Masak

Manhattan, NY
masaknyc.com



The Order:  Grilled 8oz Rendang Burger, medium rare.  On a brioche bun.  Add bacon for $2 (yes!), add cheese $1 (nope), add fried egg for $2 at night (YES YES!!).
Side Order: Add fries for $2 (yes!)
$14 + $2 + $2 + $2 = $20
Drink Order: Sixpoint Bengali Tiger IPA
Burger Menu Rating:  13/15




Having not posted a review in quite some time, and having made the same New Year's Resolution as last year, I felt the need to start off strong with an exceptional burger that is extremely difficult to describe.  I visited Masak with my friend Erin almost a half a year ago, and somehow never managed to post this review!  The Rendang Burger at Masak is a Singapore fusion burger that does a fantastic job of blending the spicy flavor of the classic Rendang dish with an American burger.

Rendang is described as a sweet beef curry dish that originated in Indonesia, by the peoples of the Minangkabau culture.  It was originally a ceremonial dish, used to honor guests and mark special occasions, but is now served widely across the country, and is popular in other countries in the region (thanks wikipedia).  Cool.  It's a sweet beef curry dish.  Don't forget, it's also spicy.

Now, Erin suggested going to this restaurant, and after a little research, I was as excited as she was to eat this amazing sounding burger.  We arrived and were seated fairly quickly for dinner, even though the place is pretty small.  In the entire time we were there, however, it wasn't every empty.  This place sees a steady stream of customers.  We only had to look at our menus for our drinks and we could order immediately.  The service, once the burger was ordered, was a little slow, but well worth the wait, and the waitresses were knowledgeable, easy going, informative and fun.

The Rendang sauce comes on the side and is amazing.  Don't be shy, you should lather the burger with this amazing sauce.  It works so well with the flavor of the meat that I honestly can't believe more places haven't borrowed from this style yet.  All the food came out crammed onto a small oval plate with the burger splayed open.  The small plate makes it all look bigger, although it's still a fair amount of food.  They arranged the burger and fries on either side of the sauce and sides, implying they both have equal right to the sauce. Fantastic.


Look at that delicious fried egg...

This burger has a slow burn, and it's a spicy and sweet sauce. It was salty, a little sour with a building spicyness that warmed the mouth and just tasted fantastic. The burger was cooked NEARLY perfectly (-.5 pts), but this burger is more about the flavor of the additions, rather than the meat itself.  They can get away with it not being exactly perfect.  You should definitely GO for the bacon and fried egg (the egg is not on the menu). The egg is runny, and awesomely delicious. The brioche bun is soft, slightly grilled and absorbed both the sauce and the egg perfectly.  The bacon wasn't hard, and was on the thick side, which added a fantastic texture, and a bit of saltiness, to the burger that was definitely welcome.  There is so much going on in this burger that it's hard to focus on any one thing while you're eating it.  I'd recommend taking your time to slow down with this one, and let each bite bring up a new and interesting flavor/flavor combination.


The picture unfortunately makes it look like it was cooked worse than it actually
was.  To be fair, it was a bit dim in the restaurant. 

The fries were delicious on their own with a delicate scallion taste! But they were amazing dipped in the Rendang sauce, and impossible to stop eating.  A good thick, course-cut fry, they were slightly meaty on the inside, and crisp on the outside.

The burger comes with a small cup of awesome house pickles in some kind of peanut sauce with cauliflower.  I have to say that this meal is difficult to describe, not really knowing much about Singapore fare, but I'd go back in a heartbeat.  With all the add-ons, this is an expensive burger.  Now, the burger would be great without the bacon, I'm sure, and probably without the egg too, but would you really pass that all up?  No.  I didn't think so.

Very small local beer selection. A little pricey, and all in bottles or cans.




Cooked correctly: 4.5/5
Plating: 2.5/3
Design: 4/4
Value: 2/3

Hamburger Fail

I managed to execute one of the bigger tourist faux pas the other day. Not speaking a word of German, but thinking I was pretty safe in what I was doing at the time, I ordered a Hamburger Riesen Knacker.  And I was kind of excited to be eating a hamburger, after all the myriad kinds of sausage I'd already consumed in my first week here in Hamburg.  However, upon trying to order this hamburger, I was instead served 3 massive sausages (bratwursts).  Fail.  I'll not be fooled again Hamburg(er)!

