Blaze Gourmet Burgers

As simple as it may seem, a good burger is not merely slapping meat between 2 buns.  I've had my fair share of bad burgers and it has proven that fresh meat (a good mix that is), appealing condiments and fixins' as well as a complimentary bun can make all the difference.  Oh and cooking it properly helps too.  Recently, Blaze Gourmet Burgers has entered the burger world in Vancity, hidden within 12 Kings Pub on Kingsway at 12th.  The most popular way of getting your hands on these burgers is via food delivery or pickup.

One of their most popular is the Classic Blaze with 2 slices of real cheddar, bacon, lettuce, tomato, pickle and Blaze secret sauce on a brioche bun.  As you can see in the picture, the ingredients were top-notch and prepared well.  From the charred moist patty to the crispy lean bacon, the sum of the parts resulted in a delicious burger.  The 2 slices of cheese helped add more flavour and body while the soft bun held everything together.

Something a little different and definitely more messy (in a good way) was the Bacon & Brie consisting of its namesake as well as caramelized onions, lettuce, tomato, grainy dijon mustard and Blaze secret sauce.  Again, the ingredients were both plentiful and good.  Lots of sweet onions and crispy smoky bacon.  I thought the creamy brie was so luxurious and made the burger decadent.  Grainy mustard added a nice tang.

My favourite was the Smoky BBQ Blaze sporting pepper jack cheese, double-smoked bacon, crispy onion frites, lettuce, tomato,smoky BBQ and Blaze secret sauce.  Again, this was messy burger, but packed with flavours and textures.  If you haven't noticed, there was enough bacon in each burger to be relevant in every bite.  That itself not only provided smoky saltiness, it added crunch.  The fried onions doubled that up in this burger in particular.  There was enough BBQ sauce to be impactful while the pepper jack cheese was also noticeable.

Changing gears, we tried the Impossible Blaze Burger sporting a plant-based patty, vegan cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle and Blaze vegan sauce on a vegan brioche bun.  If you have any reservations about this burger, I don't blame you.  However, I enjoyed this and really didn't miss the meat or any other animal products that usually go into the ingredients.  The meat patty was very similar to Beyond Meat except less dry.

Moving away from beef and simulated beef products, we had the Chicken Burger with banana peppers, jalapenos, cheddar cheese, pickle, lettuce, tomato and Blaze secret sauce.  Due to the shape of the chicken breast, the thinner tips were dry, but the centre was moist and juicy.  It was really crispy and held up well to the all of the wet ingredients.  Plenty of spice and tanginess from the peppers.

Trying all of the sides, it was obvious that they knew how to use their deep-fryer.  The Onion Rings, Fries and Yam Fries were all perfectly crispy and stayed as such even after sitting around.  I was really surprised with the Vegan Poutine where the peppercorn gravy had bite and the vegan cheese did as good of a job as non-dairy cheese could do.  Overall, there was lots to like about the burgers and sides at Blaze.  Best way of eating this is right away, but the easiest way to get these is by ordering for them online.

*All food was complimentary

The Good:
- Quality ingredients
- Proper execution
- Something for everyone

The Bad:
- No actual restaurant as of yet (maybe in the future)