Romer's Burger Bar

We were in the neighbourhood to catch a movie at the nearby Fifth Avenue, so we decided to pay a visit to Romer's Burger Bar, a relatively new burger joint in Kits. Being in the neighbourhood, we could have easily gone for a more healthy option, but we wanted a really good burger.

The decor is dark, with deep red booths, high tables with bar stools, and lots of mirrors. Cozy nightclub vibe, if you prefer.

Romer's burgers are purportedly gourmet, with natural, free-range local meats. One advantage to the set up of the menu is that the burgers are sold alone, without any sides. This gives the customer the option of choosing their various sides, which range from fries, to onion rings, to veggies and salads.

The bad news is that for a single burger here (priced from $9 - $20), you're more or less paying for the price of a full meal at any other burger joint.  The sides range from $3 - $8, so a whole plate does add up. But if the burger is good, it's worth it, right?

I ordered the 'Wicked Deadly Cheeseburger' ($11) which was topped with five types of cheese, onion, greens, and a Russian tarragon dressing. This was good, except that the only cheese you could taste was the goat cheese. Perhaps this was a proportion problem or the nature of the goat cheese itself, but I couldn't tell you what other cheeses were in that burger. The burger was an okay goat cheese burger, though I wasn't terribly blown away. Yes, the bun was nicely toasted and had a sumptuous softness, but the meat was a little dry, overdone, and really under seasoned.

Being a man, Shane felt it appropriate to order the 'Man's Man Burger' ($11), with bacon, cheddar, onion strings and tomato. This was also okay - the onions added a nice crunchy texture, but the problem again was the overdone meat and the lack of seasoning in the meat. There were no meat juices dripping on to the plate, you know?

Of course we had to try the poutine ($8). This was a terrible disappointment. The fries were crisp enough, but the problem was with two of the three components: gravy and curds. The gravy was quite minimal and bland, more of a drizzle than the more appropriate puddle. The cheese curds were also minimal and lacked that pleasant toothy squeak. The whole dish was weirdly un-hot (not a real word, but appropriate for this occasion).

For dessert, we tried the apple pie ($6), which arrived with a side of mascarpone cream. The pie was another disappointment, a bland, cold disappointment; the crust was thin and more chewy than flaky, and the apple filling was just standard. By far, the best part of the dish was the generous dollop of mascarpone.

By the end of our meal, we sad to have spent so much money on a burger joint. It could have been so good. But we just wanted to turn back time at that point.