MP Taverna

Roslyn, NY
www.mptaverna.com



The Order: The MP Meal (Thursday): Meatballs, Beef Burger, Brownie. The Beef Burger, medium rare with 'traditional toppings' and spicy feta sauce.
Side Order: Comes with fries and gherkins.
$15
Drink Order: Southern Tier Double IPA


This entire place had a very 60s corner diner feeling, except that it was an extremely classy establishment. Frank Sinatra played overhead, there was exposed brick, and giant wood blinds. I think chicken wire is really trendy right now, as this place, and a lot of other newer restaurants have had it all over the place. The staff here at MP Taverna was friendly, even a bit overly attentive. The place, however, was empty. Not just not busy, but completely empty, which wasn't exactly what I'd expect for lunch at a restaurant where the chef got a 3 star Michelin rating. Then again, it was threatening rain outside. Still, I was the ONLY person in there not being paid.

The meatball appetizer was delicious. The sauce was thick and tasty, but not too overpowering, and the meatballs (2 of them) were soft, not really firm, and just melted in my mouth. I could seriously have eaten an entire platter of just those meatballs. But ah! You only get two of them! Give me more! These on a sandwich would be fantastic!

So the hamburger. Traditional toppings.... there were none. I would have guessed lettuce, tomato and onion, as opposed to nothing. No there were no toppings on this burger at all. It was meat and buns with sauce on the side. BUT this burger patty is HUGE. +2 points (oh wait, I still haven't come up with my rating system). I don't know what it is about chefs wanting to get that char grilled taste in their burgers. That's all you end up tasting. I had a taste of the spicy feta sauce before I put it on the burger and it was delicious, but I couldn't taste it at all with the overwhelming burnt taste of the burger! This time, however, I realized it's not the meat itself, but the bun. This bun was thick, and soft, but grilled so the edges were a little bit toasty. Great. Except that the top and the bottom of the buns were burned! Like.. black! The flavor of burning just got in the way so much that I had to slather almost all the feta sauce on the burger to mask it, and then suddenly, the burger was about the sauce, and not the burger itself. Now, undeniably, this sauce is awesome, but I don't want the burger to be a vehicle for the sauce! It was unfortunate, because the patty was cooked perfectly, and looked tasty, but in the end all I could taste was sauce and burning. I'd rather have had the sauce compliment the taste of the meat and bun together.

The fries here were simple, very lightly salted, and delicious. Obling, thick-cut fries, with the skin left on, they were a nice change in taste and consistency from the burger and the sweet gherkins. The gherkins did a lot to refresh the palette between bites of the burger, and to help clear away the burnt taste that seemed to last throughout the meal.

Ah. A music change. But wait. From Sinatra to some contemporary pop. Odd. With Sinatra playing, it felt as if the music was incorporated into the design of the atmosphere as a whole. Apparently not. But I'm wasn't there to critique the atmosphere. And then the music switched back to the old crooners and I was again perplexed.

The brownie alone is worth getting here. It's small, but rich and creamy, with massive chunks of soft chocolate throughout and a light dusting of powdered sugar. It is delightful, but you really need to like chocolate in order to finish it. I got halfway thru and couldn't eat anymore.

They have a decent selection of beers on tap, though it doesn't seem as if they've been curated in any way that makes sense. It's as if they have something for everyone without making any really bold choices. Stone IPA, fine. Ommegang Hennepin, ok. Wait, now it seems as if they're just picking the high scoring beers from Beer Advocate.

The meal deals are hard to beat here. A regular beef burger will cost you $13, so for $2 extra, you get delicious meatballs and a brownie? Not bad, though they skimp on the amount of fries. Similar deals may be worth it on other days, but I don't recommend getting this burger. For the price, its surprisingly uninteresting, especially from such a high-rated chef.

Duffy's

Staten Island, NY



The Order: Smokehouse Burger, medium rare. Mozzarella, BBQ sauce, and bacon on English muffin.
Side Order: Seasoned Crisscut Fries ($1.50)
$8 + $1.50 = $9.50
Drink Order: Spaten Oktoberfest



Everything about this place very quietly says 'town bar.' Low key, tiny little restaurant, with a small green awning. But then, when you walk up to the front door, the awning boasts 'Staten Island's best burger.' Once inside, however, there is nothing to brag about. Small bar on the left, very few tables. Even the menu here is nondescript. Within the menu, the burgers are undescribed. None of the burgers have a list of condiments at all. Actually, only their specials are described in any detail, and definitely not fully. In fact, their menu has very little in the way of description for any of their food. It doesn't even say what kinds of cheese you have as options for your burgers.

