Unofficial Denver Burger Review

Recently I found myself in Denver, and a fellow burger fanatic recommended that I check out the Cherry Cricket while I was there. It was a tad out of my way, but I headed over there on the way from the airport to my hotel. Best. Diversion. Ever.

While this is not an official review, since I was the only one there, it was so good, it merited a post

what we (I) love: This was a nearly perfect bar burger (9.5/10) The meat was juicy, perfectly cooked, and on a standard no frills bun. And then there was the deep fried macaroni and cheese...

what I could live without: The fact it is in denver. I need one of these in the west village.

burger scale: A+

price range: $8 for the burger with bacon and cheese (this is the midwest afterall - cheaper than In&Out!!!)

payment method: cash

This is a standard, nothing out of the ordinary bar spot. It's across the street from a mall, and it has a variety of sports playing on plasma's over the bar, but it is by no means a sports bar. There are pinball machines in the back, and comfy vinyl booths abound.

The service was lightning fast. I ordered a soda and seconds later a midwest-sized vat of coca-cola appeared in front of me. Mere minutes later I was jamming deep fried macaroni and cheese triangles dipped in ranch dressing in my mouth as fast as possible (trust me, these are much better than they sound)

Then came the burger. I ordered mine with smoked cheddar and bacon. Lets just say that smoked cheddar will be something I will be on the lookout for from now on. The bacon was good, but my only complaint was that it was a tad on the thin side, but it was perfectly cooked. (perhaps I am too used to the metropolitan thick cut bacon that is ubiquitous in manhattan these days) The meat was perfect, and perfectly cooked. The bun was the soft sesame style bun that holds the burger and its juices perfectly without disintegrating. And the pickle and other shrubbery were actually cold; a nod to the "hot side hot, cool side cool" days of yore.

We also split an order of "Frings" which is basically a basket of half onion rings, and half fries. They were perfectly fried and crispy, and were the ideal accompaniment.

If you find yourself on a plane landing in Denver, you will want to hit this place up on the way to your hotel. You will not be disappointed.

Donovan's Pub: a classic case of hype ruining a decent thing

what we love: being transported to ireland, the wait staff, the authenticity

what we could live without: the grease, the onion rings that were missing the onions, tasteless plastic american cheese on cheeseburgers

burger scale: C+

price range: friggin' inexpensive

payment method: cash

We were a little bummed by what we found at Donovan's.

The burger was of the good ol' classic American variety -- juicy, meaty, sandwiched by two slices of American and your standard sesame seed bun. It came with a hunk of iceberg the size of your fist (yours, because our fist is rather small), a slice of tomato and french fries that were more like steak fries on steroids or small potatoes.

While we loved the heft and juiciness of the Donovan's burger, we were unprepared for the fat and grease by-products. We suggest asking for extra napkins before tucking into your Donovan's burger and coming armed with spare cholesterol meds.

The onion rings, ordered separately as a starter, were fine except someone had already been by and stole all the onions out of them. Technically, we only had rings, not onion rings...

The burger came with the option of a side of fries or a baked potato. The baked potatoes were good. The hand cut steak fries were fine, although a little too hefty for our taste. We prefer our fries on the skinny side.

We thought the burger was fine, possibly even good. Unfortunately, word on the street is that Donovan's burgers are AMAZING so that was what we expected. Not surprisingly, we were disappointed. We've had similar classic American style burgers, except better. At similar prices, even.

The Pub itself, however, is magically delicious. It's a true Irish watering hole that doesn't play dress-up with fancy mahogany bars or gastropub affectations. Its clientele are obviously neighborhood regulars, and the waitstaff has been there since the beginning of time. (We suspect they might actually be the owners.) There were times when our waitress' bum hip made it difficult for her to manage the stairs leading into the dining room, and we had to refrain from standing to assist her.

Summary: Decent burger at great prices. Classic case of over-hype creating unrealistic expectations. Go for the experience but not for the burger alone.

For more pictures of our Donovan's outing, click here.

Is there such a thing as too much Momofuku?

Well, we aren't quite sure. But we might have gotten pretty close after our experience yesterday. It was delicious nonetheless.

Burger Series 19: Donovan's Pub

We meet in Queens (gasp!) this month. Established in 1966, Donovan's Pub is an Irish tavern that has been serving, arguably, the best burgers in the five boroughs: Juicy, flavorful, char-broiled half-pounders, with home-cut steak fries.

Now that we're well into our 2009 season, it's time we venture out of Manhattan and check out Donovan's for ourselves.

We look forward to seeing you in Woodside! Donovan's is cash only, so please bring enough to cover your food and alcohol.

- The Burger Series

Photo from roderick A.

