The Elusive Best Burger

After eating a bacon cheeseburger at Veselka last night, I was chatting with my friend Rob about the idea of the ‘best burger in New York.’ There are many different opinions on this subject—some people prefer J.G. Melon’s, some like Corner Bistro, loads of people love the burger at shake Shack etc... After discussing, we almost came to the conclusion that the best burger in NY is an elusive concept.

While I have not had burgers at several of the consensus ‘best burger’ spots, I have to admit that my favorite burger is the one at corner bistro. I’ll acknowledge that its not always cooked to perfection and that often times its so juicy that I eat it upside down (so the juice don’t dissolve the much smaller bottom bun) but I love and am consistently satisfied. From time to time I have had better burgers elsewhere but no other ‘best burger’ spot has become a burger destination for me. I’m in love with the ratty beer drenched surroundings of the bistro. I love the fact that beers are less than three dollars and the fact that I always seem to be there with a group of close friends. I even appreciate the fact that I once saw a cockroach fly right over my head while I was sitting in the back room.

I suppose for me the burger is a true comfort food and is just as much of an experience as it is a food item. Not only should eating the burger make me happy, but the surroundings of where I eat the burger should be as accommodating to my personal tastes as possible (I don’t love flying cockroaches but I like the idea of a place so relaxed that no one seems to care that the roaches are flying.) I like the burgers at burger joint, but it’s not a place I’d like to linger and start off my Saturday night. Shake shack can be extremely satisfying at times but I am generally against waiting on long lines in the middle of the day. I liked my Veselka burger but it could have been better if I had it at 2 am instead of 7 pm (if only I lived in the east village.) In fact, one of my favorite NYCburgers is the one I get from the 24 hour food cart outside my house. I’m not sure if it’s actually good but it makes an incredible 1am to 5am snack as I sit in my bed and start to pass out. I also had one of the best burgers of my life at Florent at 5 in the morning on New Year’s day. Perhaps burgers for me are meant to be enjoyed with, or after beer?

The ‘best burger’ is a very personal thing. People tell me all the time to check out a new burger place and I always go expecting to eat the best burger I’ve ever had. And although burgers are never bad, I’m consistently disappointed. Eating is not just about taste it’s about experience. Great food is not as good when there is no one to share it with and good food can be great if it you’re eating with people you love. Most of us have been eating burgers our whole lives and to achieve a level of transcendence in comfort food, we must be reminded of how that food comforted us in the past. Luckily there are so many places in New York that we can all find a place to serve us the ebst burger ever.


P.S. if you’re interested in burgers, try any of the below mentioned spots, all are supposed to be good.

J.G. Melon’s
DB bistro Moderne
Dumont
Peter Luger’s
Spotted pig
BLT burger
Corner bistro
Walker’s
Burger joint
Shake shack
Veselka
Spotted pig
Bouley upstairs
City hall
Jackson Hole
PJ clarkes
Florent

Lobster isn't cheap...

Last week I had two meals that were on completely different ends of the price spectrum. On Wednesday night I met up with a friend who had a dumpling craving and we went to New Green Bo on Bayard Street for soup dumplings, pan fried dumplings and chow fun. The total cost of our meal, including two Tsingtaos came to $25 dollars. The soup dumplings were both soupy and savory and very satisfying and the pan fried dumplings had a nice layer of crispness contrasting the soft texture of the rest of the dumpling shell. For $25 dollars, the meal was a bargain.

On Friday I got together with some people for a mini celebration. The terms of our restaurant choosing specified that our destination had to have lobster and had to be on the water; the only restaurant that came to mind was The Water Club.

This was my first visit to The Water Club and while the setting and location with views of the East River is a very nice one, I can’t help but feel that the restaurant is incredibly archaic in a fine dining sense. Walking around the place one gets the sense that the crowd isn’t a particularly food knowledgeable one and that the restaurant is a place where people go to show off how much money they can spend on very large lobsters.

When we sat down and inquired about the ‘market price’ of lobster we were told that it was $30 dollars a pound. I haven’t had steamed lobster in a restaurant recently, but $30 dollars a pound seemed a little high. What made this pricing incredibly awkward however, wasn’t the high price per pound of lobster but the fact that the smallest lobster a diner can order is two pounds, making the price of lobster $60 dollars and up. That’s right, a $60 dollar entrée. A steamed two pound lobster has no business costing $60 dollars--the preparation involves buying a lobster, dunking it in boiling water and cracking it table side. $60 dollars is $14-$16 dollars more than the lobster served at Aquagrill, Joel Robuchon, Gotham Bar and Grill, some of the cities most expensive and revered restaurants…Their preparations also involve a lot more effort and thought than steaming the lobster and serving it.

The funny thing about the lobster at The Water Club is that people other than myself didn’t seem fazed by the pricing. The man sitting behind me was visibly upset when he was told that the restaurant had recently sold its last 4 pound lobster. I guess he really wanted to show his date (who looked like she wasn’t going to be eating anything) that he could spend enough money for the two of them. The sad part about it is that anyone who appreciates lobster (and isn’t ordering it to show the size of his____) knows that lobster loses both flavor and texture when it gets to a certain size. You’re better off ordering two 2 pound lobsters than ordering one four pounder.

I’m never spending $60 dollars at the water club again but just for fun, here’s a list of foodie things I can spend $60 dollars on and feel satisfied.

4 corned beef sandwiches and 4 egg creams at Katz’s Delicatessen
3 Prix fixe lunches at Blaue Gans
1 Six course tasting menu at Devi (one Michelin Star)
20 oysters and a glass of Muscadet at Aquagrill
Lunch for two with wine at Gotham Bar and Grill
A three course dinner at The Bar Room at The Modern w/ Champagne and Rosewater cocktail
One Bistro Burger and 21 beers at Corner Bistro

It’s now my personal quest to find cheaper and better lobster (because I can never stay mad at lobster for too long.)