Boon Burger...Keepin' it Classy in the 'Peg

I recently took a little trip out to Winnipeg to deal with some *ahem* family issues, which actually resulted in a full out blowout in true white-trash style outside on a driveway in a residential neighbourhood like something you'd see on an episode of Cops, complete with a skinny dirtbag in a wife-beater with his jeans falling down his ass shouting expletives that would make any grandma blush...unless that grandma didn't speak much English, and thankfully mine does not.

This is the part where I'm supposed to say haha just kidding...I wish.

Needless to say, this wasn't the most pleasant trip to my hometown.

To make up for the overall unpleasant nature of this visit, Rob the Husband and I took advantage of our down-time and took refuge in Canada's first all vegan burger cafe, the delightful and amazing Boon Burger.

Four days in a row.

Boon Burger was featured on You Gotta Eat Here  not too long ago, so you know they're doing something right. You can fast forward to about the 7:30 mark in the episode to see Boon, or you can watch from the beginning and see the story on Jelly Modern Donuts...drool. If they busted out a vegan donut I'd be there in a heartbeat.

This was my first time in the 'Peg since going vegan and since Boon Burger opened, but I have had the privilege of trying their food before. Rob had made a trip over in December and brought me back a burger, which I ate at room temperature driving home from the airport. And while I was able to get an idea of what Boon was all about from that imported burger, I was super excited to be able to try it out fresh.

Day One: 
The first thing that caught my eye when I walked into Boon Burger was the plate of brownies on the counter calling my name. I ordered one of those immediately, because the burgers looked pretty big and I didn't want to be too full for dessert. They served it up with a little cup of vanilla soft serve (the flavour of the day), and holy crap was this ever a chewy, fudgy, indulgent brownie. It's the perfect size to get your brownie fix without grossing yourself out, and for $2.50, is a most worthwhile addition to any meal.

Rob's cousin became a huge Boon fan after we introduced him to the world of vegan burgers at Loving Hut a couple of months ago when he came to visit us in BC. Since then he's become a Boon regular and has been tagging us in his fb posts at Boon and rubbing it in our faces every time he goes. Thanks, dude. Thanks. He came with us to Boon on this day and had the Backyard BBQ Burger minus the sauerkraut. What Polak doesn't like sauerkraut??

My first burger was going to be the one Rob had imported for me back in December...the Bacun Cheese Burger.

It's traditional and awesome with daiya and smokey bacun (tofu bacun that is) and typical condiments. The patty is their Boon patty made with mushrooms and brown rice. This was seriously delicious and especially satisfying in terms of taste and texture. When you watch how they make the patties on You Gotta Eat Here you can appreciate how much goes into them. They are baked, which is not typical for a burger, and this results in a truly unique and delicious burger experience. Top that patty awesomeness with gooey melty daiya and accentuate it with a couple of smokey bacun strips and you're good to go.

Rob had the less traditional Thanksgiving Burger, which the owner made and showcased on You Gotta Eat Here.

This is unlike anything I've ever had before in terms of a burger experience. The potato-crusted patty sits between layers of yams, cranberry sauce and gravy. OMG. No, really...Oh. Em. Gee. I cannot even begin to describe the insanity that is the Thanksgiving Burger. It's super messy and when you take a bite out of it the gravy and cranberry sauce dribble down your chin, but ohhhh is it ever worth it. Especially when you get a particularly sweet mouthful of the glazed yams. It's just comfort food bliss at its best.

Being my first time at Boon I of course wanted to try everything, so we also ordered a Caesar salad and poutine and a vanilla shake, which complimented everything beautifully but proved difficult to finish. I was definitely glad I ate that brownie first :)

Day Two:
Having ordered way too much food the day before, I resigned myself to stick to just a burger and no sides...but started off with a brownie again. This time it was served with blueberry chocolate soft serve...which at first appeared to be a mistake, like someone started making blueberry soft serve but then someone added chocolate and then they were like oh crap now what? But you know what? The blueberry-chocolate, intentional or not, totally worked. It was actually my favourite out of the four flavours I had over the four days I was there. So of course we ordered the shake as well:)

I had the Backyard BBQ Burger, which came with sweet mustard and sauerkraut, but unlike Rob's cousin the day before, I was a good Polak and kept the sauerkraut.

Really really tasty. Thumbs up bbq sauce, thumbs up sauerkraut, and thumbs up to their in-house mayo. No need for the unfertilized products of chicken reproductive cycles in the mayo at Boon.