BOTM writes back

From one of the members:
Great to hear from you. I just checked out your site and love it! Your reviews of a number of places are actually very similar to ours. It's good to know that we're not the only guys folks this in NYC, I hope that we can share information and stories. I'm curious how the vegetarian works out :)

Take care and thanks again and let's keep in touch.

From the general mailbox at BOTM:
thanks for the e-mail. Great to hear there are others out there enjoying the same quest. Sounds like you guys are also having a lot of fun. The site looks great. Keep up the noble work, and let us know what you think about our Top 10.

If you guys have had certain burgers that you think we should try but haven't yet, please submit the suggestions on our website. We are committed to trying the most suggested burgers over the next year.

Happy Eating! BOTM
www.BurgerRankings.com

Can't wait to read Bruni's new book!!!

Careful. Spoiler alert:

http://nymag.com/daily/food/2009/05/frank_brunis_born_round_the.html

From one burger club to another...

Letter to BOTM:

Hi!
I saw an article in the NYT about BOTM and wanted to send you a friendly hello from one NYC burger club to another. I started a monthly burger shindig a couple of years ago as an excuse to see my friends on a regular basis. The Burger Series (http://diningseries.blogspot.com/) started out as an informal gathering of mostly women in their late 20s to mid-30s, but in the last year and a half, our guy friends have gotten into the monthly burger thing too. We even have a token vegetarian! :-) Our approach to the club (show up and invite whomever) and burger rankings (a show of thumbs after every meal) have been fairly egalitarian, but as the size and popularity of the group has grown, I've had to develop rules, limit members and change the way we discuss the burgers. It's been super fun, and I can't wait to try your group's top 10 with my group this summer.
Sincerely,
The Burger Series

Out of range, and that's probably for the best

"The Mother's burger is unusual. It is an 8-ounce patty of ground round chuck, stuffed with cheddar cheese, covered with a Cajun batter, and - are you ready for this - deep-fried."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/dining/bal-fo.burger13may13,0,7465709.story

yeah....

a burger series detour into little odessa...

http://nymag.com/guides/everything/brighton-beach/55994/index1.html

In a World of Tasty Meat-Filled Starches

A culinary tour of the neighborhood’s main drag

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• By Anya Von Bremzen
• Published Apr 12, 2009

Map by Jason Lee

1. Cafe Glechik
3159 Coney Island Ave.; 718-616-0766.
With recipes cribbed from the owner’s grandmother (naturally), this busy café serves the best Ukrainian food in the city. A bowl of ruby-red borscht ($6) provides the warm-up for the epic Glechik stew—fall-off-the-bone short ribs with an oniony sauce and crisp-fried potato dumplings that gradually soak up the meat juices ($14.50).

2. Café Kashkar
1141 Brighton Beach Ave.; 718-743-3832.
The lamb-and-dough-centric cuisine of Uzbekistan’s Uighur community is well represented at this nook by exotica like samsa (flaky pastries with juicy, hand-chopped lamb filling, $2.50), Chinese-style lagman noodles, served either stir-fried ($7.50) or in a bracing lamb soup ($6), and the zesty glass-noodle salad called langsai ($7).

3. Vintage Food Corporation
287 Brighton Beach Ave.; 718-769-6674.
Thronged with shoppers from Russia’s southern and eastern fringes, this fragrant Turkish bazaar is one of the city’s best sources for inexpensive, high-quality nuts and dried fruits. The jars of pekmez (thick grape molasses) isn’t normally seen outside Istanbul.

4. Café La Brioche
1073 Brighton Beach Ave.; 718-934-0731.
This Russian-Jewish bakery smells of sweet dough and fresh coffee. Buy plump vatrushki danishes, slabs of honeyed poppy-seed roll, and crumbly rugalach. The sour-cream-filled smetannik cake ($4 a pound) is the sine qua non of Russian home desserts.

5. Ocean View Café
290 Brighton Beach Ave.; 718-332-1900.
While regulars order Caesar salad with smoked eel ($14) at this vaguely nautical-themed storefront, non-Russians should stick to the comfort foods: fluffy cheese blintzes ($6.50) or the remarkably delicate stuffed cabbage in tomato sauce ($9.50). Vodka—sold by the gram, in the best Soviet tradition—should be downed with the house-cured herring ($8), coupled with dilled roasted potatoes and wisps of red onion to cut the richness.

6. Gold Label Deli
281–285 Brighton Beach Ave.; 718-743-3900.
Pirozhki are the quintessential Russian street food, and the stand here serves the best. Besides the proletarian fried-yeast dough pies with cabbage or meat (greasy but good, from $1 to $6), you’ll find khachapuri (Georgian cheese pastries, from $2), various strudels, and terrific Moldovan plachinda—flat, round pies with a tangy feta-and-scallions filling ($2.50).

