The Breslin

Manhattan, NY
thebreslin.com



The Order: Chargrilled Lamb Burger, medium rare. With feta, cumin mayo, and red onion.
Side Order: Comes with Thrice cooked chips. Boiled peanuts fried in pork fat ($6)
$21 + $6 = $27
Drink Order: Spotted Pig Cask Conditioned Bitter
Burger Menu Rating: 12.5/15




I met up with Mike and Vanessa again for another burger expedition, this time to the Ace Hotel (Seriously guys, if any of you others want to eat burgers with me, you just have to ask, I'm game). When you walk into the lobby of the Ace Hotel in NYC, you'll be greeted by decor and clientele for which the chain of hotels is known: hipsters, vinyl records, driftwood, mustaches, and taxidermy, a sort of upscale hipster getaway. Navigate through all of this to get to the Breslin (or I guess you could enter from their Street entrance, but there's much more to look at if you enter through the lobby, trust me), but don't be distracted by the bar in the lobby. While they also have a burger on their bar menu that looks tasty, what you want is the lamb burger at Chef April Broomfield's The Breslin serves. The place really starts to fill up by 7p, so get here early, and even arriving at 6p meant a 15 minute wait, even though the front half of the restaurant appeared to have a lot of open tables (even though there are no reservations?). Whatever. a 15 minute wait isn't so bad with a beer in your hand.


(photo courtesy of The Breslin)

After looking over the menu, we quickly decided to split the boiled peanuts fried in pork fat (they've since changed them to merely fried in pork fat and raised it to $7. I don't think the extra $1 will make it more delicious, but I'm sure it's still as good). The waitress, being extremely attentive and perky, rewarded our quick thinking by taking our orders as soon as we were ready. But from that point the dinner dragged on and on. Our waitress was fantastic, but the food service is so incredibly slow, it was almost unbearable (we could almost have not added a bear). The peanuts came after a time, and went away faster than we would have liked, and were followed by more waiting.

Well into our second drinks, the burgers finally arrived, and our mouths were watering from having waited for so long. I love it when burgers are simple, when they have had some thought put into them, when the chef doesn't just add lettuce, tomato and a slice of onion for the hell of it. This burger is simple, with emphasis on the flavor of the lamb. Juicy, messy, and a huge patty, I mean, look at the picture. That patty is HUGE, and awesome. The cumin mayo mixed with the feta and the lamb is fantastic, if a little strong. The bun was a bit too crispy, a detriment to the burger, but was able to soak up the juices. If it had been a little less crunchy, it would have made for a perfectly designed burger.

The fries were delicious on their own. They were extra crispy, soft on the inside, and lightly seasoned. I don't really get what about them was so spectacular after having been 'thrice-cooked' but sure, I'd go for them again. The fact that they were still soft on the inside is a draw. With a crunch, and the mix of textures, they're a delight to eat, and when dipped in the cumin mayo, it was impossible to stop eating them.




Cooked Correctly = 5pts
Presentation/Plating = 3pts
Design/Ingredients = 2.5pts
Value = 2

Bobby's Burger Palace

Washington, DC
www.bobbysburgerpalace.com



The Order: Napa Valley Burger, medium rare. With goat cheese, watercress, and Meyer Lemon Honey Mustard, crunchified.
Side Order: Onion rings ($3)
$7.75 + $3 = $10.75
Drink Order: Coke
Burger Menu Rating: 11/15




Now I'm not particularly a fan of Bobby Flay. I'm not against him by any means, but I haven't watched hours upon hours of any cooking show to know exactly what his, or any other cook's, for that matter, style is. He is a name; that is to be respected, and that is all. But when I heard that he had his own Burger Palace, I was downright excited, not because it was Bobby Flay, but because a popular celebrity chef had devised a chain establishment dedicated to Burgers! And I'm also excited to discover that another one of these establishments is located on Long Island, not to far away from where I live! Excitement abounds.

Upon seeing the menu, I quickly decided upon the Napa Valley Burger. I had recently had a string of burgers with either blue cheese or avocado, so I was doing my best to avoid falling into a pattern and the goat cheese and watercress both really stood out. But wait! What is this "Crunchified" business they speak of? For no additional cost, they'll toss a whole bunch of plain potato chips onto your burger. Yes, please! I received my number and glass and found a seat.

