Category Archives: Burgers

American, Burgers, Press Reviews, Pub Food, Restaurant Reviews, West Village

The Malt House

December 29, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I came to this cool village joint for a press dinner.

The interior is like an old world tavern, with lots of exposed brick, warm tones and wood beams on the ceiling.

The beer selection is really great, both on tap and in bottles/cans.

Chef Armando cut his teeth at STK and Five Napkin Burger before taking on the executive chef role at both this Malt House location and the newly opened, massive Financial District location.

The bar room is really well apportioned, with an L-shaped stretch that also has some tabletop seating nearby. At happy hour they offer nice food selections and cheap drink options, along with dollar oysters! There’s also a full menu at the bar for the other eats, and they offer flights of beer (four for $10), American whiskey and Scotch whisky.

Here’s what we had on our press tasting:

All the apps came out on a big platter, with the exception of the mussels, of course:

The onion rings had a nice bacon flavor to them. They were fluffy without being too bready, and the onion inside was cooked through.

The baked, fried and grilled wings were excellent – the best of the “fried stuff,” for sure. They had a mild buffalo spiced roquefort sauce on them, but that didn’t take away any of the crisp to the skin.

One of the more unique items on the menu is the fried cheese curds. You just don’t see them all that much around here. They were like small bite-sized bits of “cheese sticks,” only less melty and more airy and bready.

The fried pickles were crispy as hell! They were sliced paper thin first, and then battered and fried. These went nicely with the homemade ranch sauce.

The ranch sauce, by the way, was the best of the three sauces we had (the other two: a house sauce that was similar to thousand island, and a chipotle mayo).

The star of the openers, however, was the crock of mussels that were steamed in a sauce made from roasted tomatoes, chorizo, garlic, herbs (rosemary, for one) and white wine. Delicious.

Chef Armando hits back to back home runs with the burger and the mahi mahi tacos when it comes to the entrees.

The burger is a blend of short rib, chuck and brisket that makes for a tender, juicy and superbly flavorful patty of beef. Topped with onion marmalade, pickles, bacon, lettuce, red onion and cheese, you really can’t go wrong.

The fries on the side, however, were a little bit lacking in comparison to the incredible burger. Not as crispy as I like, and a little heavy on the grease flavor. The truffle fries had a better crisp to them, but I didn’t get much of the truffle flavor, and they were cut a little thicker than I like for French fries.

The tacos are super refreshing, with really nicely cooked fish and fresh ingredients. I’d definitely go back for these.

We seriously tasted an astonishing amount of food on this press event. Next was the open-faced strip steak sandwich on a French baguette, topped with melty gruyere, red onion and arugula.

The steak was pre-sliced but thick, making it good for the open-faced, knife-and-fork format.

The lobster mac and cheese was topped with a generous portion of lobster claw and tail meat, and it had the flavor of truffle oil to bring some earthiness into the dish.

We even tried a salad with grilled chicken. Pretty good. It was nicely dressed and the chicken breast was perfectly cooked.

For dessert, we sampled both the creme brûlée and the chocolate cake. My favorite between the two was the creme brûlée. It was smooth and creamy, nice and evenly textured.

The chocolate cake was served warm, with a scoop of house made vanilla on the side.

The cake was slightly dry, but the ice cream was a good way balance that: eat some ice cream with each bite of cake, and problem solved.

But what can I say: The Cake Dealer really spoils me when it comes to cake and bake.

To sum up: I’ll definitely be back here for some drinks, burgers and tacos. Great shit. Awesome US craft beer selection (like Bourbon County) that rotates out often, and excellent burgers. Most likely I will come for happy hour and indulge in some dollar oysters too.

THE MALT HOUSE
206 Thompson St.
New York, NY 10012

Burgers, Midtown West, Press Reviews, Pub Food, Restaurant Reviews

Tanner Smith’s

October 30, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This joint is home to some really excellent cocktails.

I had been eyeballing the place for a while, and when a buddy was in town and staying at a hotel nearby, we decided to go in.

Our bartender, Albert, mixed up the absolute, hands-down best Old Fashioned I have ever tasted. On the menu it is called a Winona, and is made with a few flourishes to the standard ingredients, the most impressive of which is its delivery in a smoke infused bottle.

Watch as the smoke billows out and creates a nose for the drink as you sip it:

I’m not big on the whole “mixology” thing. Mixing drinks is cool but I still call it bartending. Bartending with interesting ingredients doesn’t require a scientific-sounding name. It’s all about pairing flavors, and that’s what any good bar tender should be able to do. Albert is one of those people who takes pride in what he does. He isn’t afraid to try new things and come up with new drinks. I even told him about the Germain Scotsman. His initial reaction was “mixing peaty scotch with anything is blasphemy,” but he embraced the drink with an open mind and found that he actually liked it! It works on many levels.

