Fast Food chains are always looking for new offerings to attract consumers. Variations should be limitless yet it is rarely really out of the ordinary. Still, here in this corner we decided to give a shot to Harvey’s newest burger:
The Angus BBQ Bacon Ringer Melt.
So you get a 100 per cent Canadian, flame grilled Angus burger topped with BBQ sauce, cheese, bacon and Onion Rings on a toasted bun. As always, you top your burger with your choice of fixings.
I fired up the app to get it to go from the Saint-Joseph Boulevard location in Hull. First things first, Harvey’s informed me that they were currently experiencing supply challenges with their gravy. As a result, their Poutines may temporarily be unavailable on the menu at some locations. I had no interest in a Harvey’s poutine so I cannot confirm if it was actually available, but the app kept offering it to me as an option.
Harvey’s sells it’s Angus BBQ Bacon Ringer Melt for $8.79. The regular Angus Burger goes for $6.39, with cheese for $7.19, with cheese and bacon for $8.39. So basically an extra 40 cents for a couple of onion rings.
Something doesn’t quite add up in their pricing, if you buy your burger as is or if you customize from the plain Angus. Let’s compare:
| Angus Burger | $6.39 | Angus Burger | $6.39 |
| Angus Burger with Cheese | $7.19 | Extra Cheese | $7.19 |
| Angus Burger, Cheese and Bacon | $8.39 | Extra Bacon | $8.29 |
| Angus BBQ Bacon Ringer Melt | $8.79 | Extra Onion Rings | $8.99 |
Bottom line, if you want an Angus Burger with Cheese and Bacon, order an Angus Burger with Extra Cheese and Extra Bacon. If you want cheese, bacon and onion rings, order the Angus BBQ Bacon Ringer Melt. You are welcome.
Obviously, that is what I did. I asked for lettuce, tomatoes, onions, two pickles, relish, hot peppers, BBQ sauce and Chipotle sauce – which is what appears to be on the glamour shot above. And that’s what it looked like:
Obviously, it wasn’t going to look like the official glamour shot from Harvey’s. Partly because it was a to go order, but mostly because of the way Harvey’s wrap your burgers: they have a tendency to every so slightly squeeze your sandwich. It looked pretty good anyway.
Of course, it tasted like a Harvey’s burger. Their particular grilling and seasoning technique is unique. The cheese was a gooey, delicious mess. The bacon was sadly underdone, a bit chewy. Despite the copious amount of sauces and juices, the bun held together nicely.
What about the star of the burger, you may ask? Well, the onion rings were underwhelming.
When you add onion rings to a burger, you are trying to create a different mix of tastes, and more importantly, textures. Onion rings need to be crunchy. Perhaps because of the packing squeeze, perhaps because of the sauces and juices from the veggies on top, they were not crunchy. Without being mushy, they just didn’t stand out. Underwhelming, I said.
Overall, it was a good burger. But the bottom line is, if you are craving onion rings in an Harvey’s burger, order them on the side and add them at the very last minute. On a to go order, it didn’t quite stand the test of time (about 10 minutes).