When you sit down at your table, you're sitting on benches with everyone else in the establishment, and you'll immediately see an array of sauces for your fries, rings or burger. Ignoring the regular ketchup and mustard, they also offer Jalapeno Hot Sauce, BBP Fry Sauce, Honey Mustard Horseradish, Burger Sauce, and Chipotle Ketchup. I tried every one, and they were all delicious. I recommend mixing and matching between the fries, rings, and various sauces as well as combining sauces (how daring). You'll be in for a treat.



The onion rings here are great. They're tasty, crunchy, seasoned just enough to add a counterpoint to the sweetness of the onion and batter, but they're definitely not worth it. $3 for 3 or 4 rings?! You've got to be kidding me. Yes, they were giant thick rings, but come on! I want some bang for my buck! The fries or sweet potato fries are a better choice for your money, and go as well with the sauces, if not better.

The burger, when it arrived, was a tower of a spectacle that just made my mouth water. And the chips! There were a TON of them on the burger, much more than I'd expected, though its not as if adding potato chips to the burger really costs them all that much. Pressing down the top bun and crunching all the chips was entirely satisfying, and made the top bun hold in nearly all the chips. They give the burger a fantastic crunch, texture and add a bit of salty flavor which is excellent. Granted, I may have had a few beers by this point in the night, but everything on this burger came together to be something fantastic. It was juicy, tasty, and though it wasn't cooked perfectly (it was closer to medium), it was still delicious. The goat cheese was melty and the flavor wasn't overpoweringly strong, but bursts of flavor came through to remind my mouth that it was still a major contender in this burger, and was definitely complimented by the meat and chips.

Overall, I'm excited to go to one of the two Long Island establishments and see if the burgers are as good there as well. Nick Solares, of A Hamburger Today mentions having a similar problem with his burger being overcooked, but whereas Nick's burger was dry, mine was still juicy and delicious. Nick's review is from 2008, so it make sense that BBP would have been able to iron out some of their wrinkles, if not all of them, in two years, though I'd hope that they'd be able to cook their burgers correctly when ordered at a specific temperature. We'll see how it goes a second time around.




Cooked Correctly = 3pts
Presentation/Plating = 3pts
Design/Ingredients = 3pts
Value = 2 pts

1939 - The Year "Burger" was coined

67 Burger

Brooklyn, NY
67burger.com



The Order: The Parisian, hamburger, medium rare. White wine sauteed onions, mushrooms and dijonaise. Add swiss ($.75)
Side order: Seasoned curly fries ($3.95)
$8 + $.75 + $3.95 = $12.70
Drink Order: Dr. Pepper
Burger Menu Rating: 12/15




Well! Its been quite a while since I've posted a review! Have you missed me? Missed reading about burgers? Well don't you worry. I've been busy, building up a whole slew of reviews for my lovely readers. Its 2012 now, and with all the holiday festivities and resolutions for a new year, I find myself a little behind. That being said, I'm not going to promise to make absolutely every week. Between my work schedule, and money, etc. its extremely difficult to make that happen. But I WILL try not to miss more than one week at a time. I think I can do that. As always, I need you to suggest burgers for me to go eat! And look forward to some special features this year, interviews, trips for special burgers, contests, and rewards! Anyways, enough blather. Onto the review!


This place means business! Excellent. So do I. No frills, the decor is plain and simple, making the focus of the entire experience the burgers. The staff are knowledgeable, helpful, friendly, and excited about helping make a decision. Based on my server's recommendation, I made my choice with ease and confidence and when my burger arrived, at first on the table, and then in my belly, I was not disappointed.

This is a BIG, and juicy, messy son of a bitch. Within seconds the plate and my hands were full of meat juices and dijonaise while the burger maintained its shape and form, daring me to continue eating. If you go here, you'll need AT LEAST two napkins, if not three, for this affair. And for $8, this burger is well worth it, both for the size and the quality of the ingredients. The white wine sauteed onions were delicious! The wine flavor wasn't completely cooked away, but the onions were still soft! And then the mushrooms still had a little bit of firmness to them, and the flavor both worked with, and competed with, the wine and the dijonaise for top billing in the flavor contest in my mouth, with no clear winner. The other toppings were crisp, fresh and tasty, not detracting from the burger in any way.

The fries here were also well worth it. $3.95 IS a bit steep for a side, but the basket was deceptively large, such that I couldn't finish the order of fries (gasp! I know. A travesty). Seasoned with Cajun spices, not overcooked, these fries were delicious. You'll also need a ton of napkins for these too.

They have a small selection of beer. You can also get turkey, grilled chicken, and two vegetarian options.




Cooked Correctly = 5pts
Presentation/Plating = 2pts
Design/Ingredients = 2.5pts
Value = 2.5pts