Location: 315 Wellington Rd. London, ON N6P 4P1
Website: https://luansseafoodandgrill.com
Price: $18
What We Ordered:
- Hamburger
Burger Review:
My Dad got married! He’s been with his wife for 20 years or so. But they’ve only just made it official. So I woke up at 6 am to drive out from the east end of Toronto all the way through the 3rd worst-rated traffic in North America (17th worst in the entire world). After about 3.5 hours of driving to traverse 208 km, I made it to London to be a witness at a brief courthouse ceremony with my Dad, newly minted Stepmom, and Brother. Afterwards, we all went to Luan’s Seafood & Grill for seafood and a burger.
I don’t eat seafood often and it was too early for a big ol’ steak. So naturally I had the burg. Unfortunately, it wasn’t great. I had high hopes considering it was a steakhouse (so they should know how to grill a chunk of meat). But this burger was overcooked and the toppings were not thoughtfully assembled. The plate was narrow and awkwardly crowded by bowls with wide tops and narrow bases for the sides. It just made everything feel clumsy each time I reached for a bite of the burger or one of the sides. You can see from the photo below the ketchup in the back is barely hanging on for its life on the edge. It was just too much going on.
Meat: This pattie is homemade prime rib. Which makes sense coming from a steakhouse. Unfortunately it was charbroiled to hell and then left out in the sweltering Ontario summer heat for good measure. That second part is probably not true. But it was way overcooked which left it tough and dry AF. It did have a perfect hatch pattern for grill marks. So, kudos for that.
Toppings: Leaf lettuce, sliced tomato, raw red onions, mayo and a side of thin round pickles. I think it also came with mustard but I omitted on my burg. The problem (aside from waaay too much mayo) was the order. It went: top bun, pattie, onions, too much mayo, tomato, lettuce, bottom bun, and pickles on the side. It should have been: top bun, mayo, lettuce, tomato, pattie, pickles, onions, bottom bun. One reason why is because the tomato and the pickles should touch the meat to add moisture and acidity to the pattie. When you slosh all the toppings together in one pile and slather it with a lake of mayo, you just get a sloppy mess of slippery veg trying to hang on for dear life with each bite. The pickles were sliced extremely thin and underwhelming in flavour or zest. Overall, I expected better from a fine establishment.
Bun: The bun was superb. Brioche that was fluffy and fresh. Just the right size and texture. Looked like the insides were toasted on a flat grill. Keep the bun as-is.
Other Food
My burg came with fries and coleslaw. The fries were really good. Thick and crispy with a beautiful brown colour. They called them “frites” which I always associate with the thinner cut light fries. But these weren’t that. They were more like classic pub fries. The coleslaw was ok. A little too much dressing on them. But the slaw wasn’t mushy. I wouldn’t say it was memorable at all.
Other’s at the table got a half lobster on top of fresh pasta and seared tuna crusted with sesame seeds. Both looked good and they reported it tasted excellent.
Atmosphere & Staff:
I’m not totally familiar with this area in London, but it didn’t seem like it was on a street folks would take a pleasant stroll down. The restaurant was in what looked like a small grey house. Free parking out front and on the side, which is a bonus. It’s not wheelchair accessible, which is a drawback. The inside was nicely decorated with dark colours and wavy textures on the walls. There was a water feature in the corner that was permanently turned off because of a “smell” they couldn’t get rid of. I didn’t smell anything (bc it was off) but it was kind of weird to have a big dry fountain in the corner just sitting there. The waitress was pleasant and attentive. The chef came out afterwards and asked how our meal was. But he looked so happy I didn’t have the heart to tell him he cooked the sh*t out of my burger and f*cked up the toppings. I didn’t want to ruin his vibe for the day.
Final Verdict:
2 stars
I wouldn’t bother getting the burger here. But the seafood looked good and the atmosphere and staff were great.