Author: Innie Chung

Burger crew meeting called to order on Saturday, June 29, 2019 at 11am.

Members in attendance: Angela d., Sumana S., Trevor Y., Wayne T., Dennis K., and myself (Innie C.)

Guests: Isabel G., Christian Y., and Marty d. (Apprentice member)

I. Ordering

Wayne, Angela/Trev, and Chris/I all ordered the Double Savory burger (mushroom, truffle cheese, caramelized onion, lettuce, aioli – $11.20).  Wayne added bacon to his, and Chris and I added jalapenos to ours.  Sumana and DK/Isa ordered the special item not on the regular menu, the La Hambuguesa (queso fresco, guacamole, roasted jalapenos, caramelized onions, and Yucateco mayo – $12.20), with double patties.

There are 5 regular burger offerings on the menu, plus a veggie option.  All (excluding the veggie option) are given the option of single or double patty. 

II. The burgers

Those who ordered the Savory burger were none too impressed.  The patties were intended to be smashburgers, but the necessary sear for a good smash-style just wasn’t there.  Wayne’s patties had a moderate sear on just one side.  Angela speculated that since we were the first guests of the day, the grill didn’t have a chance to heat up properly before some of the patties were placed.   The most common complaint of the Savory crowd was that there was no truffle flavor.  We all agreed that if truffle was not advertised in the ingredient list, we would have thought this was just a mushroom burger.  The cheese didn’t have a stand-out flavor, but nicely settled into the crevices of the patty, and added to the savoriness and gooey-ness of the burger.  Wayne thought his added bacon was just okay.  It was neither a thick cut nor a thin slice, and it was neither chewy nor crispy.  A true purgatory state of bacon.  The jalapenos that Chris and I added were of the pickled variety, and would have been a nice acidic addition to the cheesiness if there were more of them. 

The La Hambuguesa was a much bigger hit.  DK said the patties themselves didn’t have too much seasoning, but the queso fresco and guacamole really made up for it.  The queso fresco was thick cut and on point. Isa compared the taste to a torta (she clarified that this was high praise).  The ingredients all together made the burger very flavorful and enjoyable.  The patties for these burgers had a much better sear.

The beef seemed to be of good quality, and all members thought they had a nice meaty flavor.  The patties were very loosely packed.  So much so that the burgers tended to fall apart toward the end.  Most of the crew noted that while the burgers were tender, they would have appreciated more juiciness.

Buns were buttery and held up well for the most part (except when the patties fell apart at the end).  The double patties seemed to be the best choice in terms of satisfying ratio of meat to bread.

III. The Fries/Sides

Between the group, we ordered the garlic fries, the chili cheese fries, and the spicy garlic fries.  The chili cheese fries is one of the offerings on the regular menu, but the garlic fries (garlic butter, grama padano, parsley – $4) and the spicy garlic fries (sambal garlic, butter, grama Padano – $4.50) were specials advertised by the register.  The fries were thin cut, crispy, and seemed to be double fried.  Wayne commented that they were “airy” on the inside.  The chili cheese fries were solid – cheesy and satisfying.  Trev compared the chili style to be of the Weinerschnitzel kind (not in a bad way).  Between the garlic and the spicy garlic fries, everyone preferred the spicy garlic.  The garlic fries were flavorful, but the spicy garlic fries had an extra kick that everyone enjoyed.

IV. Miscellaneous 

Service was very friendly, and the eating area was clean.  The fountain drinks were self-fill and consisted of Coke products.  Ketchup and mustard were “Sir Kensington” brand.  Trevor, the reigning ketchup expert on crew, declared them to be “the most okay” of the non-Heinz/Hunt brands. 

Cups/straws look and feel very much like plastic, but are made of compostable plant material.  Definite win in terms of satisfying both environmental friendliness and straw usability (wimpy paper straws are the Edmure Tully of the straw world – well-meaning but incompetent).

If you want to use the bathroom at this establishment, be prepared for a bit of a walk.  To use them, you’ll have to go over to a nearby building, take the elevator to the basement, and access them via key cards.

V. Value

The members were asked how much they would pay for the burger they ordered.  The range was between $9 and $12 for the double burgers, so most of us considered the burgers to be more expensive than what we would have liked to pay.

VI. The verdict

The Savory burger had ratings of 3.3, 2.7, 2.7, and 3.0. The La Hambuguesa had ratings of 4.0 and 4.4.

Next Burger Crew stop: Burger Shack, San Francisco, CA.