Rob had the Bombay Talkie Burger, another one featured on You Gotta Eat Here.

Once again, Holy Crap did Rob ever nail his burger selection. This one is made with the buddah patty (a curried chickpea patty) and topped with yams, bacun, daiya and an insane bombay sauce. Like the Thanksgiving Burger, the Bombay Talkie has the most delightful sweetness to it, which contrasts beautifully with the curried patty. There is just soooo much great stuff going on in this one burger.

Wow. I realize I'm gushing like a fangirl. Well, if Wentworth Miller and Chris Pine came in vegan burger form, they would be the Thanksgiving Burger and the Bombay Talkie.

Day Three:

This was a special day for us at Boon because we brought Rob's Babcia with us for her first vegan burger experience. After we explained exactly what "vegan" meant (in her 87 years she had never heard of such a thing), she and her government-issued teeth were up for anything.

Including a brownie to start. Yes, I am so predictable. Chocolate soft serve and chocolate shake today. Score.

We decided to only order two burgers since Babcia would only eat a fraction of one, so I got the Salsa Burger... a black bean patty with avocado, daiya, corn chips and (duh) salsa.

The chips added a fun, crunchy texture which reminded me of when I used to put chips on my sandwiches at picnics. I knife and forked this one because I cut up a half for Babcia, which she didn't eat. She was too busy working her way through Rob's Oslo Burger.

The Oslo Burger was consistent with Rob's pattern of ordering burgers with a sweetness to them. It came with caper sauce and cranberry sauce, as well as gravy, beets and sauerkraut. And once again, holy crap was it delicious. Seriously delicious.

I discovered on this trip that I really like a hint of sweetness in my burgers. I didn't have a single bad experience with any of the burgers I tried, but the ones Rob ordered had an edge over mine, and I'm realizing it's the unique sweet flavours they had going on.

Babcia really enjoyed the Oslo burger, and couldn't believe there was no meat in it at all.

87 years old!! Such a sweet lady :) How does she stay so active? Frank's Red Hot Sauce...she puts that sh*t on everything.

Day Four: Morning of departure... 
The way our flight was scheduled, we had just enough time on our last day in Winnipeg to hit up Boon just after they opened, eat comfortably, and make our flight back home. I hadn't had a burger with Boon's red pepper peach chutney yet, so I tried the Buddah burger made with (surprise surprise) the Buddah patty and slathered in chutney and curry mayo.

Definitely another winner. Is this place capable of making a bad burger? The Buddah Burger was very Indian-inspired in terms of the noticeable curry flavour, and just really, really delicious. I ordered sesame fries, which are baked and crispy and salty and perfect, just the way I like 'em.

For his last Boon meal, instead of trying something new, Rob went with the tried, tested and true Thanksgiving Burger. As they placed it in front of us the gravy and cranberry sauce dripped out over the patty making for a pretty delicious photo op. I mean, just look at that drippy goodness!

That's a beautiful burger.

I did have the brownie again (four for four!), which was served with blueberry soft serve, and of course we ordered the blueberry shake.

Four vegan shakes in four days. No tittymilk. Whose brilliant idea is it to put tittymilk in a shake when there are such ridiculously delicious tittymilk-free options?? Wake up ice cream overlords!

Well, until the ice cream overlords come to their senses, if you are in the Winnipeg area and you desire some seriously delicious soft serve or a seriously delicious shake and you'd rather not have that shake made with cow tittymilk, hit up Boon. And if they happen to have the blueberry-chocolate again, do a happy dance, cuz damn that was a unique and delicious flavour.

I'd like to find something negative to say about this place just so this post isn't all "I'm vegan and this is a vegan burger joint so ima just praise the shit out of it for the sake of supporting a cruelty-free business that is in line with my moral compass." Ummm...the visa terminal wasn't working on our last day there so we had to pay cash. How dare they have a technical problem?

Seriously, though. The food here is amazing. Not just passable meat-wannabe vegan fare. Truly amazing. The flavours are creative, the quality is superb, and the love is definitely evident in the food. Some of the burgers are messy as hell, and to be honest, my first experience with the square burger bun was a tad disconcerting. A square bun? Revolutionary.

The faves? Thanksgiving and Bombay Talkie.

Pricing? Around $8 per burger. More than typical fast food, but unlike a typical fast food burger, a Boon burger is generously sized and will actually fill you up, and it isn't made of crap. Even Babcia was happy with the price for the product. When a woman with candy in her pantry from 1994 thinks a burger is a reasonable price, you know it's so. Killer cruelty-free burgers and a clear conscience? I'm sold.

