty (not some previously frozen disc of grey matter) topped with cheddar, cream cheese, bacon and hot peppers. It is to die for (and one day, maybe literally considering how many of these puppies I consume during the ski season). The rest of the menu in the bar looks really good too, I've tried a couple of other things, but always come back to my beloved Atomic burger.

To bring the thread full circle, I try to re-create them at home during the off season using Vera's patties from the Butchery.

i have to say i really think vera's is one of the top burgers i've had - the fries are fantastic as well - although i am trying out the award winning baja burger this eve - cwilker i suggest you give them another go - stop by at lunch time...but be prepared to wait your turn - perk is you can check out their fantastic meat selection while you wait...also just discovered their homemade sandwichs at the back deli - smoked meat on an egg bread bun is amazing.

Not sure if this thread is exclusively for cooked burgers. I’m not a huge burger fan, however, I have a favourite in terms of buying uncooked (pre-made raw) burgers. As I said, I’m not a huge burger fan, yet I can’t get enough of the “marinaded” beef burgers from Saslove’s on Wellington Street West. I'm not sure exactly what they do when they prepare them (you can see the parsley in them) but they are simply delicious and addictive!

Saslove’s sells the burgers with organic beef as well as regular beef. I buy the regular beef which cost between $6.00 and $7.00 for 4 (the organic burgers sell for about twice as much, i.e., you only get 2 burgers for this amount of money and I find this a bit steep for my budget).

I noticed this year that they seem to make a whole bunch of different kind of burgers I hadn’t seen before, bison, salmon, etc.

I tend to serve the burgers with an assortment of sausages also purchased from Saslove’s - - I like the Chicken Sausages (called something like Margaret’s S & M - Sage & Marjoram) as well as the Turkey & Apple Sausage. This all goes nicely with the Harvest Loaf’s nine grain rolls.

On my last visit, I noticed that Richard Nigros of Juniper is now selling condiments at Saslove’s in Wellington Village. Anyone tried any?

Re: prepared burgers; Have not tried Saslove's, but last year our favorites were Red Apron's Bison burgers with mozzarella and cranberry relish. Also loved their duck burgers glazed with a bit of orange/fig jam, then topped with havarti. We make our own turkey burgers with ground turkey, fresh rosemary and chopped pear. The pear keeps them moist on the grill and we bind them with a bit of bread crumbs, topped with Swiss cheese and rhubarb chutney.

My favourite used to be the "Andrew's Burger" at Infusion Bistro--both gone now! It was an incaredibly messy but sinfully tasty experience! They used freshly ground sirloin, you could order whatever kind of cheese you wanted--and we could it order it pink...sigh. Haven't found one to match...did I mention chipotle mayo and a toasted ciabbata bun long before they were trendy. The lamb burger was also awesome! Now we duplicate (or try!) at home.