Sherman's Food Adventures: Caliburger

Caliburger

I'll keep this simple - I love In-N-Out Burger.  Yes, I realize it is not particularly amazing compared to some of the fancier gourmet burger joints out there.  For me, it is all about pricing and expectations.  Reasonably-priced and fresh ingredients abound, there is no other burger that can touch In-N-Out in the same class (yes, I know this is subjective).  However, I have no access to the stuff unless I go due South, with the closest location in Oregon.  Since I was in Seattle for the Easter long weekend, I had to try the In-N-out clone - Caliburger.

We ended up getting the kiddies a Caliburger with bacon each.  We had to exclude the produce as they didn't want any.  Right away, it was quite obvious that it wasn't exactly an In-N-Out burger.  Okay, to be fair, despite the rip-off of the In-N-Out theme, we really shouldn't expect it to be.  On its own, we found the bacon really tasty and helped make the burger good.  The meat was a bit dry and chewy though.  Viv and I decided to go for the CaliDouble "Cali-style" which is their take on "Animal-style" with Cali sauce, grilled onions, cheese, pickles, lettuce and tomato.  Despite all of the ingredients, we felt the burger was lacking something.  There was nice crunch and acidity from the pickles, creaminess and tang of the dressing and caramelized flavour of the onions, yet the meat itself maybe needed more salt.

Of course we also got some Fries and I asked for them to be extra-crispy.  We didn't end up getting the fries "Cali-style" because I actually do not like my fries with so much goopiness on top.  I found the fries to be not very crispy especially after my request.  They were rather browned due to it and slightly greasy and dry.  Overall, I'm not sure if Caliburger fulfilled my In-N-Out cravings.  But to be fair, if they were judged on their own merits, the food was decent.  Yet, I am still looking forward to heading farther South for a real In-N-Out experience.

The Good:
- It's not bad when one doesn't try to compare
- Their bacon is pretty tasty

The Bad:
- Kinda expensive
- Doesn't fulfill the In-N-Out cravings  

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

And, they're opening a Caliburger in Vancouver late May.

Tried it in the only other Canadian location, and while I have not had In-N-Out, we found it pricey for what it was compared to other burger places around them locally...but maybe it's not when it comes to West Coast pricing. The Cali sauce reminded me of the Triple O burger, for some reason?!

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