Saag Paneer poutine?!

Today I indulged in a very gluttonous lunch with my friend Chris. I have heard good rumours about a new burger shack that opened in Kensington and was excited to give it a try. The Burger Bar which was formerly Rice Bar on Augusta Ave has been revamped from the minimalistic resto into a farmy sit down burger saloon complete with checkerboard table cloths and a mounted moose with antlers on the wall.

The reason I went was because I heard they served a saag paneer poutine on the menu and as you know my raison d'etre is to seek out the newest and best poutines around the city so of course I ordered it without even reviewing the rest of the menu items even if it was a whopping $9. Although it looked exactly as it sounded, it was a big disappointment to me. The saag was runny and bland and didn't add anything to the fries. My view is it shouldn't be called a poutine but more 'fries topped with sagg paneer'.
Then I had time to review the menu and saw that they had a wagyu burger (American version of Kobe beef) however when I attempted to order it - it was sold out for the day.
Instead I ordered the "Alba" burger which was a burger cooked medium with truffle oil and grape tomatoes. It came on a non toasted white bun which soaked up all the juiciness of the burger and became very soggy however the truffle aroma filled up my nostrils and the taste was the flavours i know and love so it was very good!
Chris had the 'Goucho' burger which came with a chimichurri sauce spread on the bun which added a bit of heat to the burger. He did say that there was nothing else special about it except for the kick.
As I looked around the semi-packed restaurant - I did notice that there were other things that I may have overlooked on the menu due to my initial excitement about the poutine- I saw that they had crispy 'cheeseburger' spring rolls and their onion rings seemed extra crispy which I later found out were panko (tempura batter) crusted!!! And on the burger front there is the waygu burger which i would top with kimchi, or a uni (sea urchin) butter burger which I must attempt. So consider this blog not closed as there are plenty more items to try from this novel burger saloon... more to come...
*** Stars
The Burger Bar - 319 Augusta Avenue (Kensington Market)