While Halifax has a week every year where they celebrate burgers, Prince Edward Island raises the bar even higher by devoting a whole month to the beefy creation. Occurring during the month of April every year, PEI Burger Love has Islanders swarming to participating restaurants to sink their teeth into the various original creations that each location has to offer.
Given the fact that I am from PEI, and my obvious love for burgers, you would assume that I have participated in Burger Love. However, since its debut in 2011 I have yet to be able to make it over for the excitement of it all. Luckily, some restaurants who have a winning burger (as voted by diners) keep their burger on the regular menu so people can go back and enjoy it any time of the year. While home over the Christmas break I seized the opportunity to try the 2014 Burger Love winner, which is titled The Gatsby, from Sims Corner.
Stats
“7oz. PEI Beef Patty, maple chipotle bacon, pulled pork, smokey gouda, chipotle aioli & pea shoots”
Appearance (7.75/10)
I loved the clean plating of this burger as it really made it pop out from the plate. In terms of the burger itself, it appeared to hit the mark in terms of size as it wasn’t too insanely big, but it also wasn’t so small that you were going to leave hungry. I also was happy to see the aioli dripping out the sides because it more than likely meant that this burger was going to be full of flavour.
The one thing that slightly worried me about this burger when looking at it was the amount of cheese that was on there. It appeared to be almost as thick as the patty itself, and I worried that it might overpower the beef.
Taste (8/10)
I have to give it up to Sims and their use of delicious meat on this burger! The beef used was really great, and the generous pile of pulled pork was very tender and tasted awesome. The maple chipotle bacon was also tasty, and when teamed up with the other two meats, it created a mouth-watering combination for any carnivore!
Like I mentioned earlier, the aioli was plentiful, and it gave that nice burst of flavour that I love seeing on any burger. It did, however, weaken the bun a bit, which in turn caused it to slightly fall apart, but if you’re not willing to get a little messy while eating a burger, then you should probably just order a salad.
My fear of there being too much cheese was somewhat the case. It wasn’t a matter of it overpowering the taste of another component of the burger, but more so a texture thing. There were some bites where it was mostly the cheese, and the texture kind of made it off-putting. That being said, this is a very small complaint in relation to the many positive things about this burger!
Cost vs. What You Get (6.25/10)
This Burger Love Champion comes with a price tag of $18. While the fries that come with the burger are also pretty delicious, I do think that this is a little steep for this burger. I do love the copious amount of local beef and pork that you get, but I wouldn’t mind seeing the price knocked down a couple of dollars.
Overall (7.33/10)
This was my first time visiting Sims and I have to say that I was pretty impressed overall. The atmosphere is a great mix between casual and fine dining, and the staff were really friendly and helpful! In terms of the burger, I had very little to complain about overall, and anything that did raise a flag was by no means a deal breaker. Even though I didn’t get to try any of the other burgers for Burger Love 2014, I think PEI did a pretty good job with voting this one as the champ!
Sims Corner Steakhouse & Oyster Bar
86 Queen Street, Charlottetown, PE
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