Friday, September 13, 2013

Cheeseburger in Paradise

Cheeseburger in Paradise           www.cheeseburgerinparadise.com


 Date: September 3, 2013             
Time: 12:00 pm
Weather: Sunny, Really nice 85 degrees
Patronage:  20 people
Lighting:  Dim
Attendees:  Me and my sister Jenn
Total Bill: About $34 (roughly $17/person)


This started out as a lunch date with my sister, and on a whim decided on CBIP.  I have only ever eaten there once before and wanted to try it again.  Obviously this is a chain restaurant, and to be honest one that I didn't really want to like. 

I had visions before ever stepping foot in the place, that they would play nothing else besides Jimmy Buffett music.  I also had predetermined a scenario that at the top of every hour the entire staff would come out and perform some sort of routine to song that birthed the name.  Luckily I was way off on my vision, because I would have walked straight out of the venue.

Me being the music snob that I am, actually has nothing against Parrotheads.  It isn't my thing at all, but I get that people do enjoy it.  Now they do play some Buffett songs. In fact Jenn asked if that's all they play, so I'm sure that she was curious about that too, as of course a Buffett song was on at the time.

The décor makes you feel like a tiki bar/hokey beach feel, that is surprisingly cheesy, yet totally acceptable.  It does a good job of instantly making you relaxed and wanting to enjoy your time there.  Almost a vacation feel to it, and maybe that is because of traveling and actually going to restaurants in San Diego that are on the beach.  There must be some sort of connection that I can't make, but it works.

On to the food.

We chose not to order an appetizer for our lunch, but I do want to say that I am a huge sucker for fried pickles.  Namely the fried pickles that you can get at the Dundee Dell, which is a whole other story.  The first time that I went to CBIP I did get the fried pickles.  They do appear to be frozen and not made fresh, but I really did enjoy them.  They are Claussen hamburger style pickles, but they had great flavor and nice crunch. I will say that the other apps on the menu are very generic fare.  Nachos, chips and dip, quesadillas, and the sort.

Jenn decided on getting a Mushroom and Swiss burger, but you can get a couple different meat choices other than the usual beef.  She went with getting Kobe beef.  Now Jenn likes her hamburgers bloody rare, but usually orders mid.  When she requested it the waitress said that they tend to cook more to the rare side, and Jenn lit up like a kid in a candy store, as it is difficult to even order a burger cooked to mid.  You do get a side dish with your meal and she was sold on the teriyaki broccoli.

I went with the Good Egg.  It is American Cheese, Grilled Ham, and an Over easy egg on top.  I am a sucker for an egg on a hamburger.  If you have never tried it you are truly missing out.  I also wanted mine mid rare.  For my side, how can you go wrong with fries?

We were both enjoying a beer when they brought out our meal. 

They were not lying about cooking to the rare side.  It was really nice to see a burger properly cooked from a chain restaurant.

Jenn said that her burger had really good flavor.  It was cooked to perfection.  I will admit that it did look amazing.  Her broccoli was really fresh.  The only issue with her dish was the sauce on the broccoli.  There either wasn't enough, or it wasn't thick enough to get a good coating on the florets.

My burger was perfectly pink and the flavors of the ham, cheese, and egg go so well together.  My egg was surprisingly over done.  Instead of over easy, it was virtually over medium.  No runny yolk, but the flavor was good, I was just hoping to get the runny messy yolk.  The mark of an extraordinary burger is if it can be dripping down your chin.

The remainder of the menu does look interesting from salads and sandwiches to some standard restaurant seafood and dessert.  I will firmly say that if you go to CBIP for your seafood fix your vision of perfect seafood comes frozen, breaded, and oven cooked.  I do not mean to offend anyone, but seriously, I could never respect anyone that does go there for the seafood.  If you want seafood then go to a seafood place. 

The desserts look about as unimaginative as you would expect.  It always appears that restaurants view desserts as an after thought.  I would never recommend you to waste your time on this category.  The massive benefit to CBIP is it's location.  You can enjoy your meal, and even a few libations and walk around at a great open air mall.  Literally next door to CBIP is a Cold Stone Creamery, and that by far is the way to get your sweet tooth cravings taken care of.

