Fantastic Burger at Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridien - NYC, New York

As I mentioned in previous posts about burger places, I love burgers. Interestingly, in France, you will only associate burgers with Mc Donald's or other fast food chains like Quick as this dish is mainly served there (there are few exceptions, like Chez Papa in Paris, but putting a burger on the menu is more a novelty). So when I came here, it remained my reference until my wife convinced me to try non fast food burgers! It did not take her that much effort to convince me and since then, I cannot understand how I came to like Burger King or Mc Donald's!!! What is interesting is to see all these burger chains opening across the country and all these Chefs trying to elevate that dish to something close to fine dining, like Hubert Keller and his $5000 burger at Fleur de Lys in San Francisco! 

The first time I went to Burger Joint was in 2002. I stayed at Le Parker Meridien for a while and they started to know me. One night, I was going for Pizza and one of the managers who knew me proposed to try a burger. I noticed that the location was where the bar used to be. The place was empty, at the exception of the head of the hotel who sat with me while I was tasting the delicious sandwich! It was the time when Burger Joint was unknown and very quickly, people and the press started to talk about it, making it a madhouse! Imagine that we were there on Saturday at 5:30pm thinking it would be ok and it was crazy! According to one of the wait staff, they make between 1500 to 1700 burgers a day! So, be ready to wait, although, people just come to eat a burger, so it should not take too long!

The restaurant is interesting: few wooden tables and walls and lights covered with graffitis. Dim lights with no windows and posters on the walls. It definitely gives a very casual feel to the place.

The menu is simple: burger or cheeseburger with usual toppings: lettuce, tomato or pickles. On my side, I only have my burger with cheese, mayonnaise and ketchup. Cooked medium. The cheeseburger at Burger Joint was delicious: perfectly cooked, moist and tasting like meat (no filler)! I literally inhaled it!

As a side, we ordered French fries that were like I like them: regular cut with a delightful crispiness! Not greasy at all. Last, I tried a vanilla milkshake: a bit disappointing...The milkshake was already prepared and they served it from a container. It was not dense enough and I doubt that they use real ice cream, rather a milkshake preparation.

Burger Joint is definitely in my top 5  burger places in New York! Their burger is divine, but be ready to be in line before enjoying it...

Enjoy (I did)!

And remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Burgers at Minetta Tavern in NYC, New York

If you follow this blog, you know that I love burgers! What I like is the bold flavor of the meat combined with the cheese, sauces and bread. It is so comforting and a good burger can be divine! There are so many restaurants who serve this great dish, but not all of them succeed. Recently, I decided to try the burgers at Minetta Tavern. The place has the same owner as Balthazar and therefore gets its breads and pastries from there! Apparently,  when they need something, they send a staff member to the Balthazar bakery to get it!

The place is smaller than what I imagine and is divided into two rooms: the main room in the back where the kitchen is located and the bar where few booths are available. There is an old feel to the place, with the black and white photos on the wall and the overall furnitures. 

Minetta Tavern is known for its Black Label burger, a $26 burger with a patty made of prime dry age meats: strip or ribeye, skirt steak and brisket, all coming from the Creekstone Farms (black angus beef raised and grazed in the US and USDA approved). So I decided to try it.

I ordered it medium and the waitress told us that medium means pink in the center. When the burger came, it look fabulous: a thick patty, shiny on the outside probably from the clarified butter that they drizzle the meat throughout the cooking process, with simply caramelized onions on top. It was served on a brioche bread that was not toasted and with some French fries.

The burger was juicy but clearly more medium rare than medium. 

It did not knock my socks off! I was expecting a rich meat flavor that any good dry aged meat would have. In fact, as we wanted to make a comparison,  Jodi ordered the Minetta burger, a cheeseburger that was served with the caramelized onions, as well as the brioche bun, but with cheese on top.

Similar to the Black Label Burger, it came with a thick patty smothered in cheese. The temperature of the burger was the same: medium was in fact medium rare. I'll be honest: there was not a big difference between the Black Label and the cheeseburger! And both burgers were salty!

What I truly liked were the fries! They were spectacular! I think these are the best French fries I got so far: perfectly salted and crispy! I was close to finish my plate until I remembered that this place was just a stop in a food journey...

