www.arcangeloburger.com
The Order: The Paradisiaco, medium rare. Black pepper ham, four cheese sauce, lettuce, tomato, sauteed onion, cucumber and mayonnaise, on a toasted, locally-sourced, artisanal bun.
Side Order: Does not come with a side (you can add fries for €2.50)
€8.50 (approx $11.45)
Drink Order: Water
Burger Menu Rating: 10/15
This particular 24 hours had been quite good. I was in Barcelona for my second day. I'd woken up relatively late after a long night out, and had eaten a rich and delicious lunch of mussels, potatoes and tuna tartare. I wandered through Las Ramblas and found street musicians, little free museums and houses designed by Gaudi. I sat in the Palau de Musica Catalana and listened to Beethoven's 9th Symphony and Carmina Burana. How could this day get better? I was walking home, committed to have a free dinner back at the hostel, when I walk right up to a fancy burger restaurant. What?! A fancy burger restaurant that just happens to be along my walk back to where I'm staying?! No I did not plan this. I wasn't all that hungry, but hey, when in Rome... or Barcelona!
When I walked in, the place was empty - usually not a good sign, but not alarming where I've been in Europe. Europeans don't seem to have the same fascination with burgers that we do in the US, so I shrugged off my hesitation and asked for a table for one. There were quite a few interesting burgers on this menu, but the Paradisiaco stood out to me that night because of the four cheese sauce and the black pepper ham.
Such a pretty burger.
This burger was pretty. When it came out it was open faced, showing off the plating, and letting the color of the ham really pop. The patty was a bit thin, and the grind a little too coarse, but they made a really good stab at medium rare. There was a ton of flavor with every bite, but the ham made the burger, on the whole, a bit saltier than it needed to be. Perhaps the other reason the burger stood out to me was the use of cucumber instead of tomato. I always love adding a cucumber to the burgers I make at home because it adds a refreshing taste and crunch to the burger that tomatoes don't always capture, and this burger was no different. As for the rest of the toppings, the mayonnaise added a nice buttery sweetness to the overall flavor, but with the four cheese sauce, it was a bit superfluous, and the bun was nicely crunchy, not burned and not too hard.
A decent stab at medium rare.
I could have done without the lettuce, however. It didn't add anything to the burger, and to balance out the saltiness of the ham, a green with more heft would have been more appropriate. This burger was good, and for the price, worth it, but I wish it had come with a side. I wasn't hungry at the time, but if I'd come for a full meal, I would have left either light in the stomach, or light in the wallet. The fries are €2.50, and the other sides cost more.
Cooked Correctly: 4/5
Design: 2.5/4
Plating: 2/3
Value: 1.5/3
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