Meteor Mike's

Meteor Mike's

SE 16-9-17E 

West Hawk Lake, MB

204-349-3190

jaeauger@gmail.com

August, 2020

With Mike's big billboard, dominating sign and huge takeout window, you'd never know there's an actual sit-down restaurant off to the side.

All the flash sure caught our attention.  In fact, sitting between the lakefront, beach and main highway, you can't help but see Mike from a mile away.

Taking advantage of the beautiful weather, we order from the window.  There's a small table off to the side, but a short distance away, a number of picnic tables sit, overlooking the lake and offering some of the best views in the area.

Feeling the breeze and mellowing to the splashes of the lake, Mike announces our food and it's the perfect place for a snack.

I'm not very particular about my condiments.  I like mustard very much; I'm good with catsup and I can take some relish.  I find it too sweet and overwhelming if there's too much relish and this smokie comes with a lot of relish.  Knowing this, I'd tell them to dial it back a bit next time.

As far as sausages go, this Smokie has one of the leanest I've seen--maybe too lean.  Granted, I don't want a sausage with too much fat--there's nothing worse than taking a bite into it and having a stream of grease shoot you in the eye or all over your shirt.  I'm sure we've all had those occasions standing over the grill when one of them squirts and you get boiling grease in the face.  Yeah, I want a bit less grease than that but more than what Mike gives you.

As you can see in the photo, it's also a bit overdone, with the skin looking dry and hard.  For me, the quintessential ingredient for a smokie is the raw onions, and I miss them desperately here.

When I teach cooking classes, I find common mistakes that most people make.  When it comes to burgers, the key mistake comes with the forming of the patty.  Most people take their meatballs, massage them flat and set them down.  

The patty is in the shape of a hockey puck, small but thick.  What happens when you cook them?  They shrink even more!  By the time it's cooked, you have a burger the size of a two-dollar coin and just as thick.  Have you seen the frozen burgers you buy?  They're all 2 cm thick and more expansive than the bun.  That's what your homemade burgers need to look like.

That's what Mike's burger needs to look like.  As you can see from the photo, the patty measures 4 cm thick but it's not even big enough to cover the slice of tomato.  Yes, I love all the fresh vegetables but I don't want every bite around the circumference to be all bread and veggies and no meat.  Then by the time you get to the middle, meat is all you get.

Disregarding the size and shape, this is very well made burger.  The outsides come nicely seared on the grill and the insides taste moist and oozing with juices.  Looking at the juices, you can see they're barely transparent, meaning the meat is just done (perfect).

Some of these places take advantage of their location and sacrifice quality or quantity in their foods.  Mike's, sitting right beside the lake and adjacent to the beach, can certainly be a candidate to forego on food because they're going to come just because of the location.  They don't though--the food is good, better than good.  Best of all, since they're walking distance from the beach, you can stroll up in your bikini, down your burger, and be back in the water without fussing with a towel.

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Ray Yuen, Pit Master, Grill Master

Certified Kansas City Barbecue Society Judge - Badge #97736

Certified Steak Cook-off Association Judge - Badge #7788

Canadian Barbecue Society Member