Burger crew meeting called to order on Saturday, December 8^th, 2018 at 12pm.

Members in attendance: Angela, Trev, Wayne, Dennis, and me (Innie)

Guests: Marty, mini Burger Crew member-in-training

I.  Ordering

Ordering was done at the counter, with burgers brought out tableside.  The menu highlights their 100% angus beef burger choices, but they also offer turkey and chicken sandwiches, vegetarian options, and salads.

Trev and Angela split the white truffle burger with no cheese ($9.50) – grilled portobello mushrooms, roasted red bell peppers, white truffle oil, garlic aioli.

Dennis ordered the guacamole burger, which was one of the daily special burgers advertised only at the counter – guacamole, tortilla chip strips, pico de gallo, bacon, jack cheese.

Wayne ordered the white truffle burger with bacon added ($9.50 + $2.50)- grilled portobello mushrooms, roasted red bell peppers, asiago cheese, white truffle oil, garlic aioli, + 2 slices applewood smoked bacon.

I ordered the G Fire burger ($9.50) – pepperjack cheese, red & green chili, habanero, grilled onion, roasted bell peppers, house spicy aioli on the side.

II.  The burgers

The truffle burger was a hit!  Creamy and full-flavored, with a good mouthfeel.  Trevor and Angela noted that most truffle burgers tend to be a bit boring and one-note in taste, but this one was interesting the whole way through.  They thought that it tasted rich even without the cheese.  Mushroom pieces were big, cooked throughout, and soft.  Wayne, who also got the truffle burger, thought that the patty was a little dry and not very juicy.  The rest of the crew disagreed, and then proceeded to shame him for accidentally ordering the doneness of his burger medium instead of medium-rare.

Wayne added bacon as an extra topping to his truffle burger.  These were described as “thick cut” but upon receiving them, weren’t really that thick.  However, Wayne thought they were tasty and were worth adding.

Dennis thought that the guacamole burger generally suffered from a lack of texture.  The guacamole, tortilla chips, pico de gallo, bacon, and jack cheese all melded into a similar texture.  Larger chunks of onion may have helped to provide a necessary crunchy element.  There was a generous amount of guacamole on the burger, but this ended up overpowering the beef flavor of the patty.

The fire burger (which advertised a promising icon of two chili peppers on the menu) wasn’t as spicy as I was hoping for.  It did taste of chilis, but didn’t have much heat.  The house spicy aioli on the side had the color of sriracha mayo and also did not deliver on the heat scale.  The pepperjack cheese may have added some creamy texture, but didn’t contribute much flavor-wise.

The patties when tasted alone did not seem to be fully salted, but the added ingredients of each burger provided the seasoning and flavor.   Everyone enjoyed the portion size of the burgers- not too small to be unsatisfying but not too large to be unwieldy and difficult to eat.  We all received the correct doneness that was ordered.

Everyone’s burger used the same “high-rise buns”, which were soft, eggy, and spongey.  Trev mentioned that the buns contributed to a richer tasting burger overall.  The buns all seemed to hold up well to the toppings.

III. The Fries/Sides

The sides were a consistent winner with everyone.

The garlic parmesan fries ($5.00) smelled amazing when they came out!  They were nice and garlic-y and full-flavored.  The cheese didn’t really stick to the fries, but most fries with parmesan seem to have this issue.

The G-tornado fries ($5) had melted cheese, grilled onion, bacon pieces, and lots of thousand island-style dressing.  We described it as a better version of in-n-out animal style fries.  These fries and the garlic parmesan fries were of the battered kind and very nicely cooked.

The regular fries ($2.50) were still solid without any fancy toppings.  They had a great potato flavor and crispy texture.

The beer battered zucchini fries ($5.50) consisted of 6 large zucchini spears and was served with a side of ranch. These were a different style of battered than the aforementioned fries- these looked like a dry/wet/dry type of fry.  Very nicely seasoned, with visible salt grains.  Definitely one of the better zucchini fries that we’ve had.  Warning: Beware of molten lava status when they first come out.

IV.  Miscellaneous

La Habra felt like a farther drive than expected.  I think it might be because it’s so far from all freeways and required a good amount of side streets to get there.

There is a small parking lot available which filled up pretty quickly by the end of our meal.  Outdoor seating is also available.

The ketchup is off brand but was still tasty.  Our resident ketchup connoisseur, Trevor, gave it the high praise of saying that he wouldn’t have noticed that it wasn’t Heinz.

