The Best (Veggie) Burgers in Winnipeg

Updated: March 2014

Burger week was a ton of fun for me. During the week I subjected my patient wife to five restaurants that had competing burgers and one place that has a good veggie burger but wasn't a part of the festivities. Of these five, only two (Underground Café and Boon Burger) had entered vegetarian burgers in the competition. This led me to create my list of top veggie burgers in Winnipeg. However, I realize that I have not ordered burgers from several places which might hold their own in the competition, so I am also posting my veggie burger bucket list as well.

Last winter I started cooking through Joni Marie Newman’s “The Best Veggie Burgers on The Planet”. It has given me a good idea of what can be done with a patty. From this book it is clear that veggie burgers have made a lot of progress in the last few years. They have been transformed from pale imitations of meat to a self-confident food that doesn't even pretend to be beef. Based on experience, there are two camps of veggie burgers. The first camp is the good-ol-fashioned-burger. The distinguishing feature of this group is that most of the flavor comes from the patty. They tend to be simpler and have the traditional burger toppings: pickle, lettuce, tomato, cheese (sometimes), ketchup, mustard (sometimes), and relish (sometimes).  The second group is the topping burgers. In this group the flavor is dominated with sauces, veggies, condiments; the patty’s role is secondary.

What do I like in a burger?  I like a bun that is slightly crusty and a bit chewy. I want every bite to taste the same (an even spread of flavors). I want it to be small enough so that I can taste the whole thing in a bite. 

So, what does Winnipeg have to offer? A lot!

Top 5 Veggie Burgers in Winnipeg:

1) Dessert Sinsations - Yes, that's right! Dessert sinsations has a knock-your-socks-off delicious veggie burger. The housemade patty is bursting with flavour, the fixings are top notch too, and they give you a steak knife to cut it into manageable pieces because otherwise it will be all over you.
2) Boon Burger – The bacon cheese burger – this is a classic burger prepared with extraordinary zeal. It is smoky, it is ‘cheesy’, the bun was pleasant too, and it wasn't overwhelmed with sauce.

3)  Unburger – The Bella – This burger is a classic portabella-style veggie burger. If you don’t like blue cheese don’t order this. If you like it, you’ll find paradise on a square bun.  

4)  Osborne Village Café – The Curried Chickpea and Wild Rice Burger is the best of the curried burgers. It is everything I wish the one at Cousins was. The sauces are lovely, the burger is flavourful without overwhelming.
5)  Elements – Their veggie burger is fabulous as well. It has all the classic toppings with a patty that deserves the attention it gets. UPDATE: I had put this in second place this summer but when I tried it a second time in winter it wasn't nearly as good. I will try it again to see if I had it on a bad day.

Other ones I've tried:

The Underground Café – The Fabulous Sun-Burger is one of the best in the city because of its unbeatable lime-dill sauce. If I liked the patty a bit more, it would easily have made the top 10.
Mondragon – Usurped from 5th place by the burger at the Osborne Village Cafe! This veggie burger has been around for a long time. It was the first veggie burger I ever tried, and as far as gool-ol-fashioned burgers go, this is one of the best. The patty has a hint of curry. The whole thing is very well done. UPDATE: Unfortunately Mondragon is no longer open. We have lost a pretty great burger and a much greater part of Winnipeg's culture.

Market Burger – I have tried both their veggie burgers and I think they are tasty but nothing special. They are probably in the top 10 burgers in the city because of the options for customization.
The Grove - UPDATE: After returning to The Grove to try the burger I found that it was still a good burger but not as good as I remembered it to be. It is the good-ol-fashioned burger style. It is a really good patty, but not the best. Probably sitting in 6th place right now for the best burger in the city. I had placed it in the top 3 before.

Cousins Deli & Lounge – Cousin’s is often considered the best veggie burger in the city by my peers. I am not as big a fan. The patty is dense and a bit dry. It is another example of a top 5 burger with a top 10 patty.

Billabong Gastropub - The Village burger. This one is a middle of the road. It has good toppings, but the patty is not my favorite.

Stella's Café - This burger is presented well and comes with plenty of potatoes and coleslaw on the side. But in a competition of flavor this curry burger doesn't stand out from the crowd.
The Nook  - This is a classic diner burger gone vegetarian. Add some ketchup to make it a bit saucier and enjoy this solid burger.

My Bucket List:

Prairie Ink – Suggested in an article by The Manitoban, this one looked interesting.
Cornerstone Bar and Restaurant - I like the one at The Grove. Why not try this one as well?

Daly Burger – I hear great things from my carnivore friends. At 4.95, why not try their veggie burger?

I will keep this list up-to-date.

Until next time!

Food Review: Market Burger

Market Burger

645 Corydon Ave

 
One of the huge advantages of market burger is their rooftop patio, it affords good views of the vibrant part of Corydon ave. The décor is hip and the food is as local as possible. The staff were friendly, and our server visited us regularly. But like most restaurants that have just opened there were a few glitches; the most interesting ones involved their menu. They advertise a gluten free burger but the menu has it on a whole wheat bagel.  The server was nice enough to clarify: they have gluten free buns – the issue was a misprint on the menu. The second menu issue we noticed was also caused by a misprint. the Menno poutine did not list meat in it despite containing sausage. Sadly, the dish was prepared and on our table before we found out. We had a long debate about whether to eat it or not, but ultimately we sent it back. They were very apologetic about it and gave us frings as a replacement (which was more than enough solace).  We also noticed that they boasted serving local beer but didn't have Half Pints listed (which seemed like a pretty big slight). I asked the server and it turns out that they do have serve Half Pints, Farmery, and Fort Garry brews but, once again, they didn't get it on the menu.

I won’t dwell on this; I have made errors that were equally as silly but somehow found their way into print. Staring at something for too long almost guarantees that important discrepancies will be missed.  I went there to eat, not to copyedit. I say let bygones be bygones and hope they reprint their Manitoba-shaped menus with those corrections. They may have already since this post has sat in my 'posts not posted' folder for several weeks already.

On to the burgers!

They have 2 vegetarian patties, as well as a make your own option, which amounts to good variety of burgers for veggie folks. The French fries have an amazing array of delicious sauces (honey, mint, and jalapeno!) which are sure to be a foodie pleaser. They also serve Cornell Creme Ice cream, which is locally produced on a small scale. We tried the vanilla ice cream and it was great to see that it had the little black flecks suggesting that it was made with vanilla beans. It’s definitely worth trying!

The patio gives it a serious advantage over most (all?) of the fancy burger places in Winnipeg. Overall it is a great place to hang out on a sunny day, have a few beer, and eat a decent burger.

               

                Until next time,