Now Serving: Canton Dockside

Canton Dockside prides itself in being one of the best crab houses in Baltimore. That's great, because Baltimore is known as a place to get steamed crabs and crab cakes while gazing out on the water. You can do that at Canton Dockside. But what if you're the friend in the group with the seafood allergy? The poor Baltimore resident who can't eat our big beautiful Chesapeake Bay treasures for risk of your health. What if you want to hang with friends, and they really want to eat crabs, and you just want a burger. Is Canton Dockside the place for you? I dove headfirst to find this out.

It was an unassuming weekday, on one of those record-breaking cold days we had last week. I'm fine with a table in the dining room, but the hostess almost insisted I sit at the bar. Who am I to disrupt her not working? I respect her lack of hustle.

I settle in. Their burger options are limited. The Dockside Burger (an angus burger with toppings), a Veggie burger (pass), or the Blue Crab burger (topped with homemade crab dip). I like crab dip, but I'm in this adventure for the friend with the seafood allergy, so that's not an option. I ask for a simple Dockside burger, Cheddar, Lettuce, Tomato, Mayo, and Bacon. Nothing fancy. Nothing flashy. Simple. Basic. I want to see what they got.

X marks the spot

For as under occupied as they were, the medium well burger took a solid 18 minutes to arrive. But, the burger looked really good, with a generous serving of fries that I had to dig under to get my leaf lettuce and tomato slice. The giant "X" of bacon across the 2 slices of cheese was impressive, with significant hang on each 1/4th of the burger. Really is a thing of beauty, and serves as a guide for your first 4 bites. And the bacon is the right amount of greasy. Fresh off the grill, with little pools in all the correct places. You could absorb it away with a napkin, but why mess with it?

Respect "The Hang"

I will complain about the bun. Now, this doesn't totally fall on the restaurant, because they aren't making them in house. But it does, because they're getting subpar buns from their supplier. It had a weird sheen or gloss, something I best identify with plastic food, or ceramic tiles. Taste was spongy.

The burger itself was adequate. About as good as I could expect from a crab house. Nothing amazing. The beef had a decent smoky flavor, with the bacon probably being my favorite part of it all. It got the job done, I left satisfied, but honestly, if you're looking for a great burger at a place that specializes in seafood, you're not going to find it.

I'll end with a positive. Typically, I'll complain about getting a single tomato, but when it encompasses the entire bun, I'm quick to shut up. It covers the entire sandwich, and you don't get the tomoto overlap. That one or two bites where the tomato to burger ratio is messed up. Tomato should be a compliment, not the main event. If all I wanted was lettuce and tomato, I'd get a salad.

I kept quiet
 

Now Serving: Fatburger

Fatburger is west coast burger chain, with nearly no presence on the east coast. Just a single spot in the Baltimore area (Columbia, to be exact), and that's as far south as they go. Next closest locations are either Atlantic City, New York, Detroit. After that, Denver. So while Fatburger is recognizable name in pop culture, (Remember when Ice Cube had a Good Day? It's because of Fatburger at 2 in the morning). I've chosen to review it, as the location here is so isolated, it should make it a destination burger joint.

And I say should, because I've been here several times, all mid-afternoon, to a basically empty restaurant. This location opened to some fanfare in 2008, when former Baltimore Raven Orlando Brown bought a franchise, and had plans to open 10 total, which never came about.

But still, I have no idea why the place hasn't caught on. Is it because people don't know it's there? It's sure not because they offer an inferior product. Before I knew about the Baltimore location, it's one of the things I looked forward to when I vacationed in Las Vegas. It has an old school burger stand feel to it.

Fatburger is a gluttons haven. I mean, you don't have "fat" in your name and have a reputation for health food. The menu is simple. S, M, L, XXL, or XXXL. (The XXXL is a 24 oz burger, more on that later). Expected toppings, and add ons with cheese, bacon, fried egg, chili, mushrooms and guac (each costing a little extra, and they aren't skimpy). Today, I just got "Large Fat" with the works, and a side of Fat Fries (thick, steak cut). And the burger is just beautiful.

Today's burger

 

They use fresh lean beef (fat, and lean). I can find nothing to complain about here (except the works comes with pickles and pickle relish, creating a bit of a flavor redundancy. I ordered with a side of "Fat Fries" (Thick, steak cut, barely pictured), which are some of the best you'll find anywhere. All food is cooked to order.

My insides were so happy

Now, the XXXL challenge is to eat the 24 oz of beef in just one sitting. I've completed this challenge. I ordered mine with the works.

And Cheese
And Bacon
And Chili
And a Fried Egg
And it took me 45 minutes.

