Lizard Adventure Travel

Burger joints have been been cropping up all over Victoria, and many clients have been asking which place I recommend.  Here are my personal reviews and feedback from friends:

Pink Bicycle Gourmet Burger Joint
While voted best in the city for 2009, 2010 and 2011 I do believe this place has slipped in their customer service.  If you are willing to put up with that they do serve a DELICIOUS burger.  I recommend their 'Blue Cheese Lamb Burger' but dislike their 'Metchosin Mutton'.  See menu for further details.

What I do appreciate is that they serve their burgers on the buns from Bond Bonds Bakery  - these sesame buns are amazing! Also, if you're Gluten Free they purchase from Origin Bakery (another place I love!)  I appreciate that they support small-businesses when sourcing their products, which adds to the experience.

Feedback from others for Pink Bicycle: "love the pink sauce" and "onion rings are a must".

Photo: outside of Pink Bicycle

Bin 4 Burger Lounge
Definitely my favourite place so far!  I highly recommend the 'Minted Lamb' burger or the 'Dirty Bourbon'.  The atmosphere is also really chill and the service fantastic.  They offer a decent selection of dipping sauces for your fries, but I think the fries at Big Wheel Burger (below) are better.

They have this one drink called 'Plantation' which is fantastic, but their house red wine (Cortes) is pretty bad.    

After 9pm the burgers are 50% off with a purchase of a drink!

Big Wheel Burger
Simple, fresh fast-food but I guess I expected more because the high-caliber owners of Pig BBQ Joint and Zambris created this restaurant.  I do appreciate their sustainability efforts and the philosophy behind what they do, but I'd like to see a better delivery on product.  The burger reminded me of Whitespot - roughly slapped together with few unique toppings and the actual patty was fairly thin and lacked a distinctive taste.  Don't get me wrong - it definitely tasted far better than a Whitespot burger!   

It made me sad that such a fantastic location was not utilized effectively.  Cook St Village has so much foot-traffic, is close to the beach and the locals were so ready for a unique burger joint.

Positives: their fries are pretty awesome and if you're looking for the best fast-food burger in town...then this is definitely the place.

Photo: Cheeseburger, fries and drink from Big Wheel Burger.

Aura - (restaurant at the Inn at Laurel Point)
While not known as a gourmet burger joint, this location is known for their "Best Burger", but I might add that it's also the most expensive...$18.  The burger was extremely tastey but I found it to be a little too massive...I could barely take a bite.  I'd guess the actual burger was more than a pound of meat, so if you've got a hungry guy you're trying to impress this is definitely the place!   

The view is fantastic as it overlooks Victoria harbour but the fries were pretty awful...overcooked and too salty.

Photo: Best Burger at Aura

Fatburger
I've not had a chance to try this place yet, but it recently opened downtown Victoria.  It is a franchise that has done extremely well (open since 1952 and well-known).  From what I've heard there is a really fun feel in this joint, with a jukebox to select your own tunes, plus they have a great selection of seasonings for your fries.