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| - It seems like I just criticised burger's priest (http://www.yelp.ca/biz/the-burgers-priest-toronto-4 and http://www.yelp.ca/biz/the-burgers-priest-toronto) for not living up to the hype surrounding them. Given my disappointment with burger's priest just this weekend, I was still on the hunt for a good burger. If anything, my determination had redoubled from the letdown.
Hype is a double-edged sword. It is a tricky tango partner. As I was informed by the incredibly friendly dude behind the cash, the namesake P&L burger won best burger of the city. The Castor is featured in Toronto Life. The original restaurant, P&L, is also critically acclaimed. In a single word, H Y P E.
Spoiler: that glob of hype belongs squarely on Queen St West, slightly past Spadina, on the south side of the street. Right here at P&L. The P&L hype is well-placed and well-deserved.
I'm glad I decided to give this place a try after eyeing them for over half a year. I sprung for the Castor, since it had peameal bacon, and I try to over-Canadaise whenever I'm at home to make up for the fact that I'm south of the border for most of the year. The entire menu (with like one exception) is $10 + tax, which (despite how stupid it sounds) really makes looking at the menu pleasant. Usually I'm trying to do mental gymnastics juggling what sounds good to my stomach versus what sounds good to my wallet. Here, I could just go with the stomach! Unleash the hungry hungry hippo living in my brain!
The Castor: a patty with peameal bacon, cheese, crispy onions, lettuce, and barbecue sauce (I don't like mayo, sorry). Minus the lettuce, because who really cares about lettuce except for A+ foodies, I have comments on each part of this burger:
- the patty: so tender, so juicy. Like a ripe pear. But made out of cow. A ripe cow.
- the peameal bacon: salty, slightly chewy, and much better than normal bacon, let's be honest.
- the cheese: gooey and warm and melty and stringy. you know on pizza commercials when they lift a slice of pizza off the pizzapan and little strings of cheese cling to it? I thought that was only real in commercials. But that's what happened with this burger and my mouth.
- the onions: honestly, not very oniony (hey, I keep it real ok), but the crispiness adds a nice texture to the whole experience.
- the barbecue sauce: now, usually, I am not a fan of barbecue sauce. Actually when I initially received my burger, I took one look at it and internally kicked myself for not realising that I should have asked to hold the bbq sauce. But then I took a conceding bite and... it's like barbecue sauce, but a little spicy. That kick of flavour negated my internal self-kick. Well played, P&L, well played.
- bonus points... the bun: lightly toasted and slightly crispy on the outside, but still soft on the inside.
Overall verdict: here's a burger I wouldn't mind smelling like for the rest of my life.
The space is not really anything special, but satisfactory enough to sit down, hang out, and eat that burger delicious bite by delicious bite. You better believe I ate that sucker slowly.
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