 We finished with eating the coconut layer cake that stared at us during the entire lunch: Jodi could not resist looking at it. The coconut layer cake is on the menu and comes from Balthazar Bakery. I am not the biggest fan of coconut, but I have to say that it was delicious!

It was made of a very moist cake with two layers of cream and some icing on top with coconut shaving. The coconut taste was perfect and subtle. On top of that, the cake was very light! Fantastic!

I was a bit disappointed by the burgers at Minetta Tavern as, with all the buzz about them, I was expecting something awesome. The only reason I would come back would be for the French fries and the coconut layer cake, not the burgers!

Enjoy (I did)!

Burgers at Stand 4 restaurant in NYC, New York

Jodi and I went for dinner with our friends Annie and Leif to Stand 4 near Union Square to enjoy a burger.

The place, with its bull at the entrance, is pretty big with its high ceilings and mirrors that add an impression of space to the dining room. 

In term of menu, you can either create your own burger (CYOB) or order one of their special ones. If you decide to built one, this is the way it works:

• choose the bun:
• brioche, sesame seed Bun, giant enlish muffin, whole wheat, iceberg lettuce (interesting...).
• choose the patty:
• beef, turkey, chicken, salmon, veggie, portobello.
• choose the toppings: 
• free: lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles.
• additional charge: white cheddar, swiss, pepper jack, american, blue, mozzarella, carmelized onions, jalepenos, sauteed mushrooms, portobello, avocado, fried egg, smoke applewood bacon, canadian bacon, mac & chez, beef chili, turkey chili, cole slaw, kewpie japanese mayo, any sauce or mayo.

Jodi created her own with brioche, beef patty, American cheese, mushrooms and pickles.

Mine was the Buffalo Beef Burger. I asked for a brioche bun. Otherwise, it is made with fried onions, white cheddar, BBQ sauce and comes with blue cheese dressing on the side.

Both burgers were fantastic! The bun was toasted and soft. The meat was juicy and tasty with a nice amount of it. The Buffalo Beef Burger was a bit big to eat, but it was manageable. I loved the different flavors mixed together and only regret the lack of heat from the BBQ sauce. 

With the burgers, we ordered some sides...

French fries:

Skin on, crispy and well cooked (I hate undercooked fries!)

Tater tots.

Nothing special: pretty standards...

Onion rings:

I did not like them: some were stuck together and the batter was missing salt.

For the story, the kitchen forgot our sides and not only offered us the fries (we did not order them), offered us the tater tots and onion rings, but also gave us some coupons for mini milkshakes for the next time we go there. Always nice to see when a restaurant is addressing an issue appropriately. 

So I mentioned milkshakes! Yes, they do offer milkshakes: with or without alcohol (vodka, rum...). They have some interesting flavors: toasted marshmallow, cookies and cream, blueberry pie...I picked the nutella one! I love nutella so it was an easy choice and I was pretty excited as it was the first time I saw that on a menu. 

The nutella milkshake came with a light and delicious whipped cream. The milkshake itself was amazing: it was not too thick (anyway, they provided a large straw) and had the perfect quantity of nutella. More would have been too much!

So, I can tell you that after the burger, sides and milkshake, I was full! I really enjoy the dinner and will certainly go back to Stand 4 to try their other burgers like the kobe beef one. Definitely to recommend!

Enjoy (I did)!

 

The Spotted Pig in NYC, New York - Overrated?

So we made it to The Spotted Pig over the week end! It has been a while since I wanted to try: I heard many people talking about this place and about what is supposed to be an outstanding burger! You do not need to tell me that twice to have a restaurant in my radar!

The place has its charm with a bunch of piggies all over the place! There is even a frame that reminded me of the movie Delicatessen!
From outside, it gives a feel of a house in the country, with all the plants.

Not only can you see pigs from outside, but they are everywhere inside, giving a playful feel to the warm decor.

With a name like The Spotted Pig, you could imagine that the restaurant is all about the edible parts of this animal, but as you will see, it is not the case. In fact, all drawings and photos are not only about pigs, although they are the majority.

So we went on a Saturday and decided to show up for brunch at 11:30am, fearing that, with no reservation, we would have a problem to get a table. Yes, this restaurant is popular; also because some celebrities like to hang out there.

