Cannibal Cafe (Granville)

There once was a time where staying home for New Year's Eve (sans party) was a no-no.  However, as time passed and being a responsible adult trumped careless fun, spending a quiet evening at home with the kids became the norm.  This would be the case again this year as we celebrated NYE with Ryan Seacrest.  But before we relegated ourselves to the family room for the countdown, we headed into Downtown for our last meal for 2015.

We ended up at Cannibal Cafe partly due to another Groupon, but mostly because of my son.  You see, we've been eating some much Asian food lately, he was dying for a burger.  But before that, we shared some Mini-Dog Pops first.  These were comprised of halved hot dogs (length-wise and width-wise) fried in beer-batter.  Although fairly salty, the mini-dogs were blessed with a light and crunchy coating.  The honey mustard helped cut the saltiness more than the ketchup though.  For my son, he had the kid's Cheeseburger and Fries (with the addition of bacon).  This was pretty solid with a meaty 3 oz. patty that was neither dry nor juicy.  There was ample cheese and lean bacon that was all encased in a soft brioche bun.

My daughter, being the junior foodie, wanted no part in any kid's meal opting for the Slammin' Salmon with a side of Poutine instead. Pretty ambitious for an 8-year old as the burger consisted of a house-made patty, avocado, smoked salmon and orange basil mayo.  This was a pleasant if not fairly dry burger where the salmon was lacking moisture.  Taste-wise, it wasn't lacking since the patty was peppery while the smoked salmon provided the saltiness.  The side of Poutine featured meaty fries that were mostly crispy while dressed in a somewhat salty gravy with legit cheese curds.  Viv ended up with the Farmhouse consisting of a turkey patty, bacon, caramelized onions, cranberry relish and smoked gouda (in lieu of goat cheese).  Surprisingly, the turkey patty was pretty moist while the cranberry relish took things over with a noted sweet-tang.

For myself, I had the Big Blue with a blue cheese-stuffed patty topped with more blue cheese, onion ring and horseradish chive mayo.  One bite into the well-charred patty and boom, the creamy blue cheese hit me in the face (literally, it was everywhere).  The flavours were pungent and sharp and the ample cheese helped keep things moist.  Although the large onion ring was crunchy, the actual onion was hard to eat as it was the outer layer.  For my side, I had the Mac n' Cheese (which I subsequently relinquished to my son) was a bit floury and not cheesy enough in texture and taste.  Despite this and some other minor issues, we did enjoy our burgers and the friendly service at the Cannibal Cafe.

The Good:
- We got some stellar service
- Decent burgers

The Bad:
- A bit pricey