Anyway, after another visit here for drinks with ANOTHER friend who was in town and staying in midtown, my wife and I finally made it over to try out some of the food.

We started with the scotch eggs. These seem to be made with quail eggs, so the ratio of egg to breading is a bit off. While they tasted really good, had good seasoning and crunch, the egg just got lost a little bit in the breading.

The dry rub chicken wings had nice flavor. If I had to guess, it was some kind of mild jerk spice rub. Very interesting. Good crunch on the outside and nicely cooked inside, and served with a celery and jicama slaw.

We also dug into the pork terrine. The meat was a bit more solid than I expected. When stuff like this is served with toast, I expect more of a spreadable texture. The taste was nice, however, and paired nicely with the mustard and jicama, pepper and cabbage slaw.

Our last savory course was the burger with blue cheese.

I ordered medium, and that seems about right to me on the inside. Perhaps just a bit over?

The pickles, bun, lettuce, tomato and cheese were all on point, but the meat was a little grainy in texture. I think maybe the beef was over worked after it went through the grinder to become a patty. It also could have used a bit more seasoning.

The new version of their burger features 4oz smoked patties and a red onion bacon jam. Way better.

Fries were shoestring style – like McDonalds (a good thing).

For dessert we tried the blueberry upside down cake. This was essentially three small muffin sized cakes served with fresh blueberries (both in the cake and as garnish), tangy orange/lemon curd, whipped cream and basil.

The flavors worked really well together, and the cake was warm and fresh. Even my wife, a baker, gave it her seal of approval.

I’ll definitely be back to try a few more items from the food menu, but it seems like the drinks are really the star of the show here. Nicely done!

UPDATE! IMPROVED BURGER & SECRET BURGER, SAME GREAT COCKTAILS!

TANNER SMITH’S
204 W. 55th St.
New York, NY 10019

Burgers, Hawaii

Teddy’s Bigger Burger

October 16, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Teddy’s Bigger Burger

This is a Shake Shack / Smash Burger type of joint here in Hawaii. You can order your patties in three different sizes: 5oz (big), 7oz (bigger) and 9oz (biggest). Then you can go double on them if you want.

For my 5th burger of the trip, I went with a biggest (9oz) burger with American, jalapeños and all the fixings. Take a look:

It was slightly over medium, but not by much. I liked this burger a lot. It had a good bun (though not potato, or “King’s Hawaiian” as I might have expected), great cheese coverage, and quality toppings.

On the side we tried the tater tots, which were awesome and crispy, and the garlic fries, which were really overloaded with minced garlic.

American, Burgers, Hawaii, Restaurant Reviews

Cheeseburger in Paradise

October 16, 2015 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

Cheeseburger in Paradise

Tourist trap? I don’t care. The food and atmosphere were awesome here. You’re right on the fucking pacific.

In fact when waves roll in hard sometimes you can get sprayed if you’re at a table on the first floor in the back by the windows. There’s a little tiki bar on the second floor, along with a Jimmy Buffet-esque singer/guitarist playing tunes.

I ordered the classic cheeseburger as my 4th burger of the trip, which came with pepperjack, lettuce, tomato, onion and special sauce on a salt and pepper bun. Really nice looking burger.

It was cooked perfectly at medium, super juicy and good cheese coverage. The soft bun added a lot of flavor with the seasoning on top. I devoured this thing!

Drinks were fun here too. I had a Maui lemonade of some sort, which was gin or rum, lemon, soda, and thyme, if I recall correctly.

Burgers, Hawaii, Other, Restaurant Reviews

L&L Drive Inn

October 16, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This was a kiosk at the Cannery Mall food court in Maui, Hawaii.

L&L Hawaiian BBQ is a fast food type restaurant that has locations all over the place. There even used to be a location down by NYC’s South Street Seaport, but that has since closed. Anyway, this place has a take on the ramen burger, called the saimin burger, which I tried as burger #3 of the trip.

It was dry as fuck and hot as fuck, but it was a fun item to try. No cheese, just lettuce and a soy-BBQ type sauce drizzles on. I’d pass on this item unless you really need to try it.

Burgers, Hawaii

Bully’s Burgers

October 16, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Bully’s Burgers

This is pure roadside awesomeness. This little shack is an outpost for Triple L ranch, which develops 100% all natural grass fed beef.

They use a special flavoring, perhaps teriyaki, worked into the grind that gives this shit a really awesome uniqueness. My second burger of the trip was a hit. It may look overcooked, but the cheese and flavor was enough to make it work.

Check out my wife’s “grilled cheeseburger” as well. This was so gooey, buttery and toasty!