When we arrived, we gave our name and were told that we had to wait 10 minutes. This was interesting considering that there were plenty of available tables! So I had two explanations:

1. They do like Pastis: use this as a way to make you consume a drink at the bar.
2. The kitchen just opened and they did not want to be swamped by orders. I would go with this one.

So, few minutes after, they brought us upstairs. On our way up, we could not miss the multitude of drawings of various animals. They sat us at the tables with stools. 

We started off with the deviled egg (the menu says "eggs", but it is only one!).

I liked it: the egg was cooked beautifully (overcooked whites taste funny) and there was the perfect quantity of mayonnaise. The egg was topped with was I believe were chives. So it started well.

Then we shared the grilled cheese.

It was served with onion marmalade and mustard. I like it a lot! First of all, the sandwich itself was very good: the bread was soft inside and crispy outside, not greasy. I guess the cheese was swiss.

Besides the sandwich, what made this dish unique was the onion marmalade! It was a fantastic pairing and I truly appreciated the fact that it was not too sweet.

Then, came the star of the brunch: the burger!

So, the burger is served on a brioche bread, with roquefort cheese (kind of a blue cheese, roquefort has a strong taste) and shoestring fries.

The presentation is awesome with the mountain of fries and the marks on the toasted brioche. The bread is fantastic; in fact, I think that brioche bread is my favorite for a burger. I hate when the bun is dry as it is the first thing you will taste when you bit on the burger!

I asked for the meat to be medium, although I hesitated to ask for medium rare as a patty can dry out pretty quickly if overcooked.

As you can see on the photo, the meat was medium rare. It was very juicy and had a nice char taste outside. However, the roquefort was too overpowering! I think it would have been a phenomenal burger with either swiss or cheddar cheese. 

For your information, these sauces you see on the photo above are ketchup and mustard: they do not have mayonnaise.

The shoestring fries were just of for me: too thin, I could barely taste the potatoes...

So, surprisingly, the star of the meal was not the burger but the grilled cheese! I am not sure I would go back there: the food was decent but overpriced! $20 for a burger: it has to rock and it was not the case. The grilled cheese at $16 was also expensive for what it was.

Last, the service was average. At the exception of the waitress and the guy who brought the burger, people there were a bit rude. I guess it is the price to pay to eat in a popular restaurant. At least, it is what they think!

Enjoy (I barely did)!

The Windmill in Hoboken, NJ

When Lucky Burgers closed in Hoboken, I was a bit disappointed: I liked that place. They had good burgers, onion rings and fries and offered different types of sauces such as the chipotle mayonnaise. The Windmill defines itself as a gourmet fast food that serves award winning burgers and hot dogs. 

This chain restaurant originated in Long Branch, New Jersey in 1964 (the restaurant had the shape of a Windmill). It was later bought by Ed and Leo Levine who opened since then several locations in New Jersey.

The location in Hoboken opened in May 2012 and got the visit of celebrities for their Grand Opening: Comedian Artie Lange, actor Danny Aiello and actor Alex Corrado. You can even see them on a big painting in the back of the restaurant, along with Frank Sinatra (Hoboken native), Dean Martin...On the side, you can even see Snookie from the Jersey Shore...

When we entered the restaurant, we saw the owner (second on the bottom right on the painting...) who was very nice. As it was the first time we were there, he told us that we should try the foot long hot dog. In fact, the hot dogs have constantly received awards since 1998 from the Readers'Choice of Mommouth and Ocean County. So I decided to go for it. 

Instead of going with a chilli and/or cheese dog, I just asked for some sauteed onions. I really liked the Hot Dog. The sausage is from Sabrett and had a delicious taste: it was tastier than the hot dogs you would buy from a food cart in the City and even better than the one at Five Guys.

The burger however was not as good as Five Guys.

Don't get me wrong: it was good and the patty tasted like meat, but it was too thin (I should have probably tried the Big Ed who has a double patty) and the meat was not that juicy.

As sides, we ordered onions rings.

They were crispy and not greasy. They were made to order, so very hot. 

Then, they serve crinkle cut fries.

I really liked them: crispy and not too thick (Sorry, I do not like the fries from Nathan's!).

So, if I had to pick, I would go to Five Guys for the burgers and to The Windmill for the hot dogs and sides (Five Guys only offers fries). But I was a bit disappointed by the burger that I heard was delicious and got awards. 

