Montreal Burger Report Episode 40: Decca 77 & Firegrill (part 3 of 5)

[AUDIO http://www.archive.org/download/20100127/MBR40_vbr.mp3]
Episode 40: Decca 77 & Firegrill (part 3 of 5) (14:12); (MP3 20MB / FLAC 160MB / Ogg Vorbis 12MB / Stream)

Chris 'Zeke' Hand, Ed (Blork) Hawco, and guest cheeseburger enthusiast Frank Hashimoto are at Firegrill Restaurant & Bar on Stanley Street, in the process of ordering their hamburgers and cheeseburgers (cheeseburgers for Frank and Zeke, the Firegrill burger for Blork). As appetizers they order a deep fried Spanish onion and some coconut shrimp. When the onion arrives, Blork is amazed and stops the whole production while he takes a picture:

[caption id="attachment_966" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="The famous deep fried Spanish onion."][/caption]

Disillusionment starts to creeps in, but then the burgers arrive and everything changes.

Decca 77
Address: 1077 Drummond
Phone: (514) 934-1077

Firegrill
Address: 1490 Stanley
Phone: (514) 842-0020

[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&source=embed&msa=0&msid=101337671826617990441.0004725bfe498f2b4a89e&ll=45.498948,-73.573122&spn=0.010528,0.018239&z=15&output=embed]

[Previous Episodes of The Montreal Burger Report:
Episode 38: Decca 77 & Firegrill (part 1 of 5),
Episode 39: Decca 77 & Firegrill (part 2 of 5)]

Montreal Burger Report Episode 39: Decca 77 & Firegrill (part 2 of 5)

[AUDIO http://www.archive.org/download/20100120/MBR39_vbr.mp3]
Episode 39: Decca 77 & Firegrill (part 2 of 5) (15:19); (MP3 21MB / FLAC 169MB / Ogg Vorbis 13MB / Stream)

Chris 'Zeke' Hand, Ed (Blork) Hawco, and guest cheeseburger enthusiast, Frank Hashimoto make their way to Firegrill after briefly considering aborting the original plan and going to M:Brgr instead. Before they exit Decca 77, however, Blork gets back on his bathroom hand dryer obsession. Over at Firegrill, Zeke obsesses over the source of the beef used in burgers.

[caption id="attachment_963" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Firegrill (Stanley st. location) on Google Streetview."][/caption]

The burning question of this episode: Will the burger be sloppy or not?

Decca 77
Address: 1077 Drummond
Phone: (514) 934-1077

Firegrill
Address: 1490 Stanley
Phone: (514) 842-0020

[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&source=embed&msa=0&msid=101337671826617990441.0004725bfe498f2b4a89e&ll=45.498948,-73.573122&spn=0.010528,0.018239&z=15&output=embed]

[Previous Episodes of The Montreal Burger Report:
Episode 38: Decca 77 & Firegrill (part 1 of 5)]

Montreal Burger Report Episode 38: Decca 77 & Firegrill (part 1 of 5)

[AUDIO http://www.archive.org/download/20100111_769/MBR38_vbr.mp3]
Episode 38: Decca 77 & Firegrill (part 1 of 5) (14:37); (MP3 20MB / FLAC 162MB / Ogg Vorbis 13MB / Stream)

Chris 'Zeke' Hand and Ed (Blork) Hawco are joined by guest hamburger aficionado, Frank Hashimoto at the swishy downtown restaurant Decca 77, where they discuss the nature of chain restaurants, suburbs, knobs in ties, and whether the burgers at their ultimate destination for the evening, Firegrill Restaurant & Bar will be good, bad or indifferent.

[caption id="attachment_961" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Google Streetview of Decca 77."][/caption]

The guys get excited about the famous deep fried onion at Firegrill, something Blork has never seen before. In a related side note, Blork launches into a long soliloquy about the nature of the bathrooms in suburban restaurants. In the meantime they complain about the size of the head on their beers, which is followed by a profanity-laden sticker-surprise when the bill arrives. Everything gets weird when the subject of the tip comes up.

Montreal Burger Report Episode 37: Pub Next Door & Copoli 2 & Copoli 1

[AUDIO http://www.archive.org/download/20100106/MBR_37_vbr.mp3]
Episode 37: Pub Next Door & Copoli 2 & Copoli 1 (10:00); (MP3 14MB / FLAC 107MB / Ogg Vorbis 8MB / Stream)

Chris 'Zeke' Hand and Ed "Blork" Hawco make world history by visiting both Copoli 2 and Copoli 1 in the same night. Ed sits it out while Zeke orders a burger. The guys discuss the differences between the two restaurants, and surprisingly, the differences in the burgers between the two places.

[caption id="attachment_768" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Inside the burger at Copoli."][/caption]

Ed's Verdict

I like Copoli 2 as a friendly neighborhood restaurant, but I'm not a big fan of the burgers at either location. I like my burgers to be all about the meat, and in the case of Copoli burgers it seemed to be more about the eight-inch diameter gimmick and the condiments. It's a pretty good sandwich -- essentially kefta on Persian flatbread -- but it's not something you'd hold up into the light and proclaim to be a fine example of burger perfection. Still, if you like a good ol' ground beef sandwich and have an enormous hole to fill, it's a good choice if you're in the neighborhood.

Zeke's Verdict

I surprised myself on two counts, the first one being that despite having lived in Montreal for a considerable amount of time, I had never eaten at either Copoli restaurant. And the second surprise was obviously my ability to eat two Copoli hamburgers (in fact they were actually bacon cheeseburgers). Given that my first Copoli hamburger was distinctly underwhelming, I realized that it was extremely unlikely that I would ever eat another. In my view, there was nothing memorable about the hamburger. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a kefta, but neither one was a great burger.

Pub Next Door
Address: 5175A Sherbrooke O.
Phone: (514) 481-1596

Copoli Two
Address: 4458 Sainte-Catherine O
Phone: (514) 514-989-8580

Copoli One
Address: 5181 de Maisonneuve O
Phone: (514) 514-483-0000

[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&source=embed&msa=0&msid=101337671826617990441.0004725bfe498f2b4a89e&ll=45.482702,-73.605051&spn=0.021062,0.036478&z=14&output=embed]

(Previous Episodes of the Montreal Burger Report Episode 31: Pub Next Door & Copoli 2 & Copoli 1 Montreal Burger Report Episode 32: Pub Next Door & Copoli 2 & Copoli 1 Montreal Burger Report Episode 33: Pub Next Door & Copoli 2 & Copoli 1 Montreal Burger Report Episode 34: Pub Next Door & Copoli 2 & Copoli 1 Montreal Burger Report Episode 35: Pub Next Door & Copoli 2 & Copoli 1, Montreal Burger Report Episode 36: Pub Next Door & Copoli 2 & Copoli 1)