Restaurants
Big Moe's Burgers
Big Moe's Burgers is serving Scarborough residents gourmet burgers in an unorthodox location. Tucked in the plaza behind the Petro Canada on the southeast corner of Kennedy and Steeles, the small burger joint offers an alternative to the predominantly Asian offerings in the vicinity of Pacific Mall.
The two of us arrived mid-afternoon on a rainy Sunday, put in our order and grabbed seats at the counter top facing the window (seats about 10) which filled up surprisingly fast. The crew of three looked a little overwhelmed with the traffic, especially after a few take-out orders came via phone. The food took about 25 minutes - a bit longer than expected for a burger.
I opted for the Juicy Lucy ($6.79), Big Moe's signature burger stuffed with gooey cheese in the middle and your choice of typical burger toppings. We also couldn't resist from trying the Foot Long Twister Dog ($6.49) and my dining partner wanted to sample the Funnel Cake ($6.99) with Vanilla Ice Cream ($1.99) and Strawberry Sauce ($1.99) as well.
The burger itself is a round 5oz fresh ground patty pressed into shape on the griddle in a similar fashion to The Burger's Priest. It was indeed juicy, not overcooked and held together quite nicely with cheese oozing out of the middle with every bite. On the negative side I found the amount of toppings given to be lacking and would've liked the bun to be toasted a bit.
The Foot Long Twister Dog (a foot long hot dog wrapped in their tornado fries) was reminiscent of something you might find at the fair or amusement park. I enjoyed the fresh cut spiral of Tornado Fries but the hot dog was quite overcooked and dry.
Lastly, the Funnel Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream and Strawberry Sauce was actually comparable to the one most people are familiar with at Wonderland. Deep fried batter with a scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with hot strawberry sauce and finished with powdered sugar - it's hard to go wrong.
I would definitely put in the extra effort to grab a burger from Big Moe's rather than any neighbouring fast food joints. The Juicy Lucy is definitely some I could see myself craving every once in a while and I honestly think Big Moe's currently offers the best burger in the Scarborough / Markham area.
Writing and photos by Bryan Chang
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Here champ:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnLIzIu1by4
What is wrong with people in Toronto being such haters towards bringing different , albeit not original , things to this wonderful city so we can enjoy them too. This is much better then bring US chain restaurants here and killing off local business.
http://www.blogto.com/people/2012/04/toronto_through_the_eyes_of_james_chatto/
"How would you assess Toronto's restaurant offerings on a global scale? What's the Toronto restaurant scene currently lacking?
We're going through a reactionary, recessionary phase where simplification is the order of the day. Burgers, pizza, mac 'n' cheese... Childish stuff. Toronto's gastronomy isn't as multi-faceted as it used to be. It's casual and comfortable and there's lots of good food but it's missing a lot of the old originality and any sort of intellectual risk. I used to brag that we were one of the top three cities in North America for food. That's no longer true. Not just because of the dearth of traditional fine dining - Scaramouche and Langdon Hall would attract Michelin's attention but that's about it - but because so much of what's new falls within the same narrow focus.
We have a really talented, really committed group of young chefs who are now entering their prime, but so many of them are painting the same picture with the same small spectrum of pigments and the same repetitive patterns. It's strange that they grew up eating from 100 different cultures within the GTA but all they want to put on their menus is charcuterie and home cooking from the Italian diaspora. Yes, thank Sooty and Sweep, there are exceptions, but why play checkers when you can play chess?"
First, this is Scarborough; the demographics @ Kennedy and Steeles will simply not support a restaurant as ambitious and creative (i.e. expensive) as the one you are dreaming about. And you know all those "childish" re-creations of DELICIOUS (albeit, unoriginal) comfort food? Well they haven't been spreading across Scarborough, and while recent efforts such as Smokin Hick's (closed) and Goody's Diner provide counter-examples, these joints are few and far between; Moe's, no matter how "repetitive" their cuisine, are a welcome alternative to Wendy's, and the plethora of Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and Middle Eastern options we enjoy here.
And you can always bring creativity to the same narrow scope; burgers are just like anything else and can be tweaked in an infinite number of ways; the grind, the spicing, the mix, the medium etc. From the looks of the picture in this article, that burger is on the rare side and that alone puts it miles ahead of the competition here.
Second, I doubt the owner of Moe's is a newly minted culinary grad, and so likely doesn't have the confidence or capabilities to pull of resto worthy of "Michelin's attention" (or your approval...what a shame).
But perhaps I'm wrong. Maybe he or she is the best of his/her class, fresh out of George Brown. Why pigeonhole the chef to any type/level of cuisine? The best food comes from people's passions, and if they are passionate about burgers than let 'em be. At the end of they day, the owner of Moe's has to live with the success or failure of this restaurant; he or she can't afford to consider the more abstract notions of Toronto's food culture, and certainly not your current inability to brag. Considering my first point, this makes burgers all the more appropriate.
