Kooper's Tavern

Baltimore, MD
www.koopers.com



The Order: Billy's Kobe, medium rare.  Creekstone Farms Premium Angus Beef, foasted garlic cream cheese, arugula, apple-smoked bacon and truffle oil on a freshly baked kaiser roll.
Side Order: Sweet Potato Fries ($1) and a Schwartz's pickle. You have a choice of fries, or sweet potato fries ($1).
$15 + $1 = $16
Drink Order: New Belgium Dig IPA
Burger Menu Rating: 10/15




Having gotten burgers from the Kooper's Tavern Chowhound Burger Wagon on Thursdays by Centerstage in Mt. Vernon, and those burgers having been fairly good, I was intrigued to hear that Kooper's Tavern had a burger that was voted best in Baltimore.  My girlfriend, Becky, and I had been wanting to go for quite some time, so we finally decided to make a day of it.  The Aquarium, and a burger.  Surf and turf, as it were (see what I did there?).  Now, it turns out that it was actually the Lamburger a la Grecque that was voted the best in Baltimore (our waitress told us, as well as a recent call to the restaurant), and it sounded delicious, but at the time, I was supremely interested in a beef burger (and maybe a little disappointed that it wasn't one of their regular burgers that won the awards).  So alas, next time I will have to try their award winner.  This time, I went for the Billy's Kobe.  We were there midday, so the service was extremely fast, and our server was very helpful.


 Becky is super excited about eating this burger.

When the burgers arrived, we were pretty hungry, but alas, I had to take pictures (Becky dove in, as you can see above).  The meat taste was fairly present, but it was cooked just a little bit towards medium, and not the dead-on medium rare I'd expected.  It could have also been more of a coarse grind.

A little towards medium.

As for the other ingredients, the garlic cream cheese was an excellent addition.  It was light and airy, and not overpoweringly garlicky.  I was left with a very minimal amount of garlic breath, but there was enough to add a kick of spice to each bite.  The bacon was thick and not soft (both good and bad depending on how you look at it).  In this instance, the applewood smoked bacon, on its own, had a lot of flavor, but on this burger, it didn't add all that much flavor.  There was a ton of arugula to make a bed for the burger.  It was super fresh and tasty, and the truffle oil came through especially strong amongst the greens.  Not too strong, but a nice hint to give an earthy flavor to some of the bites.

As for the rest, the sweet potato fries were pretty good.  Often I find that sweet potato fries are either under or overcooked, these however, were perfect.  The only thing was that they could have used a little more seasoning.  They just packed an underwhelming little punch when it came to a tandem flavor.  Kooper's Tavern also has a good bottle selection, and a small draught selection.  Plus, their Burger Tuesday special of your first Kooper's Yellow Tail Ale for just $2.50 is tough to beat.  Belgian Thursdays also has discounted Belgian beers for some really low prices.

After we were done, we were greeted by Jeff Bejma, one of the general managers who had seen my twitter updates regarding Becky and my trip into Fell's Point for their burger.  We spent some time talking about the burgers, and Jeff told us a bit about their burger's origin story.  Apparently, they got together a bunch of the beef distributors in the area and made them fight to the death.  Actually, they had to do a tasting for a select number of people, and the restaurant was then able to pick which was the best blend for their burger.  Bejma asked my thoughts, and I detailed a short version of the above.  We'll see next time if there have been any changes at all.

You can follow the chowhound on twitter here: @BRGRwagon and Kooper's Tavern here: @kooperstavern




Cooked Correctly: 4
Plating:1.5
Design/Ingredients: 2.5
Value: 2

Biwa

Portland, OR
biwarestaurant.com



The Order: Biwa Hamburger, medium rare. Seasoned ground beef, Kimchi mayo, and Chasyu.  Served only after 10pm.
Side Order: Comes with small amount of potatoes and slaw (pickled.)
$8
Drink Order: Shibuya Sling - cocktail
Burger Menu Rating: 14/15




I was working out in LA a few weeks ago and decided to take a side trip up to Portland, OR to visit my friend Tim.  Now, Tim loves burgers, and he loves beer, so we've had many a trip to partake of both of those lovely things.  But as of yet, I'd not been able to visit up in Portland, and all he'd been telling me about was how awesome the beer was, and how good the food was.  So I figured, what the heck, I've got the time and the money, I might as well do this while I'm on the same coast, right?  Right.

