The Pony Bar: Part Deux

Manhattan, NY
www.theponybar.com



The Order: Braised Lamb Sliders
Side Order: Comes with hand-cut potato chips and horseradish pickles
$9
Drink Order: Sly Fox Rt. 113 IPA



Having had the burger the last time I went to The Pony Bar, and having been pleasantly surprised, I decided to spring for the braised lamb sliders. These are tasty, but I'm not convinced they're worth the $9 it costs to eat them. Don't get me wrong here, though, there's not really anything bad I can say about them. The sauce and the lamb combined with the soft potato roll are a delight, but two sliders for $9 with no other toppings? Let's be real here. I could either go for another slider, or a more intricate set of toppings if I'm going to be paying that much. For $4 there's a halal food cart on 42nd and 8th that tastes nearly the same (minus the potato roll). You could say you're paying for the atmosphere, but that changes depending on what time you come into Pony. You might also say that you're making up for the fact that all the beers here are $5 and they have a fantastic, ever-changing, selection. That's true, but why do we have to make up for that?

Now, being that this is my second review, I'm inclined to give them a little slack. I've been here probably 5 or 6 times and never been disappointed. I just want more! I'm hungry! More sliders! Is that too much to ask? These were good, but I'd still choose the burger in a heartbeat.



******LA Recap******

Well dear readers, last week was a blast! I ate 12.5 burgers (if you count the Flying Dutchman I got at In N Out as a half burger) in 7 days, the majority of which were actually crammed into 5 days. I could feel the sweat slowly oozing out as it congealed on my skin! And boy did it taste delicious! In all seriousness though, the trip was amazing both because of the substantial number of delicious burgers I ate, but also because of the friends joining me on my ridiculous quest. Thank you all for housing me, and driving me around to eat burgers.

I managed to make it to all of the burgers that I mentioned except for Bucket, which got shafted after my run-in with a 6 hour open bar (I'll win that battle next time I swear!). Oinkster maintained its position as my favorite 'pedestrian' burger. The new top gourmet burger in Los Angeles will be revealed next week.

Throughout the following weeks I'll be sprinkling in the rest of the LA burger reviews. This is partially to give my body a rest. I'm sure my cholesterol level spiked very quickly, and a little bit of salad will do me good. Not for TOO long, but maybe another week or so more. Don't you worry, there will be no shortage of burger reviews in the next weeks. This is ESPECIALLY true because of Groupon's Burger Day celebration. They have 13 burger deals for today only! So head on over there and pick up some amazing Groupons and get a preview of the upcoming weeks of burgers!

Check out today's groupon for NYC here: www.groupon.com

The Pony Bar

Manhattan, NY
www.theponybar.com



The Order: Sirloin Burger, medium rare. Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, and an onion roll.
Side Order: Comes with Adirondack Bill's pickles and hand-cut chips
$9
Drink Order: Sixpoint Belgian IPA, Sixpoint Cask-condition Bengali Tiger IPA



First off, the beer selection is awesome at this place. The night I went it just so happened to be a brewery night. So! Instead of having 20 or so American microbrews on tap, all of the taps had a different beer from Sixpoint Brewery. And all the beers are always only $5. Amazing. But I digress, this is about the burger.

At first, the burger was a little disappointing, having been talked up a bit, but don't let that stop you from coming here. I found that if I ate around the edges first, saving the middle for last, this burger ended up being well worth it. The juicy center I discovered was fantastic, the amount of flavor you get there is well worth the price of the burger. The onion roll, the taste of the meat and the seasoning all came together in this, the juciest part of the burger.

The pickles are amazingly spiced with horseradish. The next time I went to this bar, I wasn't that hungry and just ordered a basket of pickles to snack on. They are best when they get to the bottom of the barrel, and you can tell because of how much spicier they are, than usual. The chips are plain and simple: lightly salted and don't overwhelm you, making the focus of your meal the burger. As it should be.

It wasn't too long of a wait for my food and apparently the place clears out at around 9:30 or so on the week days but is generally still open until about 4am. The owner is here almost every night and the barstaff are really friendly. And a really diverse crowd hangs out here (I met a brewer from Sixpoint the 2nd night I went here).

Don't forget to ask for a card to begin logging and rating what beers you've had. When you get to 100, you get a shirt. When you get to 420, you get a sweatshirt.