Pub One

Brooklyn, NY
www.puboneny.com



The Order: 3 Second Delay, medium rare. Two 8 oz patties topped with bacon, scotch bonnet peppers, white cheddar, American cheese and pickled tomato.
Side Order: Comes with fries.
$18
Drink Order: Six Point Sweet Action




Holy Wow! Spicy, sweet, salty and huge! This burger was fucking ridiculous, and definitely the best I'd had in a while. I can't say enough about this burger. Let's start with Spicy: The Scotch Bonnet Peppers were fantastic! Just spicy enough, not terrible, and a little vinegary. Each time I had one in a bite of my burger, it was an explosion of spicy flavor that filled your mouth and then quickly subsided into a dull burn. And that burn kept on building until the end. Mind you, it wasn't too spicy to finish like the Hell Burger at Stand4, but the peppers definitely let you know they were still around, and were a force to be reckoned with. Sweet: between the two cheeses and the pickled tomato, this burger was unbelievably sweet. Again, not too much so, but it was a marvelous counterpoint to the spice provided by the peppers. The gooey duo of cheese were definitely all over the burger providing sweet melty deliciousness in every bite. The pickled tomatoes were not quite as plentiful, but each bite into one was a reminder that they too had a part to play. They were sweet and a little sour and unexpected. Salty: Yes it is. And it was good. Not overly salty (I think I see a trend here), it wasn't overpowering, but just enough to add to the flavor of the meat.

The meat. Let me remind you that this burger comprised of TWO 8oz patties. It. Was. Huge. And. Magnificent. Even with all of the condiments and toppings, this burger was still about the meat. Now maybe that was because of the vast quantity of meat on this burger, but still. The flavors were balanced, and didn't impede the delicious taste of the beef in every bite. This was a difficult burger to handle. Not only is it huge, but all of the ingredients were constantly trying to escape my clutches, and the juices running from the burger made it extremely messy as well (soaking the fries and making them all the more delicious). Tastefully (tastebud-ally) balanced. And enormous. Those are probably the two best ways to describe this burger. And I'd like to get it again and again.

I can't say enough about this place in general. Pub One is located in Dumbo at the beginning of Front Street. Its a small building, but when you walk in, the bar and dining room open up into a large patio in the back with ample seating and an outdoor bar. The waitstaff are all nice and definitely enthusiastic (our waitress may have been a little too excited about us being there). The beer selection is ok, not very big. Don't be concerned about the B rating. I'd come here again and I'd definitely recommend it to everybody I know.

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.