Enjoy (I did)!

5 Napkin Burger in NYC, New York

5 Napkin Burger in Hell's kitchen opened many years ago, after the owners of the Upper West Side restaurant Nice Matin, Simon Oren and Andy D'Amico, thought that their signature burger was worth creating a burger place. The burger was named 5 Napkin Burger because the meat was so juicy that you would need five napkins to eat it! Since then, they have opened several locations in New York and are also present in Miami, Atlanta and Boston.

The restaurant in Hell's kitchen is always packed and it is better to have a reservation.
The decor with its white porcelain tiles is supposed to remind a slaughterhouse, especially with the meat hooks on the ceiling. What I like is that they have plenty of booths: yes, I like booths! It is something very rare in France and I always though that they add a nice classic touch to a place. It is also (most of the time), more comfortable than a chair!

The hooks on the ceiling are pretty interesting....

The restaurant serves brunch, lunch and dinner. If you are not a fan of burgers or want to watch you diet, they offer different standard alternatives such as French Toast, omelets, salads...They even propose sushi & maki, but I am not sure I would go to this restaurant for that, especially with all the Japanese restaurants that can be found in the area.

So, their specialty is burgers! They offer 12 different variations, most of them made with a 10 ounces beef patty. They also offer some with turkey, Ahi tuna and lamb.

Their signature burger is the Original 5 Napkin burger:

This is not a small burger! Clearly, to eat it, you are going to need to think you are at the dentist and he/she is asking you to open wide! It is composed of a brioche bread, the grounded beef patty, gruyere cheese, caramelized onions and rosemary aioli. I can tell you that they are not cheap on the ingredients and you soon understand why they call this a 5 Napkin burger. The meat was delicious: cooked perfectly (medium that is slightly pink in the center), juicy and had a great taste (yes, it tasted like meat)! The rosemary aioli was very good too! I usually do not like rosemary, but the taste was not too overpowering, making it the perfect sauce for the burger. Then, there were these delicious caramelized onions! The only thing maybe they could have done is to toast the bread.

The second burger I tried was the Avocado - Ranch:

It was made of pepper jack cheese, homemade guacamole, lettuce, tomato, ranch dressing on a sesame brioche roll. It was also very good, but I prefer the original. The pairing of the ranch dressing, avocado, cheese, meat and brioche (this time toasted) worked well, with the first two ingredients enhancing the juiciness of the meat. I think that I probably needed 10 napkins to eat it! Similar to the original, they were pretty generous on the cheese! Always appreciated!
Both burgers were served with delicious fries, a bit crispy.

If you are health conscious, you can decide to go for the burger salad...

You can pick between beef, turkey, lamb or veggie patty on top of chopped greens, endive, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, green beans, red onion, radishes, celery, blue cheese, pickled onions, red wine vinaigrette and 5 Napkin sauce (similar to 1000 Island dressing). 

At the end of the meal, you can understand that I was a bit full...These burgers are huge and most importantly delicious. Definitely a recommendation!

Enjoy (I did)!

BLT Burger - The best burger in NYC, New York

Today is National Hamburger Day and clearly I needed to celebrate it! So we decided to go to my favorite burger place in NY: BLT Burger.

If you do not know, BLT stands for Bistro Laurent Tourondel. Laurent Tourondel is a passionate and talented Chef, born and raised in Auvergne, France (great cheeses in Auvergne!). He told Food & Wine magazine that he ended up cooking because he was really bad at school. Today, his name is on several restaurants across the country: BLT Prime, BLT Steak, BLT Fish and...BLT Burger. 

Trust me: it is not because Laurent Tourondel is French that I like this place! I have tried many burgers here, but I can tell you: it is the best! The meat is always perfectly cooked, juicy and extremely tasty (yes: it tastes like real meat!), the bun is perfect (it is a sesame brioche bun).

So we decided to go today. We thought the place would be busy; first because it is most of the time, but also because they had a contest for the creation of the Dream burger: people could submit their creation and the one winning would get his/her burger on the menu. I submitted mine, but I guess it was too basic (some sort of burger reuben). So, there were not too many people. Good!

We started first with fried pickles, a Southern US specialty.