Third, what does this place being unhealthy add to your argument? Healthy is not necessarily creative, and tons of creative places can be unhealthy. If you don't want unhealthy food, then don't eat here. It's that simple.
Rich, while I agree with you on many points in general, and sympathize with your overall worries, save your griping for where it would be more appropriate and effective: restaurants in the core.
I don't really know what you're saying.
And I did not bring it up to them that they took too long to prepare my order. There wasn't a line-up getting into this place and about 6 people ahead of my coworker and I waiting. I should have said something but that would have just riled up the other customers who were waiting as well causing a melee of complaints and pretty much no one getting their food. I'm on my lunch break, I want my food, preferably in a timely manner, 20mins in a sit down resto is too much time to wait. This is supposed to be a 'fast food' joint, no?
I was a line cook for years and 3 people running a place like this was extremely inadequate. One on the flat top, one guy on expo and one at the cash. Zero communication, zero urgency, which is effed up because you're cooking shit infront of your customers.
Eventually when some of us got our food and all decided to get our food to go we all questioned each other if any of us had been there before and some said they have and had never had to wait 50mins. So maybe its a freak occurance which can happen, but non of the employees acknowledged our frustration waiting for our food. Yes I could have said something but these guys were right in front of our faces. These guys were in the weeds! Like the tall grass where crocodiles dwell.
Anyway, as for the burger itself, there was no cheese in it like the above picture presented. Dry and overcooked/crispy the only saving grace was the amount of mayo/sauces to wet it up. The fries were a bit soggy but edible. Crispy burger/Soft fries???(isn't it supposed to be the other way around?) Nothing about the food stood out to me, but at this point the long wait just made me overly biased. Could've drove to Five Guys at Eglinton and Warden, ate there, and still make it back in time within the hour to enjoy a smoke.
Big Moes= Big Fail
I think you might need to order the Big Moe to get cheese in the middle.
If I was in a fast food place and it took more then 10 minutes for my food I would speak with them about it right them and there , regardless of the other customers. They might have actually taken it constructive and made improvements. But I guess it all depends on the person , some people will help people succeed others will keep it in and them go complain to everyone else but the actual person they need to talk to ...
I'm not complaining here on blogTO. I'm giving fellow torontonians my experience at this establishment. And unfortunately it sucked. I'm sure other people will different experiences but if I heeded the warnings of earlier commenters then I could have avoided this headache.
I get the sense that you think I'm trolling here but far from it. I enjoy food and what our city brings to the table. BlogTO has become a go to place for suggestions. And they have suggest some very good places but there are bad ones as well.
Maybe if Big Moes steps up their game I might try it again but at this point in time I'm sure the waits will be just as long with zero attention to paying customers.
Would go there again to try something different, like funnel cake.
Good if in the neighborhood but not a destination food trip. Would I go again sure.. Would I go out of my way for it...nope. I live a couple blocks east of the burger priest and go there rarely as well.
Best burger ( when they get it right) is The Grille on the queensway.... But they are inconsistsnt.
My sister had the veggie patty, which was huge! Both in size and full of flavor. Shes a really picky eater, but today was one of those rare occasions where there was nothing but praise about the tasty entree. I didnt get to taster her burger, so there isnt much more I can tell you about that...
Lastly we also had a funnel cake. I can tell you that they do have a great batter, and it does taste wonderful when its cooked, however they make it twice as thick as it should really be, and that means that the middle wasn't cooked. I hope that they keep the recipe consistent, but fix the quantity poured into the hot oil. I think it was about 2.5 inches thick, and there was no space for the cake to cook through cause there were no holes like wonderland does it. If they get on that they would have funnel cakes that are better then Wonderlands I think because their strawberry syrup really is better and thicker then the one at wonderland. My sister and I just ended up eating around the edges and the rest went into the garbage, which was wasteful..
I would definitely go again, and would highly recommend that you try it out if you would like to have a great homestyle burger, great veggie options, and fantastic fries! This stop has the feel of a mom and pop burger joint, and has unbelievably friendly staff, but you do have to wait sometime to get your food, but that is the cost of fresh!
I hope this review gives you some good insight into what this joint has to offer, let me know what you think if you get a chance to drop by. Hopefully they will have perfected the funnel cake by then, enjoy :)
P.S. And for all of you commenting on heart disease, and artery clogs, we all know you want to eat these juicy burgers too! why else would you be on this site commenting on the food here? Everyone needs a treat once in a while, but like everything else please enjoy in moderation.
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