Special Burger Review: Burger Royal

Photo by Andrew Hockridge

Date Visited: June 23, 2018
Location: Le Plateau - Mont Royal (Montreal)
BurgerTours Rating: 8.95/10

Taste	Messiness	Price	Venue	Pluses
Excellent	Messy	$11-$15	Restaurant	Veggie, Gluten Free

Website
 

---

Photo by Andrew Hockridge

Drew's Review
Do you know what they call a quarter pounder with cheese in France? A royal with cheese.

Burger Royal is nothing to mess with. Located in the Le Plateau Mont-Royal neighbourhood on St. Laurent Blvd., this place is seriously regal. A true dignity to burger royalty.

We went on a Saturday at around 8pm. It being a Saturday evening in late June, this place was bustling. There was a table open we saw just as soon as we arrived. It was the beginning of summer in Montreal, so everyone is out and about. Needless to say, this place wasn’t hard to find at all.

Photo by Andrew Hockridge

I advise to come with an empty stomach. Burger Royal offers good sized portions, and hearty food. Burgers come in three sizes. 3, 6 and 9oz. (The 6 will satisfy most, the 9 is massive). You can also choose how cooked your burger is (rare to well done). And there are a large selection of burger choices, or you can customize to your liking. And you know when they ask you how you like your burger meat cooked, it's going to be delicious.

It's juicy, the meat is seasoned, it's heavy 6oz but at the same time light and fluffy when you bite into it. I don't know how else to explain it. They have a bunch on the menu for you to choose or you can make your own from scratch.

I gave the menu a hard read and after a few minutes reading over the options, I made the toughest decision I made all weekend. Of all the creations that sounded amazing to try, I went with the 3 oz. Awks burger. It was a burger that came loaded with Monterey jack and cheddar cheese, pickles, ketchup, mustard and mayo. It's juicy, the meat is seasoned, it's a heavy 3oz but at the same time light and fluffy when you bite into it. I don't know how else to explain it.

Awks/Photo by Andrew Hockridge

The sensation was pure delight. The craftiness put into this small creation went beyond expectations. The flavour was succulent with light elements of tangy and zesty. The meat was cooked light and was able to bite into it without any difficulty. It was soft and tender and the juices clashed nicely with the quality of the burger.

Burger Royal can fit into any category seemingly well. Alcohol isn’t an option, but veggie and gluten-free options are. The burgers are compact and fit into many mouths and generally served for hungry customers. Burger Royal was exactly what I wanted and needed after a long day of exploring the city. It's a great vibe and definitely a must-go when visiting Montreal.

8.9/10

---

Mark's Review

We set off once again to discover more local and authentic burger joints outside of Toronto. But, rather than touring the GTA like we’ve done the past few months, we drove 5 hours away to a previous BurgerTour location, Montreal. This is our second time to tag a burger joint in Montreal, the first being Uniburger back in 2015. For this special BurgerTour, we visit Burger Royal.

Burger Royal was on our list to visit back in 2015, but with the distance being out of reach for us at the time we decided to save it for our next trip... three years later, here we are!

They take a fine spin on comfort food, taking the freshest mountain raised and grass fed beef from Mont Laurier. Aside from burgers, they also serve a variety of: chilli, mac n’cheese, poutine, salads, and hot dogs.

Located in the Mont Royale neighbourhood just west of Downtown Montreal, this burger joint situated on Boulevard St. Laurent is clustered among a group of restaurants and bars that often see high volumes of people during the week. We were in the area on a Saturday night, so we weren’t surprised had the restaurant been busy, but luckily for us it wasn’t.  Andrew and I were joined by two other friends who indulged with us for this foodies weekend, and we weren’t going to let them miss out on a burger tour experience.

The burger menu had a wide selection ranging from the traditional cheese burger with a local touch, to the most creative inspired by both local and international ingredients. I was torn between two, but since we were in Montreal, I opted for le Quebecois.

Le Quebecois/Photo by Mark Avila

Le Quebecois is a beef burger with Cheddar Cheese, Creamy Coleslaw, Mustard, and Relish. All of their burgers have a choice of a slider size or regular size for a couple more dollars extra. I chose the slider with a side of French Fries and a drink.

Even though I only got the slider, it was surprisingly a decent size, flavourful, and filling. It was an interesting first bite; the Coleslaw immediately caught my taste buds with a creamy and sweet start, followed by a tart finish from the mustard. The beef patty was cooked well and juicy, and the bun was delicate and soft. It was definitely a light meal, but I say my stomach was satisfied. Had I not been still digesting from our previous meal, I would’ve gotten a regular size or even two sliders.

Overall, I was very impressed by Burger Royal. I appreciated that they were able to offer two size options for their burgers, otherwise I don’t know if I would’ve been able to finish a regular size on my own. Le Quebecois was light and filling, and full of flavour that was able to satisfy my taste buds.

Without a doubt, Montreal left us with another amazing BurgerTour experience. I would consider Burger Royal to be one of my all around favourite food joints to check out in Montreal. Aside from the Poutine and Smoked Meat, I will definitely be seeking to return here during the next visit.

9/10

Special Burger Review: Uniburger

Photo by Andrew Hockridge

Date Visited: November 9, 2015
Location: Latin Quarter (Montreal)
BurgerTours Rating: 7.95/10

Taste	Messiness	Price	Venue	Pluses
Great	Messy	$6-$10	Fast Food	N/A

Website

---

Photo by Andrew Hockridge

Drew's Review

Single Cheeseburger/Photo by Andrew Hockridge

Bonjour, and welcome to BurgerTours. I like to take this time to say thank you, or merci to the two guys who served us at the Uniburger on Rue Ontario on an early Monday evening. We know we weren't your only customers, but we felt like we were. Anyways, merci and here is the review.