And for the record, no it wasn't Rob the Husband in the wife beater with his pants falling down his ass...although he did shout a few expletives. Rob's never worn a beater in all the years I've known him, and I've always wondered what he'd look like in one....hmmm...t-shirt tan with bright white shoulders and tanned forearms...

Yahhhh, never mind.

My New Hero, Philip Wollen

Saw a speech by Philip Wollen today. Blown away. Brilliant speech. Brilliant speaker. Brilliant message.

I'm so thankful for people like this.

I'm in the process of editing a video from my school's mission trip to the Philippines that I need to have burned and ready to distribute to my students in 4 days before summer holidays, so I hope to get that done and then (when I have my life back) watch the entire debate and jot down some coherent thoughts.

Until then, holy shit, did this guy nail it.

I Love it When We're Cruising Together: Part Two

So I don't sound like a spoiled uppity shrew

who complains about cruise ship food when there are people starving all over the world, let me preface the following spoiled uppity shrew complaining with this: I am grateful to exist in a part of the world where I am not wanting for any necessities, especially healthy, wholesome, easily accessible food. I am simply comparing my cruise dining experience as someone who does not eat animal products with the dining experiences of my fellow cruisers, and the expectations people have when paying for a product and service.

When I have the luxury of choosing where I eat, I will choose restaurants with creative and appealing and delicious vegan options. When I go to a restaurant that is not my choice, I am usually able to make the best of it and am content with pretty much anything, complete meal or not. Obviously, if I go to The Keg, my dining experience isn't going to be as great as that of my omnivore friends because I'll be seriously limited in my selection and will likely have to settle for a few random sides and maybe a salad if I'm lucky. I'll still go because I'm not going to pass up the opportunity to spend time with my friends or insist that every restaurant we go to has decent vegan options. I'll probably nibble my dry baked potato (it'll only be dry if I forget to bring my own Tupperware midget full of Earth Balance butter and Tofutti sour cream) and down a few martinis to keep myself entertained, enjoying everyone's company. And then I'll just head to The Naam afterwards for some Dutch Apple Cranberry Pie with a scoop of vanilla Tofulatti to salvage the evening. They're open 24-7 y'all. It's all good. I'm easy.

The problem with cruising is that it's not like I just have one "vegan at The Keg" dinner to sit through. It's Every. Single. Night. My family had a set dining time in a set dining room, and it was an awesome way to reconnect at the end of the day and spend time together. That is, after all, the purpose of cruising with people you love and don't get to see very often. And I thought that since they actually had a "VEGAN" box for me to click on my pre-cruising profile, they would totally be on board with rockin' vegan alternatives.

Especially considering the growing awareness of food allergies and intolerances, of which dairy is pretty huge, I would have expected a staff that serves such a huge variety of people from all over the world would totally be educated in this area and the menu would feature dining alternatives that work for a variety of food intolerances and lifestyle choices, which would limit the special meals that would have to be prepared. I feel for a chef and prep crew that has to feed thousands of people at a time, and then has to deal with special dining requests. I actually didn't think my specialty diet was all that special.

When it came to dinner on the ship, my family (all 15 of us) had a scheduled dining time of 6pm every evening. I really enjoyed this, as we were always sure to see each other at least once during the day, even if we spent that day doing different things.



The dining room was elegant, there were a couple of formal nights over the course of the week, and it was a really classy experience every night. We had two tables for all of us, and it was really nice to just sit and visit and share the day's experiences. Everyone ordered off a menu that changed nightly, and the food was always really beautifully prepared and creative, especially considering the sheer number of people the kitchen had to serve. 


On our first night there the head waiter sought me out, aware of my vegan food preference from when I filled out my personal profile. I told him that I wasn't picky and I was happy to eat anything off the regular meal that happened to be vegan, and if there were no vegan entrees I was happy to eat whatever they came up with. Seems simple enough.


So that first night I thought I was in luck, seeing a vegan by default melon appetizer on the menu. It was refreshing, and a pretty perfect way to start off this dinner experience.

The kitchen wasn't prepared to do a special meal that first evening, so I just ordered a pasta dish off the regular menu, minus the chicken. Easily veganized without the chicken, right?

Apparently not, as it turned out they weren' big on individualizing a mass prepared dish by making one without chicken. Swell.

