Romer's Burger Bar - Vancouver | Memosne

Romer's Burger Bar - Vancouver


Burgers = good. It's one of the simple lessons in life. <3 Boif and I were invited by a friend to try out this restaurant. Although I've never heard of it before, my friend had only heard great things about this restaurant and I was eager to try their burgers.


Their decor incorporated a lot of dark colors and had minimal lighting to give diners a more intimate feeling when eating. Overall the bar had a very "industrial diner" feel to it, with exposed beams, sheet metal, and exposed brick walls with some quirky juxtapositions: cozy red leather seating, large booth seats, and a warm open kitchen. Romer's also has a large bar area that was pretty popular for diners who were waiting for a table to open up. The service was good, the waitresses are all very pretty, and they are quite friendly. However Romer's was incredibly busy when we were there, which meant that the waitress didn't come by to refill our water glasses often. =( 


Romer's has made their own tasteful additions to the classic burger with some gourmet ingredients. Unfortunately, the burgers do not come with any sides...if you want fries you have to order them separately. 


Make no mistake though, Romer's is definitely a burger joint and there isn't much else to the menu than burgers. It's a veritable burger heaven. There are burgers for essentially every dietary creed and need: gluten intolerant, pescatarian, vegetarian etc. Unfortunately, most of us that night were meat eaters...so most of the burgers below are of the meaty kind. As said before the burgers don't come with any sides and honestly, I was a bit disappointed with that. The presentation is very clean, but burgers actually look quite lonely on the big plate without any sides. Especially for people with large appetites, I would venture to say that one burger might not be enough for a whole meal. As for a general statement for all the burgers, the patties are moist, hold together, and are incredibly beefy. 


This is heaven on a bun, otherwise known as the {Port and Stilton Burger}. This is the burger that I ordered for myself and let me tell you: Purple Onions + Blue Cheese = loveeeeeeeeeeeee. I am a blue cheese fanatic. I won't try to hide my love of strong,smelly cheeses or mold growing upon mold. The combination of the tart blue cheese with the sweet purple onion was perfection, a simple yet frank duet of flavors in my mouth. The "runny-ness" level of the juices from the caramelized onions and the melted cheese don't make it too difficult to eat. Sometimes a fork and a knife are necessary, but generally you can eat this burger pretty comfortably with your hands. I highly recommend this burger. 


This is the Man's Man Burger, the burger that the boif ordered for himself...very appropriately of course. =P He's very manly (ooh la la!). I was lucky enough to taste some of his burger before he gobbled it down for himself. The tastes are very traditional: salty bacon, moist beefy patty, fresh tomatoes, and sharp cheese, but they all harmonize well together. I especially liked the textural element of the crunchy onion strings against the softer elements within the burger.Very delicious, whether you're male or female.  


This beauty is the magic mushroom burger. The burger is incredibly creamy due to the boursin cheese and the sauteed onions, but the arugula cuts through all the richness with its bitter bite. A friend of mine ordered this burger, so I only got a couple of bites, but the outstanding flavor I got from the burger was cream. It was very rich and somewhat difficult to eat the amount of liquid runoff that came from the boursin cheese and the mushrooms made the bun incredibly soggy. Fork and knife definitely needed! 


However there is one grievance that the whole table had to share with Romer's. The fries. =( I can appreciate the fact that Romer's chefs hand cut and make the fries from fresh potatoes, but on that particular night the execution was a bit sloppy. As we had a six person party at the table, we all decided to order two types of fries: poutine and seasalt.

As a Californian, I have never tasted genuine poutine before. All the other guests at the table, native Canadians with poutine in their hearts, were really excited to introduce the Canadian delicacy to the boif and I. Even the waitress assured us that at Romer's they used real cheese curds to create authentic poutine. However, when the above dish was delivered to our table I think everyone was a bit disappointed. The fries were cold, the curds were not melted and the gravy was sparse. I think a friend of mine even remarked that when he bit into the cheese curds the center was still very cold. =( I'm still trying to find a "authentic poutine" place on the west coast. If anyone has any suggestions, please give a shout! I might just have to go to the Eastern side of Canada to finally figure out what's what. ><

As for the sea salt fries...they were just sub par. Two words I would use to describe them would simply be: cold and flaccid. Usually with "fresh" fries, unless you double fry them, are pretty soft. However, if they're delivered cold they just taste unappetizing and soggy. =(

All in all, I would definitely go back to Romer's for the burgers and I'm willing to give them a second try on the fries. =) I encourage you all to try them out! ^__^ Thanks for coming!

+ Love

Kid Friendly: Yes and No (They do offer a kids menu, but the choices and vibe makes the restaurant seem dedicated to more mature diners)
Price: $$$ out of $$$$$
Repeatability: Yes!


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Feb 11, 2013,
I went back recently for their lunch service and the burgers were a bit dry, while their new "chickpea pancake" wasn't very good at all. I posted a photo on instagram: here!



4 comments :

  1. Your posts always make me so hungry! :D

    I'm finally done with my dissertation and back to stalking blogs and leaving regular comments. My bf and I are playing L.A Noire now! I totally thought of you. Have you complete it?

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  2. @Joey I'm glad they move someone! I always get the munchies when I write these posts too. =) Congrats on your dissertation! <3 It must be a huge stress relief. As for LA Noir, I haven't completed it!! I promised my sister I would wait for her to come back from university so we can play story mode together. How do you like it?!?! =DD

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  3. Must...have...that...burger. All of them. Great post! Now I need to find a place to make me this.

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  4. @The Vox <3 Thanks for stopping by! The burgers are really good. Come up and visit! =P

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