The art of Fast Food. And so it begins. Amidst the deluge of boutique restaurants, top-tier chefs with their bourgeoisie delicacies and otherwise plethora of highfalutin menus, the oft-overlooked Fast Food establishment is too frequently treated with disdain — as if subordinate to the white collar palate. Aside from the obvious benefits afforded by the convenience of the Fast Food restaurant, the average menu — albeit, they may not contain the healthiest meal choices — are something of a best-kept-secret within the world of gastronomy. But, it’s really the duality and broad-sweeping acceptability of the whole thing that takes the cake (no pun intended.) The ability of the Fast Food menu to provide a refuge for Western-food-starved Americans living abroad while also remaining accessible to just about anyone with two taste buds, regardless of food background, preferences and cultural inhibitions, is impressive. So, I welcome you to join the journey. Sit back, don’t judge, and may your outlook on Fast Food forever be changed by… the “Fast Food Gourmand.”
The Lowdown
Restaurant Name: Triple O’s
Cuisine: Western/Diner
Average Price per Person: $4 to $6 USD
Location: Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong (please refer to the map below for details)
Recommendations: Triple O’s The Original BurgerRatings (out of 5)
Taste: 4
Creativity/Authenticity: 2
Atmosphere: 1
Service: 1
Bang for Buck: 4Crayscale !!!
Well, I’ll kick it off with a stop through a little Canadian-burger outfitter known as Triple O’s. The chain initially developed as a branch-off from one of the most famous burger menu options found in Vancouver, BC, Canada-founded establishment known as White Spot. Racist title implications aside, Triple O’s by White Spot offers a little bit for everyone, spanning fried chicken tenders, crispy french fries, breakfast options, milkshakes and just about everything else that can fall underneath the “diner” category.
But, Triple O’s is best known for its “Original Burger.” The menu describes it best as, “four juicy ounces of 100% fresh Canadian beef patty.” I knew going into this whole thing the common use of the phrase “Canadian Bacon”… but, I’ll be honest… I had no prior expectations, good or bad, for Canadian beef — something that is apparently worthy enough to be boldly emblazoned on the description of the Original Burger. The burger arrived sufficiently “juicy”, yet was draped in a sauce that was nowhere to be seen, nor mentioned, on the menu when I was placing my order. This witholding of information is enough to make any suburban-American-raised kid (like myself) run for the nearest McDonalds. The pasty sauce, I found out later, is something of a staple known as the Triple O’s Sauce. The only way I can describe it is as a rebranded Thousand Island sauce — a repackaging and presentation move that many-a-restaurant have done in the past, but I’ll let it slide this time.
Elegantly applied to the Canadian beef patty, the Triple O’s sauce worked surprisingly well and was also layered on in an equitable way, neither obscuring the natural beefy flavors nor leaving your mouth pining for an extra dose of the flavor as a result of exiguous neglect. My eyes were immediately drawn to a slender slice of pickle resting across the top of a fluffy, seedless hamburger bun. Let’s be honest, most of the time if you eat the pickle at all, you only take one or two bites out of it. But, it’s nice to know that a restaurant is willing to fork over the budget to provide the whole pickle, in the occasion that you might have actually saved stomach space for said pickle. Apparently Triple O’s thinks otherwise. Minor, but, as it was a pet peeve — strike one for me.
But the pickle didn’t set me back too much (That’s what she said.) I was soon presented with an expertly-executed consortium of crispy french fries, thick gravy and melted cheese known ubiquitously across Canada as poutine. Somewhat of a delicacy to the Triple O’s menu, the elegant amalgam of equally fatty ingredients proved to be as filling and enjoyable as it looked. Just be sure you grab a fork and a few napkins with this one, it’s not the easiest to eat. While I was content with the fries, I must say that either the cap on the gravy jug broke in the kitchen when the cook was dousing it on my potatoes or Canadian’s like a lot of gravy. At times it was hard to decipher fries from cheese and vice versa. Towards the middle-half of eating the fries, an innocent onlooker might have thought I was pecking through a bowl of dark stew with a fork the way I was fishing for fries.
All in all, I was content with Triple O’s. What made it even better was I coincidently arrived on a Tuesday which happens to be “Triple O’s Tuesdays” in which the Original Burger goes for a moderate $28 HKD (no fries or drink included.) My perspective on Canadian Beef has changed and I’ll forever be a fan of fries, cheese and gravy. Aside from cutting corners on the pickle and getting ahead of themselves on the gravy Triple O’s will likely see a return from the Fast Food Gourmand.
Shop B 1050, Basement 1,
City Super, Times Square, Hong Kong.
p: 852.2506.2600
The original Triple O burger from White Spot restaurants was started by Nat Baily in Vancouver, British Columbia, Nat was actually born in the USA but came out to Vancouver as a boy with his father who was seeking employment. He got his start in the great depression selling fast foods out of the back of his pick up truck in parks and also ball games. The first White Spot was on Granville Street and was called the Granville Barbecue Spot, later his friend suggested calling it White Spot and it is claimed the inspiration was just that it was a clean spot to eat at, not a racist statement.
The triple O burger sauce has two parts, the red relish something like bicks or seinfelds and then the translucent mayonnaise which is a tightly guarded secret.
Some claim that White Spot no longer makes their own buns as they once did. In my opinion the buns in Canada are not as good as they were in the early 1970’s when I first ate the burgers, my Aunt Alice claims the burgers were better in the 1950’s and 60’s than later in the 70’s too.
In Canada the burgers used to have more sauce on them, to the point that it oozed out the sides and they did not use leaf lettuce as they do now, they used finely shredded head lettuce that was on the top of the burger not the bottom as it is now.
In my opinion the current owners of White Spot (Nat Bailey sold it to General Foods in 1968, who then sold it to real estate developer Peter Toigo and now his sons run it) , have ruined the original recipe as least in Canada. The bun used to be softer yeast risen bun and was not a standard commercial bun as it seems to be now. Yes leaf lettuce is probably healthier on the new burger but the old style shredded head lettuce was delicious and unique. White Spot had drive in’s with car hop service where they would slide a tray from window to window in your car, it was a fun experience. The triple o burger, fries and very good milk shakes that were made from scratch with fresh milk and ice cream. The good old days. 🙂