This series is designed for McMaster students to share some of their favourite restaurants in the city, and encourages the discussion of local businesses that have yet to get their just deserts among national and local publications.
Why then should we, once again, talk about local soup restaurant, the Burnt Tongue?
Frankly, it is still the first place that I recommend to students who want to begin exploring the downtown core.
It is only natural for the Cannon and James Street soup shop to be my first pick for our new student oriented food column.
The restaurant has been praised in the Hamilton Spectator, Huffington Post Canada, Elle Canada and the Food Network’s “You Gotta Eat Here” series, in addition to almost every major local food blog.
For me, the Burnt Tongue, represents something that should still be valued among the well-documented growth of the James Street food scene.
It is a reliable and approachable option for students, while also introducing them to the popular downtown neighbourhood.
If you are familiar with the recent string of restaurants that have opened, you may have noticed that all these places – Nique, The French, Eat Izakaya, Berkeley North, Born and Raised – have all popped up on, or just around the corner from James Street North and all sit in the $15 to $30 price range for an average dinner.
They are all welcome additions to the street, but for the average student budget, they will always be an occasional treat rather than a reliable quick bite.
I started going on a nearweekly basis during last year’s winter term, and I have never had a disappointing soup.
That’s no small claim either. At noon every single day, the Burnt Tongue posts their new selection of daily soups. They then offer another rotation of soups just before dinner time. This amount has doubled since they opened a second location on Locke Street South last year. Despite the volume, there is still rarely any repeat soups in a given month.
Co-owner and chef Dan Robinson and his staff have always succesffully met that challenging premise, and still serve other quality dishes.I know that even if I am unfamiliar with the set of daily offerings, I often find myself trekking through rain and snowstorms even just to enjoy best damn fries in the city, or one their mouth-watering grilled cheeses.
The Burnt Tongue is also exceptional in how it naturally reflects the community around it. The interior marries the sleek, simplistic design of modern quick, dine-in eateries while maintaining that cozy, rustic feel that has come to be synonymous with the street.
It’s all tied to together a corkboard of posters and business cards, a free advertising space for local artists, musicians, designers, business and trades people.
While the Locke Street location may be a more convenient option for some, the original gets my recommendation because it literally and symbollically plops you into the middle of one of the most talked-about neighborhoods in the city.
Mass appeal, reliability and a reasonable price range is a perfect recipe for hungry students. I can’t think of a better first place to share with friends, family and readers.
Despite being a relative newcomer to Hamilton’s restaurant scene, The Burnt Tongue has already had remarkable success. Located between Cannon and James, owners Leo Tsangarakis and Dan Robinson hit the ground running when their doors opened in the midst of a 2013 Super Crawl. Since then, their restaurant has been featured on The Huffington Post, the Food Network, and topped a number of Hamilton “must eat here” lists.
Every stop at the Burnt Tongue has yet to disappoint. From butternut squash, spicy chipotle, dhal, or Finnish split pea and apple, the list of soups offered goes on. Better still, each of the soups can be paired off beautifully with daily sandwiches and salads during the summer, or with classic burgers, fries, and grilled cheese. They even provide Rudy’s Pallettas and ice cream if you’re in the need of a refreshing dessert.
While some of these sides are certainly good enough to stand on their own, the soups at The Burnt Tongue always take centre stage through an ever-changing daily menu. In its first year of business alone, the Burnt Tongue has offered more than 600 soups, each posted on their signature chalkboard menu, displayed across their Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, everyday at 11:30.
After talking soup, small business, and social media with co-owner Leo Tsangarakis, it’s easy to see why The Burnt Tongue is such a success. By mixing culinary talent with smart business and design decisions, Tsangarakis has made The Burnt Tongue Hamilton’s latest foodie staple.
Leo stresses that his restaurant was created to be accessible to everyone, in terms of both the food and the aesthetic.
“People relate us to a kind of ‘barn-like’ [atmosphere]...to me that just ends up meaning comfortable, organic and rustic. I had a very clear vision of how I wanted to do that. The massive community board was a must down here. I wanted a whole wall dedicated to corkboard and just nothing but people putting their business cards or whatever because that’s just how James Street came to be, just from the community.”