When I first got into Portland, Tim immediately asks me what we're gonna eat, and how he's been freaking out about which burger joint he was going to take me to, because he wanted my first Portland burger experience to be an awesome one.  Instead, we headed to Pok Pok Noi, a Northern Thai restaurant, owned by Andy Ricker which has expanded across Portland and also into NYC in the past few years.  Absolutely everything we ate was incredibly spicy (Ricker didn't want to dumb down the flavors and spiciness for the American palette), but amazing.  Huge wings smothered in a sweet red chili sauce, green papaya salad, and boar collar with lettuce.  All just so delicious, and so incredibly spicy.  As a first taste of the kind of fare that I could expect in Portland, this was perfect.

We tossed around a few ideas for where to get a burger for dinner the next night, and landed upon Biwa.  Tim had heard about this burger before, and it had gotten a great write-up from Nick Zukin as being one of the top 10 bistro burgers in Portland.  Other places weren't open when we wanted to go, and Biwa's burger sounded intriguing.  Now, Biwa is a Japanese restaurant in Southeast Portland that does not take reservations.  They have a limited amount of seating, and the place fills up really quickly.  We arrived at about 9:15 to make sure we could get a table, and ended up sitting at the bar, where we split a few appetizers to kill time.  By this point, we were starving, and the anticipation was killing us.  We watched as the chefs started to prepare the burgers almost immediately at 10pm.  Mouths watering.  When it arrived, the burger was a beauty to behold; the top bun placed off center to show off the Chasyu, pork belly that's been cured in various sauces, rolled up and sliced, and the dollop of Kimchi mayo, and the potatoes and pickled slaw on the side to complete the picture.


Cross section of the Biwa Hamburger

Now, this burger was cooked perfectly.  The above picture makes it a little difficult to tell because of the stark angle of the lighting, but believe you me, this was juicy with a deep red center that transitioned to pink towards the outsides.  The grind was extremely coarse, and the meat had definitely not been worked over, providing a perfectly crumbly texture with the fats and juices mixed all the way thru, and this was a super thick patty.  The bun was lightly toasted, just enough to provide a crunch, but still soft and absorbent.  A nice thickness too so that when it got to absorbing the juices, it didn't get all completely soaked, but still maintained some of its airy quality.

The kimchi aioli was light and perfect.  It didn't overwhelm the taste of the patty and added an awesome and intriguing slightly sour flavor.  The greens were a great bed upon which to lay the burger, though they seemed to only add texture, and not much in the way of flavor.  The Chasyu was a thin slice, fried, and crunchy.  It added a nice texture, is slightly salty, but I was torn between wanting a thicker piece for the usual soft texture that pork belly provides.  It definitely added to the overall richness of this burger, but the meat is no second contender to the Chasyu.  The meat flavor hits you in the first bite, and lasts til the end.

The potatoes on the side had mustard seeds, which are a nice and surprising texture, and flavor, when combined with the potatoes.  The slaw was made up of a few pickled items: carrots, onion and some kind of pepper.  It was very reminiscent of traditional Japanese tasting menus in that with its sharp flavors, it cleansed the palette in a fantastic way.  Eat a bite of these every few bites of the burger to re-experience your first bite in a whole new way.  And the fact that these sides aren't just a companion side, like fries, but are intended to compliment and change how you taste the burger is amazing.  Some real thought went into the flavor combinations and the presentation, making this burger well worth both the $8 and the wait til 10pm.




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

Sorry guys.  No post today.

But!  I've got two other blogs to tell you about.  Well, actually, both are tumblrs.  But!  Definitely worth checking out.

boatsy.tumblr.com
My good friend Norah is traveling with a theater company on a boat, performing, and she started a tumblr to post her musings and doings.  It's already one of the more interesting things I've been following in the short while since she started.

ramenlady.tumblr.com
My sister Vanessa has started a tumblr dedicated to Ramen... and other things.  She loves Ramen almost as much as she loves Bacon, which is about as much as I love burgers.  If you love Ramen, you'll want to check in on her tumblr for sure.

Hope you all are well.  I'm swamped right now, but will definitely be able to post next week!  In the meantime, enjoy these two new blogs!

Steak 'n Shake

Kissimmee, FL
www.steaknshake.com



The Order: *New* Royale Steakburger. A double with American Cheese, hickory-smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayo, and a fried egg.
Side Order: Comes with fries.
$4.99
Drink Order: Vanocolate Shake (Vanilla and Chocolate Side by Side Shake)
Burger Menu Rating: 9/15




Everyone has been talking recently about the new Steak 'n Shake that opened up its doors in NYC a few months ago. I wanted to go to see what all the rage was about, but somehow I just couldn't nail down a time to go. However, I found myself in Kissimmee, Florida, where there just so happens to be a Steak 'n Shake! It was a family trip, and everybody was gung-ho about going to go try their burgers. We actually made it over there twice in a week, just to be sure that we were really getting our money's worth.

