Romer's Burger Bar

I have now had the best burger in my life...so far.  Romer's Burger Bar opened about three weeks ago and I basically heard about it through my buddy Eric, who heard from his buddy Carlo.  Carlo and Eric are both fellow foodies and when Eric told me he heard this place was good, I knew I had to try it.  Our host told us that the owner had travelled the word sampling different burgers from different places, and bringing the best ideas back to Vancouver.

While waiting for my buddy Eric, I was hanging around outside, checking the place out and browsing the menu posted outside.  It looked really good, but one item in particular caught my eye.

Yes, foie gras my friends, foie gras.  I've only discovered the heavenly taste of foie gras in the last few years, so I have a lot of catching up to do.  My eyes instantly locked to the section under R Favourite Add-Ons and Savoury Stuff.  This place already had me sold and I wasn't even inside yet.

Not exactly your standard burger joint, Romer's has a bit of an upscale feel to it.....milkshakes are not on the menu folks.  But don't let the fancy atmosphere scare you off, it's not horrendously overpriced or anything.  The average burger (a la carte - no sides) goes for about $9 - $12.  There is one burger that goes for $24, but we'll get to that later. 

We ordered a couple of starters including these wings.  Sea Salt and Toasted Pepper wings, and damn.....some of the best wings I`ve ever had. 

The drumette was huge, moist and juicy on the inside, the coating closer to crunchy than crispy, seasoned to perfection.  I couln`t quite place it, but there was something defintely scented or aromatic about these wings.  These wings smelled good.

I`ve been eating wings for years from one of my favourite places - The Flying Beaver.  I have yet to do a review of this place, but I assure you, it will be a good one.  Anyway, getting a little off-topic, but I have a strange talent for being able to debone a chicken wing, bones practically bleach-white clean.  After de-boning the chicken wing, the eating process is much more enjoyable, just pop the whole thing in your mouth and you`ll think you`ve just eaten the best chicken nugget of your life.

Yam fries were also ordered, and as I`ve been saying in other posts, every restaurant under the sun is now serving these.  The yam fries here were nice and large, crispy on the outside and seasoned wonderfully.

So, as I said, there was one burger on the menu that was more pricy than the rest - $24.  I think the owner of Romer`s must have visitied a place in Las Vegas for the inspiration of this burger.  Fleur De Lys offers a burger called the Fleurburger 5000, which runs for oh, about $5,000 USD before tax and tip.  Anyway, this post is about the Romer`s so if you want to want to read up on Fleur`s burger, check out this link.

Suffice it to say, I ordered the Ultimate Kobe Classic, because for a person like me who`s on a limited budget, I will never be able to afford a $5,000 burger.  This $24 burger will have to do and it`s probably the closest I`m going to get to experiencing the Fleurburger 5000.  The ingredients are similar - both burgers use Kobe beef, both use the brioche bun, and both have foie gras and truffles as ingredients.

On the left there is the redwine demiglaze that was great for dipping and wetting the buger, which needed very little additional moisture. 

The burger was cooked to perfection, and that is no exaggeration.  The patty was charred just right on the outside, very juicy on the inside, and somehow did not spill out when eating it.  Some gourmet burgers out there fall apart after the first bite, but this incredible burger managed to stay in one piece thorughout the meal.

As you can tell, I couldn`t stop taking pictures of my burger.  I was probably at it for a good 10 minutes before I actually started eating.  Note the slice of Foie Gras pate hiding in the onion strings......glorious.

I flipped the top of the bun open just to see what was inside.  Here you can clearly see the truffly mayo and garlic mustard.  The bun inself somehow managed to stay crispy the whole time, most buns will go soggy only after a few minutes.  I think the trick is to griddle the bun in the grease from the burgers.  The griddling seals the bun so it doesn`t sog up from the burger after it`s all put together.

I finally re-assembled my burger and commenced eating.  It was a burger eating experience like no other.  It has completely ruined me for burgers anywhere else.  Milestone`s Four Cheese Burger, Vera`s Burger, Modern Burger...sorry, you guys can`t hold a candle to Romer`s burgers.  Romer`s has been only open for three weeks and it`s already in a class of it`s own. 

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The next time I visit Romer`s, I`m going to give the Romer`s Righteous Rib Burger a try.  Beef Rib is one of my favourite cuts of meat, and to have it on top of a burger may seem like overkill, but when it comes to eating, you have to go a little overboard once in a while. 

Will you look at this thing?  It is just massive! 

That's the braised rib on top of the burger patty.  Looks tough to eat you say?  Not true.  Yes, Romer's does have forks and knives, but you really don't need them, not even for this burger.  However, for the sake of not making a huge mess, this burger was cut, quite easily with an unserated blade.

The rib was braised perfectly, and came apart with very little effort.

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Somehow, our server talked us into getting desert and so we ordered the Drunken Donuts

There's no mini-donut stand out there that fries donuts better than these.  The three dipping sauces are Kalua Nutella, Lemoncello, and Maple Whiskey.  They were hot out of the oil, crispy little things that melted in your mouth, simply amazing.

Romer's Burger bar is a place I defintely want to experience again.  The service was incredible.  For example, I was just hanging around outside waiting for my buddy, and the the host came out of the restaurant and handed me a card, inviting me to try the place out sometime.  Our server was excellent as well.  Definetly a place to check out.