Address: 1535 Yonge Street Toronto, OnVisited: Monday September 7, 2009 6:30PM
Ordered: Cracked Peppercorn Burger (x2), Fox Banquet Cheeseburger (x1), Chicken Salad (x1), Pints of Beer (x4), Coolers (x2)
Total Cost: $87.24
Dave N.’s Review
The Experience
It’s a chain pub. It’s pretty much what you would expect. The place is huge on the inside and there are three levels of patio, so there’s lots of space. We were on the ground floor patio, with a view out to Yonge St. There were a lot of wasps, and while I wouldn’t normally blame the restaurant for that, they were particularly attracted to an empty jam container on the ground next to us that we had to ask the staff to get rid of. In this case a little extra cleanliness would have gone a long way.
Our server was pretty good most of the night, but two things irked me. The first was that she removed my friend’s drink before he was done with it, without asking. That didn’t go over well. The second is that after we were done our meals we were required to settle the bill, even though we were staying for drinks, because our server’s shift was ending. I realize this isn’t her fault, that’s it’s a limitation of the restaurant’s system most likely, so I don’t blame her. I do blame Fox & Fiddle, though.
The fries were awesome: thick with very nice seasoning.
The Burger
Maybe I should judge each burger on it’s own individual merits. Maybe I’m about to set a bad precedent. The thing is, when you’ve had one peppercorn burger that punches you in the face with peppercorny goodness, it’s hard not to compare other peppercorn burgers to that standard. See, the thing is, if I order a peppercorn burger, I want to take a bite and think "fuck yeah, peppercorns!" Instead this was more like "hmmm…. I think I can taste some peppercorns…"
Here’s the breakdown: this was a nice, big, fairly tasty burger on a good kaiser. As is fairly standard for pubs, it was served with some raw red onion (removed), tomato (removed), lettuce and pickle, with ketchup, yellow mustard (added) and green relish on the side. This bad boy also had some sauteed onions on top, some peppercorns grilled onto the burger, and a side of peppercorn sauce (added).
If I had just ordered a plain burger, this would have been a good solid entry. My problem is with the total lack of flavour coming out of both the peppercorn sauce and the peppercorns themselves. I felt deceived.
Richard C.’s Review
The Experience
[Ed.'s note: Richard indicated his experience rating was mostly because of the fries.]
The Burger
[Ed.'s note: Richard also had the peppercorn burger.]
Bottom Line
Average rating:
3.5/5
