Welcome to the first Burger Crew meeting of the decade!
Members in attendance: Angela, Trevor, Wayne, DK, and Innie (and guest starring Chris)
- Ordering
Electric Owl has only one meat burger for dinner (the other burger is an Impossible burger), so our choice was more or less made for us, and this is what we ordered.
Wayne: Smash burger (wagyu+dry aged beef, house cheese, griddled shallots, pickles, savory spread, frico bun) with bacon and ranch tots
Trangela: Smash burger with ranch tots
DK: Smash burger with bacon
Innie: Smash burger
- The burgers
Innie thought that the burger was super rich and cheesy, but that the burger didn’t fit the definition of a smash burger because the patty wasn’t a smash patty; maybe it was pressed down onto the griddle during cooking but it wasn’t the thin type of patty that one would expect from something called a “smash burger.” The house cheese was very gooey and melty to the point that several of us compared it to nacho cheese in texture. When I asked everybody what they thought of the patty, Trevor’s immediate reaction was “oh yes!” because of how much he enjoyed it. It had the right amount of fat to make a very juicy and meaty tasting burger; when I bit into it, still-hot meat juices poured out of the burger and onto my hands. It also had just the right amount of seasoning and had a very good sear. However, Trevor and Angela’s burger had very uneven doneness; one side was rare while the other side was well-done, but they still thoroughly enjoyed their burger.
Everybody loved the savory spread, which was a horseradish-mustard aioli. Angela thinks that the burger should actually be renamed to the “French dip burger” because the addition of the aioli reminded her of a French dip sandwich. Trevor thought that the spread gave you all of the good of horseradish in terms of flavor but none of the bad in terms of how strong horseradish can be. The bacon was thick cut and what I would describe as “80% crispy,” meaning it was cooked enough that it stood on its own, but it still had a bit of chew to go along with a bit of crispiness.
The pickles were cut into long flat slices, and they were very good but they unfortunately didn’t put enough of them into the burger to ensure some pickle in every bite. The griddled shallots gave the burger a sweetness that some of us liked, particularly Trevor. The buns were toasted, which probably helped keep the burger from falling apart, but DK and I had buns that were over-toasted (DK described his as burnt).
- The sides
There’s not a whole lot to say about the ranch tots other than that they were very good (some said maybe the best tots they’ve ever had). They stayed crispy for the entire meal and the ranch dust helped set them apart from more generic tots. At $2 for a side, they were also very reasonably priced.
- Miscellaneous
Trevor appreciated the “ketcup in the squeezy bottle that’s extra extra large” for optimal ketchup consumption. Their cocktails are very spirit-forward (strong). The booth we sat in was very comfortable, and the restaurant had great ambiance and felt very lively, helped in no small part by being fairly noisy. They don’t use an online reservation system and in order to make reservations, you have to email or call. Only street parking is available so you’re at the mercy of finding a meter if you want to park nearby.
- Value & Rating
Most of us thought that the burger was priced pretty approriately at $15, with only one dissenter at $12.50. Overall, the burger was a pretty big hit for all of us, with scores ranging from 3.7 to 4.5 and an average score of 4.1.
Next Burger Crew meeting will be in February at BurgerShop in Downtown Los Angeles!