The first thing to notice about these burgers is that they're not cooked to order, and they're thin patties. They're only served medium well. That, and the decor, combined with the fact that you order with a server, puts this place into the Fast/Casual category, but it really competes more with other fast food chains. So the burger came out medium well. It was cooked as advertised, but with this burger, it's not as much a detriment. I mean, when you're ordering a burger with thin patties like this, you're pretty much always going to get medium well/well done anyways, no matter how you order it. The problem, however, was the egg. It too was well done, and a detriment to the burger. It wasn't as flavorful as I hoped it would be, probably due to it's being cooked so long. The other ingredients came together nicely, with a satisfying crunch and a softness of the lightly toasted bun, though the mayo was barely discernible and the bacon was minimally there.

The fries are extremely thin, and not overcooked: shoe-string fries. I don't like shoe-string fries because they're just so tiny and not as satisfying as their larger cut brethren, but these were delicious, salty, and simple. I found myself eating a bunch at a time to make up for their puny size and they were gone too fast. It seemed like making the fries so small was a ploy to cover up how little you're getting.

Still, the meal, overall, was a good size, especially for the price. The fact that the burger and fries is only $4.99 is the best thing going for this place, followed by the sped of service, and then the variety. As an alternative to other fast food places, I'd say this is a really good one. I'd choose Steak 'n Shake over most other chains any day.




Not cooked to order: -1
Cooked correctly: 5
Design/Ingredients: 1
Plating: 1
Value: 3

Custom Burgers by Pat La Frieda and 67 Burger Redux

Queens, NY
www.lafrieda.com
www.yelp.com(reviews)



The Order: Single, with lettuce, tomato, pickle, grilled onions ($1), cheddar ($1), bacon ($1.5), and spicy garlic aioli.
Side Order: None
$4.75 + $1 + $1 + $1.5 = $8.25
Drink Order: Coke
Burger Menu Rating: 10.5/15




Who could be more excited than me to find out that Custom Burgers by Pat La Frieda happens to be in the same terminal from which I was flying out of NY?! Nobody. That's who. I mean, come on, Pat La Frieda provides the meat for some of the best burgers in the city, and the butcher/meat wholesaler is renowned for his custom blends and high quality meats. So a 'Fast Casual' burger place where you can customize your own burger, and the meat is guaranteed to be great quality? I'm sold. They had a few pre-designed burgers (Americana, Fat Cat, Southern Style, etc.), but the name of the place is CUSTOM Burgers... so I built my own.



So! The burger: tasty for a fast food type burger, but you can't get it cooked to order! For a place that cares about the quality of the meat, don't you think they would care that you could only get it medium/medium-well?! What a waste! They meat was on the dry side because of it. Also, the patty was strangely flat, though, with how it was put together, it had a fantastic texture, and extremely coarse grind. The spicy garlic aioli wasn't spicy at all, but added enough garlic flavor to at least be interesting. The bacon was a little soft, and undercooked, tough and not very flavorful. The bun was greasy, the same flavor and color as the bun at Shake Shack, but also added flavor and a texture that improved the overall mouthfeel. The other toppings were fresh, crisp and crunchy. They didn't split the bun, which made for awkward handling of the burger, and the presentation really left something to be desired. In such a swank terminal (and the entire Delta terminal at La Guardia is super nice), and in an eatery with such a good idea, you'd think it would be presented a little better. Actually, there was a HUGE lack of any employee presence in this place. You walk up to the counter and you order on a touch-screen terminal, then stand and wait for your burger, which is brought out from the back kitchen by.. someone. I mean, I know we're pretty technologically advanced and all, but it felt very standoffish and was a bit perturbing. I'd still come here again, despite the Overall, the burger was salty, pretty tasty, but not completely satisfying. Next time I'd go with the 'American' which is cheaper, and probably more worth it. Or I'd build my own American, and add the garlic aioli. Build your own single burgers start at $4.75.

The sides and shakes were a little pricy for me and I was looking for a light lunch, so I passed on them. They did look tasty though. Also, notice that this is the entrance to the kitchen, which is behind a wall of cows.




Not cooked to order: -1
Cooked correctly: 5
Design/Ingredients: 3
Plating: 1.5
Value: 2





So! Last Tuesday, 67 Burger in Park Slope offered a slider and beer pairing dinner orchestrated by head chef Jeff Maslanka. $20 for 20 ounces of beer (4 beers), and 20 ounces of burger (4 sliders - 3 meat, 1 veggie). That's a pretty sweet deal, and having already been to their Fort Greene location, I was eager to get a second opinion, and let me tell you, they did not disappoint. Joined once again by Mike and Vanessa, we snagged an 8pm seating, and were served within 10 minutes of sitting. Two of the managers each came by to see how we were doing, and explain the whole evening, plus give us a pairing menu.





