Brooklyn Burger Bar

Hamburg, DE
www.brooklynburgerbar.de



The Order:  The Def Jam, medium rare. Beef with Fourme d'Ambert, Arugula, Beefsteak Tomato, and Bacon Marmalade.
Side Order:   Sweet Potato Fries, with Red Ranch Dip. Fried in Canola oil and tossed with sea salt and cayenne.
€10 + €4,50 = €14,50
Drink Order:  Pilsner Urquell
Burger Menu Rating:  9/15




I know what you were thinking. A new burger place in Brooklyn! Well you thought wrong. Sorry to disappoint. But for all you Germans reading this. YOU can be excited about a new burger joint in Hamburg! The new Brooklyn Burger Bar (the 2nd "NY Style" burger restaurant in Hamburg), from owner Steffen Schröder of Streit's Lounge, is doing some interesting things with their burgers, and with a dedication to sourcing locally, and making everything in-house, you can be sure that they care about their product. The buns are made by a local bakery that uses only organic ingredients for the buns, delivered fresh every day. The same goes for all the sauces they use. The beef is supplied from a distributor in the north of Germany. It's grass-fed and the cows are raised (somewhere) in the north of Germany as well.

As far as taste goes, this burger is doing something right, and something a little different, but it's really difficult to put my finger on it. The Fourme d'Ambert, one of the oldest French cheeses - a blue cheese - adds a nice musky flavor, but overall this burger is really salty, and it's salty to a point of distraction! Perhaps it was the bacon marmalade, which was delicious and added a nice texture that was slightly buttery but with big firm chunks in it. My experience with bacon in Germany has been that it's generally very salty, so perhaps the bacon and the amount of salt they used on the patty combined to overwhelm the rest of the flavors of the burger. That all being said, there were some other spices in play here that I couldn't exactly figure out. It was almost a combination of Middle Eastern spices, or some kind of curry powder on there as well. There was a distinct tang to the flavor of the meat that I was able to discern that had me very excited.


The Def Jam laid open.  Unfortunately overcooked to medium, instead of medium rare.

The other thing about this burger was that unfortunately as I ate my way from the center to the outside, it got less and less exciting. The patty was overcooked (-1) to begin with, but then it was also very unevenly cooked. Towards the edges, the patty became completely gray, dry and a bit tough (-1). This burger could have easily scored an 11/15 just by cooking this correctly.  Perhaps they didn't compress the center of the patty, and maybe the grill wasn't hot enough. Either way, the cooking of the patty could use some help here. Overall there's room for improvement on the burger. Being cooked correctly would be the first major order of business, and then balancing out the flavors would follow. If they can pull that off, they'll have one heck of a burger here.

The sweet potato fries and spicy ranch dip are pretty stellar. If you're reading this Steffen, PLEASE DON'T CHANGE ANYTHING ABOUT THEM! They were addicting and perfect. A tiny bit of smokiness, the right amount of salt and cayenne, and the ranch dip made these things impossible to put down. By the end of the meal, we were all full, but still chowing down on our healthy portions of fries. €4,50 is a bit steep for this side, but I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't pay for it every time I went there.


The Brooklyn Classic, with Romaine, Beefsteak Tomato, Red Onion, Pickles and Ketchup.

Aside from burgers, which dominate their food menu, Brooklyn Burger Bar also serves two salads, two other meat dishes (the chili sounds the most intriguing), and a boatload of delicious cocktails. We sampled a few that were all spectacular. Given Schröder's bar experience in Hamburg already, this is nothing less than should be expected from his new venture.

If you're planning on going here, plan on being disappointed. Not by their food. When we left were full, and satisfied. No, plan on being disappointed by the inability to get a table at this place. Two of us had to email and call multiple times to try to get a reservation. Here's an insider's tip: make sure you try to make the reservation at least two days in advance.  However, this isn't a guarantee that they'll actually write you back. Don't bother calling, and don't bother sending them an email like their answering machine tells you to. Send them a message through their Facebook account. It took them a full day and a half to write back to me to tell me they didn't have a reservation for me, by which point my friend had a reservation already (who wrote a day after I did).


If this doesn't say 'classy', I don't know what does.

