With the hustle and bustle of the Christmas/New Years season over, I can finally get back to the burger life! My first post for 2015 (but admittedly not my first burger as I technically ate this one in 2014) deals with a burger that comes from The Stubborn Goat.
Located at 1579 Grafton Street, The Stubborn Goat is a fairly new addition to the Downtown Halifax restaurant scene. With a few different options on their menu, I settled on the Beef and Bacon Burger.
Stats
From the menu: “House pickle, brie, bacon, lettuce, tomato, garlic aioli”
Appearance (6/10)
I’m a big sucker for presenting food on an unconventional plate, and that is exactly what I received here. The burger was served on a long, wooden, platter-like dish, and it set a certain tone for the kind of place that The Stubborn Goat is. The burger was stacked pretty high and was held together by a wooden skewer. The one thing I did notice that kind of made me weary of the burger was the amount of lettuce that was on it. It looked as if half the burger was comprised of lettuce, which is a strange thing to do as the lettuce should be there to accompany the patty, not overpower it.
Taste (4.25/10)
After the first few bites, I came to the conclusion that the burger patty was just way too overcooked for my liking. There was a strong charred taste that was hard to look past. Thankfully, the brie was there to bring back some deliciousness to the burger. I did end up having to pull out some of the lettuce because, as I had suspected, there was just too much in there. About halfway through the burger, the bun really started to fall apart, and the dining experience turned into a somewhat messy one. Despite the negative aspects of the burger, I did really enjoy the garlic aioli, and it was nice to see an effort to incorporate some flavour into the burger.
Restaurant Atmosphere & Service (7.25/10)
This was the first time I had been to The Stubborn Goat and I really enjoyed the intimate atmosphere that it provided. It was filled with various groups of different sizes, all of whom seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves (especially the two older gentlemen who were really enjoying their bottle(s) of wine). Our waitress was really nice and was able to answer any questions we had about the menu. I also really liked the various goat decorations that were placed throughout the restaurant.
Cost vs. What You Get (3/10)
The price of this burger is $17. Given the fact that I felt that the patty was overdone, and the construction of the burger wasn’t the greatest, I was kind of displeased with this price. I would expect a burger with this price tag to hold up a bit better, but that wasn’t the case for this meal.
Overall (5.13/10)
I am extremely conflicted with my first taste of The Stubborn Goat. On one hand, I was pretty displeased with this burger, but on the other hand, the other people I went with couldn’t stop talking about how good their food was (not only this time, but previous visits as well). I really want to give The Stubborn Goat another chance at some point, as I think that this specific burger may have just been a rare hiccup and that there is plenty of potential to have a pleasing meal during a future visit.
The Stubborn Goat
1579 Grafton Street, Halifax, NS
Website