But get this. Two representatives from Sixpoint Brewery were there serving us our beer, and explaining the notes about each beer, and why they were chosen to pair with each of the sliders. And then, Maslanka himself came by the table to explain the burgers and toppings, and to make sure we were all doing alright. Well, let me tell you, these burgers were delicious. The Italian Veggie burger, in fact, was fantastic (gasp!). I know! I know! What?! It's not a burger! It's a Veggie Patty Sandwich! Then there was their Greek burger, with feta, olive tapenade, and artichoke. It was perhaps my favorite of the bunch. 3rd was their 67 burger, with bacon and bleu cheese, but in slider form of course, and last was their Southwestern burger, which had roasted peppers, tomatoes, scallions, Chipotle mayo and pepperjack cheese.

They were seriously all delicious, AND, cooked a PERFECT medium rare. Maslanka, you get bonus points. But I think the best pairing was actually the 67 Burger and the Sixpoint Righteous Rye. The salty, sour and bitter tastes provided across the board really worked together to make it a difficult burger and beer to consume slowly. Enjoy the foodporn below!




The Greek Burger, cooked a pefect medium rare.


The quartet of burgers, face us is the Southwestern, to the left is the Italian Veggie and
to the right is the 67 burger.


Vanessa enjoys some fries, burgers and beers!


The Italian Veggie. Surprisingly delicious. I'm no convert, but I'd eat it again. Are you
happy, all you vegetarians out there?


Mike enjoying three burgers at once!

Bark Hot Dogs

Brooklyn, NY
www.barkhotdogs.com



The Order: Bark Cheeseburger, medium rare. Organic Angus beef, short rib and top round, pork jowl, bark sauce, b&b pickles, lettuce and onion.
Side Order: Fries ($3)
$6.25 + $3 = $9.25
Drink Order: 12oz Bark Red Ale (made by Sixpoint)
Burger Menu Rating: 12.5/15




You thought I was going full-blown Vegan?! No burgers, my lovelies, I will never abandon you. It was just an April Fools joke I swear. No, I didn't eat any vegetables behind your back. No I'll never do it again.

On a side note, in doing more reviews with the new rating system, I've noticed a flaw that I must rectify. Somehow, I gave the Plating category 4 points, when it really should have 3, and the Design/Ingredients category 3 when it should have 4. So I'm switching them. It'll allow more room for the burger itself to shine. Hope you like it. Previous reviews will not be edited. We (I) only look forward here at Burger Menu.



I know you're thinking 'but wait, this is a hot dog place,' and you're right to be hesitant, but this is a good burger! Not exactly cooked perfectly, they usually cook the burger medium well because of the pork in the meat, but they cooked it between medium rare and medium for me, so not bad. A simple burger but with great ingredients. The flavor of the meat is perfect in tandem with the sauce and the meat flavor still shines through. This is almost a fast food burger because of its size and taste, so it competes with the likes of Shake Shack in the Fast/Casual category (as it was put to me last night), in which it definitely holds it's own. I scarfed this thing down in a second, and I wasn't even starving.

The fries are perfect and well worth the three dollars. A good amount of fries, perfectly seasoned, these are thin crunchy AND soft fries. Cooked just the right amount to get that dichotomy of texture that fries need to have.

Bark does a $10 lunch deal which includes a burger, fries and a soda. They also do a dinner deal for $11 which includes a burger, fries and a draught beer. Not bad deals at all. Bark is definitely worth the price. They have a frequent eater card, aka the Bark Executive Card, which will get you rewards, like... eat 10 burgers get your 11th free (or something similar). They also sell growlers and will do growler refills of what they have on tap!




Cooked Correctly: 4.5/5
Design/Ingredients: 3/4
Plating: 2/3
Value: 3/3



Announcing! The first Burger Menu giveaway. I just bought a groupon for Prime Burger, recipient of the James Beard Award for "America's Classic Restaurants" and recipient of AOL City's Best "Top 10 Burgers". Up to 3 people can accompany me, which means I'm covering the tab! If you come with me, you get a burger, an order of fries, and a shake. FOR FREE! So. Who's coming with me? Well what I really need is more exposure for the blog. So! The first three people to email me proof that they've shared the blog with at least 5 people (hopefully these are new people), will get to come with me on this burger adventure (unfortunately, if you live outside of NYC, you're SOL, but perhaps another giveaway will be in YOUR city). All you have to do is email the link to this blog ( http://burgermenu.blogspot.com ) and cc me on the email ( theburgermenu@gmail.com ) and you're gold! Points to whoever writes the best writeup. Go!