ottawa foodies

Hi, hubs and I have been doing veggie weeks. We are vegetarian every other week in an attempt to curb excessive meat eating. So far so good. We have been trying out more vegetarian recipes. Eating out is a little more difficult short of always ordering the veggie pasta or the greek pizza.

Anyways, I am wondering what is your favourite veggie burger in town? I have a craving for burger and there are still 3 days left to veggie week!... :)

Great question! I am always looking for more options too.

If it is more about the toppings than burger, The Works was always a good bet. Their veggie burgers were frozen patty variety, but with so many toppings it didn't matter. I also can tolerate Arrow & Loon at fifth ave & bank. Similar idea - frozen veggie patty with lots of toppings.

Homemade veggie burgers:
Dick's
Hintonburger (falafel base), also has tofu hot dogs and tofu pogos
Irene's in Glebe

I think there was once a thread on this. I'll try to find it. I miss Lick's. They used to do a great veggie burger. I still buy their frozen Nature burgers at the grocery store.

Here are some useful forum links I found:

restaurant options:
ottawafoodies.com

Plus recipes:
Forum - Veggie Burgers
ottawafoodies.com

Sorry for the chain restaurant, but I recommend Montana's, which is very ironic considering their huge emphasis on meat!

I'll also vouch for Dick's, which is a black bean based veggie burger, and the Works.

As an omnivore, my favourite veggie burgers are the ones that don't try to taste or feel 'beefy.'

I'm pretty fond of the deep-fried, sometimes-bigger-than-a-side-plate one at Irene's. And the Buzz on Bank has a really good nut-based burger (for $17, in case that's a concern). I also hear the Atomic Rooster has a solid burger.

Edit: OH! And how could I forget Café My House?

I know we just met, and this is crazy, but I hear that Harvey's has a pretty good one. You should try it. Maybe.

I haven't had one in a while, but I seem to remember the one at Chez Lucien being good? I think they take a regular tofu burger, slice it in half and stuff it with caramelized onions or something? Anyone had it recently? I just remember it being delicious (then again I had had a few pints by then).

Thank you for the suggestions! Will keep your suggestions in mind when I head out for a veggie burger next! The Chez Lucien one sounds interesting if they still offer it.

I did try one recently at Burgers on Main but I think it was possibly a frozen pattie. It was just ok.

Cafe My House has a really tasty one. If you want something less expensive, Green Earth is a good shot. The Imperial had a good one, though the last couple of times I was there the service stunk and the wait time for food was unbelievable. Dick's was overly salted the last time I had one.

Non-burger but "beef" related, Zen Kitchen has a vegan reuben on lunch and brunch, it is REALLY good.

Worth mentioning that you can easily get the tofu burger at Chez Lucien in any of the other 'styles' -- so jalapeno, jack and fried onions, or cream cheese, mushroom [and bacon, which I suppose some might skip]. The brie and pear one isn't a particularly good match with the tofu.

Good thread. Adding to the recs above, I've had and enjoyed the v. burgers from Le Hibou and La Belle Verte.

And less recently from The Buzz and The Manx.

As sidepoints: Belle Verte is well worth checking out on your alternating veg weeks. And while a bit of a trek (Wakefield), Le Hibou's eclectic menu is veg-friendly and also features a Sun eve Kid's dinner for a Toonie deal. See www.cafelehibou.com/ for details.

The Manx usually has excellent vegetarian options. Love their tofu tacos.

Check out: www.nutsandnoix.com
Locally owned and produced!

I'll second the suggestion for Le Hibour -- it's a beet and black bean burger with sweet potatoes on top that I found extremely satisfying when I had it in the summer. Also, the Sandy Hill Lounge and Grill has a very good veg burger which seems to be made by nuts and noix as suggested above.

To be honest (you just know that's what I'm all about), I've not eaten a lot of veggie burgers. This thread makes me want to try a whole bunch! Maybe not all at once, but some of them do sound really good. I would probably stick to a meat option where available, but I might just go out with the expressed purpose of having one of these nut or mushroom burgers.

I'm still not sold on tofu though. Sorry.