Leo personally created the interior design some friends who helped to craft the industrial design-inspired touches, such as the hanging Mason jar light fixtures (a clever play off of the soup theme), concrete sinks in the bathroom, and the dedicated cork board wall. The nostalgic décor combined with friendly counter-service has allowed many diners to take ownership of the space and further spread the word.
“Every other day we have people bringing their friends and they’re showing them their place and that’s more then alright with us… you don’t really get that from dine-in restaurants. You could, but you’re left more alone at The Burnt Tongue. Yeah, we will check up on how your food is doing and we hope everything is alright, but the casual nature creates a bit more ownership for the consumer for sure.”
The daily menu updates on social media was conceptualized from the beginning, and Leo believes it contributed greatly to the restaurants early success. “I would definitely use the exact same format if I opened another restaurant.” The restaurateur has hinted to the possibility of opening a second location.
Clearly, people are paying attention, as “@theburnttongue” currently boasts 3,000 followers on Instagram and nearly 4,000 likes on Facebook.
While the Burnt Tongue’s dynamic daily menu and comfortable atmosphere no doubt contributed to the early success of the restaurant, it couldn’t have been pulled off if it wasn’t for the work of the stellar chefs behind every bowl.
Head chef and co-owner Dan, (or “the Tongue” as Leo put it), has a knack for consistently creating a large variety of flavours, each of which can satisfy even the most adamant “not-a-soup-guy” guys.
Dan and the kitchen team head to Westdale’s Fiddes Wholesale Produce early in the morning, take into account the weather forecast and other elements that influence customers’ cravings, and formulate the day’s menu. Certain fan favourites are always subject to make a reappearance based on request or simply how fast they sell. While vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options are almost always a mainstay on the menu, the kitchen staff first and foremost commits to using fresh ingredients every single day.
While soup isn’t exactly synonymous with the summertime, The Burnt Tongue’s vast menu offerings and the quality of each and every bowl makes this place a must visit this season.
The positive reception is well deserved, and though he wouldn’t confirm or deny the whereabouts of the pending second location, Leo again and again expressed their excitement and gratitude for the continued interest and love that the city has given them as they approach the two year mark.
10 Cannon Street East
4/5 Stars
Sneakily hidden behind craft stores and mini-marts sits one of Hamilton’s newest novelty food hotspots. Sandwiched between two of the city’s busiest streets, James North and Cannon East, is the new gourmet soup advocate, The Burnt Tongue.
The Burnt Tongue has been up and running since September of last year, selling a variety of homemade soups alongside fries and burgers. Located in the Hammer’s cultural hotspot and primary Artcrawl location, the restaurant has been well received in the high-traffic area (a Twitter search of their name will bring up songs of their praise from an already devoted following).
I headed to the restaurant with a friend on a day when their rotational menu included macaroni and cheese, cabbage roll soup, and sausage and sauerkraut soup. She ordered the cabbage roll, and I had the sauerkraut (size small, $6.50). Moderately priced, the soups were served quickly and cleanly from their friendly staff.
The cabbage roll soup had an even ratio of meat to vegetables, featuring a mix of peppers, beef, and naturally, cabbage. Flavourful and filling, my friend, whose Ukrainian heritage had her closely examining the variation of her country’s classic, gave the dish a stamp of approval.
The sausage and sauerkraut was equally as tasty, with a hearty mix of meat and veggies and a surprisingly large size for the “small”. It was like eating a high-class Willy Dog in a bowl (which is a good thing).
Much like their soup portions, their small fries was equally as generous and was enough for the two of us to share. Overall, I didn’t have any complaints about their food, and would definitely go back again, especially during these cold winter months. But forewarning, bring a scarf if you’re heading over. They’re located in an older city building and it can be a bit chilly even indoors.
In addition to quality food, the restaurant also sells quirky sodas from small companies, featuring flavours like cotton candy alongside other classics. Their clean and stylish branding make them stand out on the street, even though they’re tucked away and a bit hard to find for Hamilton novices. They also have a great social media presence, making it easy to find out their rotating daily menu which they post to Twitter and Instagram every morning.
Contrary to their name that makes them sound too hot to handle, The Burnt Tongue is actually one of Hamilton’s coolest new food sensations.