My Absence: Explained

You may have noticed that I have not been publishing in recent weeks, and for this I apologize!  I've been super busy with work, and with gearing up for my upcoming trip.  For those of you that don't know, I'm heading away to Germany for TWO WHOLE MONTHS for work, followed by THREE WEEKS OF TRAVEL THROUGH EUROPE!!  I'm super excited, but that has left me little time for blogging.  But don't you worry.  I've got a bunch of reviews all saved up so I can post while I'm away, and I've been talking to a few people about some guest blog posts from around the country.  I hope you all are doing well, and that you haven't lost your taste for burgers.

Burger out!

Minetta Tavern

Manhattan, NY
minettatavernny.com



The Order:  Black Label Burger, medium rare.  With caramelized onions on a brioche bun, also comes with lettuce and tomato.
Side Order:  Comes with fries and pickle.
$26
Drink Order: Fuller's Bengal Lancer IPA
Burger Menu Rating: 14/15




So I FINALLY went to Minetta Tavern to try their burger!  I wasn't avoiding it really, and it's always been at the top of my list of places to try, but I somehow just never went.  Well, with some prodding from Vanessa and Mike, we went for lunch, and let me tell you, Executive Chefs Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr have created a burger that does not disappoint in the least.


I was beyond excited.  Vanessa was too I swear.

We had made our reservation for right at noon, which I highly recommend you do if you can.  You feel as if you're getting special treatment without the attention feeling oppressive.  When we arrived, the restaurant was empty except for the staff, so we were seated immediately, in the back near the kitchen.  I love the decor in Minetta Tavern.  It feels like an old mob restaurant, complete with black and white pictures of celebrities with the original owner when the restaurant opened in the 1930's.


It wasn't empty for long.

 Our server was quick, knowledgeable and attentive.  I wasn't skeptical about the quality of the burger, but when I specified that I wanted my burger medium rare, she went as far as to describe exactly how the chefs at Minetta cook their burger: medium rare towards rare, with a warm pink center.  Perfect, and I haven't even taken a bite yet.


 Medium rare towards rare, with a warm pink center.

And when that burger came out (quickly, I might add), it WAS perfect.  It was cooked exactly the way the sever described it.  The focus of this burger is definitely the meat, which is dry-aged custom beef blend from Pat La Frieda.  It's a coarse grind, delivered every day, and minimally handled to ensure the burger retains all of it's flavors and juices.  What you can't really see in the picture above is just how amazing the fat distribution in this burger is.  With every bite, juices gush out of this patty, and onto your chin, your plate, and a lot of it gets mopped up by this bun, which is fantastic.  It's light and airy, slightly sweet, and soft, perfect for pressing down around the patty and collecting every bit of those delicious juices.


Vanessa enjoys her second trip to Minetta Tavern.

The caramelized onions are a perfect foil for the burger.  The burger is well seasoned, salty, though never too salty, and really works hand in hand with the onion's sweetness.  After a while, the two tastes become one: a perfect union of two flavors that were meant to be together.

The fries here are delicious too, and apparently exactly the same as the fries at Balthazar, where Hanson and Nasr are also executive chefs.  I'm not complaining.  They're delicious, they don't need that much ketchup, and they're not shoe-string fries!  They're a medium cut, gold in color, and impossible to stop eating.

I love the fact that this burger doesn't come with anything else.  Sure there's a piece of lettuce and a tomato on the side, but does anybody put it on?  Our server said no, and she'd know.  According to her, approximately 85% of the orders during lunch hours are the Black Label Burger.  Looking around us, she isn't wrong, though on the day we went, that number was closer to 100%.  Burger after burger rolled out of the kitchen and into the waiting hands of dozens of other hungry denizens.  I'll be interested in the many return trips to come.  This burger has taken it's place as my favorite burger in NYC, but what will be interesting will be to see how it changes, or if it changes.  Under the supervision of Hanson and Nasr, this burger has seen some updates since it was first created, and who's to say that it won't keep on changing.  I will definitely be going back to try it again.  And again.  And again..




Cooked Correctly:  5/5
Design:  4/4
Plating:  2/3
Value:  3/3



Still super excited.


Vanessa and Mike's 2nd trip to Minetta Tavern.


The glorious Black Label Burger.

So delicious.

