Rise Above Burger Review – St. Catharines, ON
Rise Above Burger Review – St. Catharines, ON
To mark Beyond Meat going public, I tried my first vegan burger on the Gold Medal Burger quest at Rise Above, at the corner of St. Paul and Queen Street in downtown St. Catharines. It scored a 3.6, placing it #139 out of 140 on my Gold Medal Burger rankings.
My order
Rise Above doesn't serve a Beyond burger. Instead, they make their own homemade chickpea mushroom patty. I ordered it the Gold Medal way, lettuce, onion and pickle only, and the price stopped me in my tracks: $19.21, one of the priciest burgers on the quest. I'd go broke if every burger cost that much. Now I know why I'm not vegan!
Fancy looking
I have to admit, it was a fancy-looking burger. A toasted fancy bun, a pickle that looked pretty sexy, slivered onions, shredded lettuce, and a twist: the onion came as an onion ring. It's still an onion, so no DQ. The patty felt crispy and looked like it might be dry. One bite, everybody knows the rules.
First bite
It's different. The first thing I tasted was the onion ring, then the chickpea mushroom patty, with the mushroom coming through. It looked dry but was soft inside. There was a little bit of pickle in there too. I took a second bite through the middle to make sure I got a bit of everything, and my verdict didn't change.
The breakdown
- Bun: Toasted and fancy.
- Patty: Homemade chickpea mushroom, soft inside, with a strong mushroom flavour.
- Onion: Served as an onion ring, plus a few slivered onions.
- Pickle: Looked great, but only a little made it into the bite.
- Value: $19.21, steep for any burger.
Nothing against vegans
Listen, I've got nothing against vegans. My best friend is vegan, I've had plenty of amazing vegan burgers, and Robyn and I have a freezer full of Beyond burgers at home. I just like those better than this one. The way I see it, this isn't a burger, it's a sandwich.
My verdict
I really like Rise Above. I've been there with Robyn on date night, and the desserts are great. The burger, not so much. It's not low because it's vegan. It's low because it's not my style, and at $19.21 it's tough to justify. I bet vegans out there love it. For the quest, it's a 3.6.
Find Rise Above
St. Catharines, ON