On top of all of that, everybody in town is talking about 'the new burger restaurant on Alter Fischmarkt by the Scientology place' so don't expect to be able to walk in and get a table, or even a seat at the bar, unless MAYBE you get there right at 6pm when they open, and they're in a charitable mood.  They're swamped every single night, with every table booked.  If the masses are any indication, they're doing something right.  Granted the burger scene in Hamburg isn't much to speak about on the whole, but as they get settled get everything figured out, and if they can make some major, but easy, improvements, Brooklyn Burger Bar is sure to be a fixture in Hamburg for years to come.





Cooked Correctly:  3/5
Design/Ingredients:  2.5/4
Plating:  2/3
Value:  1.5/3

Ramen Burger

Brooklyn, NY (Smorgasburg)
www.facebook.com/RamenBurger



The Order:  A Ramen Burger, medium.  With cheese (white American), scallions, arugula and a secret sauce (Shoyu?), all on a ramen noodle bun.
Side order:  No sides available
$8 + $1 (cheese) = $9
Drink Order: Oi Ocha unsweetened Green Tea.
Burger Menu Rating:  11/15




My Ramen Burger journey began on August 1st, 2013, with Eataku's announcement that Keizo Shimamoto would be bringing his version of the Ramen Burger to Williamsburg on August 8th.  And what misfortune I had!  That morning, I would be flying out to Los Angeles for work!  I tried my best to enlist the help of various foodie friends in going to try this delicious burger, but to no avail.  Even my sister, Ramen Lady, couldn't go (she's taking a bit of a break from Ramen Blogging what with her son being recently born and all).  My mouth was watering and I couldn't get anybody to go.  And what a fail on my part!  It isn't often that I know of these momentous burger happenings BEFORE they happen, and yet I still couldn't get a guest blogger to go in my stead.  Alas.  What is the world coming to.

Over the next few months, I was thwarted at every turn.  It seemed that every Saturday from August til the middle of October, I was either working, or out of town working.  That is, until the morning of October 19th!  In reality, that day's expedition began the evening before.  I got back into town from Los Angeles a week early, and was using that time to go out and see friends.  That Friday Night, the 18th, my friends and I had tickets to go see Eric Prydz and Jeremy Olander spin at Hammerstein, but would I let that stop me from getting a Ramen Burger?!  No!!  There was no way in hell I was going to let a night of partying til past 4:00AM get in the way of me getting a burger, and having heard about the limited number of burgers being sold every weekend, I was determined to be there early enough to get a burger.


Look at all the fun I was having until VERY EARLY IN THE MORNING.


I dragged myself out of bed at 8:30 in the morning to get dressed and get over to Smorgasburg.  8:30 in the morning on a Saturday morning isn't so bad by itself, but after going to sleep at almost 5 in the morning it's a bit rough.


This is me after sleeping for almost NO HOURS.

I'd heard that the line at the Sun Noodle Lab stand would be long, and that there would only be a limited number of burgers, so getting there at about 9:30 in the morning, 1.5 hours before opening, seemed like a perfect time.  Right?  I mean, if you were craving this burger for months, and finally had ONE opportunity to go, wouldn't you want to make sure you didn't fuck it up?  Exactly.  So 1.5 hours was the PERFECT amount of time.  I got there so early that.. well... they hadn't actually started setting up their stand yet.


This is what victory looks like.  Somewhat desolate actually.


Keizo and his cadre began to set up their stand at about 10am.

At about 10:00 they began setting up there stand, and Keizo came over to me, asking if I was waiting for a Ramen burger.  There was a mixture of bemusement and disbelief on his face as I said that I was, in fact, waiting for one of his burgers.  He moved me over to where they formed the line, and THAT was when it dawned on me.  Not only was I DEFINITELY going to get a burger, but I was the FIRST in line that day.  So I could've definitely come a little later, but then I would've missed out on what happened to me only a little while later on.


Keizo, seasoning and cooking the burger patties.

I started to get very excited, though a bit confused, because by 10:30 or so, Keizo was cooking burgers and heating up Ramen buns.  There was no way they could be preparing these for the people they were going to be selling to.  At that point, there were only about 4 of us in line, and the stand wasn't supposed to open for half an hour!


Ramen buns warming on the grill.

To add to my confusion, it seemed like they were plating and taking lots of pictures of the burgers they were making.  Surely they'd done this back in August when they debuted the Ramen Burger?  And then they all huddle in a circle and at them!  The tyranny!  Then it hit me.  Something new must be going on here.  Then, 11:00 rolled around and Keizo came to talk to the line of people no waiting, probably about 30 of us).  He thanked us all for waiting, and told us that there was something new for us!  The first release in the US of Keizo's Ramen Burger with Cheese!  And I was going to be the FIRST TO GET ONE!!  Fuck yeah!  Getting up early totally rules!


This is me.  FIRST IN LINE, BITCHES! Also looking much happier than I was a few hours earlier.


The front table:  Prep and plating.

They pre-warm the bun and have all the ingredients fresh and ready to plate your burger in front of your eyes.  A big bunch of arugula, then the patty goes down, followed by the scallions and the sauce.


It was like Christmas morning.

Then the whole thing gets wrapped up in PleatPak, a nifty little eco-friendly recycled paper wrapper that forms a kind of cup and captures your burger juices and droppings.


Finally unwrapped out of its sultry sultry shell!

The burger is everything you hope and expect that it will be.  The Ramen bun held up well, and the burger overall was a fantastic mixture of Asian flavors.  The meat was a little too tightly packed, and was cooked Medium as a standard, both detriments to this burger's score, but the scallions, sauce and ramen came together for something altogether different and interesting.  The mouthfeel alone is worth it.  The bun was firm but soft and pliable, and the juices helped to soften and keep the bun warm.  The other ingredients are fresh, and add bursts of flavor in every bite.  Everything, that is, except for the white American Cheese.  As far as cheeses go, American cheese doesn't really excite in anyways.  It's got a bit of a pasty mouthfeel, and doesn't particularly add any flavor to the burger, especially when the other ingredients have such strong and distinct flavors.  Perhaps if this was a cheese with a bit of a sharper flavor profile, it would be worth the extra $1, but considering the price of American cheese in any supermarket, what you're getting is worth much less than the extra $1.

The whole burger is actually a bit reminiscent of "The Anime" burger from Go Burger a while back, although that was a completely different kind of richness (pork belly?! mmmmm).  This burger is much more simple.  Refined and elegant in its use of ingredients.  Would I go on a Ramen Burger journey again?  Yes.  Would I go again at 9:30 in the morning after partying all night?  No.  Would I go for the cheese again?  No.  But all in all this was a very good burger.  And while all the other 'substitute-bun' burgers are trying to gain their place in America's stomachs (is it just me, or does the "Mac-Attack Burger" look disgusting in EVERY picture), this is one burger that isn't just a fad.  It's here to stay.





Cooked Correctly:  4/5 (no choice - medium)
Design/Ingredients:  3/4
Value:  2/3 (3/3 without cheese)
Plating:  2/3

Goodburger

Manhattan, NY
www.goodburgerny.com



The Order:  Classic (1/3 lb) medium rare. No cheese, 'the works' (lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, ketchup, mustard, mayo).
Side Order: Fries (2.99 - Combo add soda and fries for 4.36)
$6.43 + $2.99 = Drink Order:  Mountain Dew
Burger Menu Rating: 8/15




First of all. Pepsi?! C'mon Goodburger!  Get with the times!  Pepsi's whole "Blind Taste Test" thing was a sham!  I don't know a single person that likes Pepsi over Coca Cola!  Not a single one!  Anyways, I've walked past the Goodburger locations many a time and figured I should go here at least once.  You know.  Because, the 90s.  I mean.. Welcome to Goodburger.  Home of the Goodburger.  Can I take your order?  I was working near the location on 8th Avenue near 57th, and had just enough time at a lunch break to go over and get a burger.

I tried to order a single goodburger (1/4 lb) medium rare.  The hostess said that I could only get that particular burger cooked to medium well, but that I could get the Classic (1/3 lb) cooked medium rare. Okay! Good call hostess. With the works? Okay! No cheese, it doesn't come with cheese. But you can add cheddar for $0.69 if you really want to.



The slanted grill a la George Foreman.

They cooked the burger on a slanted grill so the grease runs off. Good? Bad? Healthier?  You decide. My burger was still awesomely juicy, though slightly past med rare. -1 point!  The patty also wasn't packed and worked too much, which is always a good sign!  Their patties are made from 100% Hereford beef, hand-ground and cut into patties at Goodburger's offsite prep facility and then the patties, along with all the other ingredients, are delivered to each facility each morning.


Cooked a little past medium rare.

They definitely cooked the burger to order.  I love that, even though it wasn't perfect.  And even though this place feels like a fast food joint, the toppings were fresh, and they started cooking at the time of my order.


Super fresh ingredients!

They also didn't completely overdo it with the sauces.  Even though there was a small amount of sauciness, there still wasn't very much burger meat taste.  Still, this is a decent pedestrian burger, especially with how juicy it was.

The fries were pretty good. Small cut, some were extremely salty, and others were incredibly bland. They need to toss them a little better when seasoning the fries. You do however get a ton of fries in that bag.  As far as a fast food burger goes, I'd definitely choose a local chain like Goodburger over a larger national chain such as McDonalds, etc.




Cooked Correctly: 4/5
Design/Ingredients: 1.5/4
Plating: 1/3 - Branded, but with paper plates
Value: 1.5/3 - A good size for the price.

Plan Check Kitchen + Bar

Los Angeles, CA
www.plancheck.com



The Order:  Chefs Favorite Burger, medium rare.  With cheese two ways, bacon two ways, ketchup leather, sunny fried egg, and hot sauce.
Side Order:  Sweet Potato Waffle Fries cooked in with Peach Ketchup.
$13 + $6 = $19
Drink Order:  Ballast Point Sculpin IPA
Burger Menu Rating:  14/15




I've finally done it!  After a year of trying and waiting and not having time to go.  After all of the times I've been in LA this year alone (three times!!).  After hoping and wanting to try this burger since April and not being able to try it.  I finally got to go on Monday night, and it was all kinds of delicious.

If you've read my review of Umami Burger then you know I was never too impressed with the burgers there.  They were solid burgers, but not worth all the hype that surrounded the then LA-based establishment.  But there was definitely something there that was worth building upon and as soon as I'd heard in April 2012 that Ernesto Uchimura had split with Umami and opened a new place touting an amazing burger, I was optimistic.  Then the reviews started coming out and friends started going to eat the burgers.  I knew I had to go there.

To be clear, there are two burgers that are worth trying here.  There's the Plan Check Burger, which is Uchimura's unique take on a regular diner-style burger.  The ingredients are all the same, but they're all jazzed up in a way with new textures and tangy flavors to excite your taste buds.  This is all from a few friends that have been there as repeat customers to get their burger fix.

The second burger to try is the Chefs Favorite Burger, which is something new and amazing alltogether.  The ingredients aren't anything new here either, but the flavor combinations all work in tandem creating something rich and amazing.  A perfect mashup of salty and sweet ingredients work to make this burger one you're sure to remember.


Well plated, this is a good looking burger meal.

First the salty:  The meat was cooked perfectly and was extremely juicy, with a perfect fat distribution.  Not over-handled, the meat was crumbly and a great slightly less than medium grind.  In the first bite, there were so many flavors, but the thing that really stood out was the meat taste.  Even with all the other toppings competing with the burger patty, the patty was seasoned in such a way that the slightly coppery beefy flavor was still the focus.

Then there were the bacons and the cheeses.  You'll have noticed that there were two cheeses AND two bacons on this burger.  The bartender was kind enough to describe the differences between the two cheeses and the two bacons for me.  The fried cheese crisp was a custom hand-mixed Americanized Dashi Cheese recalling both the sweetness of cheddar and the savory flavors of seaweed and mushrooms (the Umami for which Uchimura has made his burger name).  The other cheese was a soft bacon cheese, more akin to a spread than anything else.  Then there was a strip of regular bacon on the burger, and one strip of candied bacon.  These were laid out in the standard fast-casual X configuration on the burger so that at times I was tasting either the salty bacon or the sweet bacon, or the one or two amazing bites from the middle in which I got both.  Not only did these ingredients provide their own balanced and exciting tastes to the mix, but they offered a substantial amount of texture as well.  Not too hard or too soft, but just the right amount of resistance, snap and crunch in every bite.

Then there was the sweet counterpart: the ketchup leather and the bun.  The ketchup leather was sweet and tangy, a bright red sauce lathered onto the bottom of the burger so the flavors were able to contend with the myriad salty ingredients.  It hit my tongue like a hurricane, enveloping it in rich flavor before mingling with it's compatriots.  Then there was the bun.  Perfect for sopping up all the juices and dense enough to hold it all together, all with a little bit of sweetness to the bun.  And top top the sweet flavors off, the candied bacon's sugary coating would pop through every once in a while and give my taste buds the old razzledazzle.

All of these ingredients worked together magically, but let's not forget about the fried egg.  How many times have I reviewed burgers that looked promising and had a fried egg on top, only to discover that the egg has negligently been overcooked and thrown on top of a burger to which it added almost nothing?  A lot!  But this egg was cooked over easy so the yolk oozed and dripped out onto the rest of the burger as I ate it.


The waffle fries.  A good portion, but lackluster.

As for the side I got, the Sweet Potato Waffle Fries were tasty, but a little underwhelming.  The beef tallow doesn't add as much flavor to the dish, which is unfortunate.  They were a little under-salted or under-seasoned, which is probably because of the beef tallow's inclusion, but especially when dipped in the pear ketchup, the overall flavor was just too sweet.  The pear ketchup, as the bartender put it, was 'like crack' and tasted fantastic, but it would be better served on a fried chicken biscuit sandwich, or something that is inherently salty.

Overall the service was fast and very friendly.  From ordering to eating, the burger was only about 10 minutes, if that much.  The bartender was extremely helpful and personable, and pointed out Uchimura to me when I asked.  Uchimura is in the restaurant most nights of the week, unless he's out working on the other two soon-to-open locations in Los Angeles.  I have to say that I was a bit of a fanboy and totally clammed up when I introduced myself to Uchimura.  Burger Blogger Fail.  The same happened to me when I met Kenji Lopez-Alt.  To his credit, Uchimura was super nice, and very appreciative of my stammering compliments.  One day I won't make a fool of myself!  One day.  Until that day, I hope Uchimura knows he's created a fantastic burger.  Watchout there Stout.  This is definitely a contender for my LA #1.




Cooked Correctly:  5/5
Design/Ingredients:  3.5/4 - Waffle Fries were lackluster
Plating:  3/3
Value:  2.5/3

The Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridien

Manhattan, NY
www.parkermeridien.com/eat4.php



The Order:  Cheeseburger, medium rare.  With 'The Works' (lettuce, tomato, onion, sliced pickles, ketchup, mayo, mustard).
Side Order:  Fries $3.90
$8.04 + $3.90 = $11.94
Drink Order:  Sam Adams Boston Lager
Burger Menu Rating:  8.5/15




Walking into Le Parker Meridien from their 56th avenue entrance, you're greeted with large columns, marble floors, tall ceilings, and a wall of mirrors.  Nothing to suggest that there's a secret burger restaurant tucked away.  Of course, if you've heard anything about The Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridien, as a lot of people have, this is nothing new.  But there still is that excitement of the first time going, as if you don't believe it's really going to be there.  When you walk in, it's a large quiet, echo-filled hall and as you look around for the tell-tale neon sign that quietly marks the entrance to The Burger Joint, you begin to hear faint, muffled rock music.  And suddenly you see the sign.  It's real!  It's not some big practical joke that hundreds of thousands of previous would be patrons are in on.


I saw the sign... and it... opened up my eyes..

You walk down the corridor.  The music gets louder, and the lighting dimmer, until you turn the corner and BAM!, you're inside the mythical place.  A divey burger-bar hidden in the lobby of a swanky hotel.  Where do I learn the secret handshake?  A tip of the hat to the marketing geniuses behind this one.  My interest was piqued from the get-go.  And now to have my expectations filled.

When you get in line, and there's always a small line that moves quickly, you notice a dimly lit, cardboard, and hand-written sign that states the rules of this particular burger joint.  Any patrons of Pat's, in Philadelphia, already know the drill - know exactly what you want before you get up to the register, or you will be sent to the back of the line.  Ahead of me, a couple of tourists.  They clearly haven't read the sign as they get up to the top and the somewhat annoyed and taciturn lady taking orders tells everyone in line behind them to come on up and skip them.  Time is obviously being wasted here.  I step right up and order with confidence.  My only question: where the hell is the drink list?  Oh.  It's this tiny little other hand-written sign that also spells out exactly how much everything costs.  HOLY SHIT.  This is going to be more expensive than I thought.  $8 for a cheeseburger?!  At this little dive?!  I have to remind myself I'm in a swanky hotel and the theme of The Burger Joint is just a facade.  So I cough up the $18+ dollars for a burger, fries and a beer and am lucky to find an unoccupied stool in this tiny place.


Similar rules to Pat's in Philadelphia.

The orders fly out of the kitchen at breakneck speed.  Another woman behind the counter, who is also clearly 'over it', shouts out name after name.  When she gets to mine, I leap up and am quickly in front of the counter.  But even while I'm standing there, quickly snapping a picture, albeit a very poor one, of the small menu, my name continues to be shouted across the room.  She hasn't looked up, or heard me say "that's me!" to her repeatedly, so finally I have to lean over the counter, wave my hand and reach for the oil-soaked paper-wrapped packages of delicious goodness.