It is a slice of pickled dipped in a batter and fried, similar to the onion rings, but with pickles! I liked it! The taste was surprising as I could get the sour taste of the pickle mixed with the fried batter and the ranch chili-paprika dipping sauce that gave some kick to it.

Then, we got our burgers. We decided to order two different ones. The first one was the Maytag blue burger.

It is made with Maytag blue cheese, balsamic caramelized onions and mushrooms. At first, I was scared that the blue cheese would be too overpowering. Fortunately, there was just enough to give a taste that would not overshadow the taste of the meat. The onions and mushrooms were divine and a great addition, giving some texture to the burger.

The second burger was the classic one, with Vermont Cheddar cheese ($1 additional for the cheese).

It is simple and delicious. The meat on both burger was perfectly cooked (medium) and very juicy. It really tasted like meat, not like these burgers that you would get in fast food (I know: not the same price).

For the sides, we went for the onion rings.

The onion rings were good, a bit crispy and not too greasy. I just would have liked some ranch dressing with it.

We also got fries.

We chose the classic; otherwise, they propose waffle fries, sweet potato fries...These were like I like them: golden brown, crispy and regular cut.

The last thing we got was a vanilla milk shake.

Look: one of us had to sacrificed himself to get a combo price. I did. For $17, you can get a burger, fries and a milk shake. The later was very good. Not too thick, with the necessary amount of vanilla syrup. They gave the old fashion feel by serving it in an ice cream glass, adding whipped cream and top it with sprinkles. Delish! For You information, they also serve milk shakes with alcohol...

So, again, I was not disappointed by BLT Burger, that remains my top burger place in NYC. However, prices are a bit on the high range as for this meal we ended up with a bill of $52. Worth it though!

Enjoy (I did)!

Monday May 28th is National Burger Day: don't go to Sonic!!!

I tried Sonic because I was told that they have good burgers. I have no preconceive idea, so why not: you may end up with a big surprise!

Sonic is an old fast food chain founded in the 50's in Oklahoma. The one where I went was a drive-thru: as you can see on the photo, drivers park and will order from their car, through an inter-phone. Problem is that they had difficulties understanding my accent...but I ended up with the correct order! If you do not want to eat in your car, the only solution is to eat outside, on the patio, as there is no dining room. 

On the patio, it is the same principle: you order on the inter-phone.

Once your order is ready, a person on rollers will come to bring your order, napkins and sauces.

In term of menu, they had the classic: cheeseburger (with one or two patties), chicken sandwich, hot dog...So I went for the cheeseburger, one patty.

First, there was more lettuce than meat! And the meat looked grey! Not very appetizing.

Clearly not the best quality! And tasteless! Fortunately, I had the taste of the mayo and ketchup to give some flavor.

So, the cheeseburger was a miss. I was hopeful that the sides would be better. They had this great idea to propose small portions of sides for $1. It gives you the opportunity to try several. So we picked: onion rings, tater tots and fries.

The onion rings are supposed to be hand made. They were crispy, but had this weird sweet taste. I thought first that it was because of the onions they used, but there was definitely something in the batter that was throwing off the taste!

The fries were uneven: some were good and crispy, other were not. Fortunately, out of the three sides, the tater tots were good! A bit of crispiness, tasty and not greasy!

Last, I tried the milk shake. If was supposed to be hand dipped (meaning they use ice cream rather than a mix).

I chose a vanilla one. They definitely try to give a diner feel by adding whipped cream and a maraschino cherry on top. The milk shake was thick, but a bit tasteless. They probably did not put enough vanilla syrup in it. So again: a miss.

At the end of the day, I did not like what Sonic was proposing. I would go there only if there is no other option!

So, Monday May 28th being National Burger day, do not go to Sonic! Try more BLT Burger or Five Guys!

Enjoy (the post)!

Steak'n Shake Signature in NYC, New York - Another Burger Place?

I am wondering how many burger joints New York City will need!!! Between the restaurants who try to surf on the wave of this popular dish and the chains that try to multiply like pickles, there will soon be a burger place in every corner of the City!

Well, I am not going to complain! What is funny is that in France, people associate burgers with McDonald's! Normal: burgers are not popular there, steak frites are!

The last chain I went to is Steak'n Shake Midtown. Smart people: they opened, back in January, next to the David Letterman Show!

