The Great Burger Hunt - Harvey's

A fast food joint really?

Normally I wouldn't review a fast food restaurant but I'll make an exception this once. Unless McDonald's , Burger King , Wendy’s , or A&W , or whatever fast food joint is your jam really step up their burger game this won’t happen again. Harvey's is known as always being the fast food burger joint in Winnipeg that nobody eats at because it's only been in the airport. So many people were excited for this new Harvey's location downtown I figured I should head down to check it out.

What is the difference between Harvey's and all the other fast food places?  For those who don't know Harvey’s is essentially another fast food burger joint except that you get your choice of toppings before the burger is made – it is pretty much made in front of you like Subway does for their sandwiches.  So instead of ordering a burger and telling them to remove this or that, like McDonald's, you get your Harvey's burger made for you your way.  By what I guess is a burger artist?

They have three different types of burgers (Original, Double Original, and Great Canadian) that are pretty much the same but they just get slightly larger or just a double patty.  Of course they cater to the hot dog lovers and chicken burger lovers as well.  They even have a veggie burger.  Plus they have frings which are just onion rings and french fries in a single package.  Or you can get your typical fries or onion rings individually packaged for you.  And they have a crappy fast food poutine for those who are into that kind of thing.

So what are my thoughts on Harvey's.  I got to say I do like the idea of seeing what fresh toppings are going on my burger because honestly the pickles I got were pretty terrible and I could tell that by looking at it.  Why a place would serve them like that is unknown to me – especially when the customer sees the product before hand.  They were god-awful.  The spicy mesquite sauce was excellent.  Every other veggie was mediocre at best as they were not the freshest – with the exception of the tomatoes.  Aside from the mustard it was just your typical greasy fast food burger.  Pretty much what I expected.

The fries were typical fast food fries as well and they were crazy salty but they had a decent crunch to them so I'd say they were better than McDonald's.  The onion rings were pretty bad even though they were cooked the perfect amount of time in fresh oil.  Bland would be an understatement when describing the onion rings.

Considering it was a fast food place I was disappointed in the pricing of their menu.  My basic burger (with bacon/cheese), frings, and a drink was slightly over $10.  I could have gone to half the places I have given 4 star reviews and eaten more food at the same price point.  Yes the convenience isn’t necessarily there but still….

What I got : Original Burger with cheese and bacon plus frings – $10.17

Burger Taste : 1/5

Fries Taste : 1/5

Price Value : 2/5

Menu Selection : 2/5

Overall : 1.5/5

Harvey’s

600 Portage Ave

Winnipeg, MB R3C 3L7

204-772-9998

Half Pints Rigamarole Rye

Another Half Pints limited edition brew!

Beer : Rigamarole Rye

Brewery : Half Pints Brewing Company

Brewed In : Winnipeg, Canada

Style : Rye Beer

ABV : 9.5%

Price : $9 for a 650ml

Notes : A limited edition beer that they have brewed only twice.

Story : This beer I missed the first time around, and was lucky enough to have a small taste of it during one of the Half Pints open houses.  I wasn’t impressed.  Maybe it was the fact that it was early AM, or the fact that I probably had some Little Scrapper before hand, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to buy any of this when it was released months ago.  Of course I trusted the Half Pints brew crew and bought 6 bottles.

Appearance : Brown with a red hue when held to the light, a two finger, thick head, lacing is really good as well.

Smell : There is a nice sweetness in the aroma, a hint of citrus, rye and oak.

Taste : The oak comes across as a bit buttery and you can pick out the rye, a bit of pepper is in the finish.  The alcohol is very well hidden in this beer.

Mouthfeel : Medium to full body, it has a bit of a syrup mouthfeel to it, which I quite like.

Drinkability : When I asked Daniella what she tasted, the response was “goodness.”  I couldn’t agree more.  Not sure what I was thinking when I disliked that first taste but I am glad I grabbed a 6 pack of this while I could!

Dogfish Head Chicory Stout

A favourite I can't get anymore....

Beer : Chicory Stout

Brewery : Dogfish Head

Brewed In : USA

Style : Stout

ABV : 5.2%

Price : $4 (unsure exactly but around this)

Notes : Bottle, tap, growler, cask….you name it Dogfish has it!

Story : I miss this beer.  One of the beers I drank on a regular basis while I lived in Edmonton.  Sadly Winnipeg does not carry any Dogfish Head (actually Canada can’t get Dogfish Head anymore) so I must savour the few bottles I brought back after my last visit.  If you haven’t tried Dogfish Head beer you should, they make very tasty beer.

Appearance : Not much head.  Dark with a small bit of red near the bottom of the glass.  The bubbles sticking to the glass makes it look kind of cool.

Smell : The aroma is smokey with a hint of chocolate.

Taste : Taste is a bit of dark fruits, slight chicory, chocolate, and some roasted malts.  There was not much smoke in the flavour, which I think would be the one thing I would ask for more of in the flavour of this beer.

Mouthfeel : Starts off very thin, for a stout, but when the beer hits your tongue it thickens, or it seems like it, as you swish and drink.  I would say it is a medium body.

Drinkability : It may not be Dogfish’s Palo Santo Marron but this is one of their beers that are so damn enjoyable.  I really wish I could have my fridge stocked with some of these at all times.

iTunes Most Listened in 2011

Or at least... in my iTunes

Every year, sometime in January, I reset my iTunes “plays” count.  I figured I might as well blog about it this year.  Maybe I will make it a ritual and see how it progresses year by year.  My “Top 25 Most Played” list usually looks similar every year.  Whatever my favourite album(s) were that year plus a lot of Clint Mansell music.  I write to Mansell 70% of the time so it just plays in the background on repeat.  This year was a bit different though.  I won’t go through the entire top 25 but the top 10 and round up what artists I listened to the most.  So without further adieu – my top 10 most played songs of 2011…

1. Spanish Rap – Troy and Abed (from Community television series)

2. All of the Lights – Kanye West

3. I Don’t Wanna Care Right Now – Lupe Fiasco

4. Cobrastyle – Robyn

5. Monster – Kanye West (just for Nicki Minaj’s part….)

6. Freaks and Geeks – Childish Gambino

7. Howlin’ for You – The Black Keys

8. Power – Kanye West

9. Past My Shades – B.o.B.

10. Take It Away – Karmin

To start off I listened to the Troy and Abed Spanish Rap from Community the most out of every song.  Why?  Well one it is awesome and funny as hell.  Two I needed to memorize it for a class performance.

The Kanye West stuff was littered throughout the top 25 as it was one of the albums I loved and listened to throughout the year while I wrote stuff, like this blog post, well not this one – but ones like it.  Honestly it is a solid album and deserves to be in my most played.

Along with Kanye album I listened to B.o.B. a lot this year thanks to my brother.  The rest of the top 25 had a handful of B.o.B.’s other songs as well and the same can be said for Lupe Fiasco – another of my favourites who released a new album early in the year.

The lack of Clint Mansell on this list means I didn’t write much.  Ooops.  Guess I have a New Years resolution….

To round out the Top 25 I had a collection of Arctic Monkeys and The Black Keys .  So it wasn’t all hip-hop this year, just mostly.  A few of the songs from the Glen Hansard penned soundtrack from Once – which is old I know but it was new to me this year!  Emil is not happy with me that it is new to me…

Some of the newer albums I have got would probably have made this list if they had been released earlier.  The new Childish Gambino (especially Heartless – love that track) and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying birds come to mind.

I wonder what the new year will bring?