Burger juices.  Everywhere.

Superfine

Brooklyn, NY
yelp.com



The Order:  Superfine burger, medium rare.  With lettuce, onion, tomato. Add pancetta ($1, to add cheese is also $1).
Side Order: Comes with shoestring fries.
 $12 + $1 = $13
Drink Order:  Saratoga IPA
Burger Menu Rating: 6.5/15




 Nestled right in the heart of DUMBO, Superfine is an airy, rustic bar restaurant with an attitude.  I say 'with an attitude' instead of 'with attitude' because it's true.  It can be unspoken, but every time I've been here, the servers have been somewhat surly.  It's interesting, and backwards for such a nice place.  The decor is fantastic, almost a throwback to the 50s, and the menu is interesting, or has been, each time I've gone.  Sadly, though, the burger is not their strong point.


The menu: usually interesting.

To begin with, the burger is totally uninteresting.  Between the superfine grind (see what I did there?) and the meat having been overworked into the patty, there wasn't much left for the burger to offer.  It was completely uninteresting, and pedestrian.  And really overcooked!  Medium rare isn't that hard people!  The bun was actually the best part of the burger!  Soft, a great airy texture, and sopped up the few juices that came out of the burger.  The other ingredients on the burger, however, were lackluster.  None of them were really crisp, and the tomato was mealy and tasteless.  And the pancetta?  Save your money.  It didn't add anything to the burger whatsoever.

Shoestring fries?  Can we ban them?  I hate them.  Actually, they were fine, but it's really hard not to make the fries ridiculously crispy when they're so thin.

The service here is slow.  Ordering, paying, everything about it is slow.  Skip it, or at least skip the burger.




Cooked Correctly:  3/5
Design:  1/4
Plating:  2/3
Value:  .5/3




Hey, by the way!  I'm going to Minetta Tavern tomorrow.  I'm excited.  Are you?

DuMont Burger

Brooklyn, NY
http://www.dumontburger.com/website



The Order: DuMont Burger, medium rare.  On grilled brioche, with Boston Bibb, tomato, red onion and house made pickles.
Side Order:  Comes with choice of fries, onion rings, mixed greens or soup.  I went with the Rings.
$12.50
Drink Order:  Stone IPA
Burger Menu Rating:  10/15




A lot of friends have recommended DuMont Burger in the past.  They talk about how great this place is, how great the burger is, etc.  But I found that all the hype was a bit misplaced, unfortunately.  I was really ready to love this burger, and when I saw the establishment, I was excited.  The entire restaurant seemed to exude burger excitement.  We sat down, and our order was quickly taken, however, that was when the disappointment began.

It wasn't really all that busy when we arrived and ordered; some others came trickling in after we got there, but not that many.  The food took a long time coming out for some reason, but Rob and I had a lot to catch up on, so it didn't seem as long as it actually was.


 A perfect medium rare and a huge patty.

This patty is HUGE.  I mean, really huge.  The meat had a good char to it, adding to its flavor, which was fantastic.  It was cooked perfectly too, I mean, look at that awesome medium rare.  Unfortunately, the meat was worked a bit too much to form the patty.  There wasn't an even distribution of fat/juices, and what was probably once a very coarse grind to the meat was all compacted and a bit mushy.  I don't want you to think I didn't enjoy the burger though (I mean, come on, it's a burger.  Of course I enjoyed it).  The flavor of the meat was perfect, and only seasoned just enough to help out.


 The burger with the condiments added.

The other condiments were fine/average, except for the pickles.  The pickles were delicious!  They were made in house and had a nice sweet and sour flavor that complimented the taste of the meat.  They provided a good crunch (as did the lettuce) which, with the meat being mushy as it was, made for a better mouth feel.

The onion rings were a major letdown.  They had little, or no, seasoning and were way too oily.  Not to mention that some of the onions weren't even cooked all the way through.  There was not a single redeeming quality about that side dish, and they really brought the entire experience down for me.

All in all, this place isn't what it's talked up to be.  It sounds like you're going to get a fancy burger when your go and order, but really, when it comes out, it's just a regular burger with the same normal condiments.




Cooked Correctly:  5/5
Design:  1.5/4
Plating:  2/3
Value:  1.5/3

BONNAROO!!

No post today! I'm headed down to Bonnaroo!! See you next week.