Slocan Family Restaurant

UPDATE: Everything I wrote below was true but I revisited the Slocan recently and it was, well, it was pretty bad. I had told friends that it was good before based on my last experience and managed to convince a small group of them to make the trip to Slocan and Hastings for lunch. The burger was bland, the bun not so great, and the whole experience was pretty mediocre. So it would seem the Slocan is hit and miss at best. Anyway, feel free to read the rest of the review but don't put too much stock in it. Thanks.

 I'm going to admit I'm cautious about revisiting this medium. It's been over a year since I've been here and it would have been easy to let this blog, like so many others, die an uneventful death. But I still long for a good hamburger. It's not that I even like hamburgers that much but I still feel the ability to get a good hamburger is a barometer of the general culinary health of a city. Since starting this blog, and abandoning it, I've found a couple of good hamburgers. I'm maybe a little afraid to write about those experiences because if I look back at this blog I see two other burgers that I would suggest were "pretty good," even if one was just a fast food burger chain burger. Both Harvey's and The Three Lions have disappeared since I've reviewed them. Those brief, glimmering moments of burger hope crushed out before their time. Well, Harvey's as a chain still survives but the revered Home Depot location is no more and other locations are rare events in this city. There's rumors of one opening on Granville Street but trips to Granville Street for a fast food burger seems unlikely.

That brings us to the Slocan Family Restaurant on Hastings St E at, surprise, Slocan.

 I've complained to friends before about the lack of decent hamburgers in this city and one of them mentioned the Slocan Family Restaurant as being quite good and as I was out walking and feeling a bit hungry I happened upon it quite by accident. The sign out front says, "Eat and Drink here" and so I went in.

The BurgerBeer special is becoming quite popular in Vancouver, decent burgers to go with those beers still a challenge to find though. The Slocan offered their version of this, a burger and a beer for a quite affordable $10. I was sold. Then the waitress pointed out that the burger would be the "basic" and the beer would be Old Milwaukee. While I was quite alright with the latter it wouldn't be fair to rank a burger sans cheese and bacon amongst others that came so adorned. "Cheese and bacon please and thank you. The upcharge will surely be worth it." The total came to $14 with tax and it was worth it.

Seriously.

The burger came so fast I barely put a dent in my beer and the glass was even still frosty. And the burger was fantastic.

The patty was home made and juicy. Pretty sure the Slocan doesn't have anything "extra lean" in their fridges. Frying a burger in its own grease promises just the right amount of crispyness sealing in the juices and making for a tasty burger. The bacon was thick and delightfully fatty and the cheese was plentiful. The bun was just crusty enough to not go soggy and was nicely toasted and fried. Warming the bun is a professional touch but grilling the cut part does wonders for stopping the burger from turning to mush.

A generous slice of tomato and some mayo made for a near perfect burger. Not since Uncle Henry's and SaveOnMeats shut down have I had a burger as good and as honest as this. And the fries were near perfect too. Magic. And I hope I haven't doomed them by raving about them here.