Thirsty to Get That Onion Taste Out of My Mouth!

Venue: Thirsty Lion

Location: 10205 SW Washington Square Rd., Tigard, OR

Burger: NW Pub Burger with Caesar Salad

Average Score: 6.8
Price Range: $$$$$

Tom:  The Thirsty Lion’s culinary mission statement is to provide an eclectic variety of multi-cultural cuisines with an emphasis on local ingredients, bold flavors, and scratch recipes.  Well… they hit it on the head with bold flavors by adding a 2-inch thick slice of raw onion onto their otherwise near-perfect burger.  What a tragedy!  The gorgonzola infused burger was perfectly cooked to a juicy and delightful mid-rare.  The white cheddar not only added the necessary extra calories for a true artery-clogger, but also complimented the meat very well by serving as the glue to hold this tender concoction together, while not taking away the zing of the gorgonzola.  The arugula salad sat on top of the horseradish cream sauce (interesting direction) and created an almost nutty freshness that tingled in the back of the nose just right.  I was a little dismayed when the burger arrived on a ciabatta bun, as my experiences in the past have shown ciabatta to be entirely too tough for a good burger.  As you try to tear through the thick bun you end up squishing and destroying the burger altogether.  This, however, was not the case.  The bun was airily baked, lightly toasted with butter and fresh as could be.  But the true perfection of this burger came in the form of the maple glazed, pepper-bacon.  Wow!  Probably the best bacon I have ever had.  I would go back to the restaurant just to order a side of this culinary marvel.  But alas, some thick- tongued dolt decided to sabotage the whole operation by adding the “grilled onion.”  I mean that thing even ruins my picture!  And to add insult to injury, I ordered the mediocre side salad instead of the fries.  A rookie move but I do like to mix up my burger experiences occasionally and it usually comes in the form of a Caesar salad.  Slightly less depressing than the pathetic side salad was the thin slice of bland tomato.  Which did absolutely nothing for this burger other than increasing the cold/wet factor and should be discarded in my opinion.