Dot Com Foodies Feel the Wrath of the Feenie Burger!

It’s time for another burger adventure! After sampling the likes of the reigning champion Hulk Burger and the decent Wally’s Wagon Burger, it was time to see what an upscale dining establishment like Feenies had to offer.  So we brought together the Dot Com Pho crew for a Dot Com Lunch.  Joining us today was John “The Root of All Evil” Chow and his wife Sarah, Ed “London Drugs Employee of the Month” Lau, Michael Kwan, Leo “I’m an Actor! Fill My Trailer With Foie Gras” Chiang, Gary “No Kimchi For Me Today” Ng, and “The Captain” Greg Morgan.

Located in the trendy Kitsilano area of Vancouver, Feenies (warning: link cheesy disco music and animations) is the creation of Iron Chef Slayer, Rob Feenie.  Feenies offers an upscale bistro atmosphere and serves brunch, lunch and dinner.  Rob Feenie’s flaghship LUMIERE fine dining establishment is nestled next door.  You can read about my fine dining experience at LUMIERE right here. Although I’ve been to Feenies before, I’ve never tried their legendary Feenie burger.  Let’s see if Rob knows how to make a burger!

It’s All About The Options…

The Feenie burger by itself is pretty plain and looks like every other burger out there for a premium $16 to start.  However, it does come with fries and several made from scratch dipping sauces.

The burger patty is made with a 100% certified Angus beef, served medium with sauteed mushrooms, cheese and bacon in addition to the aforementioned fries.  The fun part is the extras which include pan seared foie gras ($25), beef short ribs ($7), poutine ($3), and salad ($3). The burger I ordered up above is shown with the pan seared foie gras and the beed short ribs tucked under the patty.  I also asked for the poutine option which brought the total up to $51.  This is clearly one of the most expensive burgers out there and one of the most expensive ones that I’ve ever eaten.

After stacking all that decadent goodness one on top of eachother, the burger ends up being a pretty good size.  However, the Hulk Burger still beats it, though Michael seems pretty impressed by it regardless.  It’s not tiny that’s for sure and for those that don’t have the squash and bite technique down, it is a recipe for serious lockjaw.

Compared to burgers that represent more value than decadence like the Hulk and Wally burgers, the Feenie Burger had a distinctly different taste that could only be described as upscale. The patty was tender and juicy and the ingredients were definitely top notch all around.  I really enjoyed the Feenie Burger, however, it wouldn’t be something I’d eat every day, and it definitely wouldn’t be good for you.  With the pan seared foie gras, short ribs, and other fixings, this could easily be a 6000 calorie meal! In fact, it could probably kill me if I ate this every day.  I was definitely contemplating what this burger was going to do to me later as I watched the globule of cheese drip from the end of my poutine fry.

More Manditory Tipping Nonsense…

 

The only downside to the meal was the silly manditory tipping of 17% that was put on our bill. I’m a firm believer of tipping accordingly for the level of service quality, but not only is manditory tipping insulting because it assumes you are a cheap ass, but it also puts an artificial celing on the earnings of the wait staff, even if they deserved more. It’s like seeing a price tag for a pair of jeans at $49.99.  Even if you’d pay $69.99 for them, you’re stupid to do so.  All the restaurant did was make it impossible for their stars to shine and earn what they deserve.  It also makes it easy for the slackers and leeches to continue going along for the ride. Sure I could tip more, but why would I pay more when you’ve named your price?

Attack of the Feenie Burger! 

As we started to breathe heavily from the grease coursing through our veins, we contemplated our fate later in the day as we made our way to the door.  A couple hours later, I checked in with Michael and he said he had a McHeadache, while Ed told me that his eyes felt really heavy with a side of the McHeadache too.  After two pots of green tea, I started to become a little more coherent and awake. I assumed that the silence from John, Leo, Gary and Greg meant that they were suffering from similar or worse symptoms (McShitz anyone?). 

This is definitely one of those once a year things that you do.  Back to CrossFit for me or I’m going to have to do another cleanse and that would suck