Burger de Ville (Montréal, QC)

59 Westminster North
Montréal-Ouest, Québec
 514.564.9902
website

Once in a while, either I or Elle will get a burger craving. Not sure whose craving it was that brought us to Burger de Ville, but there we were one summer evening. Elle had already been to their Saint Laurent Boulevard location, but it was my first time at this burger joint.

Burger de Ville.

I ordered the bacon burger ($5.50) and asked for some harissa mayo on the side for our order of spicy fries. They added the mayo into the burger instead. There is a generous list of free toppings, including caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms. One can make quite a burger with the free toppings offered. 

The fresh burger patty - "Always fresh, never frozen" being the motto - is sandwiched between nicely grilled poppy seed buns.

Bacon burger.

Elle ordered the Saint-Paulin burger ($7.00) for the added cheese. Otherwise there are not too many other burger options as you can build your own but there is a vegetarian option that sounds tasty with grilled vegetables and goat cheese. Since there is no combo, we shared a plate of spicy fries ($3.00) that was plentiful for even more than two people. The spiciness came from the seasoning; the spicy fries were great dipped in the harissa mayo.

Spicy fries.

Burger de Ville offers fresh burgers at a great price point.Why go to fast food joints for burgers when such options exist in Montréal?

 

Banff, Day 1: Town of Banff and The Best Burger

I decided to go visit my ex-roommate D in Banff, Alberta. She’s the one who quit engineering to become a trapeze instructor. When I mentioned this to my friend C, she decided to come along also. In addition, our friend AM currently lives in Calgary. We all went to university together and figured it would be fun to get together.

C had already spent the previous day in Calgary with some of her friends. She met us at the airport and D was nice enough to pick us up there. It’s about an hour and a half drive to Banff from Calgary. Once you reach the Rockies, the mountains are an amazing sight. Large mountains with beautiful snow capped peaks, looming over you. I have never seen anything like it.


Getting into Banff seems like you're driving into one of the mountains.

Barpa Bill's Souvlaki

223 Bear Street

Banff, Alberta

403.762.0377

We arrived around lunch time and were all hungry, especially since I had not yet adjusted to the two hour difference. On our drive to Banff, C mentioned she already had a burger and a steak the day prior. Alberta is known for their Angus beef. So when we passed by Barpa Bill’s, I figured I could go for a burger. Barpa's burger is considered the best in Banff! D and I shared a burger so we could also splurge on fries while C got the Greek salad after having had enough meat the day before.

The burger was really good. Since Barpa Bill’s is actually a Greek joint, the Barpa burger had tzatziki. It’s not a traditional condiment but it was actually pretty tasty. I have no idea what beef was used for the patty but it was very good and very well seasoned. The fresh cut fries were also well seasoned with both salt and pepper. C’s Greek salad was also good though slightly salty.


Barba Bill's in a Swiss chalet style building - all the buildings look like ski lodges.


Barpa Burger, $7.50. Hmmmm!

So good! I like the grill marks at the bottom.

'Home Cut' Fries, $4.50. Who doesn't love fresh cut fries?

The Greek Salad, $6.



After our satisfying meal, we walked around the picturesque town of Banff. Banff is within the perimeters of Banff National Park. Mountains surround the whole town. Banff has all the stores that we’re used to, such as Gap, Body Shop (even Louis Vuitton!), but in cute, ski lodge fronts. It’s amazing to see the mountain backdrop everywhere you turn.

Shoppers in Banff.

Downtown Banff.

We then decided to walk to historic The Fairmont Banff Springs. We wanted to walk down to Bow Falls behind it but the trail was closed. This occurred a few times because we were visiting late in the season and some of the trails can be quite treacherous. While we did end up finding our way down to Bow Falls by going through the Hotel, it was the view of the mountains next to the Falls that really impressed us.

On our way towards Banff Springs Hotel, I spotted a pretty bird. I found out later it’s a magpie.

We also spotted a funny knobby tree.

Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel.

More mountains!

On our way to Bow Falls.

Bow Falls.

Beautiful mountains by Bow Falls.

For more posts on Banff:

Banff, Day 2: Lake Louise and The Bison Mountain Bistro

Banff, Day 3: Gondola, Hot Springs & Fondues!

Banff, Days 4-6: Hiking and Wild Life

Banff, Day 7: Drumheller

Banff (again!), Moraine Lake & a Little Missteak