The New Burger Joint on Ossington

I had a lunch date with my friend Chris who claims I bullied him into being the captain of our Ultimate Frisbee team so during our lunch catch up - my goal was to set him straight! We decided to try the "BQM" Burger Shoppe on Ossington. Let me just say for the record that I didn't force Chris to become captain but merely agreed to those who seem to think Chris may be the best man for the job. However I am guilty of sending out a mass email to our team announcing prematurely that he had accepted the role- to that I am 100% at fault so lunch was on me :).

The novelty of this burger joint is that it is a slick and intimate feel with has a gorgeous bar serving beer and cocktails.
BQM stands for "Burger Quality Meats" and refers to the AAA grade beef made from naturally raised cows that are fed grass at Rowe Farms in Guelph. Vegetarians fret not- you can substitute for an organic tofu patty on these burgers.
On the menu - there were regular and specialty burgers - such as the Hawaiian Burger.
I opted to try "The Ossington" burger and upgraded my patty to the AAA sirloin - the best stuff I could get! It came with a grilled portabello mushroom and all the other trimmings.

Chris had The Riverside" which had naturally raised bacon, arugula, tomato, mozzarella and a hand-dipped onion ring. We were told by our chirpy Irish server that our patties were cooked at "medium rare" and when I asked can I get it rarer- nope- that was the rarest they can cook them. Our burgers were big but I had no problems polishing it off. Chris, who is a slower eater, and was also telling me a hilarious story, only finished half the burger.

On the menu they also featured salads, a couple of different versions of poutine - which of course we ordered and sides including onion rings and sliders (three tasty 2oz burgers).
As mentioned, of course we needed to try the poutine- Chris wanted to share the meat lover's poutine which had ground beef amongst other savory meats on top. I have to say I was pleased to see that they were using squeeky cheese curds in my poutine but I was a little concerned that I was eating way my way into early cardiac arrest! However i did make a mental note to try the Uber poutine on my next visit- as it has chorizo and caramelized onions as toppings.
This was a good addition to the trendy Ossington strip as I adore places that you don't have to wait in line to eat! I think after this lunch - Chris and I are even stevens!

BQM Burgers- 210 Ossington, Ossington South of Dundas

*** (out of 5 stars)