I honestly would never have known this place existed save for the fact that I opted to pick up my online Sears order in store this weekend. Driving into the plaza, I saw a little A-sign that told me that gourmet burgers and wraps can be had at this little place called Shake 'n Go, which honestly to me sounded kind of gimmicky simply because the name of the establishment sounded more like a smoothie stand than a burger joint. Walking in, it's interesting, because you see guitars and saxophones mounted on the walls with giant pictures of Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Preistley, and B.B. King and the like on the wall. Overall though, it's really clean and they have a really wide variety of burgers (over 25 I think).
The meat quality was a good, full beefy flavor. The fixings were normal for the most part, though each different type of burger has some kind of special fixing, mine was the Blazing Burger which had sauteed mushrooms and onions. The bun was, a bun, nothing to really report there. The condiment was their "house sauce" which was a semi-sweet tomato-mayo type of deal, think Big Mac sauce replica, run-of-the-mill but good. What made the burger enjoyable though, was that it was simply no-frills and well prepared. It was a straight-forward affair, what you got was what was on the menu. Sometimes, that's all you really need.
The fries, like the burgers were the simple no-nonsense fries that you come to expect from these local joints. You can't really not like it. Great spot if you're ever in the area to stop by for a bite, a little pricier than your fast-food chains, but it's pretty worth it.
Rating of the Burger:
Meat: B+
Bun: B-
Fixings: B+
Condiments: B+
Sides: B+
Price: $7-$10
Overall rating: B+
Recommended burger: There are like 25 of them, so as of now, I can't really say
Monday, December 6, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
It's no longer 2006
Obviously, I'm amazing at telling time. So I was meeting up with a friend and he recommended this place, so very imaginatively named Sport Restaurant and Bar. He told me that the burgers here were supposed to be pretty good, so I figured, hey, why not, let's give it a go. It's a pretty posh location, I think it's located in the same complex as one of the local television studios. Parking was a bit annoying, but we got street parking nearby. The monorail makes driving around there a little crazy.
Anyways, it's a pretty typical sports bar kind of atmosphere, TVs in every booth playing some station of sports, but you want to hear about the burger right? Well at the top of their burger listing was their kobe burger, which is served "on a toasted La Panzanella brioche bun with roasted onion spread, tomato and lettuce". The kobe beef was good. Really good. Unfortunately, their definition of medium was "still kind of bleeding" which I don't mind, but that got stuff all over the bun, which got a little soggy. I like the brioche bun though, it worked well. The lettuce and tomatoes were, well, lettuce and tomatoes, I really can't say a whole lot, pretty fresh. I didn't taste a whole lot of the onion spread, the beefy-juiciness of the burger kind overpowered it a lot, but all in all, it hinted suspiciously similar to a honey-mustard.
The fries were shoe string fries, but well done, they had some kind of herb seasoning. We also ordered the ale-battered onion rings as an appetizer, pretty good. It's not a bad place to go if you're in the area, while it might have been novel, the kobe burger is hardly original anymore, overall it's pretty much just a normal burger with really good ingredients, which isn't a bad thing. Worth a try, a little on the pricey side though.
Rating of the Burger:
Meat: A
Bun: B+
Fixings: B-
Condiments: B
Sides: A-
Price: $10-$20
Overall Rating: B+
Recommended Burger: The Kobe Burger
Anyways, it's a pretty typical sports bar kind of atmosphere, TVs in every booth playing some station of sports, but you want to hear about the burger right? Well at the top of their burger listing was their kobe burger, which is served "on a toasted La Panzanella brioche bun with roasted onion spread, tomato and lettuce". The kobe beef was good. Really good. Unfortunately, their definition of medium was "still kind of bleeding" which I don't mind, but that got stuff all over the bun, which got a little soggy. I like the brioche bun though, it worked well. The lettuce and tomatoes were, well, lettuce and tomatoes, I really can't say a whole lot, pretty fresh. I didn't taste a whole lot of the onion spread, the beefy-juiciness of the burger kind overpowered it a lot, but all in all, it hinted suspiciously similar to a honey-mustard.
The fries were shoe string fries, but well done, they had some kind of herb seasoning. We also ordered the ale-battered onion rings as an appetizer, pretty good. It's not a bad place to go if you're in the area, while it might have been novel, the kobe burger is hardly original anymore, overall it's pretty much just a normal burger with really good ingredients, which isn't a bad thing. Worth a try, a little on the pricey side though.