The fountain drinks are refillable and had a pretty standard selection of Coke products.

We originally sat at a table adjacent to the bathroom, but moved after we found that there was a strong bathroom cleaner smell.  The bathrooms themselves were pretty tidy.

Very nice staff.  We received our food in a timely manner, and our food runner was oddly generous with napkins.  (By our fifth unprompted delivery of napkins, we were beginning to question if we just looked like a messy group.)  However, our bounty of accumulated napkins came to the rescue when one of our crew spilled his coke over our table.  The only logical conclusion here: Precog.

Marty had boiled, pureed carrots.  She seemed to like it.

V.  Value

The members were asked how much they would pay for the burger they ordered.  We would pay anywhere from 10 to 12 dollars for our burgers, so the prices were generally on par with what we received.

VI.  The verdict

The white truffle burger was the clear winner during this meal.  The ratings ranged from 3 to 4.7, with the truffle burger earning all 4s and above.  The other burgers fell short of expectations and were solidly average burgers.

Next burger crew meeting: January 19^th at Oh My Burger in Gardena (Innie’s choice)

 

Burger crew meeting called to order on Saturday, July 22, 2018 at 12pm.

Members in attendance: Angela d., Trevor Y., Wayne T., Dennis K., and myself (Innie C.)

Guest: Marty d. (princess of Burger Crew royalty)

I.  Ordering

There was only one burger on the menu, the M&G Burger (7-oz Angus ground chuck, caramelized onion, roasted garlic, relish, cheddar cheese, sambal aioli, acar pickles, French fries), which was $15.  We were able to cook our patties to order (medium rare or get out).  Angela and Trevor shared a burger and elected to get theirs with no cheese.  The acar pickles and French fries were served on the side.

II.  The Burgers

We all agreed that the burgers were very juicy, with a good sear and texture.  The patties were rough grind, thick, and hand-formed**.  The crew speculated that because of the juiciness, the fat ratio was probably around 70/30.  However, the high fat content didn’t really contribute to a meaty-tasting flavor.  We all felt the patties could have benefited from more seasoning as well.  Angela/Trevor and Wayne’s burgers were cooked closer to medium rare, as ordered, but Dennis’ and my burger were a solid medium.  Wayne felt that his patty was too seared, approaching burnt in some spots.

**Insert inappropriate and indulgent “That’s what she said”

The cheddar cheese was wonderfully melty and gooey, and didn’t distract from the patty.  The onions were caramelized and nicely seasoned.  The bun, which our server informed us was brioche, was toasted and held together well while we ate.  The sambal aioli looked and tasted a lot like thousand island.  (As a self-proclaimed spice hound, I was slightly disappointed by the lack of kick that is implied by the mention of sambal.)

Although there were acar pickles included in the menu description, they were not in the actual burger (they were all served as a side).  The pickles consisted of cucumber, shallots, radish, and julienned carrots lightly pickled in a slightly sweet and mild vinegar, and were tasty when eaten by themselves.  However, eating them with the burger didn’t add the necessary acid, tang, nor flavor that was needed to contrast the fattiness of the meat.  A more traditional pickle in the burger construction would have also helped by adding a crunch to an overall uniform texture.

III.  The Fries/Sides

The fries were delicious!  The thick cut fries were double fried to nice golden color and well-seasoned with course salt.  One of the best parts of our meal.

IV.  Miscellaneous

The restaurant is a part of a corner strip mall, shared with a Kogi taco place, a pizzeria, and a yoga studio, and the small parking lot gets packed.  However, there is another row of additional parking in a lot directly behind the restaurant.  The beer selection was limited, but had some good choices available.  The staff was attentive, and our waters were refilled regularly.  All the burgers took a pretty long time to come out, with Angela/Trevor’s coming out quite some time after the rest of the crew received their burgers.  Music selection was good, although the general atmosphere of the place was a little loud.  They have a happy hour menu (Monday – Friday 4-7p), that includes the burger ($12 instead of $15) and $2 off drinks.

V.  Value

The members were asked how much they would pay for the burger they ordered.  We would pay anywhere between $9 to $12, which makes the price for the meal a bit on the high side since it’s regularly priced at $15 (including fries).  The happy hour price, however, could make it good deal!

VI.  The verdict

Overall, the burger had potential, but some key elements were lacking.  The ratings were 4.0, 3.6, 3.3, 3.7, 3.6

 

Next burger crew meeting: August 12, 2018 at 12p.

Location: Trencher, Echo Park (Innie’s choice)