Portland has brand new bike share called Bike Town (you know, like Nike Town) and since my buddies and I were in town for a bachelor party with cars, it was a perfect opportunity to try it out. Thus, we set off one morning by bright orange bike to Doug Fir, a 70s-style diner/music venue/hotel. It was very Portland, to say the least.
I ordered myself the Candied Bacon Burger, along with a cocktail. The burger was made with Wagyu beef, then topped with the aforementioned bacon, gruyere, fried onion straws, lettuce, tomatoes and a shallot aioli. It came with fries as well. I ordered medium rare and without the lettuce and tomatoes, then awaited the burger. It arrived looking mighty pretty and although it came with some little pickles, they were in a mini cup and did not interfere with the food.
I dug into the burger and immediately discovered that it was not cooked medium rare. Yet, most likely due to the Wagyu beef or copious butter, it was actually really juicy. I am not typically a proponent of Wagyu beef in a burger because it rarely adds anything, but if it can make an overcooked burger taste good I suppose I can’t complain. The toppings were a nice combination as well, mixing sweet, salty, smokey and oniony into something good. And while the onion straws were red onions, it made no difference to me because they were fried to oblivion.
I should also add that the fries were a big hit at my table, with one of my companions remarking that they were like a better version of McDonald’s. Yes, that was a compliment.
While I still would have liked to see my burger medium rare, Doug Fir did a solid job with my burger. It won’t go down on my list of amazing burgers, but it won’t go down on the list of bad burgers either.
