Burger Crew meeting called to order on Saturday, November 17 just a shade past noon.
Members in attendance: Angela d., Sumana S., Trevor Y., Wayne T., Innie C., and me! Dennis K.
Guests: Christian Y., Will (does he even have a last name?)
I. Ordering
Eureka! is the name of the establishment, just one of 22 similarly named gastropubs across the west coast and a few less desirable states. Its got 10+ burgers on its menu in addition to a host of other modernish American cuisine, including a pretty nice selection of alcohol. We were seated in the patio which included shade and TVs.
Trev and Angela ordered the 28-day aged burger ($18.00) – carrot-fed Angus, aioli, arugula, tomatoes, finished with balsalmic glaze.
Wayne ordered the bone-marrow burger (limited availability) ($16.50) – shiitake bone marrow butter, charbroiled onion, mustard aioli, roasted Roma tomato.
Innie and DK each ordered the jalapeno egg burger ($13.00) – fried egg, cheddar, bacon, chipotle sauce, pickled jalapenos.
II. The Burgers
All of our burgers used the same buns: poppy-covered brioche. The Crew, in classic hive-mind fashion, all agreed the bottom buns got too soggy towards the end of the meal. Seriously though, it feels kind of savage to be holding the burger with your thumb holding the patty-bottom. C’mon Eureka!
The 28-day aged burger got decent reviews. The patty was cooked to a perfectly juicy medium-rare but was lacking salt while the balsamic vinegar flavor was dominant. Somewhat of a rubbery texture though – not sure if that’s due to the fine grind or the carrot-fed beef, but there’s a bit of unrealized potential here. God, what a strip or two of bacon would do for this burger.
The bone marrow burger was the best of the bunch. The patty was unfortunately more medium than medium-rare, but Wayne still described it as still juicy, super savory, very umami, but not very meaty. (He likes his meat to taste like it’s still attached to the animal.) The seasoning and sear weren’t very noticeable because the bone marrow was so front-and-center. The same goes for the onion and tomato – sliced thinly but not very noticeable.
At last, the jalapeno egg burger. Maybe we should have ordered extra jalapenos on the side because both Innie and I agreed the jalapeno flavor and acidity got lost in the mix. Most disappointing! That said, the rest of the burger was quite nice; the bacon was nice and crunchy (dat texture) and the egg was cooked really well. Dipping stuff (fries!) in egg sauce is such a tasty treat.
III. The Fries/Sides
Each of the burgers came with fries. They were nicely salted, potato-y, and had like a maple honey glaze that gave the fries a little sweetness. Innie ordered sweet potato fries that were sweet (honey and cinnamon sugar, we think) and crunchy! I don’t think a single person complained about the fries here.
IV. Miscellaneous
Parking was easy and free because Orange County. Our server was super nice, offering samples of a bunch of beer, dealing with our indecisiveness, and even dealing with us sending back one of the 28-day aged burgers because it was overcooked.
V. Value
We valued the 28-day aged burger between $10.50 and $12.00, the bone-marrow burger at around $13.00, and the jalapeno egg burger between $9.50 and $12.00.
VI. The Verdict
The ratings (out of 5) ranged from 2.8 to 3.7 with the median being 3.1. For the majority of the Crew, it’s safe to say these were average burgers with the potential to be better with a few minor changes. Not bad, Eureka!