This is not a new chain: it was founded in 1934 in Normal, Illinois. When it opened, it got some additional buzz when Danny Meyers told The New York Times in an email that Steak'n Shake inspired him to open Shake Shack. He wrote: “Spent a lot of my weekend nights as a teenager at Steak ‘n Shake (curbside service was awesome — especially after getting driver’s license at 16) and those parking lot experiences hanging out with friends were inspirational in desire to create a burger joint that would bring people together (unlike fast food which was designed to feed people pre-cooked food and get them out). I also loved how they smashed little disks of beef into delicious griddled burgers.”

So I decided to try it. First, the place is small and there are very few tables. It is also jam-packed! If you are in a hurry, this is not the place to go! I think for sunny days, it is fine because you can just grab and go, but in the Winter, it is going to be a problem.

The restaurant is pretty cool: modern decor (makes me think about a modern dinner) with very bright colors (red, yellow and blue). They even have soda machines with touch screens!

So, first you order and then they give you a buzzer so you know when your order is ready.

I decided to try The Signature burger: a 6 Oz patty made of 100% organic beef (USDA), specifically rib eye and NY strip. It is supposed to be cooked medium well (mine was medium) and topped with American cheese, onions and pickles. I also got some ketchup and mayo.

The burger was pretty good: juicy and tasty with a lot of cheese. There was also a nice ratio bun / meat.

With the burger, I got some fries. I like shoestring fries. They were crispy and slightly salted.

Last, was a vanilla milk shake.

The shake was very thick and I had to wait before being able to drink it. It had a good vanilla taste, but was a bit too sugary. They mention on the cup that the milk shakes are hand-dipped. I will be honest with you: I had no idea what they meant! Whose hand was it! In fact hand-dipped means that they do it the old fashion way, with scoops of ice cream, milk and syrup, instead of using milk shake mix.

I got all of this for close to $10. I would probably get the same price at Mc Donald's but for a much lesser quality. I though it was pretty good for the price. But still not as good as Five Guys...

If you tried it, let me know!

Enjoy (I did)!

 

My take on the burgers at Shake Shack in New York

Everybody is talking about Shake Shack, the burger chain founded by Danny Meyer (Gramercy Tavern,  Blue Smoke) in 2004. The first experience I had was not very good: it was on a hot Summer day, two years ago. We were walking close to Madison Square Park and decided to try what was supposed to be a mouth watering burger. There was a very long line and considering how hot it was outside, my expectations were high; I manned up. I ordered a cheeseburger and fries. I remember the service was very slow and the kitchen seemed overwhelmed. Then came our order: what a disappointment! The burger was not good at all! The bread was soggy and the meat tasteless. The fries were not crispy at all and had a weird taste. There was clearly something wrong!

Then, end of 2011, Shake Shack opened near Time Square. Each time I was passing by, I saw the long line of people waiting for their burgers. I still heard people claiming that this place was the best burger in New York. So, I decided to give it another chance and went yesterday. Place packed, so no surprise there considering the buzz and location. It was extremely difficult to get a seat and there was no way I  was going to eat outside: it is not a weather for this! We found a spot, but before that, had to look like vultures at tables where people finished or were finishing their meal.

I went for the Shake Stack: a cheeseburger and a mushroom burger topped with lettuce, tomatoes and the Shake Shack sauce. What you see on the photo that seems to be burnt is the mushroom burger (at first, you think there are two patties). What is interesting is that it gives some crispiness to the overall dish and is surprisingly filled with cheese. I did not fully taste the mushrooms, but I thought it was a good idea.

The meat was good, cooked perfectly (medium) and very moist. The bread was a regular bun.

Overall pretty decent.

The fries were good also: crispy and tasty, not too salted. 

I also had a vanilla milkshake: thick but not to the point where you will break your jaw trying to get the milkshake go through the straw. It was a pretty good one.

Overall it was a good burger. But it is not the best for me in the city. If you would like to know which one I prefer, check My favorite restaurants page by clicking here. Opening near Time Square was a very smart idea and I am sure it will continue to get packed and crazy there! 

Enjoy (I did)!

And remember: I Just Want To Eat! 

Build your own burger at The Counter in Times Square, NYC

Burgers are a big deal in the US and there are more and more burger joints opening with tasty burgers that have nothing to do with Mc Donald's or Burger King! Even famous chefs like Bobby Flay or Laurent Tourondelle launched their own burger restaurants. 

