The Keg (Garry St.): 4.2/5

Bacon-Cheese Burger
Platter: $13.85
Score: 4.2



Cheese Burger
Platter: $12.90
Score: 4.1



It was a big burger, but also came with a big price tag. The Keg is a fancy place though, with dark, tasteful décor and plenty of serving staff. It was a very pleasant dining experience.

We received baskets of fresh multigrain bread to distract us while we waited for our burgers - which are wrapped in - bread. That's bread with our bread. Dough! Our waitress was great. She was very attentive and conversational. Drink refills came without being asked for, and when one diner was slow to finish her burger, the waitress made a point of checking that there wasn’t a problem with her meal.
 

Our food came fairly quickly but somehow most people's orders got messed up. There was much apologizing from several Keg staff – it seemed like they weren’t used to making mistakes. It occurs to me that serving staff probably don't like it when a group orders burgers - they're way too easy to mix up!

The burger was served "closed" with a fancy little knotted wicker cocktail stick holding it together. The plates were tiny and awkward - rectangular - the width of the burger.

Cary described the burger taste as “prime rib roast” – very flavourful. I'd describe the patty as thick, coarsely ground and quite juicy. It was well seasoned with salt (as you might expect from The Keg) and it was soft, but not fall-aparty. The texture was almost "springy" and the colour was leaning towards pale. It came with a very fancy steak knife that I couldn't resist using so I cut mine in half - it was still a little slippery, but easy enough to handle without getting covered in it. Others commented that it was a messy burger.

The ingredients were quite fresh - a large leaf of romaine and a couple of smaller slices of very red, ripe tomato. The cheese was real and the bacon was well cooked, bordering on hard. The burger patty was the predominant flavour though, so aside from providing some texture, I couldn't taste the bacon or the cheese. The mayonnaise flavour got through though – which I liked. I didn't have bun-bottom issues - others did - so I guess it's all in how you slice it!

The house salad was a good size and delicious - lots of very fresh peppers, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes as well as a collection of fresh weedy greens (and purples). There was no dressing. April exclaimed that “Kari and I shared mushrooms Neptune! Double-yum!” Omega-Russ commented that the “Side Caesar was very sad.”

Kari wanted a drink but didn’t know what - only that it had to be “good”. Our waitress kept guessing until Kari’s face lit up at “Mojito!” It must’ve been muddled to perfection because she even had a second. This might also explain her response when Dani proclaimed that she seems to always have the opposite burger review from everyone else, Kari confirmed that "No, you're just wrong!"

On a side note, April is quitting smoking. Don’t sit beside April next week - she may be cranky and she knows how to hit!