Early returns suggest Lorne Doerkson has “mustard” enough momentum to take a small lead over David Eby. The Conservative party interim leader’s burger was running at 30 per cent as of Thursday, with Eby biting at his heels at 27 per cent.

But the chaos created by the snap election might have politically minded burger lovers a bit confused. The “Bun-Decided Burger” is also polling well, running at 28 per cent.

The rest of the crowded field is playing “ketchup” with the front-runners. The Greens’ Emily Lowan Burger was at 10 per cent and both the Elenore Sturko (CentreBC) and Dallas Brodie (OneBC) burgers were trailing at 2.5 per cent each.

The restaurant playfully fashions the burgers with the candidates in mind. So Eby’s is a “Lean-to-the-Left” Grade A “Premier” beef burger, while Doerkson’s is “sizzling on the right burner” and includes a “Conservative slab of Chilcotin blue cheese.”

New West voters tend to skew left, said Burger Heaven manager Chris Gieb, so the NDP usually fares well in these provincial burger polls. That suggests Eby might be toast(ed) in his hastily called election.

The restaurant has had some forecasting success over the years. In the federal election that saw Mark Carney resurrect the fading Liberals, his burger was also the winner in “Bun-Official” polling.

Gieb said the polls are all in good fun, though they often bring a boost to the business — not least because the candidates themselves sometimes bring a delegation to try out their own concoction and give their polling numbers a boost.