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| - I've heard many good things about Toma and I never looked at the menu until arriving so I didn't know what to expect. They have so many options it's overwhelming. I mean just for the drinks alone they have a full bar and a few beers on tap and milkshakes oh my.
The bottom line is the food at this place is not your Burger's Priest, Woody's or anything that a person like me would consider an everyday type of burger experience. This place gives me the impression of being the "anti-chain" if there's such a thing. While the menu consists of all different things you can ask for pretty much anything and everything and make it the way you want because it's all is listed as an extra should you so choose to add it onto a preselected burger or create your own from scratch. Creating your own includes the type of meat choices like chicken, lamb, wagyu or double it or whatever you want.
I just wanted as much as possible a bacon cheese burger but with a bit of flash. This place serves what I'd consider over the top options sort of what La Belle et la Boeuf serves in Montreal but scaled back in size if that makes any sense. My wife had gone with the Kalamb which is listed as: Lamb patty, brie cheese, cumin roasted aioli, Kalamata olives, spinach, roasted red pepper. I had asked for "La Boheme" which was listed as: Beef patty, blue cheese, swiss cheese, homemade onion & bacon marmalade, spinach, tomatoes. Because I sort of wanted 2 cheeses and I ended up adding bacon to it. La Boheme, "it's an opera"! La Boheme was the tickets Louis Winthorpe III had in his jacket pocket in the movie Trading Places when he was getting booked.
Sides are a la carte and we ended up getting the Mexican poutine which is basically poutine with onions, bacon and guacamole added in there as well. The buns are made on the premises while some of the options for toppings are some dare I say it (Jenny N would not approve), "gourmet" toppings. Foie Gras? I really can't eat that so I stay away. Truffle oil? Strong, can be pricey sure but do I really want that on a burger? Wagyu beef patty? I've had before at a place in Pittsburgh. I didn't really think it was special. In fact if I had Wagyu beef I don't think I'd want to ground it up and make it a burger. It would sort of be like taking a ribeye and making that into a burger. Personally I'd want the unadulterated version of that cut of meat. Prosciutto di Parma is expensive stuff and I love eating it on its own. To mix it into a burger again to me is sort of taking away from how good it really is on its own but then again I've never tried using it as a topping on anything before. As far as another crazy over the top option there is such a thing called the John Wayne. It's a burger that has 3 patties on it of beef, chicken and lamb as the meats with other toppings so it's essentially a kind of burger you really can't pick up and start eating I'd imagine.
I have to say the burger was really good. The meat patty is definitely hand crafted and the entire thing is a creation. Ingredients are definitely not skimped and the balance is great. I loved the Swiss/Blue cheese combo with the creamy and stretchy Swiss with the bold blue. The house made buns are different as well. They're branded (I've seen this at a few places) but they seem strong enough to hold onto whatever is going on in between no matter what's inside. That's important that your special burger doesn't fall apart on you. My favorite burgers consists of bacon and cheese and while this opera had 2 cheeses they worked well together along with everything else in between. The burger is juicy while the rest of it just falls into place like it was intended to.
The Mexican poutine was OK but I sort of wish I just had asked for a regular poutine at the time instead. The onions sort of change the texture of the entire thing and while I'm not really a fan of guac, my wife loves avocado anything so I got it because of her. I would have been fine with regular curds and gravy as our side.
Since this place is what could be considered gourmet burger territory it cannot be compared to places not of the like. It's sort of in its own echelon but if I had to compare it to anything like I said it's sort of like what La Belle et la Boeuf would be if there would be a Toronto version of that.
While Toma is good it's rather pricey. Yes it's a burger with really good ingredients and it's made very well but it's still a burger but it is a whole different level and if you wanted to have an everyday food with high end options it's the place for you. I know it's definitely not an everyday type place for me however I consider everyday options to be more Wendy's and McD's. This place is the extreme opposite of that so keep that in mind. The service was excellent and I'd definitely return to try something else but nothing near the bottom of the menu because I'm not one for 3 patty burgers, foie gras or truffle.
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