Matchbox

Palm Springs, CA
www.matchboxpalmsprings.com



The Order: Bistro Burger, medium rare. Grilled certified angus beef topped with red wine gorgonzola butter, pickled red onions, applewood-smoked bacon, cremini mushrooms, romaine and tomato, on a Brioche roll.
Side Order: Comes with house cut fries
$13
Drink Order: Napa Smith Lost Dog



In Palm Springs for the weekend of my sister's wedding, it was a weekend of delicious food and drink 24/7. And what a weekend it was. For the rehearsal dinner we all went out to Matchbox. Talk about an interesting burger. The ingredients by themselves are not altogether special, but put them together and suddenly you've really got something going here. The combination of the red wine gorgonzola butter, the slightly smokey meat and the pickled red onion was a fantastic blend. Bitter/sour, sweet and smokey all come together and make this burger really tasty. The flavor is all over the place and changes with each time you chew, releasing different tastes from all the various ingredients. Be careful to spread the gorgonzola butter out, as well as the other ingredients so you get all of it in every bite, otherwise you end up with only one or two of the important parts left towards the end.

I had originally critiqued the burger more harshly. On the menu, some of the ingredients weren't listed, but I'll lay this fault at the feet of whoever designed the menu for the rehearsal dinner. The Matchbox Palm Springs website includes all the ingredients in their description of the burger, except for the romaine, tomato and bread.

The fries, however, left a lot to be desired. They were all evenly coated in a thick layer of oil and were all a little overdone. No seasoning on the fries, and not enough salt. I definitely expected more from them, considering the caliber of the burger. Maybe the spicing up the ingredients used in making the fries would help them stand up to their burger counterpart.