Rating of the Burger:
Meat: A
Bun: B+
Fixings: B-
Condiments: B
Sides: A-
Price: $10-$20
Overall Rating: B+
Recommended Burger: The Kobe Burger
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Fly me to the...
I was trying to find a witty way to utilize the popular song title in this post. I had originally shied away from this place simply because it was always so crowded during lunch. Finally, my break ended up being well after the normal lunch hour, I got to go. This place I'm talking about is Blue Moon Burgers in the South Lake Union area of Seattle. I was a little hesitant also because my friend had told me it wasn't really worth it, but hey, for the sake of posterity, I should be thorough right?
So that was the burger I got. It was called the Doppelganger Burger, and it's pretty hard for me to describe so I took a picture of the sign describing it:
Yeah, that's a lot of stuff. So the Bratwurst was an interesting touch, it made it kind of like a breakfast sandwich kind of feel, but it didn't mix well with the burger. The beef was well, if you haven't heard of it Thundering Hooves grass-fed beef seems to be a new fad, it's pretty good, very beefy. The homemade sweet red cabbage with fresh Washington apples was actually closer to something of a jam or sauce than anything else, it was sweet, though honestly, it kind of tasted like canned cranberry sauce you get for Thanksgiving. Didn't taste the mustard, mayo, or sauerkraut. Bun, well, was a bun, did the job a bun is to do. Overall, while I like each individual component of the burger, I can't say that I was a fan of the end-product.
The sides you order separately, so I got waffle-fries, which to my opinion were sliced a little thin and overfried, making them more like soft potato chips than fries. I'm not saying that the food here is horrible, but I frankly think it's a little overvalued in terms of what you're paying. If you have no where else to go, it's not horrible, but definitely I wouldn't go out of my way to come here.
Rating of the Burger:
Meat: A
Bun: B-
Fixings: C
Condiments: C-
Sides: C
Price: $5.25-$10
Overall Rating: C
Recommended Burger: The Burger
So that was the burger I got. It was called the Doppelganger Burger, and it's pretty hard for me to describe so I took a picture of the sign describing it:
Yeah, that's a lot of stuff. So the Bratwurst was an interesting touch, it made it kind of like a breakfast sandwich kind of feel, but it didn't mix well with the burger. The beef was well, if you haven't heard of it Thundering Hooves grass-fed beef seems to be a new fad, it's pretty good, very beefy. The homemade sweet red cabbage with fresh Washington apples was actually closer to something of a jam or sauce than anything else, it was sweet, though honestly, it kind of tasted like canned cranberry sauce you get for Thanksgiving. Didn't taste the mustard, mayo, or sauerkraut. Bun, well, was a bun, did the job a bun is to do. Overall, while I like each individual component of the burger, I can't say that I was a fan of the end-product.
The sides you order separately, so I got waffle-fries, which to my opinion were sliced a little thin and overfried, making them more like soft potato chips than fries. I'm not saying that the food here is horrible, but I frankly think it's a little overvalued in terms of what you're paying. If you have no where else to go, it's not horrible, but definitely I wouldn't go out of my way to come here.
Rating of the Burger:
Meat: A
Bun: B-
Fixings: C
Condiments: C-
Sides: C
Price: $5.25-$10
Overall Rating: C
Recommended Burger: The Burger
Monday, October 18, 2010
Catching the bus...
Sort of... it's more a truck I suppose than a bus, or if I want to be technical, a streamline trailer pulled by a nondescript white van. I had heard things about The Skillet, good things. So when they came by my work, I couldn't pass up the chance to go and try it out.
The beef is grass-fed, I don't know if that's the difference maker, but it was a well made patty. The char from the grill gave it nice texture. The bun, wasn't really a bun, but rather half a baguette. It was an interesting take, made eating the burger a rather unique experience. I can't really decide whether or not I really liked it, personally, I'm going to lean towards it being interesting, but not something I'd personally ever do. Though it did work for the burger, sort of. The fixings were nice, I do like the arugula, the cambozola was a nice compliment to everything. I'm not a fan of bleu cheese type of cheese, and cambozola was along the lines of those pungent types, but there wasn't too much of it so as to overwhelm the burger, just enough to compliment everything. The condiment was what The Skillet was known for; bacon jam. It's an interesting concept, as the jam texture innately leads you to think kind of sweet, but the bacon flavor is subtle enough to make it kind of savory. Another good compliment.
The fries were hand cut and herb-seasoned, two pluses. It was a little over salted for my taste, but overall they were good. I could've gotten the poutine, but that might've been messy walking back to work and all that. It's an experience, a little overpriced for my taste, so it's not really super worth chasing to me, but if it's in the neighborhood it's worth trying just to say you did.