American, Banh Mi, Burgers, Hawaii, Restaurant Reviews

Cow Pig Bun

October 16, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Cow Pig Bun

What a fucking weird location for a reataurant. I can understand the brewery being there, as this area is an office park or business park. I suppose people hit this joint for lunch while they’re at work nearby.

The place is like something out of Williamsburg Brooklyn. The decor is corrugated metal, reclaimed wood, filament bulb lighting and industrial meat facility chic.

The food is great. It’s a small menu, essentially a burger joint with fancy apps and lots of different whiskey and bourbon to sample.

We tried a flight of flavored whiskey – one was just a blend, then coconut, chocolate macadamia nut, and coffee flavored whiskeys followed. Macadamia nut was my favorite. Sweet and strong.

We also sampled some of their mixology style cocktails. My wife had an awesome tequila and pho broth based drink, called “Cannibalistic,” and I had a pineapple, lime and Maker’s called “Butcher Town.” Good shit.

I ordered the bacon jam burger. This was a potent and powerful burger. The blue cheese didn’t overpower the meat, nor did the bacon, but altogether it was super heavy. I liked it, but I could only put down half (I ate the rest a few days later).

My wife had a poorly worded sandwich that was called banh mi, but was really more like a pulled pork sandwich. It had pork belly, pulled pork and really nice fois gras butter, but none of the pickled veggies, fish sauce or fresh leafy cilantro that you usually associate with the banh mi flavor profile. In short, it was still good, but not banh mi.

Along with the drinks, I think the best part of this place is the pork rind chicharones that come with each entree instead of French fries. These morsels were real pig skin fried up to warm, golden, crispy goodness. Amazing.

American, Burgers, Hawaii, Restaurant Reviews

Cafe O’Lei

October 16, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Cafe O’Lei

Then it was time for lunch at Cafe O’Lei. This joint is nice inside. It’s on the second floor of a strip mall type group of storefronts right near S&Q’s. There’s a big bar in the center of the restaurant, and some interesting paintings by local artists on the walls:

Here, I really wanted to try either the prime rib or the roast pork entrees, but they are only offered at dinner time. Instead, I had my first official burger of the trip. It was cooked almost correctly – slightly over medium – but the large helping of ooey-gooey cheddar cheese really took this burger up a notch.

My wife and I shared a pair of crab cakes. These were sweet, using snow crab meat, fruit and avocado in the preparation. Very nice. Meaty and crispy.

My wife had the Mahi Mahi fish and chips, which were expertly batter-fried to a light, golden crisp. The fries here were top notch, by the way. Really nicely done.

Burgers, Commentary, Product Reviews

Burger King’s Halloween Whopper

October 12, 2015 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

My wife and I pulled into a roadside rest stop on our way to a wedding out of town. I figured I would take the opportunity there to try the new Halloween Whopper, with the black bun and A1 sauce.

You hardcore burger fans might remember that Japan had a similar burger in their Burger King chains recently as well. Anyway, here’s a quick video of my first impressions:

The Halloween Whopper is actually pretty tasty. Just like a regular whopper but with a pungent kick from the A1. And yes – the rumors are true: it actually does make your shit turn green! So I guess that makes it a trick as well as a treat.

Burgers, Nolita/Soho, Press Reviews

Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer

October 9, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This little bar style burger joint in Soho slings some really great burgers.

The place proudly advertises that they use Pat LaFrieda beef in the grind. It pays off because the meat is really fantastic, and the burgers are cooked to a nice medium rare.

We tried a few different burger styles. The All-American is a classic patty with American cheese, lettuce, pickle, tomato and a Thousand Island type sauce. The burger is served open face style so you can stack it however you like.

Each comes with a side of fries as well.

And it is cooked to medium rare whether you like it or not:

It tasted exactly how you want your burger to taste. Big bold flavor, melty cheese, and perfectly seasoned beef cooked to pink through and through. The potato buns here are strong, sweet and pliable too. Excellent.

This steak au poivre burger was topped with blue cheese and served with a peppercorn gravy. The cheese didn’t overpower, and the peppercorn sauce really made this burger stand out as what was probably the best of the night. I felt like I was eating a steak!

The Texan has cheddar and bacon, with an onion ring on top. This had great classic beefy flavor, with a robust kick from the bacon.

And the Greg Norman is made with wagyu beef and topped with arugula and blue cheese, with a buttermilk dill sauce on the side.

The beef on the Greg Norman was top notch. That shit was so funky, earthy and savory that I just wanted to keep going and going. It was probably the best wagyu burger I’ve ever had. Look at how amazing this redness is…

We gave the onion rings and sweet potato fries a try as well, which you can substitute instead of regular fries for a small up charge. I liked the regular fries the best of the three, but here’s a shot of the sweet potato jammies for y our edification:

In addition to having a great beer selection, they also have some nice shakes as well. My wife tried a coffee flavored shake, which was really creamy and tasty: