Eat, Play, Run

New York: Bill's Bar and Burger

I've heard so much about Bill's Bar and Burger over the past month, it was a given that I would drop by on my trip to New York. On consecutive days, I had ate burgers for lunch at Shake Shack, DB Bistro Moderne and finally, Bill's.

Maybe it wasn't fair visiting Bill's after having two of my favorite burgers in the world, but I was mildly disappointed with the Bill's burger. It wasn't a bad burger. The $6 was well spent, but it wasn't the game-changer I had been expecting.

The burger is very reminiscent of Corner Bistro. The meat is very fresh and tastes homemade. Meaning it's good, pure ground beef. I don't think it's a mixture of meats. It appears to be just ground beef.

Where it differs from Corner Bistro is the way the burger is actually prepared. I asked if I should order it medium or medium-rare, and the server said that because of the way the make them, they're all pretty much medium. They smash the burger against the grill, flattening the patty. I'm not sure of the physics behind it, but somehow smashing the patty doesn't chase all the juices away.

The bun is rather boring. I don't mind American cheese, but I do wish it was melted.

Overall, not bad, but not great either. However, if you're in the Meatpacking District and craving a burger, this one kicks the crap out of Pop Burger.

DB Bistro Moderne: Best Burger Ever

I've seen a million burgers, and I've rocked them all. And this burger, the Original DB Burger, is flat out the best burger I've ever eaten.

It's a sirloin burger stuffed with braised short ribs and foie gras, served on a parmesan bun. I ordered it medium, which was perfect.

The burger is drip-down-your-arms-as-you-bite juicy. The flavor is real nice. The short ribs and foie gras bring good flavor and texture.

The burger is served with fantastic french fries. Nice and crisp on the outside and smooth and light in the middle.

Obviously, I truly loved this hamburger. Oh, did I mention it was $33? Seriously, it's worth every penny.

New York: Shake Shack

Had lunch at the Upper West branch of Shake Shack. Contemplated heading down to Madison Square Park, but the weather is crap... rainy, windy and a little chilly. Shake Shack makes the best fast food burgers. Ever. In-N-Out may come close, but it doesn't touch the Shack.

I had a Double Shack, fries and a chocolate shack. So good. Did I mention that my diet is only in effect in the state of Washington? I didn't? Well, now you know...

New York: DBGB

Daniel Boulud is one of the most celebrated chefs in this country. But, I gotta say, I've been to two of his restaurants and neither blew me away. About a year ago, I tried Bar Boulud and thought it was pretty good, but not worth the hype.

On Tuesday night, Laura and I tried out the recently opened DBGB. DBGB is a downtown "low brow" bistro from a high end chef. Located on the Bowery, it's just two blocks from the original location of the seminal punk rock venue CBGB, so the name is pretty cute.

We started with a truly great crab cake. I enjoyed this crab cake more than the crab cakes at the Dahlia Lounge. It's a light crab cake bursting with crab. It's served with a fantastic curry sauce on the side. If you visit DBGB, this is a must order.

In just a couple of months, DBGB is already known for its sausages. I wanted to try the spicy blood/pig's head sausage, but Laura wanted nothing to do with it, so we went with a more standard pork sausage called the Chipolata. It's served over pommes mousseline, which are essentially a light (airy) version of mashed potatoes. The sausage and potatoes were quite good.

My issue with DBGB was with my burger. I ordered the "Frenchie," a $17 burger served with confit pork belly, arugula and a tomato-onion compote on a brioche bun. Even though the burger came out a perfect medium-rare, it still seemed a little dry. The taste of the beef was fine, but it wasn't spectacular. For $17 and coming from Daniel Boulud, I really expected something special.  This burger did not deliver. The fries were pretty good, but I wish they were a little crispier.

Maybe I expected too much, because overall, the food was very good, but I can't help but be a little disappointed by DBGB.

New York: Five Guys

Visited President Obama's favorite burger joint, Five Guys tonight with Glenn, Margaret and Karen. When I lived here, we would meet up a couple of times a month for dinner. Nice to have the gang back together.

Five Guys serves up "doubles" as their standard, but you can order a "Junior" if you only want a single patty. They also offer up pretty much every condiment you can think of, gratis. I kept it pretty simple tonight, though. I had the Bacon Cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, pickles, mayo and ketchup.

The burgers here really are very good. They also serve excellent fries. And lots of them. Between the four of us, we had three orders of fries. We threw away about an order and a half. I can't imagine anyone ever eating an entire order of fries by himself/herself.

I'd say Five Guys is the east coast version of In-N-Out. Now that Obama has given them national acclaim, I wonder if they'll move west...

New York: Bar Artisanal

While in New York, my friend Laura scored us a reservation at Bar Artisanal, a new French Bistro-styled restaurant from Chef Brennan. Physically, the restaurant is in a really cool Tribeca space (click image to enlarge).

The food here is all top notch. Known for their cheeses, we actually dove straight into small plates and the main courses.

Our amuse bouche was grilled cheese bites. Yep, these are just quarters of a grilled cheese sandwich. Perfectly cooked, though, using three cheeses, these little bad boys had me wishing we would've ordered more.

For an appetizer we had Blue Prawns, served simply with garlic, olive oil and hot pepper. This is easily something I could make, will make. So simple, yet so full of flavor. Definitely on the spicy side. If you're adverse to hot foods, this may be too much for you. 

Next, we had an arugula salad, served with burrata cheese and caponata. I'm not sure I had ever had caponata, and I honestly didn't know what I was eating. At it's root, it's eggplant and olives. Though I don't especially like olives, I found it to be really good. 

OK, onto the main dishes. Laura ordered the hamburger and fries. I'll start with the fries. They're modeled after McDonald's fries, and they pull them off splendidly. Let's face it, McDonald's fries are the best in the world. These aren't that good, but they're pretty damn close. The burger itself was exquisite! Greasy, sloppy goodness. If I ever return here, I have to say, I'll probably order one for myself. Truly, one of the best burgers I've had in NYC.

I had the steak tartar. I don't order steak tartar often, but this is the best I've ever had. The only issue I had with it is that I wish there was more of it. The serving was about the size of a standard hamburger patty.

Finally, we each ordered desserts. Laura went with the cheese panna cotta, which is served with roasted rhubarb and strawberries. I love the texture of panna cotta and this one didn't let me down. It's ultra smooth. The roasted fruit was also interesting (in a good way), though the rhubarb was a bit tart for my taste.

The other dessert we had was truly great. It was a chocolate mousse. But not just any chocolate mousse. It was chocolate mousse, with a thin layer of hazelnut crunch and coffee granita, topped with chocolate foam. What made this dessert so special was the light, smoothness of the mousse and foam combined with the crunch of the hazelnut and course texture of the granita. This dessert is a chocolate lovers dream. Even if you don't eat at Bar Artisanal, you need to go to the bar and order this dessert.

Food Fight NY: The Double Shack vs. The Double Stack

Y'all know how much I love my Shake Shack. On my last trip to New York I went twice. But, on my second visit, I tried something new.

The Double Shack, a burger with two patties, lettuce, tomato, cheese and the secret Shack sauce is divine. For the money, the best burger I've ever had. But, the Double Stack, which adds the vegetarian option of a deep fried portobello mushroom stuffed with cheese to a Shack Burger has always tempted me.

So, how is the Double Stack? Well, I'll answer it this way. I won't be ordering another one. While the taste and execution are fine, it's just too much... both in size and flavor. A single "veggie" burger from Shake Shack is enough to give you a stomach ache. The portobello mushroom is huge, and the melted cheese on the inside seems to go on forever. It's a serious gut bomb. Add a burger patty and it's just too much. For the first time ever, I couldn't finish a hamburger.

The other issue is the taste. I love the flavor of the beef mix at the Shack. Unfortunately, the stuffed mushroom overpowers the taste of the burger. 

In the head to head competition of the Double Stack vs. the Double Shack... Double Shack wins in a knockout.

Ballard: Lunchbox Laboratory

I've tried many a great burger in my day. My favorites tend to be low-brow... Shake Shack in NY and In-and-Out in LA. On the upscale side, I really like the burger at NY's Spotted Pig.

Here in Seattle, the burger choices aren't that great. In fact, I may just have to try them all. Over three years in New York, I probably tried 20 different hamburgers, from as diverse places as Bobby Flay's Bar Americain (surprisingly, not that good) to the vending machine at Bamn! in the East Village (surprisingly, not that bad).

It's been about five years since my last Red Mill burger, so this may change, but for now, I say Lunchbox Laboratory has the best burgers in the city. I've tried two different types, the beef patty w/truffle mayo and bacon and the dork (duck/pork) patty with bacon and cheddar. Both are outstanding.

This weekend's outing was my intro into dork. Somehow, the duck/pork just works. The patty holds together nicely and gaminess really gives the burger a distinct flavor. It was cooked perfectly. The one negative to the burger, and this is true of the beef burger I recently tried, is that it's a tad salty. Next time I'll try it sans bacon to see if that makes a difference.

I ordered the burger with tater tots. Old school excellent tots. I could eat those little nuggets of goodness all day long.

Lunchbox Laboratory is not cheap. The average burger with fixins will run you around $13. Is it worth it? I say, Hell yes!

Skillet

Following @skilletstfood on Twitter, I knew I had to have the duck tacos prior to a Mariners. Unfortunately, the guy in front of me ordered the last tacos! I was crushed. The disappointment must've shown on my face because the woman taking the orders gave me my blackberry lemonade for free.

Being a big fan of burgers, I got over duck tacos pretty quickly. And what a burger it was. The beef tasted very fresh, the bun excellent and the toppings were great. Honestly, I didn't know what I was actually eating until I got home: grass fed beef, cambozola cheese, arugula,bacon jam on a brioche roll. I'm not sure I've ever had cambozola, but it's the perfect cheese for a burger. It's like a mild gorgonzola, with a smoother consistency.

The french fries are some of the best I've had in Seattle. The blackberry lemonade could've been a bit more tart.

Overall, the Skillet truck is definitely worth tracking down.

Kirkland: The Slip

I left work to a beautiful, sunny Friday evening. Instead of heading home, I grabbed a bus and my friend in Kirkland at small cafe on the water called The Slip.

The Slip is known for their burgers, but I was actually leaning towards a salad, as I'm planning on a pretty hard tomorrow. In the end, though, after very little convincing... OK, all my friend had to say was "try the peanut butter hamburger," I went burger.

The peanut butter hamburger contains only four ingredients, 100% beef patty, bun, bacon and peanut butter. The meat is pretty ordinary, in this case, slightly overcooked. It's then topped with bacon and large spread of peanut butter. The combination is heavenly! The peanut butter on the bacon/hamburger is a fantastic combination. Before you "blech," I'm sure you've had a Thai peanut sauce over chicken or beef. Same concept here.

Again, I wasn't all that impressed with the actual beef patty, but this hamburger proves once again that everything is better with bacon... and peanut butter.