I just picked the chicken off (I'm not big on sending food back and wasting it unless it's absolutely necessary), and I ended up really enjoying this dish. The sauce tasted super fresh and reeeeally delicious. It actually stands out as a highlight of my cruise dining, right up there with their guacamole. I looked past the bits of chicken carcass and was able to really appreciate this pasta.

The next evening I had a specially prepared vegan entree coming, so as the waiter was taking our orders I asked him if he could just let me know whether any appies on that night's menu were meat & dairy free. He suggested the chilled peach soup and salad.

The soup was very good...like eating peachy applesauce.

Then as the waiter was putting my salad down in front of me he said, "Oh sorry, there's cheese."

Yup, there was. And apparently he missed the bacon.

Ok. So first they can't hold the chicken when I order pasta, and now they recommend a salad with cheese and bacon.

That's ok. I'm a passive, happy Virgo who never wants to be that annoying pain in the ass vegan who's all picky and difficult at dinner just because she doesn't want to eat carcasses and titty milk.

So I thank him for the salad and eat around the cheese and bacon. After all, the staff is crazy busy, and it's only the second night. There's still plenty of time to figure it out.

When my specially prepared entree comes it's pasta with the same delicious sauce from the night before and some deep fried, flavourless tofu. Essentially the same dish two nights in a row, but whatever. It did taste very good (except for the ho-hum tofu).

Luckily my godson was able to keep me entertained to make up for the boring tofu.

As the nights went on, when it came to dinner service, I came to realize that this vegan thing was more of an inconvenience than I thought it would be. I did have vegan entrees coming each night, but our dinners consisted of four courses (2 appies, entree, dessert), so I was always inquiring about whether any appetizers that night were vegan. The waiter was always pleasant and very friendly, but he never really seemed to know anything for sure, and it became apparent over the course of the week that he never bothered to find out in advance. I get that he had a ton of people to serve each night, but I figured it would be way easier for him to just ask someone in the know what appies were vegan friendly that night and let me know rather than having to deal with me asking him about each appy that looked potentially vegan.

Here's my idea of how things should have gone in a perfect world:

Waiter: Good evening! So today you can order ____________ or ____________.

or

            Good evening! Today you can order ___________ but it comes with <animal product>.

or

            Good evening! Sorry, no appetizers are ok for you today. 

Me: Thank you very much :)

Instead, this is how things went for the most part.

Waiter: Good evening! What would you like?

Me: Is there any dairy in the <appy option 1>?

Waiter: Ummmm....yes, I think so.

Me: Ok, how about the <appy option 2>? Any dairy in that?

Waiter: Ummmm....I'm not sure. *Starts getting fidgety because he has a crapload of other orders to take and time is tight*.

Me: What about <appy option 3>? Is that one safe? Can you recommend something?

Waiter: *looks over at menu* Well, you could try the...hmmm... <appy option 4>...no wait that's made with cream....um...this one has shrimp...

Me:  Ok, I'll just get <appy option 2>, but can you check if there's dairy in it, and if there is, then I'll pass. 

Waiter: Yes. 

Me: Thank you very much :)

and

Waiter: Good evening! What would you like?

Me: Is anything safe today?

Waiter: Hmmm...no, I don't think so. 

Me: Ok.

*Waiter proceeds to take everyone else's orders. Just before he leaves our table I inquire again...*

Me: What about the <appy option 1>? It seems ok. Is it made with cream?

Waiter: Oh...ummm. No, that's fine. 

Me: Ok, I'll have the <appy option 1>. Thank you very much :)

It got pretty tiresome, for both of us. But he was still always super friendly, and so was I. I can't say one negative thing about his demeanor. But there just wasn't that extra effort to make the ordering process easier for both of us by informing himself about the menu beforehand. Granted, I don't know what goes on behind the scenes in the kitchen, and it's clear that the staff works super hard and super fast to get things done on schedule. But when you're dealing with the same people for the whole week, you come to hope they come to give a shit.

I don't know. Are my expectations too high? I just think it would have simplified things if the wait staff knew the appropriateness (or lack thereof) of menu items for specialty diets. But from my experience, it really didn't seem like they had much experience or interest in dealing with that.

So over the course of the week I made due by lucking out with some vegan by default appies or just picking around appies that were mostly vegan...

Elegant and absolutely delicious pineapple wedge with honey (it's a grey area for me) and pistachios. I left the ricotta cheese behind.

Another chilled soup...I think it was cantelope this time. 

Kiwi and grapefruit with fruit puree. 

