Review: The Burnt Tongue

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.