Triple O’s

Triple O’s
Several locations in Canada
805 Thurlow Street (Location visited)
Vancouver, BC

So, here we go again… No, I am not trying to set up a precedent with another chain restaurant as a Monday post. The reason for this post was a brief discussion we had about Triple O’s when Sherman wrote about it. So, there you go, I blame Sherman on this one!

OK, actually, I had to shuffle some posts around and thought this one was more suitable to go up on Monday. On that note, the next post will go up on Wednesday rather than Tuesday/tomorrow. So, having said all that, Triple O’s, there I go!

Ah, a break from the rainy fall days we have had in the last couple of weeks…

When I arrived, aside it was partially full, I found it was quite interesting customers in the dining area were from all ways of life. There were some construction workers ordering a burger, a man in a suit eating a burger and so on. I guess Triple O’s has an appealing quality… And I am not referring to their sauce!

Now, before I continue, to those outside of Western Canada, Triple O’s is the fast food off shot of White Spot, which is a chain family restaurant found mostly in BC. Locations of Triple O’s though goes outside of Western Canada: there are locations in China and Korea (!). As for their menu, they take a small set of items from White Spot and that is it. What item? Burgers! (OK, and fries…).

Here is my order – I will go to the actual burger in a moment. But, for the fries, rather than the “default” french fries, I went for the sweet potatoes version which also comes with a side chipotle mayo. It is similar yet different from the regular fries. Similar in the sense it was “fluffy” inside; different in the sense it did not hold itself quite well. In fact, it easily breaks down if I hold it on one side and try to dip the mayo. Still, I prefer this to the regular french fries as, even without with dip, it had some unique taste of its own.

OK, it is quite possible this looks like your regular burger. For the most part, it is… For the most part. This is their Southwest Ringer Burger. The difference? OK, let’s take its description: “Our signature onion rings top a 100% Canadian fresh beef patty with cheddar cheese, chipotle mayo, lettuce and tomato”. Translation: rather than their Triple O’s sauce, it has chipotle mayo and adds onion rings inside.

So here is another shot of the burger, this time with the onion ring more visible. While it worked great with the fries, I found out the chipotle mayo did not add much to the burger. In this case, I thought the mayo works a bit better thanks to that acidity hint; something that the chipotle mayo does not have. However, you must keep in mind that I also had it as a dip for the sweet potato fries so, to a certain extent, I already had an overload of that mayo. As for the onion ring, while in concept sounded good, the end result was a bit lackluster. Because the onion was cooked through, that strong onion taste was gone. Likewise, because it was already soft, there was no onion texture. And the breading… Well, it was crispy, just that I don’t think it worked with the burger.

So, here is the question: compared to the regular burger, would I order this one? I think this is a case where keeping it simple works better. So, the answer would be no. But, would I come back to Triple O’s? I would have to say it is a loaded question: I might, I might not. Or to put it simply, it is what it is – and most likely, you like it or you don’t. In my case, I am impartial.

Side note: Due to other reasons, the next post will go up on Wednesday….

Tagged under: Burgers • Downtown • Lunch • Vancouver • West End