Really good salad. Yummy dressing. 

Salad. Not memorable.

Another salad. Also not memorable.

And of course, bread. Yes, that is my Tupperware midget of Earth Balance, 

which came in very handy. I know. I'm a loser.  

And now....bring on the entrees! I never stated any preference for my specialty entrees; I just trusted whatever they wanted to prepare.

Veggie stirfry with tofu. Or Tofu stirfry with veggies. It was all right. Same boring tofu as before. But whatever. It was food.

This one was just depressing. An entree of mushrooms, rice, and yam fries. Seriously? SERIOUSLY? This is like the absolute least inspired meal I think I've ever had. 

Getting better. I LOVE cabbage, and the browned garlic gave this whole dish really great flavour. Thumbs up.

Pretty. Grilled eggplant & zucchini. Tasty sauce. Enjoyable. 

More grilled veg. Tasted good, but been there, done that.  

Stuffed pepper. A bit more creative, but stuffed with uninspired white rice. I love asparagus, though. 

That was the world of Ruby Princess vegan entrees in a nutshell. I appreciated the effort...except for the mushroom & rice night. Seriously, what was that?? Effing mushrooms and white rice for dinner? Yah, there's something to replenish the body at the end of an eventful day. Really, Princess? Really?? 


But really, I appreciated having something to eat alongside my family in our elegant dining space. Did the food fill me up? Yes. Would I consider any of those Ruby Princess vegan entrees good enough to place on a menu somewhere? With the exception of the pasta with the delicious tomato sauce, probably not. When you really think about it, these entrees were nothing more than glorified side dishes. I really liked the cabbage dish with browned garlic, but did it constitute a complete meal? Hmmm... they threw a potato on there for some carbs. Cool. 


If these are the types of meals people think vegans eat on a regular basis, I can totally see why they would be asking the 66,000 dollar question, "But where do you get your protein?" 


And let's not forget dessert. The only thing I was able to eat for dessert, out of the kajillions of cookies, pastries, cakes, frozen delights, brownies, mousses, tarts and the like, was sorbet.


Don't get me wrong. I friggen love sorbet. But when you are a dessert enthusiast and you're ON VACATION and you're trapped on a ship and sorbet is the only thing available ON YOUR VACATION and you can't drive down to The Naam for Dutch Apple Cranberry Pie with a scoop of Tofulatti, or pick up a vegan vanilla cupcake from Whole Foods, it gets a bit redundant.

Delicious flavours. But night after night, even the most delicious, creative sorbet (just like oatmeal and fruit for breakfast) got redundant.

Once again, I was grateful my godson was around at dinner to break up the sorbet monotony. 

When it comes to being able to offer a great vegan cruising experience, these guys aren't there yet. Food is a huge part of cruising and vacationing in general, and though I don't expect to have the same selection as my omnivorous peers, it would be awesome to see the same kind of care and creativity and passion go into the specialty meals that they put into their general culinary fare. Cruise ship food is meant to impress. I'm not there to gorge, but I would have appreciated being impressed.

I was content. But definitely not impressed. 

This pretty much solidifies my assertion that cruising, though it has its awesome moments, is not for me. And the awesome moments were there.

Movies Under the Stars? Definitely for me.

(and yes that is a Cleos chocolate peanut butter cup. I did bring some of my own stash anticipating the titty-milk laden desserts that awaited me on board)

Reading under the sun? (And reading something other than English 10 essays?) Definitely for me.

(not exactly light, recreational  reading, but definitely one of the most valuable and eye-opening reads ever)

Watching my sister swim to her heart's content in turquoise water? Definitely for me.

Finding a restaurant called Blue Bitch Bar and a town called Cockburn? Definitely for me. 

Dance parties with the coolest dancing partners ever? Definitely for me.

Discovering Guavaberry Rum Coladas? Most definitely for me :)

Getting off the ship in Ft. Lauderdale to find Rob the Husband (who I left back in Vancouver as he was unable to join us on the cruise) waiting to surprise me?

Yah, that was pretty cool. 

Until I realized how much it cost him to fly out for just a couple of days so he could surprise me as I got off the cruise ship. Then I was kinda choked. And horrified. I contemplated selling an organ to make up the difference. Surely someone in Florida could use a kidney? I had one to spare. 

But then he gave me a vegan chocolate donut he got from Whole Foods, and all was right in my world again. 

Because vegan chocolate donuts make everything (even reconciling the loss of a few thousand dollars in the name of a sweet romantic gesture) better.