Darien Social

Darien, CT
www.dariensocialct.com



The Order: Social Burger, medium rare. With slow cooked onion, black pepper truffle mayo. (Add bacon or cheese for $1.50 - local blue cheese, shelburne aged cheddar, cloud nine camembert, fresh mozzarella, or gruyere)
Side Order: Comes with fries
$12
Drink Order: Water
Burger Menu Rating: 10/15




Located in the heart of downtown Darien, CT, Darien Social is an American gastropub which serves upscale comfort food.  They do their best to source all of their ingredients locally, and have built a restaurant that exudes a nostalgia for the early part of the 20th century.  While their attention to the detail of the decor is admirable, their burger was merely an average artisan burger, despite the way the burger and toppings were put together.

A Social Burger.

One thing that was nice about this burger is that I got what they said was going to be on the burger.  Notice that in the pictures there aren't other toppings.  No lettuce, no tomato.  When you order this, you know that you are going to get a bun, a burger patty, onions and mayo.  That's what I mean about this burger being an average artisan burger.  They was definitely thought about the ingredients, and what should go onto and into this burger.


Slightly over medium rare.

Cutting into the burger, it had a nice pink center, but as you can see above, it isn't quite medium rare.  Check out this graphic which details how STEAKS look when cooked to various temperatures.  It's a good reference for when you're cooking burgers.  Granted, burgers, depending on where you go, should be cooked more thoroughly, at trusted establishments, a true medium rare is perfectly safe.  Or, you live on the edge like me, and will settle for nothing less.

There was a nice crunch to the bun of this burger.  The inside was grilled, but not charred, and the rest was soft: perfect for absorbing the juices of the burger.  The bun, however, was really oily for whatever reason, which definitely detracted from the overall taste of the burger.

The fries were a great texture, and perfectly seasoned.

The fries were fantastic.  They weren't over-cooked, some were thin and crunchy, and others were thicker and soft.  And I didn't need the ketchup they provided at all.  At the end of the meal, you get a free small Granita which is perfect for cleansing your palate after a meal.  Delicious.

Baby cousin Aiden loves burgers too.  Good man.

I'd definitely come here again.  It's a fairly good burger for the price, and the beer list is a plus, though on the expensive side.  I'd actually really like to do a side by side comparison between The Social Burger and the Goose Burger, both of which are in downtown Darien, CT.




Cooked Correctly: 4/5
Plating: 2/3
Design/Ingredients: 2/4
Value: 2/3

The Grill on Hollywood

Hollywood, CA
thegrill.com

 

The Order: American Kobe, medium rare.  Black and white truffle mayo.
Side Order: Comes with Jumbo Onion Rings
$21.50
Drink Order: Stone Oaked Arrogant Bastard
Burger Menu Rating: 2/15




Situation in the busy Hollywood and Highland mall at the intersection of Hollywood and Highland, funnily enough, The Grill on Hollywood is where you can find many of the designers, producers and technicians who are working on the Oscars during the weeks leading up to that show.  I'd eaten here before, but never gotten the burger.  But this time was the time; the moment was at hand, that hand was mine, and it was holding a burger.  And boy, I could not have been more disappointed.

Sitting with Joe, Gloria, Travis, Damien, and Perry, most of whom were working on the Oscars at the time, I confidently ordered the burger medium rare (I said medium rare twice), after which Joe ordered his burger medium well with fries instead of rings.  And so out came our burgers, rings for me, fries for Joe.  By this point, I'm so hungry that I inhale half of the burger.  It's been hours since my last meal.  Then I realize how much water and beer I'm drinking as I eat this burger, and look down.  It's gray.  Not even pink, but gray.  They cooked it completely wrong.  So then I look over at Joe's burger.  Pink.  They cooked HIS completely wrong.  They swapped our burgers.  Now I was sitting right next to Joe which could have cause the confusion, EXCEPT that they got our sides correct.  So somebody in the kitchen made a huge mistake, and unfortunately, it really cost them.  Zero points for being cooked correctly.

The sauce on the burger was good, lightly earthy, but that was the only uplifting quality to this otherwise terrible burger.  The patty was bland on top of being cooked into shoe leather, and the bun was a bit too charred.  The coarse grind the used I'm sure would've been awesome if it hadn't been cooked well beyond what I ordered (again, I said medium rare twice).  No thought into plating.  The fries on Joe's plate were merely dumped on, though my onion rings only looked slightly better.  Look at how the lettuce is jutting out of the burger on two sides, instead of being neatly stacked.  Overall, this place is definitely NOT worth it.




Cooked Correctly: 0
Design/Ingredients: 1
Plating: 1
Value: 0