Bestellen

For Jeremy's birthday, I took him to Bestellen for dinner, though truthfully I was the one craving for a good burger. Having heard some good things about their steak and burger, I was eager to try for myself.

We requested to sit by the windows for optimal lighting. The restaurant is pretty big with lots of seating so getting a reservation was pretty easy.

And past their dry aging room where house-cured meat and aging steaks are on display, there is another dining room with more comfortable seating.

We started with fried zucchini blossoms ($7). The cheese was a little salty, but the snack was otherwise enjoyable.

The Butcher's Daily special was an 8 oz sirloin tip with chimichurri ($29). The steak definitely wasn't the most tender cut of beef, but it was extremely flavourful. I personally prefer more tender cuts, but at the same time, I was totally in love with the fattiness of the sirloin tip, especially that distinct layer of fat beneath the seared crust. We also had a choice of side, and I went for baby beets and greens. The beets were delicious, but the greens got a tad greasy from all that beef fat.

And of course, I had to order the Bestellen burger ($18) with caramelized onions, raclette, house-made bricohe and accompanied by a huge pile of frites.

The burger patty, cooked to medium-rare, was moist, extremely juicy and just bursting with flavour. The brioche bun held up quite well, so that the whole burger wasn't a mushy mess. I personally prefer burgers to be sweeter, so I really enjoyed the caramelized onion component. This was definitely a very good burger, and the fries and house-made smokey ketchup were excellent accompaniments. At $18, I find it a little pricey, but not to an unaffordable level.

The only disappointment of the night came in the form of dessert. We decided to share a funnel cake ($7), expecting an elegant, refined version of the Wonderland staple. Unfortunately, the dough here was completely over-fried to an unappealing dark brown, with some parts being outright burned. Furthermore, there was a greasy, unpleasant aftertaste to the whole thing. In fact, I found this funnel cake even greasier than the Wonderland version. Lesson of the day: funnel cake tastes better with ice cream! The dessert disaster was such a pity since the rest of the meal was highly enjoyable. Nevertheless, I was extremely let down by the dessert and really wished that we had just gone somewhere else for ice cream instead!