Huh, they figured it out...

The mushroom burger is a fairly common burger. In fact, most places have gotten it worked out to some kind of mushroom and a Swiss cheese of some sort. Once you've sauteed the mushrooms and melted the cheese it provides a nice contrast in texture and flavor from the beef. That being said, I think someone's kind of figured it out. Ironically, that someone isn't a burger place. That place, may just be Boudin SF.

For those of you that don't know, Boudin is a bread store from San Francisco, and there are a chain of Panera-type restaurants that have opened across the Bay Area. I happened to go to one of these and noted that they had burgers. I'm not surprised, them being a bread store, despite being more known for their clam chowder sourdough bread bowls, trying their hand at something of a burger. I opted then, for the mushroom and Swiss.

So the fact that the burger was served on more of a baguette than a roll didn't really deter me, because I've seen relatively successful burgers in such a format before. I have to say the burger was well made, the meat was juicy, the mushrooms (cremini I believe), were sauteed and provided a nice earthy contrast. The slight bitterness of the mixed greens and the sourness of the balsamic vinaigrette made for a really nice full, rich flavor. Normally, I'm not a fan of multi-grain type breads when it comes to the bun part, but the contrast of flavors and textures, including the grainy solidarity of the bread made it quite an enjoyable experience. While I would normally prefer the roll shape to the longer baguette halves, that's just being nit-picky at this point. The other stuff makes up for it.

Now, I typically don't mind being healthier, and substituting a green leaf salad for some deep fried, starch filled tubers is quite a bit healthier, a burger just isn't the same without fries or onion rings or something of the sort. Small knock there. Sorry.