Burger Crew meeting called to order on Saturday, April 6, 2019 @ noon (Angela’s pick).
Members in attendance: Angela d., Trevor Y., Wayne T., Innie C., and yours truly, Dennis K.
I. Ordering
Wayne ordered the Napoleon ($14.00) – house blend all beef patty, cooked medium-rare and topped with slow braised tri-tip steak, crispy onion gastrique (bless you) and spicy Gouda fondue. Dressed with garlic aioli and served with demi-glace for dipping.
Trev and Angela shared the Backyard Burger ($13.00) – house blend all beef patty, cooked medium-rare, melted cheddar cheese, jalapeno infused bacon, lettuce, tomato, red onions, and house made thousand island dressing.
Innie and I each had the Breakfast Burger ($12.00) – house blend all beef charbroiled patty, cooked medium-rare, fried egg, potatoes, cheddar, applewood smoked bacon. I added jalapenos to mine and neither of us opted for the $3 Jameson shot add-on, mostly out of fear that they’d pour it onto the burger instead of just having it off to the side. You never know.
II. The burgers
The buns, as with most burgers these days, were standard brioche. They were sweet-ish and held their burger contents without becoming soggy. Does it deserve high praise for barely doing its job? Probably not, but we can give it a participation trophy.
The patties, on the other hand, have potential. The meat blend was pretty tasty. Even though two of the patties came out more medium than medium-rare, the meat was both tender and had that meaty funk. The main knock–and this was across the board–was that the patties weren’t seasoned enough. They could have doubled the amount of seasoning and it would’ve been fine.
Trev and Angela had lots of good things to say about their jalapeno infused bacon: it was salty, smoky, and crispy. Everything you’d want in bacon unless you’re a heathen who thinks bacon should be pork belly.
A warning to those interested in ordering the Napoleon: the tri-tip was super dry, “almost like shredded beef jerky” said Wayne. So much for being slow braised. He also didn’t notice the cheese fondue which I’m sure was a major factor in picking that burger. I had a vision of hot gooey cheese shooting out from the top of the burger like Old Faithful but I guess the chef couldn’t make it happen. I’m not sure what s/he settled for but Wayne didn’t notice it. (To be fair, Wayne can be pretty dense when it comes to non-meaty things.)
Innie’s main gripe with her Breakfast Burger was that it initially came out without an egg. Not to sound like a brat but how does a Breakfast Burger leave the kitchen without a goddamn egg? It turned out fine and when it came out, the egg was perfect. The burger itself needed some kind of acid though. Maybe she should have gotten that shot of Jameson (does that count?).
And in other news, Trev really liked the lettuce. According to The Social List’s website, all of their ingredients are locally sourced, so f*** yeah you go California lettuce!
III. The sides
Another meeting where we did not coordinate side selection, so this review is solely for the breakfast potatoes and the garlicky shoestring fries.
The potatoes looked tastier than they tasted and the fries needed more salt and more garlic. Lack of seasoning was definitely a trend here.
IV. Miscellaneous
* Parking is tough but understandable given the area (hipster Long Beach).
* Loud environment, not ideal for a quiet get together
* Reservations are a must; this place gets packed
* Rotating taps every week
V. Value
The members were asked how much they would pay for the burger they ordered. The range was between $9.50 to $12.00 so the prices were a little above what we would have liked to pay (the prices above include fries).
VI. The verdict
Out of 5.0, the scores were: 2.9, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.2 (hello groupthink!).
Next meeting: May 25th at The Win-Dow in Venice.