Ahhh, the burger!  The cornerstone of any good American meal!  We all know our cousins from the south have made it their national food group, but what about Canadians?  Do we like them as much?  Apparently, we do, but we are a bit more sophisticated when it comes to scarfing down two buns and a patty… Thank God, Truffles is nothing but sophistication.

The idea of a burger joint serving over 41 burgers came to Dominique Gilgen when she was pregnant with her daughter.  The whole 9 months, she was craving burgers.  Any kind of burger!  Chicken burgers, beef burgers, lamb burger… exotic ones too!  She couldn’t get enough!  Nine months sure is a long time eating the same thing over and over again, so her husband, Ahmad, had to get creative and the Truffles lineup was born.

I have been to Truffles many times but we sampled two burgers on this visit:  The Santorini and the daily special.

The Santorini is half beef, half lamb, served with tzatziki sauce and feta cheese, topped with lettuce and tomato.  It was cooked to perfection and offered a true mediterranean flavour. The daily special was a pure beef patty, generously topped with caramelized onions and the “special sauce”, equally good.

Some of the most exotic concoctions you can try at truffles include: kangaroo, alligator, camel, llama, bison, venison and locally farmed elk.  I particularly like the Blue Crab Burger or the Surf and Turf, a great big beef patty topped with a generous portion of lobster, served with garlic butter.

Also to be noted:  homemade fries and sweet potato fries, of course, go hand in hand with burgers.  Giving a European flare to your plate is easy with one of Truffles’ 14 mayos.  My favourite–and it goes great with the Surf and Turf burger… I even spread some on my bun!– is the garlic mayo.  But the Cilantro, Tarragon and Curry ones are close second.

More unusual sides for your burger include plantain frites with honey drizzle, which we sampled and were nothing but goodness, Truffle frites and mac and cheese.

Truffles is located at 155 Pitt Street and is open Tuesday to Sunday from 11am to midnight.