The current world record holder demolished 16 (!!!) Patty's in 35 minutes. He's the real MVP.

 

Come here with an appetite. But, most importantly, come here. We have an absolute gem in our back yard, and should take advantage of it.

Now Serving: Bobby's Burger Palace

I know lately, I've been hitting up some burger chains. My criteria for this is such: Less than 20 restaurants outside of the area. My latest review, Bobby's Burger Palace meets this criteria. Located at Arundel Mills Mall in Maryland Live Casino (with a second Baltimore area location soon to open in Towson). This chain is owned by celebrity chef, TV personality, and Actor (if you count his cameo Entourage" acting) Bobby Flay.

Conversely, if you're at that first row of slots,
you can probably smell burger goodness

This restaurant, unlike another celebrity chef's restaurant inside a competing casino that I previously wrote up, is accessible to patrons of all ages, as it's accessible without actually entering the gaming area (though if you were blindfolded, you can clearly hear you are at/in/near a casino). This restaurant, the focus is clearly on Burgers. I mean, the word "Burger" is in the damn title of the place. You don't go to a burger palace and expect buttered noodles. (It's not on the menu, I checked.) They have a load of specialty burgers, from different cities of the country. Predictably, Philly has cheesesteak inspired toppings, LA has avocado and watercress, etc.

They also "Crunchify" their burgers on request, putting a s-load of potato chips on top, adding a different crunch and texture to the burger. It's not reinventing the wheel, but still something to make them stand out.

But, the one thing that keeps me coming back, as I frequently do, is their "Burger of the Month", As long as the toppings are agreeable with me, I'll order that. Always like to try something new. For February, it's a Louisiana burger: A Spice Crusted angus beef patty with Pepper Jack Cheese, Tasso Ham, Spicy Remoulade, and a drizzle of Hot Sauce on top. Everything on this burger screams spicy.

And it does have a good heat, without being overpowering. The bun is saturated with sesame seeds. It had a very high SPSI (seeds per square inch, it's a science term. While I'm devouring this tear inducing peppery masterpiece, the seeds flake away everywhere. Not really my thing. The ham is very chewy, and really stands apart from the beef. The cheese is plentiful, very melty, created a pizza-like effect while eating. Nowhere on this burger were they skimpy about anything. even the red hot sauce, though the least portioned item, was dripping down the side of my bun onto my plate. Normally I might complain about not including lettuce and tomato, but really had no business being on my plate. Though, I did forget to get it "Crunchified". I'm a little annoyed it wasn't suggested, but I can't blame the cashier. I'm sure I ordered confidently in what I wanted.

Bobby Flay has a good thing going over here. Don't be afraid to "Throw Down" your money at this palace for a top notch bite.

Now Serving: Abbey Burger Bistro

Welcome to Fed Hill's historic cross street market. Here, I find Abbey Burger Bistro. It's tucked away in a back alley, almost to a point where it feels like secret, though most Baltimore residents are well aware of the well reviewed burgers inside.

What I think separates this from other burger joints around town is, well a few things.

1. They have a wide selection of meats, including a rotating "Meat of the Month". You can find bison, elk, kangaroo, wild boar, and many others
2. Their build a burger checklist is stuff of legend.
3. The shared sink at the restrooms, so you can see if people are following proper washing procedures.  

I did the Build a Burger option, because deep down, I'm a bit of a control freak, and wanted to push the limits of what I could create.

How did I do?

In case you didn't have your binoculars, I opted for the Kangaroo, which I've never had before, on a Pretzel roll, with sharp cheddar & gran queso (manchego), with lettuce, tomato, pickles, hot pepper spread, and Makers Mark BBQ sauce. I'll call it the "Spicy-Double-Cheese Down Under Burger". Upgrade the side to Mac and Cheese, because I can.

How did They do?

Kangaroo is a very dry meat, that still has a big gamey flavor. I understand why Australians are very easy going, because they eat Kangaroo all the f'n time. The double dose of cheese was nice, but my pallet could taste them individually. The pepper spread, at least for me, was more sweet than spicy, and made the burger very messy. I don't have visual evidence of this, because the blend of everything was so tasty, I didn't care. If anything, it became a battle of me vs. the plate to finish before it became a bigger mess. 

My only major complaint, and just me being a nit pick, is the bun was much larger than the beef. I've only ever had the pretzel bun from Abbey, and I don't know if the other bun selections are adequately proportional to the size of the beef patty, but I prefer an overhang to an access of bread. 

But all in all, Abbey Burger still holds up as one of the best burgers in the area.