Harper's Burger Bar [Kingston]

Kingston definitely has its fair share of burger joints, what with being the home to Five Guys  and The Works. Decided to check out Harper's (under the same group as Chien Noir and Atomica, also located in Kingston) which many have argued is better than The Works!

HARPER'S BURGER BAR
Where: 93 Princess Street
Kingston, ON
K7L 1A6
Price: $


Harper's atmosphere is definitely casual (but not sweatpants) dining. The venue mainly hosts squishy 4-seater tables as well as. 4 large flat screen TVs feature sports, food network and hit music videos.

Harper's menu features a mix of gourmet, classic and er- less exciting burgers. In comparison to The Works, it definitely has more choices in terms of add-ons and building-the-burger options. Its patty section alone includes choices such as chicken, spicy chicken, beef, turkey, salmon, lamb, chickpea and portobello!!

I am told that the chickpea patty is made in house with mashed chickpeas and spices of sorts!

Huge menu blackboard

I'm usually not the type to order a vegetarian burger but the sound of this one was all too tempting! The Ultimate Shroom Burger ($11) - a panko crusted, flash-fried, three cheese stuffed portobellos, balsamic candied onions and beet aioli. When you bit into the burger, immediately cheese would ooze out. It was a disgusting, juice-running-through-your-fingers kind of burger and I loved it. The candied onions and beet aioli added the perfect note of sweetness to really tie this burger together.

Ultimate Shroom Burger ($11) with gourmet fries (+$1.50)

They leave all the toppings off the burger so you can pick and choose what you like or put as much (or as little) as you want.Also note that there IS a choice of bun. The servers won't mention it and it's all hidden in the menu!

Deluxe Burger ($13.50) + waffle fries 

While I got a vegetarian burger, E stuck to the true roots of a burger an ordered the Deluxe ($13.50) burger - Monterey Jack, local bacon, avocado spread and roasted garlic-rosemary mayo. I only had a bite of this and it was really good, the meat is a lot more moist than patties at The Works. 

Gourmet Fries (Hand cut Yukon Gold fries with parmesan, thyme and sea salt)
+$1.50

I thought these were fantastic! E preferred her waffle fries better, but I loved these. They are coated with thyme, sea salt and parmesan and served with a white truffle aioli mayo. Each fry was thin and crispy -definitely not overly deep fried. The thyme and parmesan tied together beautifully with the aioli. Just a note: the gourmet fries come with one extra dipping sauce at no cost!

Vanilla milkshake + Caramel and Skor Bar ($5.50 + $0.75)

The milkshakes are delicious - a thicky, creamy mess but not overly sweet. The menu also features "spiked" shakes that are apparently quite strong!


Overall, great atmosphere and food!


ADDENDUM - HARPER'S REVISITED (November 24, 2012) :

Butterscotch Milkshake ($5)

Deluxe Hamburger with Grilled Cheese Buns (+$2)

While we do love an intense burger, this was just TOO much. We couldn't taste any of the burger and it only tasted of grilled cheese. It would have been much better if the bread they used was thinner so you didn't just get mouthfuls of grilled cheese. A little disappointing, but the appearance was just amazing!

Look at this beastly thing!

I stayed true to my roots and ordered the Ultimate Shroom Burger again but this time with crispy onion straws. Loved this, not to mention it definitely bulked up my burger much more!

Ultimate Shroom Burger w/ crispy onion straws (+$1.50)

View Larger Map