Chuck's Burger Bar, Sidney, BC

Post 1 of the 2017 challenge, and it's a nomination by Rayna of Quench Wines. Chuck's Burger Bar in Sidney. It claims to have the best burgers on the island, using local, fresh ingredients. So well worth a try. Especially as I was at the airport to pick up Andrea from the airport. Now I look at the map, I know it's just around the corner from the airport terminal. But I didn't do that. I set off on a grand tour of Deep Cove, Lands End Road and Swartz Bay instead.

It was nice to see some of the countryside. We passed the church used in 'Graceppoint', the terrible remake of the British show 'Broadchurch'. I pointed this out to Andrea. She wasn't impressed. I think my 'turn right out of the airport' plan was not the right one.

We did get back to somewhere I recognized. The highway by the ferry terminal. We headed south and called up a map. This quickly found us Chuck's in the middle of the small industrial estate next to the airport. Nestled next to a Boyd's Auto Body, opposite Slegg's Lumber is Chuck's Burger Bar.

It was still a little early in the evening, so we were the only two people in there at first. Our server, David, was super warm and friendly, and got us settled in with the menu and fresh water. The inside of the place is what I call 'West coast wood'. This means lots of varnished lumber, big cuts of wood for the tables, stained dark brown chairs and exposed bricks. Clean, tidy but not feeling over-dressed. It also had a huge picture of a cow along one wall.

Showing pictures of the animals you are about to eat is a thing.

A cow. Painted.

The menu is large... as long as you want burgers. There are nine different patties to choose from. These include ground bacon, Angus beef and lamb. To go with this is are around 50 different toppings, so you can build your own perfect burger. This goes along with a host of different cheeses; and the option to add a 1/4lb of lobster as well.

Or if you can't be thinking of your own recipe, there's twenty or so pre-made burger recipes. For example, the Hawaiian is a bacon burger with pineapple and a zesty tequila BBQ sauce.

The Pescetarian caught my eye. A veggie burger topped with jack cheese and lobster, with black pepper mayo. I checked in with our server on how the veggie burger was made. I was told it was made with fresh vegetables. Not the fake veggie mince or some weird quinoa and mushroom mix. So I decided to go for it. It was either this most unusual offering, or the standard cheese burger.
I fear I need to go back and try the cheese burger.

This was a disappointing mess of a burger. A breaded veggie burger that is super crispy on the outside, but with a muddy mess of vegetables inside. There's no real flavour to it, but a odd combination of textures. The lobster meat was tepid or even cold. That doesn't work for me on a burger, and as I expect it was from the fridge it was slight rubbery as well. That made for a unpleasant mouthful. None of the flavours or textures were working together. It was a sad choice, as it looked pleasant, and apart from the choice to have cold lobster, all put together well.
But it just didn't work for me.

The mound of fresh cut fries served with it were crisp, fluffy and great fries. The coleslaw was good, the pickle spear crunchy, the service great. Everything but the burger. Which makes me a little sad to write about it, as I wanted to say they're were all awesome.

I do have to report Andrea thought her poutine was good to great (needed the cheese to be a bit more melty). She ordered the Fire Grilled Chicken and Chorizo burger. The report I asked for said it had some great spicy kick to it, and was still warm and tasty when she finished it up later.
So, you should -probably- go to Chuck's and try it out. I know next time I'm doing an airport run and want food, I'll go there instead of White Spot. Now I know it exists.

And I will report back in.