The Counter proposes to build your own burger from A to Z. It is a chain with many locations across the country. When you biuld your burger, you choose:

• The meat: beef, turkey or veggie. They also propose the market selection. Today was lamb: I decided to go for it. Then you pick how much meat you want: 1,2 or 3 patties. 
• You can either eat your burger on a bun or in a bowl (with lettuce and tomatoes).
• A cheese: swiss, cheddar, brie, american...There is a pretty nice selection. I picked Tillamook cheddar.
• Up to 4 toppings: a selection of 21 toppings. I picked grilled onions and jalapenos. You can also pick a premium topping like sauteed mushrooms. None for me!
• A sauce besides ketchup. I have to say that they have a nice selection of non standard sauces: chipotle aioli, roasted garlic aioli, hot wing sauce...I picked russian dressing.
• The last part is the bun. Strangely, they did not have any burger bun! We were early for lunch! So I went for the pretzel bun. They also propose English muffin or onion buns. The pretzel bun was perfect because it did not have any salt (that could have been disastrous!).

For sides, we got the 50/50: fries and onion rings. This was very good. I like the fact that they serve them with sauces: ranch dressing and bbq sauce. The onions were awesome and very tasty. 

The lamb burger was good but I probably should have gone for a one patty as it was very juicy and it quickly became a big mess to eat. The pretzel bun started to fall apart and I ended up eating with my fork. There was a lot of cheese (2 slices) and a lot of delicious grilled onions. The russian dressing was perfect with it and the jalapenos gave a subtle kick that I love! I think that, after I went to Sobelman's in Milwaukee and tried it, I became a fan of jalapenos in burgers!

To help the burger come down my stomach, I had a vanilla milk shake: thick but not too much, but could have had a little bit more vanilla syrup in it.

The restaurant was nice, bright and modern looking and the service was good. I would just have preferred that they brought the sides with the burgers and not way before! Otherwise, I found it pricey compared to higher quality burger joints like BLT burger.

A good spot though if you are in Time Square and want a burger!

Enjoy (I did)!

The $5000 burger!!!

Burgers is a popular dish in the US and it goes beyond fast food. New Burger joints are opening on a regular basis and chefs like Bobby Flay or Laurent Tourondel are proposing their own version. In France, at the exception of few restaurant who may want to give their own spin (like Chez Papa in Paris), it is restricted to the fast food world. Mac Donald’s commonly called MacDo or Quick, a French-Belgian spin off of Mac Donald’s, are popular, especially among teenagers; Burger King closed down its restaurants there as it was not profitable. The most expensive burger in the US is proposed by Chef Hubert Keller at Fleur de Lys at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, for... $5000! It is a foie gras and black truffle stuffed Kobe beef burger served on a truffle brioche bun with a garnish that also contains truffles (you better know that you like truffles before ordering it!). Of course, for that price, they give you a free bottle of Chateau Petrus 1995 (very expensive wine) and you can keep the stemware (at this price I should be able to keep the Chef!). So, if you are in Las Vegas and someone proposes you to have a burger, be careful….

Fortunately, you do not need to spend $5000 to have a good burger. For less than $8, you can go to Five Guys. Their first location opened in Arlington,Virginia in 1986 and the restaurant got its name simply because it was founded by a father and his four sons.

Five Guys burgers are coming with two patty; if you prefer a "lighter" meal, you can ask for the "little burger" that has only one. Besides burgers, they also propose hot dogs, but these have nothing special. You can then pick from a large selection of toppings: lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, pickles...In term of sides, they unfortunately only propose French fries, no other sides such as onion rings! Be aware that they are quite generous with the fries and one regular order can feed two people.

The meat is cooked medium and...tastes like meat, that is not always the case in some other restaurants (sorry Spike!). It is also juicy, but not to the point where you regret you were wearing your favorite white shirt. The Bun is a regular bun. I suggest you eat your burger right away otherwise it steams in the aluminum foil.

Last but not least, the restaurant is nice enough to offer shelled peanuts while you wait for your burger! 

Although not the best, Five guys is in my top 3 list (check out My Favorite Restaurants section): good burger for a good price!

Enjoy (I do)