Yelp
701 Lincoln Blvd Venice, CA 90291
Members in attendance: Trevor Y., Angela d. Wayne T., DK, and Innie C.
Special Guests: Marissa
I. Ordering
Trevor – Banh Mi Burger (med. rare)
Angela – Lincoln
Wayne – Banh Mi Burger + Fries
DK – Banh Mi Burger
Innie – Banh Mi Burger
Banh Mi Burger Description
Angus beef, mozzarella, pork pate, fried onion, jalapeno, cilantro, pickled daikon and carrots
Lincoln Description
Angus beef, American Cheese, lettuce, tomato & onion
II. The Burger
Walking in everyone was clearly excited about the Banh Mi Burger and I’m sad to report it didn’t live up to expectations. Not necessarily because it wasn’t good but perhaps more because we had high hopes.
With that said, as a group we found the meat to have a good beefy flavor however poorly seared it may be. The most enjoyable bites of the burger were when it had a right mix of the patty, pickled veggies and jalapenos. The least enjoyable bites were the ones that had too much of the over-powering sweet sauce that was drizzled? on the burger. We could have gone without the sauce or much less of it and much much more pickled veggies. If we ever come back I would ask for those modification if getting the banh mi burger. I also need to mention this last since it was so forgettable, the mozzarella cheese really didn’t add anything flavor wise to the burger. I imagine a havarti could have elevated this to a new level.
Angela being the lone purist with the Lincoln burger found it be a solid yummy burger. She described it as:
-good patty
-melty cheese
-Pickle-y pickles
-good grilled onions
So if find yourself at Lokal Sandwich Shop and not feeling adventurous, the Lincoln is a very safe burger to order.
III. The Sides
I feel like this burger crew is about to have it’s spin-off mini crew for fries. I will submit to the readers of this blog post a template to judge fries moving forward.
– Method Cooked: Double fried
– Moisture Content: too high, soggy
– Category: >5mm, <10mm therefore not shoestring and not steak fries….sooo regular?
-Flavor: too potatoe-y (read: outer crisps to fluffy center ratio is off)
-Seasoning: salt
IV. Miscellaneous
They have both indoor and outdoor seating so if you have that pup you want to bring along they are welcomed in the outdoor benches. It’s the corner tenant of a small parking lot however the parking spaces in the lot are huge. I would recommend carpooling in the biggest car you can find.
The service is very fast and very good and friendly and the menu is very diverse. I ended up getting an actual banh mi sandwich to go and it was delicious!
V. Value
We rated how much we’d pay for our burgers and it ranged from $10-$13 which is a nice tight distribution.
VI. The Verdict
If compared to the elite burgers of southern california it would get a “good-ish” rating and not something worth going out of your way to get. But if I were in the area I wouldn’t be opposed to getting another burger with the modifications I had mentioned above. Most of the crew concurred with ratings of: 3.7, 3.9, 3.6, 3.8, 4.2.
Next burger crew meeting: Saturday, Dec 14 – allikaphiy – Long Beach