The Toucan and The Lion

If I hear a random new place has a great burger, I immediately put it on my list.  Unfortunately, The Toucan and the Lion sat on said list for much longer than I would have liked before I got to try it.  It took me a whole six months since the restaurant's opening, but I finally made it there and only wish I had forced myself to get go sooner.  

The big wooden doors are discreet and overshadowed by the boisterous restaurant on the corner, but the food is much better than that of its loud neighbors.  Gastropubs serving elevated bar fare are the cat's pajamas right about now, but The Toucan and the Lion gives it a twist with Asian flavors.  Anne, Jen, and I decided to get three items and split.  Thankfully, the waiter advised that the "appetizers" are more like large tapas dishes so we would be wise to share.  

The first dish to arrive was the espresso glazed pork ribs with pumpkin seed brittle.  It was lip-smackingly sweet with a slight smokiness and had plenty of meat that pulled right off the bone.  A great start but not as exciting as what was coming next: my first scotch eggs.  Soft boiled eggs were wrapped with duck sausage, deep fried, and served with a kafir lime aioli.  I've been reading about scotch eggs lately and they just sound like a fun food.  Think about it: eggs with a slightly creamy center (arguably the best part of the egg) get a nice jacket of sausage (from a duck, no less) and then the whole thing is dunked in a fryer.  And then you get to dip it in a sauce.  So many textures!  So many naughty ingredients!  See, you're having fun just reading about it.  I enjoyed it just as much as I hoped, which made it the perfect opening act for the final dish: the burger. 

This was the most unique burger I've ever had.  Yea, I went there.  And it's not just that they threw a bunch of cool sounding, rando ingredients together - it actually worked.  First you have a nice juicy patty where they seemed to have slipped in something with a little kick.  Sriracha, maybe?  Not sure what it was but happy it was there because slapped on both sides of the bun was sweet cashew butter.  Cashews are a creamier nut, so you can imagine how smooth it gets when turned into butter.  Spicy and sweet can't have all the fun so here comes salty, crispy, thick cut bacon.  Topping it all off was the bun, which was actually the same dough from pork buns just in burger bun form and toasted.  It was light, sweet, and squishy.  This interesting lil sucker was served with one of my favorite sides, fried pickles (in spear form, not discs) that had been pickled in something with a little spice and were served with aioli.  If you haven't pulled out your phone to call for a reservation by this point, you must be a vegetarian.

This restaurant has been on Matt's list as long as it's been on mine and I know he was hurt I didn't go with him first.  All part of my master plan to go twice in a very short span of time.  Mwahaha!