The Fair at the PNE

PNE beer garden

I have always thought that I had outgrown the PNE. It had been one of things I would look forward to when I was younger up until my early teenage years. Michael was lucky enough to get a pair of complimentary tickets and we were really excited to go. Michael convinced me that there was going to be lots of tasty food, especially a new burger stand called Gourmet Burgers. The Fair at the PNE has really gone over and beyond to advertise this burger place, claiming a new spin to the food at the fair. I wasn't too keen on the idea because it doesn't sound believable regardless what the ad or Michael has to say. But I was happy that Michael was happy to go.

Fried pickles

At the fair we got to see a lot of musical performances, lots of interesting stands, and we even got to visit a "beer garden". I have a love for sour food and I have always wanted to try deep fried pickles. My first time trying them at the fair was absolutely amazing. I ordered my pickles for $6 at a stand that offered lots of various deep fried goodies - ice cream, Oreo cookies, fries and other fascinating fried goods. My pickles had a light crispy exterior skin, fried enough that it didn't hide the sour tang of the pickle. There was also a creamy ranch sauce on the side. Surprisingly the creaminess of the ranch didn't take over the tang, it balanced out quite nicely to the light batter.

Crocodile, wild boar and venison sliders

Michael was overly excited about these so called amazing burgers, we walked around for awhile to search for the burgers. When we finally came across to it I was surprised that their menu didn't have a wider range of selection. The one thing that popped out was that they offered exotic meats such as alligator, kangaroo, wild boar, venison and crocodile, three sampler burgers with a side of kettle chips for $12. I can rarely handle some of the common meats, so let's not carried away with other parts of the animal kingdom. My precious little dog loves venison and my parents often feed him venison as part of his diet, and Michael always said that him and my dog were long lost brothers, I guess venison just runs in this long lost family of his.

Crazy Monkey burger

I have made it pretty clear that I don't eat beef and when I do, it has to be some damn good beef. Like steak and frites at Le Faux Bourgeois. As a dedicated Food Network watcher, I have noticed a lot of street carts have started to incorporate peanut butter into burgers, creating a salty and sweet effect. I was hesitant to order the Crazy Monkey ($10) because it's on a beef patty. But my love for peanut butter got the best of me. So I got the order minus the deep fried banana inside. It was served along with a strip of bacon and a slice of ham.

Gourmet Burgers

I was very disappointed with my order. The number one cardinal rule in burger making is always, always, always toast the bun. This one was extremely overcooked and I can tell by the overly wide patty that the patty was likely flattened during cooking - letting the natural juice squeeze out. I am certain that we could have gotten a much tastier and cheaper burger at a fast food restaurant. I almost had to force myself to finish this burger because it was so expensive. I felt I had a sacrificed my waistline for some thing  that was very much a let down.

Overall the burger tasted very dry and the peanut butter didn't add a sweet kick in there, it appeared that the peanut butter just sat there incompatible with everything else. The bacon tasted like a cheap meal on a cheap airplane, there was no smokey flavour to it at all. They call themselves Gourmet which is a very high standard to live up to. So therefore they need to live up to the name they have given themselves. They have received so much publicity that they need to really step up their game. I'm sorry but they are clearly not haute couture, they are very much off the rack that ended up at the outlet mall.


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