It was a planned trip ever since August that Mark and I were going to travel to Montréal for a few days. And even though our stay was limited, we wanted to fit a special #BurgerTours in. That brings us to Uninurger. It was a decision made by narrowing down the list of Montréal's best burgers. We were left with three choices and from there we just decided that Uniburger was going to be the one to try. For those who aren't familiar, Uniburger is a burger chain with two locations in the Montréal area. After a simple Google search, we got the impression that the burgers looked like a replica of California's In N Out burger chain, so that's what made my final decision.

We arrived just after 5pm on a Monday evening and it was empty. Like, literally. We thought at least it being dinner time there would be someone eating, but alas, it was to our surprise that Mark and I were going to be dining by ourselves. The small burger joint probably sat less than 10 customers and from the outside, it really wasn't that eye appealing because Mark and I walked right past it while we were trying to find it. The interior wasn't that appealing either. The walls were bare and weren’t even bothered to be painted. This to go along with the fact we were dining in an empty restaurant really lowered my expectations of this place.

Photo by Andrew Hockridge

We walked up to the cash register and a guy came up and greeted us and at that moment, probably realized we were from out of town. Mark and I took a glance at the menu and they don't have very many options. They have an original burger named after the burger joint, a cheese burger and a hamburger which, I'm guessing is without the cheese. The only difference was going to be what you top your burger off with. So once again, without realizing, Mark and I ordered the same cheeseburger, with the only difference being the toppings; I went fully loaded and Mark chose a selection.

The meal came together with a combo, with the only choice being French fries. We both chose to get the French fries. It also came alongside a drink; we both chose to get root beer. If you haven't already guessed it, Mark and I have a very similar craving when it comes to most meals. We took a seat at a table along the wall and waited for our order to be called. We both received a number for our order but with nobody else there, and us both getting the same meal, there really wasn't any point in wasting ink on the receipt.

Within a couple of minutes, our orders were ready at the exact same time. I asked Mark if he was SURE we received the right order. We bring the trays back to our table, set it down and make our meals pose for pictures. The first thought I had was that the burger was small, or because we were in Montréal, petite. Even with all the toppings on it, it was lacking size; a size that I imagined would be twice as large when I was reading off the list of available toppings. But no sweat; as I have said before, what lacks in size usually makes up for in flavour. So I was eager to take my first bite.

Golden-Crispy French Fries/Photo by Andrew Hockridge

After the first bite I took, I got the taste of the thick, juicy meat patty with a wide variety of delicious toppings. The lettuce was crunchy, the special sauce was tangy and the melted cheese was gooey and dripping from the sides. The meat was soft and a little undercooked. But with everything on the burger, I really couldn't tell the difference. After a few more bites, the burger was gone but I was craving more. Luckily I still had some fries to munch on. And the fires complemented the burger really well. They were thin-cut natural brown potato fries and were extremely delicious - I didn't need any ketchup of vinegar on them this time.

Overall, Uniburger took a page from In N Out by replicating the tiny burger appearance and introducing it to the French market of Canada. The chef/creator really did a good job in this small little burger chain in Montréal, but maybe within time, there could be a few more locations popping up. Who knows? But for now, Uniburger sits near the top of Montréal's elite burger joints and I'm really glad I got to try their burgers.

7.4/10

---

Mark's Review

Salut! #BurgerTours is in Montreal! For this special edition, Andrew and I took a three day trip to Montreal, Quebec, where we visited Uniburger, a burger joint claiming to be “Montreal’s Original Burger”.  When we were planning this BurgerTour, we had a list of three burger joints that caught our attention: Uniburger, Burger Royale, and Tablier Rouge. Reading up on Uniburger on various food blogs and web reviews, I was most intrigued that this joint is dubbed as the In-N-Out Burger of Montreal. But, most importantly, we chose Uniburger because we were curious on what made these burgers ‘original’ compared to others in Montreal. There are two locations in Montreal, one in the Quartier des Spectacles (the Entertainment District), and the other in the Cote des Neiges neighbourhood in central Montreal. We decided to visit the location in the Entertainment District mainly because of its close proximity to our hotel. 

Double Bacon Cheese Burger/ Photo by Mark Avila

Browsing through their online menu prior to our visit, I found that the burger options were indeed original. But, I’m pretty sure this wasn’t why Uniburger is known as the original burger joint of Montreal. The options were limited and basic from the Classic Burger to the Classic Double Bacon Cheeseburger.  Making my choice, however, was very clear. I opted for the Double Bacon Cheeseburger combo for a price of $9.99 with a side of fries and your choice of fountain drink or milkshake. The Burger on its own came to a price of $5.99.

We were the only customers at the time we visited which was around 6pm, so the service was fast and sufficient, and our food came out pretty quickly. On a side note, this was the second time that Andrew and I both chose the same burger. The only difference this time was that we chose different toppings. I went simple with my topping choices of lettuce, tomato, relish, and ketchup. It was quite small and basic, but was it ever full of flavour. The patty was one of the most juiciest I’ve ever tasted, and perfectly seasoned. I probably never would have gotten this burger any other way. However, if I had just gotten the burger with just the beef patty and cheddar cheese, I would have been satisfied.

For our first burger experience in Montreal, I was very satisfied and happy with our decision of going to Uniburger.  Even though this was a Double Bacon Cheeseburger like any other, there was originality when it came to taste. The flavours complimented well with one another, and there was no overwhelming flavour that conflicted with my taste buds when taking the first bite. If I’m ever back in Montreal, I will definitely consider visiting Uniburger again!

8.5/10