The burger here is no frills all the way. No lettuce, no tomato. No anything except what is/is not on the menu. The burger came out showing its few, but delicious, condiments. Crispy smoked bacon on top. The BBQ sauce was on the sour side (awesome). The English muffin was toasted, but not too hard. Apparently all the burgers come on English muffins. Who knew? The only detriment to this burger, was that it came out overcooked, and, as verified by my brother Alex, I definitely said medium rare, twice. So the burger was overcooked, not a lot, but still a LOT closer to medium than medium rare. Still tasty. Apparently this is a fluke, as my brother and sister-in-law come here often, and their burgers are always juicy, and cooked correctly. Still, points must be removed, even for flukes.

The fries here are awesome. Well seasoned, they're crunchy on the outside, and soft on the inside. And they definitely give you a good sized portion of this massive crisscut fries. It was like a whole potato on my plate. And it all ended up in my belly. Delish.

Bonnaroo or Bust!

Hello all!


No post this week as I'm leaving in an hour to go to Bonnaroo and I still haven't packed the car!
Regular reviews will pick up again next week. Thanks!

Heartland Brewery

Manhattan, NY
www.heartlandbrewery.com



The Order: The HB Burger, medium rare. With shredded lettuce and tomato.
Side Order: Comes with Idaho fries.
$11.95
Drink Order: Heartland Brewery Indiana Pale Ale



A clean and simple burger, the HB Burger from Heartland Brewery is all taste and no frills. The meat is only lightly salted, allowing the taste of the meat to be the main focus of each bite. I really enjoyed the layering of the ingredients. While there weren't that many of them, having the tomato underneath the meat afforded the entire burger a crisp and refreshing taste as well as a satisfying ending crunch every time I bit into it. The tomatoes weren't especially flavorful, but it wasn't a detriment to the burger on the whole. Simple. No sauce, no cheese. Just a hamburger, for the sake of the burger.

The two plusses for Heartland are 1) they cooked the meat perfectly. I've been to too many burger places recently who claim to make an awesome burger, but they can't even cook it properly. Heartland just did a great job cooking the meat the way I asked for it, and did it quickly. 2) They didn't work the meat too much. Again, so many places feel the need to knead the meat until it becomes mush. Not so here. Still, as tasty as this burger was, I can't justify the $11.95 it cost for a burger and fries. Its just not worth it, both in size, and in interest.

The fries here were, however, very good. Nice and thick, these are meaty Idaho Potato fries. I don't know how much a side of fries would cost you, but I'd say these are more worth it than the burger is. You might come here and grab beers and snacks, in which case I'd say get the fries. As a side with the burger, the fries were a fairly generous portion, but still not enough to justify the cost.

Heartland Brewery is supposedly the third in the burger rivalry between Schnippers Quality Kitchen and Shake Shack. I don't really see any way of comparing those two and Heartland Brewery though, other than by taste. Both Schnippers and Shake Shack ask you to order from a counter, and Heartland has waitstaff. This may just be Heartland trying to break into the spotlight by setting itself against the other two more major contenders, but it really doesn't have the burger to back up its claims.

Triumph Brewery

Princeton, NJ
www.triumphbrewing.com



The Order: Epic Burger, medium rare. With pork bellies, caramelized onions, fried egg, truffle aioli, mornay sauce, and a pickle.
Side Order: Comes with fries
$15
Drink Order: Triumph Beer flight: Honey Blonde, Amber Ale, German Pilsner, Oatmeal Stout, Bengal Gold IPA, Abbey Trippel, Porter



I want to shake the hand of the chef who designed this ridiculous creation. This burger was just all around fantastic. It was big. It was juicy. It was cooked perfectly. I knew I loved burgers before I ate this, and I knew I loved pork bellies, but the combination of the two, AND a fried egg?! Holy shit. I can't even begin to tell you how satisfying and tasty this burger was from the moment it arrived. It looked amazing and served to make me all the hungrier before I could sink my teeth in.

