New York Craft Beer Week Dinner - BLT Burger

Oh yes, that time has rolled around again, guys....New York Craft Beer Week! I haven't been able to be as active as I'd like to be this year (my beer passport is being woefully underused), but I knew when I saw the special NYCBW menu at BLT Burger, that I couldn't possibly pass it up.

Three courses (I had 2 choices per course) were paired with three beers from Breckenridge, a microbrewery out in Denver, Colorado. I love finding new beers to try, so the fact that this was from a brewery I didn't know made this all the more exciting.

First Course:
Fried Green Tomatoes w/Buttermilk Ranch Dipping Sauce served with Breckenridge Agave Wheat

This was the first time I'd been served batter-dipped dipped tomatoes, I'm more used to the breadcrumb/cornmeal variety...and I dare say that I enjoy the latter more. The hot batter coating kept slipping off the tomatoes! In spite of that, the green beauties were tangy and very tasty. The Ranch dressing provided some kick.

So, this beer right here? I need to find out where I can get it here in NYC, because it is just fantastic. Between the hint of lingering sweetness from the agave and the smoothness of the wheat, I could have drunk this all night long. A great pre-dinner beer and a nice introduction to this brewery.

Second Course:
Mac and Cheese Burger - Fried Mac and cheese patty, caramelized onions, beer cheese, bacon, and BBQ sauce served with Breckenridge Ball Park Brown

Oh yeah baby. Read that description again if you don't believe me. This burger could have been an outright disaster; it has way too many components to be structurally sound, and delicious. But...it was exactly that. The mac and cheese patty was crispy and flavorful...and the cheese was GOOEY. I'm very particular about mac and cheese, and this was delicious. The bun, perfectly toasted. Ordering the burger medium, instead of medium well made a difference, too. The juiciness of the burger ran into the other condiments, combining to make this dish really pop. It did a great job of turning something gimmicky into a burger that I wish that BLT would put on their menu permanently.

The slightly smoky flavor of the Ball Park Brown complimented the burger, but also let it shine; there were a lot of strong flavors going on here, and it was just assertive enough. Again, a very smooth drinking beer. The taste almost reminded me of a slightly bolder Newcastle.

Dessert:
Breckenridge Float - Vanilla Porter, Vanilla Ice Cream, Graham Cracker crumbs

Yum, yum, and more yum. So many flavors going on here: sweet, bitter, creamy, and spicy. The porter was divine, very rich with deep vanilla tones but never delving into a syrupy treacle. I would have liked some whipped cream and salted caramel...but that was only an afterthought.

This menu is only good until September 25th, so if you liked what you saw here, make sure you get down to BLT Burger. New York Craft Beer Week seems to just bring out the best in restaurants.

Yet Another Burger Joint? Eatinist Bitch Reviews The Counter!

Burger joints are a dime a dozen these days; as soon as you blink another one pops up with more beefy wares and more toppings. This is definitely the case at The Counter, which just opened at W41st and Broadway. It's originally a Southern California fast-yet-casual restaurant chain, that specializes in gourmet custom topped burgers and burger salads. Rumor has it that there are 312,120 possible combos. My two favorite burger spots are Shake Shack and Bill's Bar and Burger, and I wanted to see if I could add another place to my list. Also, I have a massive jones for well made turkey burgers. Sometimes I like to lighten my bovine consumption, and turkey burgers help that. Bill's makes the best around, in my humble opinion, and who doesn't  like a challenge?

First thing that came to mind when I got in: this place is sleek. Lots of streamlined design and futuristic fixtures give the place a really modern look...just not a particularly cozy one. I sat at the bar, since I was eating alone and I was greeted by a very sweet waitress who set me up with a menu. Glory Moses...the menu read like a Census Poll! I love choices and all...but damn. After about 10 minutes of being overwhelmed, I gathered my thoughts and ordered. I got the turkey on a  hamburger bun with romaine, tomato, cucumber, sprouts, sharp cheddar, cranberries, and apricot sauce. For my sides, one of their "Fifty-Fifty" combos: sweet potato fries and onion strings.

The sides came out first..and I really tried to wait to eat them. REALLY. Oh man...now, it's difficult to do sweet potato fries well because sweet potatoes themselves have such a high water and sugar content. These were delicious, crispy, and light. And I could've eaten these onion strings forever, the batter was crispy and super flavorful. No oily or heavy taste either.

And then...the burger came.

Don't get me wrong here! The toppings were fresh, the sauce wasn't creamy like I expected, but just a bright tangy glaze, which I really liked. But the burger tasted like a preformed patty, and sure looked like one too. The turkey burger at Bill's Bar and Burger is hand-formed, seasoned with provolone and basil, and is an absolute delight. It doesn't treat the turkey burger as beef's lamer cousin. The meat was cooked well, but it just didn't taste like anything.

Lesson learned! Get the regular burger next time, until they learn to make a proper turkey one.

Burgers From the Metal Gods? Grill 'Em All's Waste 'Em All Burger w/Truffle Fries

LA's Grill 'Em All Truck, the winners of Food Network's The Great Food Truck Race, started their "Victory Lap" around NYC yesterday. Even though I'm WAY SICK, my friend John made sure that we secured our reservation at Duke's in Gramercy, their first stop. Sometimes in life, you just gotta man up and eat the beef.

Now, according to Burger Conquest's site, the burgers on the menu that night were supposed to be  the Hannah Montana (a cheeseburger w/lettuce and tomato), the Molly Hatchet (fennel smoked sausage gravy, applewood smoked bacon, and maple drizzle) and the Blue Cheer (cranberry gastrique, maytag blue spread, and munchos potato crisps). Alongside, double dipped truffle oil fries. OBVIOUSLY, I was all over the idea of the Molly Hatchet because it involves two of my favorite things: gravy and bacon.

We got to Duke's (an hour and 15 early...what can I say, we were excited), and when we were finally seated I looked at the Grill 'Em All special menu and my chest tightened with horror: NO MOLLY HATCHET. Apparently, Burger Conquest must have made a typo, because the Waste 'Em All burger was there instead. Massive failboat express. We forged on and ordered it, and we decided to split an order of the truffle fries.

As you can see, the burger is packed with beer soaked onions, pepper jack cheese, and marinated chillies. The fries came with three sauces, a chipolte ketchup, a garlic aoli, and some sort of mustard. This was a serious burger, y'all. I bit the hell out of it.

The meat was cooked to a perfect medium well, juicy and flavorful thanks to a blend of porterhouse and chuck. Everything tasted good individually, but together, I felt that the flavors were sort of muddled.  Maybe if the chillies were pickled instead of marinated, or maybe if there was a salty disk of cotija cheese in the middle...something to make the flavors pop. This was a good burger! But not the best I've ever had. John concurred.

The fries on the other hand, oooooh mamma, I could eat these forever. Super crisp, earthy from the truffles, and when dunked in the ketchup, pure fry heaven. I didn't really care for the other sauces though.

Did the Grill 'Em All guys live up to the hype? Ehhh, sort of? I loved the heavy metal ball to the wall concept, the energy and the obvious love for the food, but even with my impaired tasting abilities, this definitely could have been better.