Rating of the Burger:
Meat: A
Bun: C+
Fixings: A
Condiments: B
Sides: B-
Price: $11-$15
Overall Rating: B
Recommended Burger: N/A
The beef is grass-fed, I don't know if that's the difference maker, but it was a well made patty. The char from the grill gave it nice texture. The bun, wasn't really a bun, but rather half a baguette. It was an interesting take, made eating the burger a rather unique experience. I can't really decide whether or not I really liked it, personally, I'm going to lean towards it being interesting, but not something I'd personally ever do. Though it did work for the burger, sort of. The fixings were nice, I do like the arugula, the cambozola was a nice compliment to everything. I'm not a fan of bleu cheese type of cheese, and cambozola was along the lines of those pungent types, but there wasn't too much of it so as to overwhelm the burger, just enough to compliment everything. The condiment was what The Skillet was known for; bacon jam. It's an interesting concept, as the jam texture innately leads you to think kind of sweet, but the bacon flavor is subtle enough to make it kind of savory. Another good compliment.
The fries were hand cut and herb-seasoned, two pluses. It was a little over salted for my taste, but overall they were good. I could've gotten the poutine, but that might've been messy walking back to work and all that. It's an experience, a little overpriced for my taste, so it's not really super worth chasing to me, but if it's in the neighborhood it's worth trying just to say you did.
Rating of the Burger:
Meat: A
Bun: C+
Fixings: A
Condiments: B
Sides: B-
Price: $11-$15
Overall Rating: B
Recommended Burger: N/A
Monday, October 11, 2010
When you can't find the truck...
So I was trying to be clever with a play on words here... and make a reference to a place I've been wanting to go to... It sounded cooler in my head, it really did. I was actually debating whether or not to really review this place, since you can't really get in to The Garage Cafe unless you're working for Amazon, but I decided to anyways. So yes, there is a burger under that bun in the picture. The basket was pretty deep so it was hard to get a good picture.
Anyways, they just have a burger selection with various fixing and condiment selections. The default always comes with lettuce, tomatoes, and red onions. I got a burger with cheddar, you can add bacon for extra as well, didn't opt for that, as I'm not a huge bacon guy. The meat was really well done, they grill it fresh when you order it. It was cooked just right and beefy and juicy. The bun was kind of like a pre-toasted artisan roll thing, but it wasn't too crusty like a typical artisan roll, I liked it. The fixings were fresh, I like fresh. In terms of condiments, I opted for something the guy called "Kick-ass", which he explained was a togarashi-jalapeno aioli, as well as some tomato relish. I like the relish, didn't really taste the aioli.
The sides were typical bulk-ordered fried fries. Can't go wrong, but you're not going to get bonus points for them, plus you have to pay extra. If you can get in, it's something to think about from their selection.
Rating of the Burger:
Meat: A
Bun: B+
Fixings: B+
Condiments: C+
Sides: B-
Price: $5-$10
Overall Rating: B
Recommended Burger: N/A
Anyways, they just have a burger selection with various fixing and condiment selections. The default always comes with lettuce, tomatoes, and red onions. I got a burger with cheddar, you can add bacon for extra as well, didn't opt for that, as I'm not a huge bacon guy. The meat was really well done, they grill it fresh when you order it. It was cooked just right and beefy and juicy. The bun was kind of like a pre-toasted artisan roll thing, but it wasn't too crusty like a typical artisan roll, I liked it. The fixings were fresh, I like fresh. In terms of condiments, I opted for something the guy called "Kick-ass", which he explained was a togarashi-jalapeno aioli, as well as some tomato relish. I like the relish, didn't really taste the aioli.
The sides were typical bulk-ordered fried fries. Can't go wrong, but you're not going to get bonus points for them, plus you have to pay extra. If you can get in, it's something to think about from their selection.
Rating of the Burger:
Meat: A
Bun: B+
Fixings: B+
Condiments: C+
Sides: B-
Price: $5-$10
Overall Rating: B
Recommended Burger: N/A
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Simple burger for a simple place
Okay, I don't know if this is exactly what the burger is called on the menu, but there's really only one burger on the menu so it's all good. I had heard good things about the nice homemade type stuff at LC's Kitchen and finally had the opportunity to go yesterday evening with my cousin. It's a nice cozy place, despite being kind of in an awkward location on the busy Lake City Way.