Sitting down, I ripped open the sopping brown bag of fries and unwrapped the burger to reveal what I've been waiting for.  The burger wasn't smooshed, but slightly askew, revealing the myriad ingredients stacked on this burger.  I would have loved to have been able to say that 'this was clearly done on purpose so when the burger is unwrapped you can see everything this burger has to offer' but it was more clear, because of the speed of the chefs, that this was quickly and haphazardly slammed together in an effort to move the burgers out of the kitchen as fast as humanly possible.  That being said, the burger was only SLIGHTLY askew.  The kitchen here, it seems, is a fairly well-oiled machine.


At first it seemed a perfect medium rare.  But alas, I was deceived.

The burger at the middle was a pretty perfect medium rare and the patty was fairly thick.  Both good signs and great to see, especially at such a talked-about restaurant.  But that was definitely not the case across the entire patty.  After the first three or four bites from the center, the meat quickly lost it's vibrant pink and took on a more gray color (Please forgive the bad pictures.  This was a spur of the moment visit.).  The flavor of the meat was fairly present, but only really towards the edges of the burger.  However, the culprits here seemed to be the other ingredients, rather than the patty itself.  While the crunch of the lettuce, tomato, onion and pickle revealed fresh, tasty ingredients, the amount of sauce on the burger was a bit overwhelming, lending the taste of the entire burger to the tangy flavors of ketchup and less to the balanced, or beef-driven flavors I've grown accustomed to in high end burgers.

And then the fries.  What a disappointment!  It had been a long time since I'd eaten fries that were so oily that I couldn't continue eating them before I'd gotten halfway through.  With almost no salt, or other seasoning, to speak of, these fries were almost tasteless, and totally unsatisfying.  Only by dipping every single fry into ketchup could I eat any more of them.

If you remove the hype surrounding the 'secrecy' of this tiny little burger joint, What we're left with is a normal, diner-style, cheeseburger that, while being tasty, a decent amount of food, and made with quality ingredients, is only barely worth the price tag.  It's not a problem of the ingredients, but a problem of execution.  The meat wasn't perfectly cooked and the sauce was overpowering.  For that kind of price, I expected a little bit more effort.  Perhaps, though, my expectation had gotten too high with the excitement of finding out about The Burger Joint's secret location.  There's no doubt that this was a good, even above-average burger, but for my part, it didn't deserve the top ten NYC rankings.  Do I feel duped?  No.  Did I learn the secret handshake?  No.  But I am full, and the kid in me is still grinning about being let into the club.




Cooked Correctly:  4/5
Design/Ingredients:  2.5/4
Plating:  .5/3
Value:  1.5/3

Ramen Burgers wow at Smorgasburg

I heard about this last week and I was so bummed when I realized that my flight to Los Angeles was AT THE EXACT SAME TIME they were selling these new culinary oddities.  Apparently they were worth the wait, so hopefully they'll be worth the even longer wait of WHO KNOWS WHEN THEY'LL BE SELLING THEM AGAIN?!  To those of you who I told to go, and didn't - you know who you are - feast your eyes on this write-up from Gothamist.com.

Did anybody else go?  I want to hear all the juicy details!

The Morrison Pub

Los Angeles, CA
themorrisonla.com



The Order:  The Morrison Filet Burger, medium rare.  Port salut, celeriac remoulade, a 3oz filet mignon, and marrow butter on an English muffin.
Side Order:  Comes with fries.
$16
Drink Order:  Sweetgrass APA
Burger Menu Rating:  10/15




In February, when I was in Los Angeles, I visited a new burger joint.  I actually visited a few, but one of them was more exciting than the others, and that was The Morrison.  Alex Kagianaris, the Executive Chef of Stout, my favorite Los Angeles burger joint, is also the Executive Chef at The Morrison, a new upscale Scottish pub in the Atwater Village area of Los Angeles.  For those of you who don't know anything about Stout, read my review from 2011.  After you do you'll see why I had such high expectations for the burger at this new gastropub.

I'd managed to strike up a conversation with the person running their twitter who recommended their burger up and down, with whom I was able to set up a tour of the kitchen, and an in depth look at their Morrison Filet Burger.  When I got there, I was welcomed by Brian, the General Manager, who made sure I was well at home and who also shares an extreme love for burgers.  He gave me the rundown on the place and made sure I could get into the kitchen for this review.  To Brian, I must apologize for the tardiness of this post and hope he'll forgive me.

