Working My Way Through 'The Works': B.A.B Burger

The WORKS Glebe (580 Bank St.)
The B.A.B Burger ($15.96)

The B.A.B.

A common gimmick for food blogs is to eat and review every popular item on a restaurant's menu. This blog is no exception. Today I begin the task of eating my way through the burger menu of The Works, a Canadian burger restaurant with locations across Ottawa and Ontario.  I went to the location that's closest to my office. Hardly anyone was there when I arrived just after noon, looks like I arrived ahead of the lunch rush. The friendly server who greeted me told me to sit anywhere, so I chose a window seat. However, there wasn't much to see at this end of the Glebe - I wondered if it was as sleepy when this location housed a punk rock venue called Bumpers. With so many choices on the menu, I decided to start alphabetically with the B.A.B burger, a beef burger with Cheddar cheese, fresh tomato, red onion & W Sauce. The B.A.B stands for "Big American Bully" because previously, it had "a name that was kind of similar to another brand's, particularly one with a red-headed, makeup-wearing Stephen King-esque villain", and they had to change it, according to the person who runs their Facebook page. The W sauce is a trade secret, but I could tell there's garlic in it, so I'll assume it's an aioli-like sauce similar to the one the mayor of Flavortown puts on his food. 12:21PM, and still no food, but after a trip to the bathroom, I saw my lunch was waiting for me on my return; I was as happy as Uma Thurman was in "Pulp Fiction" after she returned to her table at Jack Rabbit Slim's (no, I did not powder my nose). The hamburger didn't look anything like that clown restaurant's signature burger, and it didn't taste like it either. The tomato was as flavourful as a fresh tomato can be in the winter, the red onions added their usual sweetness. The W sauce didn't improve or take away from the well-done patty it was on, but getting a small bowl on the side made for a good dipping sauce for the onion rings I ordered.  Overall, I was happy with what I ate, it didn't blow me away (for that, I'd have to order one of the more exotic creations on the menu), but it didn't leave me with that greasy, queasy feeling you can get from eating at Rotten Ronnie's. For that reason alone, we're off to a good start.

3 out of 5 stars - decent, but nothing to write home about.

DIY Kombucha

Back in December, I went to a workshop on how to make kombucha, a popular probiotic fermented sparkling tea. I recently made a batch, following the instructions I received that evening. If you want to try your hand, you can use the recipe I've posted below, once you acquire the essential symbiotic culture of yeast and bacteria (or scoby) by finding out when the next workshop is, contacting your favourite kombucha producer and asking for a scoby baby and some starter liquid, or ordering one online.

Ingredients:

4 black or green tea bags or 15 g loose leaf tea
1 scoby and some starter liquid
830 mL water
80 g sugar
chopped fruit, herbs and/or spices for flavouring (optional)

1. Boil the water, and pour it into a suitable mixing vessel like a larger Mason jar. Add the teabags and allow the mixture to steep for 4-6 minutes. 
2. Pour in the sugar to the warm tea, and stir until the sugar has dissolved. When the mixture has cooled, add the scoby and its starter liquid.
3. Cover the top of the jar with either a piece of cheesecloth or a paper towel, and secure the covering with a rubber band. Place the jar somewhere away from sunlight at room temperature for 7-14 days to allow the kombucha to ferment. Do a taste test on your batch after the seventh day to see if it's to your liking.
4. When you are happy with your results, you will notice a new layer of scoby has formed. Remove it and about 235 mL of kombucha, and place it in a separate container - you now have a scoby with some starter liquid to use for another batch. Pour the remaining kombucha into glass bottles and seal, leaving a bit of space at the top. If you want, you can add some chopped fruit and some herbs and spices for flavouring before you seal the bottles. Allow the kombucha to sit and self-carbonate at room temperature for 3-5 days, then store it in the fridge. Drink your kombucha within two months.