Burger Review #24: Dac Biet Burger

Photo by Andrew Hockridge

Date Visited: August 22, 2016
Location: Garden District (Permanently Closed)
BurgerTours Rating: 7.8/10

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

Website

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Photo by Andrew Hockridge

Drew's Review

Pho and burgers...an unusual combination of two distinctive foods you never would have thought would cross paths...until now.

Opening in the summer of 2015, Dac Biet Burger mixes burgers with Asian-style flavours including Korean BBQ and kimchi. Located on Church Street, just south of Dundas, this establishment sees lots of students daily because of the fact Ryerson University is mere seconds away. And ever if there was any burger joint located in this area that is going to target the young adults, I'm glad it's Dac Biet Burger.

Photo by Andrew Hockridge

We arrived shortly after the dinner rush and there were only two other diners at the time. The space is rather small, but the mirrors above the bar along the side of the wall made the dining area look huge. Prior to our arrival, I had only given the online menu a brief glance over on what to decide to order. Two burgers, as per usual, caught my eye. They were the Teriyaki and Pho burgers. The difference being obviously the flavours of course, but seeing a picture of the Pho burger made me make up my mind.

The Pho burger came loaded with layers of sautéed bean sprouts, a combination of Sriracha and Hoisin sauce, topped with basil, lime and a small cup of pho broth to drink or dip your burger in. Now I'm quite the expert when it comes to burgers and I'm a little over average when it comes to eating Pho, so I could imagine this was going to be a delicious meal.

Pho Burger/Photo by Andrew Hockridge

Within minutes of placing our orders, and after a few minutes of mirror selfies, our burgers were ready. The Pho burger looked like it was going to be a delicious mess. Already the sauce was oozing out from the soft, warm buns and the beansprouts were falling out. I grabbed the burger with both my hands and opened my mouth up wide for the first bite. The flavour of the Pho on the burger clashed really delicately with the beef patty. The sauce was not too powering over the flavour of the beansprouts and the basil lime added that extra flavour and consistency once in a while. I was blown away. I never once anticipated a Pho burger, but Dac Biet Burger sure knows how to cook up the perfect recipe.

It took nearly 15 minutes to down the whole burger, but when it was gone, I got a fork to eat the remaining leftovers that had fallen out. The burger came with an additional side, and I opted just for regular fries. Among the other choices for sides on the menu: kimchi fries and Dac Biet poutine, which has fries along with gravy and cheese curds with Pho broth drizzled over top of it.

Overall, this was by far one of the friendliest burger joints we have ever eaten at. The service was beyond outstanding and the owners were super nice and extremely welcoming. Dac Biet Burger caught me by surprise as I was not expecting such delicious Asian flavours to clash so well with the American hamburger. The Pho burger was pho-king pho-bulous. I enjoyed my whole experience and can't wait to go back and try some of their other selections.

7.1/10

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Mark's Review

Dac Biet interior and Mark/Photo by Andrew Hockridge

From the most common to the most bizarre, Andrew and I have tasted burgers that have gone beyond our expectations, while others lacked in creativity and originality. This particular joint had us raising our eyebrows from the moment we looked at the menu. The idea of moulding Southeast Asian ingredients in to a western food aesthetic seemed odd at first, but at the same time, intriguing.

Dac Biet Burger is located in Toronto's Garden District near Church St. and Dundas St. This Pan-Asian burger joint prides itself on "thinking outside the bun". It clearly shows in their mission to bring the flavours from the east and incorporate them into the western fast food culture.

This tour was a based on a spontaneous decision, so neither of us knew what we were expecting until we walked in to the restaurant for the first time. It was a small space with limited seating, but we were lucky to have come during their quiet period so grabbing a seat was no problem. They had a decent size menu with a nice selection to choose from. One side had a selection of four Asian infused burgers, while the other had a larger selection of traditional burger options.

Banh Mi Burger/Photo by Mark Avila

Our main objective was to try something 'outside the bun'... and that didn't stop me choosing the Banh Mi Pork Burger. 

This burger is made like your typical Banh Mi with freshly ground pork, lemongrass, pickled daikon, carrots, tomato, and mayo. I was expecting the taste to be very similar to Banh Mi's I've had in the past, but to my surprise, it was completely different. The pork patty was succulent, and oozed with flavor when mixed with the lemongrass; creating a unique flavour in that enhanced the quality of the burger.

8.5/10