Bin 4 Burger Lounge (Vancouver)

As much as one might think that there is an oversaturation of burger joints in the GVRD, we are not really a burger town at all.  Yes, we can find some good ones at the Pourhouse, Campagnolo Upstairs and Au Comptoir (those of the not cooked-to-death variety), but on average, what we have here is a bunch of chains and mediocre burgers.  Ever since my trip to TO last Summer, I have realized that our burger game is actually rather weak.  So when Bin 4, hailing from Victoria decided to open up shop here, I was anxious to try them out since I enjoyed my original visit in Victoria.

We met up with Uncle Willy and family where Auntie Willy went for a variety of burgers including the Wild Mushroom consisting of 63 Acres premium BC beef, wild mushrooms, garlic, cream, truffle oil, parmigiano, truffle aioli and arugula.  As expected, the combination of truffle and mushroom created a woodsy flavour to the burger.  Truffle oil can be rather overpowering and we enjoyed how it wasn't overused in this application.  For her choice of dip, she had the roasted garlic aioli and that was my personal favourite due to its classic simplicity.  Uncle Willy went for the standard Heritage Burger with bacon aioli and butter lettuce omitting the red onion and tomato while adding Hertl's bacon and 5 year-aged cheddar.  Yes, this was the basic burger essentially, but still solid with moist beef and quality ingredients.  He had the chipotle aioli as his dip and it was smoky with a bit of spice.

For myself, I went for the Bison Burner featuring Rangeland Bison, 5 year-old cheddar, crispy fried onions, house made lime & tomatillo hot sauce, jalapeno aioli, butter lettuce and tomato.  I really enjoyed this burger as it was full of flavour and was surprisingly moist for lean bison.  It wasn't overly gamey due to the nice char on the meat.  The crunch from the onions added great texture while the sharpness of the cheddar really game through.  I chose the curry aioli and it was definitely aromatic from the spices, but only mildly so. For Viv, she went for the Dirty Bourbon with an onion ring, pork & chorizo, red onion & red pepper saute, chipotle bourbon BBQ sauce, chipotle aioli, butter lettuce and tomato.  I thought this was more sweet than spicy.  I personally would've preferred more kick but it was still impactful and messy.  The crunch from the large breaded onion ring was a nice touch.  Her choice of dip, roasted jalapeno aioli, was quite spicy and tangy.

For my son and daughter, they both had the Kid's Heritage Burger adding bacon and cheddar. To us, it looked just as large as the adult version, hence, it was a great deal at $8.00.  Not mentioned with the aforementioned burgers, the default bun was an Irene's Bakery brioche, but one could have a lettuce stack instead.  We thought the bun was soft enough while not dry and it held up to the ingredients.  For our sides, we had a choice between house cut kennebec fries, spiced potato chips or salad.  No one had the salad...  LOL...  Typical of double cooked fries, these were crispy while still potatoey inside.  They were aggressively salted though.  The house-made chips were equally good being smoky and crispy.  Compared to the other burgers I've had in town, Bin 4 certainly holds its own.  Pricing is fair, especially since a side and dip are included.  I will be back.

The Good:
- Fair pricing since it includes side and dip
- Solid beef patty
- Modern space

The Bad:
- Fries are oversalted (but can ask for less)