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