The Main Course

Showing posts with label red. Show all posts
Showing posts with label red. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Red Fez

Providence, RI
yelp.com



The Order: Fez Burger. 1/4lb beef+chourico burger with American cheese, open-secret sauce, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles and mustard on a toasted potato roll.
Side Order: fries ($3)
$6 + $3 = $9
Drink Order: Berkshire Brewing Co. Lost Sailer IPA
Burger Menu Rating: 10/15



Although not on her agenda for proving that Providence has great burgers, my friend Ali (we'll call her Providence Ali) took me out to a bar she wanted to try out called Red Fez which might have late night dinner food. And have food they did! And it was tasty!

I'd not had a burger with so different a flavor in a while. The chourico blend meat was a divine choice that was so exciting I though my taste buds were going to explode (Chourico is a Portuguese sausage similar to Chorizo). Every bite was just a mix of varied and interesting flavors from sour to sweet and all in between. The open-secret sauce was delicious (what's the secret?!), combining with, but not getting in the way of, the flavor of the meat. The meat itself, because of the chourico, is garlicky and spiced and full of awesome flavor that could have stood out on its own, but was delicious paired with the sauce and mustard as counter flavors. The lettuce and tomato didn't add much to the burger, and was thankfully included in small proportion. The red onion, on the other hand, was sweet and perfect. I did, however, question the use of American cheese on this burger. Sure it doesn't get in the way, but it didn't really do anything for the burger beyond the texture.

Though well priced at $6, this patty was a little thin though for a place like this, and I'd much rather be able to specify how my burger is cooked than not. The same can be said of the fries. You don't get that much for the price you pay, and they're merely average. Seasoned with salt. Perhaps, next to the burger, they don't live up to expectations, and perhaps that's a good thing. They don't compete with the burger for attention (notice the burger arrives sitting ON TOP of the bed of fries), but there's something to be said for fries that could be as interesting as the burger with which they're served.

Red Fez has a small but varied draught selection and a varied bottle selection to satisfy their hipster clientele. The rest of the menu looks interesting as well, though I tried a bite of the fried Mac and Cheese that everyone raves about and was mildly disappointed.

Thank you Providence Ali for showing me about your town of respectable burgers.


Cooked Correctly = 4pts
No choice of how you want it cooked? = Waved due to Pork
Presentation/Plating = 1pts
Design/Ingredients = 3pts
Value = 2pts

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

BareBurger

Manhattan, NY
www.bareburger.com



The Order: Pesto Red Pepper Burger with Beef, medium rare. Creamy Havarti, roasted red peppers, baby spinach and BareBurger pesto mayo.
Side Order: Onion Rings + Fries Combo ($4.5), Curry Ketchup dipping sauce ($.40)
$9.95 + $4.5 + $.40 = $14.85
Drink Order: Founders IPA, Raspberry Vanilla Shake



Despite the friendly waitstaff, the pleasant company, and the laid-back atmosphere, this was an intimidating place in which to order. This may have been due to having been really hungry by the time I arrived at BareBurger. So after thinking that I had it all together to order, all of a sudden there are all these other options that I didn't realize were available. Type of bread, side, sauce, etc. When I finally ordered, the service was extremely fast.

The place wasn't packed but it was surprising just how fast the food came. The first few bites of the burger were average. But then I started tasting all the seasoning. HOLY CRAP is this burger good. Cooked perfectly, delicious, juicy, I can't say enough about this burger. It was gone in a second, before I realized I hadn't taken a picture. Left with a pile of onion rings and fries, I dug in. The fries were definitely better than the onion rings, and definitely better value (you get a lot more fries for your money). They don't need any sauce, but you should really order one or two sauces to try, as they are excellent.

The dipping sauces cost extra but are AMAZING. Curry Ketchup and the BareBurger Special Sauce (they gave this one to us for free). Both were entirely worth it, interesting, and really different from any other sauces I'd had before.

I ordered a milkshake for after because, well why not. A decent selection of flavors, though they were out of blackberry. Really quite good, and not too overwhelming with the raspberry flavor.

BareBurger has a decent beer selection too. Their draught craft beer selection is available in pints, 25oz and 60oz, and they carry a lot of seasonal beers, though our waiter didn't seem all that knowledgeable about the beers they had.

This place is well worth the visit. I'll definitely be going again.