Dandy's Char Broiler - London, Ontario

DANDY'S CHAR BROILER

1120 WELLINGTON AVE.

LONDON, ONTARIO

N6M 1M2

GPS

N42 DEG.,55.861'

W081 DEG.,13.215'

OVERVIEW

I go to London a lot, but for some reason, I always find myself at chains.  Just one of those oddities, I guess.  So I need to do a little more investigation on London's greasy spoons.  I decide to begin at Dandy's.  I've been once before, but it was so long ago, I needed to refresh my palate!

ORDER

Dandy Burger w/ cheese, onion rings, coke

COST

$11.11 CDN

GREASE SCALE

3 Lipitors, but so much potential was wasted.  Could have been a solid 3.5 if properly cooked.

AMBIANCE

Actually, quite nice.  Everywhere was exceptionally clean (well, by greasy spoon standards.), and the melamine was in very good repair.  However, in one of the most bizarre things I've seen, they have spread their menu over 2 walls, from FLOOR TO CEILING.  Talk about over-compensating.  Tragically however, people still don't know what to order when they get to the register.  Now that's irony.

DO'S

Order anything with cheese on it.  It's real! (I have a particular revulsion to process cheese.  I'll eat it, but when real cheese is presented, I celebrate).  The guy ahead of me ordered a club sandwich.  It looked spectacular.  Chicken breast straight off the grill, lots o' bacon, and real cheese.  I think I will order next time I'm there.  Noticed that the fries were fresh, not frozen and my onion rings were homemade.  Bun freshness was good.

DON'T

My burger was a frozen model, and then waaaay overdone on the grill.  The burger should not be crispy, and the loss of grease is tragic.  Rings, as mentioned, were homemade, but again, overdone for my taste.  I'm also going to be picky about the relish.  I always have relish on a burger, but whatever brand they're using left me with a weird aftertaste.  Bick's, people....and only Bick's

YUMMING UP

I'm going to say the Dandy's experience was average, but this may be a lesson for all to learn.  The Greasy Spoon burger option may not be the best, so don't dismiss until you've tried something different on the menu.  I think I'll go back and try that Club I saw.....