Piling on all the ingredients, and smearing on the sauce, every moment of it was building in anticipation of that first bite, which in no way disappointed. I don't think this thing could possibly have disappointed anybody. The egg was gloriously runny, mixing with the sauces and the flavorful meat. The bun was lightly toasted, containing and absorbing the juices, but not too hard that it got in the way of the rest of the burger experience. This is seriously a hearty and delicious burger. I would come back here in a second, and it would be the only reason, besides cheaper gas, to go to NJ. Seriously, awesome.

A generous portion of fries on the side were delicious, and a refreshing change from all of the stingy burger places giving only a measly little handful. They were all cooked the same, crunchy on the outside, and soft on the inside, evenly and delicious seasoned. And I cleaned the plate after the burger. It as ALL gone. STUFFED. And happy.

Lucky's Famous Burgers

Manhattan, NY
www.luckysfamousburgers.com



The Order: Lucky Cheddar Burger, medium rare. Premium Gold Angus beef, on a potato roll with lettuce, onion, tomato and pickles.
Side Order: Combo comes with fries and a drink
$10
Drink Order: Dr. Pepper, Shake ($4)


If not for the Groupon I had previously purchased, I would not have come here, or really even have heard of this place. Lucky's Famous Burgers. The name, you'd think, would imply a certain amount of fame and perhaps even a little street cred. I'd never heard of it before. But apparently, it's a revamp of a previous place called "Lucky's Famous" so I'll just go with it. And with a Groupon, why not right? $20 worth of food and drink for $10? That's awesome! So, joined by my friend Nate, a writer for Lonely Planet, I decided to take the burger plunge. Or, rather, we did together.

To be honest, there really isn't much to say about this place. The burger is average, the fries remind me of going to Nathan's to get hot dogs and fries as a kid. They had the same cut, and the same lack of flavor. But what IS great is their array of sauces. Their Lucky's Special Sauce and their Chipotle Mayo are delicious. So after smothering the burger and fries with these sauces, all of a sudden they were pretty damn good! So come here for the sauce, I guess that's what I'm saying.

Oh right. We had a milkshake. Eh. It was fine. Be clear about what you want. I ordered a chocolate, vanilla, coffee shake, and got a Neopolitan. A fairly tasty Neopolitan, but not what I ordered. Worth the $4? No. It wasn't overly large, and $4 is a big chunk of change for an average milkshake. But I'll say again, this place is worth it if you bought the Groupon on their NY Burger Day sale a few months back. Otherwise, skip it.

Yard House

Los Angeles, CA
www.yardhouse.com



The Order: Classic Sliders
Side Order: Comes with fries
$10.45
Drink Order: Alaskan IPA



Juicy. Very salty. Soft. These are the classic sliders at Yard House. And they are very easy to eat. Small and scrumptious, these sliders are great when paired with beer, or anything really. You just need something to wash them down because of the amount of salt you'll be ingesting.

Joined by a group of about ten people, the staff at Yard House were quick to get us a table and to get us our food. No rush, but I wasn't going to complain. But the burgers. It's very easy to eat them in no time because of how tasty they are. They just get devoured, but it's not as if they are the tiniest sliders ever. Maybe it's the large amount of beer I seem to always consume at Yard House, but I always seem to suck these things down in 5 minutes. The patties aren't as slim as the server led me to believe (read: they could have at least tried to cook it medium rare), but they were consistently delicious across all four burgers. There is a ton of seasoning that is unfortunately undefinable... You'll start noticing a trend in this review. I honestly can not tell you what this tastes like, other than it is salty and delicious.

They also have bearnaise sliders (pictured above... somehow I don't have a picture), which are also delicious. They come with some fried shoestring onions on the sliders, and the bearnaise sauce is pretty awesome. AND you don't have to choose between the two if you can't or don't want to. You can mix it up with two of each kind for no additional charge.

Worth the $10.45 for the sliders and fries, and Yard House often has happy hour deals where the sliders are 1/2 price. Also worth it if it isn't too crowded. Avoid the downtown LA establishment if an LA team is playing. For all of you east coasters: they recently opened locations in Boston, MA and Westchester, NY!

Oh yeah, and they have beer. Their list occupies the first two pages of the menu. Its a decent selection, but it rarely changes. The draw is their mixed beer with alluring names (Snake Bite? Black Velvet?), which are actually pretty good, and their happy hour discounts on half yard drinks.