So on a somewhat related note, this past weekend I went and had burgers twice....one right after the other. It might have been all the excitement and anticipation for burger week, or perhaps just a simple craving, but either way, it happened. I didn't intend on it playing out like that though. In fact I would've been perfectly happy eating just one burger that night. But the problem was I couldn't decide whether or not I wanted The Burger's Priest or Holy Chuck Burger, so obviously the solution was to have both, right?
I tried to narrow it down. I promise I did. But there seems to be a lot of debate, be it on Twitter or in the bloggosphere about which of these two popular burger joints serves up the best burger. And seeing as I had both this weekend, I thought it'd be the perfect chance to settle this once and for all. A BURGER-OFF!
Let's do this.
Contender #1 : The Burger's Priest
Location: 3397 Yonge Street, Toronto, ON
Meal Cost: $19.48
The Burger's Priest
We headed to the burger's priest at about 8:30 on Sunday night, thinking that we would've skipped the dinner rush. But boy was this wishful thinking. The line up was out the door with no signs of letting up.
And once you get inside you see more people waiting...
The Priest Menu
So the menu looks pretty skimpy, right? But little did I realize, they have a whole secret menu! A quick google search brought up a whole list of items, and I figured "What the heck, secret menu it is!" Even the milkshake I ended up ordering off the secret menu!
remember people, CASH ONLY!
Riggs and Murtaugh Milkshake ($4.5)- Vanilla milkshake with chocolate milk
The milkshake came first, separate from the rest of the meal. Not that I'm really complaining because it was ridiculously hot, and I didn't mind a shake while I waited for my food. It was solid milkshake: velvety smooth texture, and not too sweet. Only thing is it wasn't quite as thick as I would've liked.
Fries ($3.29)
Just by looking at them, I thought these fries would be crunchy, but instead it was the heavy in substance and buttery kind. Super filling, but not bad at all.
The High Priest ($9.45)
This burger looks awfullyfamiliar. Oh wait, I've had this burger before haven't I, at McDonald's! So turns out this secret menu item is pretty much the same as the Big Mac from the golden arches. Except everything on this one tastes REAL.
The patties were seasoned nicely and cooked to a juicy medium. The burger looked unmanageable big at first, but the meat isn't too dense and the bun was nice and light. Put short and sweet, THIS is what a Big Mac is supposed to be.
Contender #2: Holy Chuck (@HOLYCHUCKBURGER)
Location: 1450 Yonge Street, Toronto, ON
Meal Cost: $21.21
The Holy Chuck Menu
Chuck Facts
"Go Chuck Yourself" Challenge
If you're here to find fame, you could consider taking the Go Chuck Yourself Challenge. Finish a Go Chuck Yourself burger (Six patties, six cheese, triple bacon, caramalized onions, stacked between 3 grilled cheese), and a milkshake of your choice in 6 minutes, the glory is all yours. I personally wouldn't be able to finish a milkshake in 6 minutes, so I'll pass on this one.
The place was pretty empty because we came here at 10 pm when it was about to close, so we decided to head home and eat. Luckily this place was only a 5 minute drive away from where I was staying that week.
Bacon Fudge & Sea Salt Milkshake ($5.49)
I'm not ashamed to say that walking into Holy Chuck, I was looking forward to trying their milkshakes more than the burgers. They had some pretty interesting combinations: Peanut Butter & Jelly, Wasabi Green Onion & Ginger, Strawberry Cheesecake, etc. If I didn't have my heart set on order the Bacon Fudge & Sea Salt milkshake (as a result of countless positive feedback), I would've ordered the Nutella and Salted Caramel. I love Nutella, and I love love LOVE caramel. I'll be coming back for you another day. Anyways, the Bacon Fudge & Sea Salt ended up being a bit of a let down. The fudge and sea salt are a nice contrasting complement, but the bacon bits did nothing for me. Maybe I'm just not that big of a bacon fan? Some of the bacon pieces were burnt to a hard crunch, and it just made the shake taste incredibly oily. Not to mention this whole thing was way too sweet. Perhaps it's to offset the saltiness of the sea salt, but definitely still too sweet.
Fries ($3.29)
Despite being a little cooled, I liked the fries. I think they would've been even better hot, but what can you do. They are cut thin and fried to a light crisp. I liked the seasoning as well, makes it a little more interesting than your average salt.
The Holy Chuck ($9.99) -Double cheeseburger with bacon & caramelized onions
For comparison sake, I was tempted to order The Big Chuck which is essentially the same thing as the High Priest I had a bit earlier. But for one night, I think I've had enough Big Mac doppelgangers. Instead, I went for Holy Chuck's signature burger: The Holy Chuck.
The first thing I noticed biting into it -- this burger is definitely not the same as The Burger's Priest. I couldn't put my finger on it for a while, but then it hit me. The Holy Chuck burger tasted somewhat processed. Especially the cheese and the bun. The patty itself was much better. It's made a bit drier, but had great texture and flavours. On a whole, I just wasn't a fan of this one. It's a little disappointing because everyone keeps telling me they liked Holy Chuck a lot. Did I order the wrong thing? I almost feel like I need to go again as a second chance.
Verdict:
THE WINNER!....for now.
So it seems in this isolated burger-off, The Burger's Priest is the clear winner for me. In general everything at Holy Chuck tasted a tad too processed and commercialized. But even still I have my doubts. What if I went to Holy Chuck first? Would my emptier stomach make things taste better? If I decided not to take 5 minutes to go home before consumer the burgers, would it change anything? There are too many variables to really make a definite decision. So I think this leaves me with only one option...... to do it again! =P Happy Burger Week! :)