7. Ocean Wine & Liquor
514 Brighton Beach Ave.; 718-743-3084.
Since so many restaurants here are BYO, you’ll need a good source for vodka. Here you’ll find more than 50 varieties—pure, or in such flavors as buffalo grass (zubrovka), birch-tree buds, and honey and pepper.

8. Gastronom Arkadia
1079 Brighton Beach Ave.; 718-934-7709.
Many markets have copious buffets, but this has the tastiest food, for about $3.99 a pound. Try the smoky split- pea soup, juicy minced-meat lyulya kebab, plump golden fish cakes, and the vegetable-stuffed pickled eggplant.

9. Food Heaven
239 Brighton Beach Ave.; 718-743-4700.
The neighborhood’s answer to Dean & DeLuca: There are handsome gift jars of exotic fruit compotes from Azerbaijan, rounds of smoked suluguni cheese (a kind of Georgian mozzarella), and snow-white slabs of salo—the Ukrainian answer to lardo di Colonnata. The upstairs café attracts matronly types with fancy teas (such as Kusmi) and fanciful méringue tortes shipped in from the mother country.

10. Brighton Bazaar
1007 Brighton Beach Ave.; 718-769-1700.
Most large delis here excel in something particular; this one, which also includes a well-curated fresh-produce section, is the best source of cold- and hot-smoked fish, whether salmon, chubs, whitefish, or the Ur-Slavic sturgeon.

11. Primorski
282 Brighton Beach Ave.; 718-891-3111.
This 28-year-old stalwart churns out consistently professional Georgian-Russian-Ukrainian-Jewish fare (don’t miss the skewered lamb riblets, $13.50, or blini, which they call a “Russian crêpe,” frosted with salmon caviar, $9.50). At night, the scene turns into a Felliniesque bar mitzvah—think burly Russian guys dancing to “Hava Nagila” with faux-Chanel-clad peroxide blondes.

12. M & I International Food
249 Brighton Beach Ave.; 718-615-1011.
Mineral water from the Republic of Georgia, Polish porcini mushrooms, acres of smoked meats and fish—it’s all here, somewhere, at this two-story food emporium. The prepared cold-food section has excellent eggplant appetizers (from $4.99 per pound), and the slender kabanosy sausages from the cold-cuts counter are great on the grill.

13. Varenichnaya
3086 Brighton 2nd St.; 718-332-9797.
Take a dumpling tour of the former U.S.S.R. at this small spot, named for the signature Ukrainian noodle pouches, vareniki. The flat, slippery specimens are filled with anything from potatoes ($6.50) to pot cheese ($6.95); other good choices include the round, hand-shaped Siberian veal or chicken pelmeni ($6.50), and the fat steamed Uzbek lamb manti ($8.50).

Our most recent obsession

Satisfying one sweet tooth at a time...

Momofuku Bakery Bar

We visit at least once a week now, much to the detriment of our waistline.

Our fave? The banana cake: banana bread, banana cream, hazelnut crunch, gianduja fudge, and maybe peanut butter? Yum!

Picture from Yelp user Laurie C.

Our Competition

A link to the competition...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/06/dining/06burg.html?_r=6

Kingswood: a place for young men and the cougars that love them

what we love: solid burger. the sweet and tangy sauce on the burgers was quite nice. truffle fries were well executed.

what we could live without: the pretense. people from the bar encroaching on our table. snotty hostesses.

burger scale: B-

price range: Burgers were $16 and included truffle fries

payment method: Any. They rudely added a presumptuous 20% gratuity on our mere party of 6.

We should have known the score with this place immediately when they wouldn't let us make a reservation for 10, favoring instead a 6 and 4 top solution to their prix fixe requirement (apparently this keeps the kitchen from being overwhelmed) Finally, after our thoroughly duped hostess vituperated us for being sneaky, our party of 6 was seated at long wooden table that would seat about 20 in this west village homage to hipster pretense. They had this woman working the door, and the rest of their staff resembled these guys.

The scene at the bar was highly entertaining, eurotrash mixed with jersey cougars and a side of west village hipsters. The menus came, and there was only one burger option to be had, so we went all in. We also tested their mac and cheese and several items from their upscale drink menu.

The burger was of the larger variety, and sported pepper jack, avocado, tomato, lettuce, and a tangy sauce that was well executed. The bun was standard issue, though a bit large. The entire burger needed to be cut to be easily consumed.

The truffle fries were excellent, and served with a dallop of a spiced mayonnaise which conjured thoughts of frittes in Amsterdam. The mac and cheese was over truffled and under-cheesy, and in general was found wanting.

Summary: Good burger at great burger prices. Come for the cougars, stay for the pretense.

For more pictures of our Kingswood outing, click here.