www.plancheck.com
The Order: Chefs Favorite Burger, medium rare. With cheese two ways, bacon two ways, ketchup leather, sunny fried egg, and hot sauce.
Side Order: Sweet Potato Waffle Fries cooked in with Peach Ketchup.
$13 + $6 = $19
Drink Order: Ballast Point Sculpin IPA
Burger Menu Rating: 14/15
I've finally done it! After a year of trying and waiting and not having time to go. After all of the times I've been in LA this year alone (three times!!). After hoping and wanting to try this burger since April and not being able to try it. I finally got to go on Monday night, and it was all kinds of delicious.
If you've read my review of Umami Burger then you know I was never too impressed with the burgers there. They were solid burgers, but not worth all the hype that surrounded the then LA-based establishment. But there was definitely something there that was worth building upon and as soon as I'd heard in April 2012 that Ernesto Uchimura had split with Umami and opened a new place touting an amazing burger, I was optimistic. Then the reviews started coming out and friends started going to eat the burgers. I knew I had to go there.
To be clear, there are two burgers that are worth trying here. There's the Plan Check Burger, which is Uchimura's unique take on a regular diner-style burger. The ingredients are all the same, but they're all jazzed up in a way with new textures and tangy flavors to excite your taste buds. This is all from a few friends that have been there as repeat customers to get their burger fix.
The second burger to try is the Chefs Favorite Burger, which is something new and amazing alltogether. The ingredients aren't anything new here either, but the flavor combinations all work in tandem creating something rich and amazing. A perfect mashup of salty and sweet ingredients work to make this burger one you're sure to remember.
Well plated, this is a good looking burger meal.
First the salty: The meat was cooked perfectly and was extremely juicy, with a perfect fat distribution. Not over-handled, the meat was crumbly and a great slightly less than medium grind. In the first bite, there were so many flavors, but the thing that really stood out was the meat taste. Even with all the other toppings competing with the burger patty, the patty was seasoned in such a way that the slightly coppery beefy flavor was still the focus.
Then there were the bacons and the cheeses. You'll have noticed that there were two cheeses AND two bacons on this burger. The bartender was kind enough to describe the differences between the two cheeses and the two bacons for me. The fried cheese crisp was a custom hand-mixed Americanized Dashi Cheese recalling both the sweetness of cheddar and the savory flavors of seaweed and mushrooms (the Umami for which Uchimura has made his burger name). The other cheese was a soft bacon cheese, more akin to a spread than anything else. Then there was a strip of regular bacon on the burger, and one strip of candied bacon. These were laid out in the standard fast-casual X configuration on the burger so that at times I was tasting either the salty bacon or the sweet bacon, or the one or two amazing bites from the middle in which I got both. Not only did these ingredients provide their own balanced and exciting tastes to the mix, but they offered a substantial amount of texture as well. Not too hard or too soft, but just the right amount of resistance, snap and crunch in every bite.
Then there was the sweet counterpart: the ketchup leather and the bun. The ketchup leather was sweet and tangy, a bright red sauce lathered onto the bottom of the burger so the flavors were able to contend with the myriad salty ingredients. It hit my tongue like a hurricane, enveloping it in rich flavor before mingling with it's compatriots. Then there was the bun. Perfect for sopping up all the juices and dense enough to hold it all together, all with a little bit of sweetness to the bun. And top top the sweet flavors off, the candied bacon's sugary coating would pop through every once in a while and give my taste buds the old razzledazzle.
All of these ingredients worked together magically, but let's not forget about the fried egg. How many times have I reviewed burgers that looked promising and had a fried egg on top, only to discover that the egg has negligently been overcooked and thrown on top of a burger to which it added almost nothing? A lot! But this egg was cooked over easy so the yolk oozed and dripped out onto the rest of the burger as I ate it.
The waffle fries. A good portion, but lackluster.
As for the side I got, the Sweet Potato Waffle Fries were tasty, but a little underwhelming. The beef tallow doesn't add as much flavor to the dish, which is unfortunate. They were a little under-salted or under-seasoned, which is probably because of the beef tallow's inclusion, but especially when dipped in the pear ketchup, the overall flavor was just too sweet. The pear ketchup, as the bartender put it, was 'like crack' and tasted fantastic, but it would be better served on a fried chicken biscuit sandwich, or something that is inherently salty.
Overall the service was fast and very friendly. From ordering to eating, the burger was only about 10 minutes, if that much. The bartender was extremely helpful and personable, and pointed out Uchimura to me when I asked. Uchimura is in the restaurant most nights of the week, unless he's out working on the other two soon-to-open locations in Los Angeles. I have to say that I was a bit of a fanboy and totally clammed up when I introduced myself to Uchimura. Burger Blogger Fail. The same happened to me when I met Kenji Lopez-Alt. To his credit, Uchimura was super nice, and very appreciative of my stammering compliments. One day I won't make a fool of myself! One day. Until that day, I hope Uchimura knows he's created a fantastic burger. Watchout there Stout. This is definitely a contender for my LA #1.
Cooked Correctly: 5/5
Design/Ingredients: 3.5/4 - Waffle Fries were lackluster
Plating: 3/3
Value: 2.5/3
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