First of all.  They put a steak... on the burger.  That should tell you a little something about what to expect when going to eat this monster.  Rich, big, and decadent: there's a lot going on in this burger.  The patty is a custom blend of 40% brisket to 60% chuck from a local provider.  The brisket makes for a slightly leaner burger, but gives you a hearty beef flavor in every bite.


Getting a good sear on both sides of the patty.

Each burger is seared on both sides, then a huge chunk of marrow butter is added to it,while the patty cooks to temperature.  Adding the marrow butter after searing lets the butter melt down all over the patty and keeps it from completely cooking off, so the bone marrow flavor was really present.  Then, the Port Salut (the cheese) is placed on top of the burger, while the Filet Mignon is cooked.


The filet mignons cook while the Port Salut melts on top of the patties.

Unfortunately, the piece of steak is super thin,and cooked well done instead of medium rare.  To be fair, I didn't think to try to order the steak cooked to medium rare also, but I figured that if I ordered the burger medium rare, the whole thing would be cooked that way.  The English muffins are then toasted and the stacking begins.


They begin the stacking with the celeriac remoulade.


Then add the burger and steak combo.


All your burgers in a line.

First of all, the custom burger meat blend is a good one.  I was skeptical at first, but brisket has such a distinct flavor and it really made the beef flavor stand out.  With every bite, the patty just kept on delivering a fantastic combination of meaty goodness and marrow butter.  I don't know who first created marrow butter, but I'd like to shake his/her hand.  Maybe also a high-ten just to drive the point home.


Sadly, my burger was undercooked.  Rare instead of medium rare.

While the patty was so delicious, it was undercooked, coming out rare instead of medium rare.  And the steak was disappointing as well.  It added very little to the burger except for a textural element.  There didn't seem to be enough seasoning on the steak to really bring out that flavor, especially with filet mignon being such an excellent cut of meat when handled correctly.  When added to such a delicious burger patty, the excess meat became a detriment to the burger, rather than adding interest with a contrasting flavor and texture.


The celeriac remoulade was super tasty, but couldn't stand up to the other flavors.

The celeriac remoulade was delicious and had a fantastic texture on its own.  It was such an interesting ingredient to find on the menu, but, when put on the burger, I ended up wishing that it had a stronger flavor to balance against the bone marrow and the meat.  Perhaps there just wasn't enough of it on my burger, or maybe the flavor just wasn't strong enough, but it left me wishing for more of that delicious topping to cut through and compliment the other flavors.  The Port Salut, a cow's milk cheese, had the same issue.  On its own, it had a great mild flavor, but to make it on this burger, something with a bit more attitude would have been more appropriate.  Points for using different elements that aren't generally found on burgers, but some more experimentation with the toppings and their interaction would have been good here.


Deliciously seasoned golden deliciousness.

The fries were delicious.  That's probably all I need to say.  They were a medium size cut, salted and spiced to perfection, and left me wanting more.  The fries were tasty on their own, but when dipped into the burger juice drippings, there was no way I was going to have any left over after the meal.  But watch out.  Other burgers on the menu don't come with fries, and if you want them, you'll be slammed with paying for a $6 side dish.

The best part of our meal wasn't the burger, or the fries, or even the beer.  It was the dessert.  The bread pudding at The Morrison is phenomenal and not to be missed (sorry no picture!).  It's the best I've ever had and the best in Los Angeles, as agreed upon by others who've stumbled upon the pub.  There were lots of edge pieces, so there was a fantastic texture both soft and crunchy, and when mixed with the vanilla ice cream, it was an explosion of rainbows and unicorns in my mouth.  I might actually just go there for one of these.

When put together, this is a beautiful burger and it ends up being a huge tower of gorgeous meaty goodness.  I mean, for $16, you'd hope that it would be pretty big right?  While this burger is good, however, it, sadly, is not all it's cracked up to be.  The quality and freshness of the ingredients, with the appeal of saying that you ate a burger AND a steak at the same time, makes this worth the visit once.  On the whole, it was still a tasty burger, but it lacked balance, and for the price tag, you should be able to expect to eat something that was really going to wow your taste buds.  I'd still choose the burgers at Stout over this one.




Cooked Correctly:  4/5
Design/Ingredients: 2/3
Plating:  3/3
Value:  1/3