The burger itself was well done, I liked the patty, and the steamed meltiness of the cheese. They have a good selection of cheeses too. The other fixings were quite fresh and the bun was well toasted. Unfortunately, like several burgers before, there was a lack of condiments inherent on the burger. They did have Tiger Sauce there, which is like a peppery BBQ sauce, it's pretty good, but also kind of watery so you have to add a bit of it to taste anything. Still, it was a pretty good burger overall.
For sides they have fries, which look rather well done, or salad, or soup, or cripsins, which I got. Crispins are essentially ultra thin onion rings, which I thought was really cool, it's like a mix of Funyuns and shoe-string potatoes. Again, not a burger I'd go out of my way for, but I do like the place, maybe I'll get something else there sometime. Rachel Ray recommends the custard, which they didn't have, apparently their dessert menu is on a day-to-day basis.
Rating of the Burger:
Meat: B
Bun: B-
Fixings: B+
Condiments: D
Sides: A-
Price: $8.25
Overall Rating: C+
Recommended Burger: LC's Hometown Burger
The burger itself was well done, I liked the patty, and the steamed meltiness of the cheese. They have a good selection of cheeses too. The other fixings were quite fresh and the bun was well toasted. Unfortunately, like several burgers before, there was a lack of condiments inherent on the burger. They did have Tiger Sauce there, which is like a peppery BBQ sauce, it's pretty good, but also kind of watery so you have to add a bit of it to taste anything. Still, it was a pretty good burger overall.
For sides they have fries, which look rather well done, or salad, or soup, or cripsins, which I got. Crispins are essentially ultra thin onion rings, which I thought was really cool, it's like a mix of Funyuns and shoe-string potatoes. Again, not a burger I'd go out of my way for, but I do like the place, maybe I'll get something else there sometime. Rachel Ray recommends the custard, which they didn't have, apparently their dessert menu is on a day-to-day basis.
Rating of the Burger:
Meat: B
Bun: B-
Fixings: B+
Condiments: D
Sides: A-
Price: $8.25
Overall Rating: C+
Recommended Burger: LC's Hometown Burger
Friday, October 1, 2010
It is what it is...
The nice thing about starting new work is that you have a new places nearby to try out for lunch, and burgers are an optimal lunch item. The other day I walked down the street to the Bad Monkey Bistro and decided to order a burger, the Dr. Zain, one of two on the menu. It had melted Gruyere cheese as well as mushrooms. Overall, the place is a nice little place, supposed to be a piano/sports bar, saw a pool table in the back and sat right in front of the piano. I suppose it's somewhat of a posh place to hang out during happy hour.
The burger itself was alright, fairly unremarkable. The 1/3 lb patty was hand pressed, so that was nice, it retained a thicker consistency but at the cost of being smaller than the bun itself. The Gruyere and mushrooms were well, I didn't really taste them. The veggies were fresh though. Also I didn't taste any of the mayo, though I suppose it was just mayo. The roll was pretty well done, nothing fancy, nothing to write home about.
For the sides I tried their root chips, which are supposed to be a bunch of house made chips from various tubers, like sweet potatoes and yams. Generally, they kind of just tasted like chips, but I could catch a hint of the different tubers here and there. Personally, this concept would've been cooler if they made fries like that. This isn't somewhere I'd really go out of the way for in terms of food, I imagine the ambiance in the evening is pretty nice, and the burgers are a safe bet, but again, not something to write home about.
Rating of the Burger:
Meat: B-
Bun: B-
Fixings: C+
Condiments: D
Sides: C
Price: $9
Overall Rating: C
Recommended Burger: Bad Monkey Burger
The burger itself was alright, fairly unremarkable. The 1/3 lb patty was hand pressed, so that was nice, it retained a thicker consistency but at the cost of being smaller than the bun itself. The Gruyere and mushrooms were well, I didn't really taste them. The veggies were fresh though. Also I didn't taste any of the mayo, though I suppose it was just mayo. The roll was pretty well done, nothing fancy, nothing to write home about.
For the sides I tried their root chips, which are supposed to be a bunch of house made chips from various tubers, like sweet potatoes and yams. Generally, they kind of just tasted like chips, but I could catch a hint of the different tubers here and there. Personally, this concept would've been cooler if they made fries like that. This isn't somewhere I'd really go out of the way for in terms of food, I imagine the ambiance in the evening is pretty nice, and the burgers are a safe bet, but again, not something to write home about.
Rating of the Burger:
Meat: B-
Bun: B-
Fixings: C+
Condiments: D
Sides: C
Price: $9
Overall Rating: C
Recommended Burger: Bad Monkey Burger
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