I would ultimately rate this place as a place that I would go to again. Just get the impression that this place will change your life about hamburgers.  Take it for what it is worth, and you just may walk away feeling like it was a vacation.
 
 
 
Pictured above is Jenn's Mushroom Swiss with Kobe beef, and the Teriyaki Broccoli
 
 

 
My Good Egg burger and fries

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Smashburger

Smashburger       www.smashburger.com


Date: August 20, 2013                
Time: 5:15 pm
Weather: Sunny, Hot 90 degrees
Patronage:  12 people
Lighting:  Natural mostly as they have large windows
Attendees:  Myself and lovely wife and our wonderful kids of course
Total Bill: About $30 (roughly $10/person)


This venture was brought about by my wife just saying "let's go get a burger", and who am I to refuse her!  We were in the area and decided to swing by the L street location, which is located about 124 and L street.  (They do have another location that is found at 72nd and Jones)  It is a nationwide chain but they do cater to local flavors to an extent.

First off if you have never heard of Smashburger, than let me explain what their catch is.  Much like their namesake, they literally smash the burger on the griddle.  They use Angus beef and by smashing the burger down it gets an amazing sear on it.  I wouldn't say charred or crunchy, but it has a great caramelization on it.  They don't cook to order and in this case, I am completely ok with that.

Much like other restaurants that I like, the menu isn't massive.  When you start to dive into it and read the descriptions of the items you do start to swim and get confused.  My advice is go with your gut in this case.  It is very easy to change your mind about 15 times and then you second guess yourself.  To throw another wrench into it as well, you can build your own burger with any number of toppings that you so desire.

I mentioned that they cater to local flavors, and they do slightly.  They have a husker burger.  Obviously being a "steak" state.  That particular hamburger has A-1 steak sauce and a haystack of fried onions on top.  I have had this burger in the past.  Yes I'm the person that absolutely hates onions.  In fact if I could eradicate them permanently from food I would.  Anyone that knows me knows this.  For whatever reason on that particular day I decided to go that route and I really enjoyed it.

On to this particular visit.

I went with a simple sounding Truffle Mushroom and Swiss.  I am a huge sucker for mushroom and swiss burgers.  The kicker in this equation is the simple word "truffle".  I don't know how many people have had the pleasure of enjoying truffles.  They have a very distinct flavor to them, but it adds such a depth of flavor to food.  Truffles are extremely expensive, but luckily they are so strong in flavor, you don't need much to go a long ways.  On this hamburger it is truffle infused mayo.  It doesn't sound exotic at all, but believe me when I say that this burger will blow the top of your head off with flavor.  Without the truffle element it would have been an o.k. burger, but just the little bit of infused mayo made it a very wise choice for me.  It isn't overpowering at all, it just adds another dimension to the profile of the burger.  The mushrooms are the typical button style that you would expect on it to begin with.  The cool thing with mushrooms is that they assume the flavor of the food they were cooked with.  Almost like an edible sponge.  That just added to the fascinating hamburger.

Robyn went with "Rob" style.  All of her ingredients looked garden fresh and perfectly ripe.  It is difficult to review her particular hamburger as they aren't cooked to temp order.  The one area that could have broken this meal is the topping being "off".  Happy to report that as usual her hamburger was devoured before mine (I eat very slow, except just one time in my life).  When she says nothing about her hamburger, it means it was just what she wanted.

The fries are deceptively incredible.  They have a very light coating of powdered ranch dressing on them that is just a great compliment.  You can also get, and I highly recommend, smashfries which are rosemary, olive oil, and garlic tossed.  They are simply amazing. 

All in all for being a chain restaurant you get a definite gourmet feel out of it.  It is almost refreshing to get these kind of flavors out of a fast food feel restaurant.  All of their burgers look amazing and sometimes it's good to step out of the box.  If you have never had truffles and have always wanted to try the flavor, you really can't go wrong for just $7.  You need to try something new and different, because you only live once.  Next time you are around a smashburger, check them out and be amazed at the amount of flavor in every bite.




Here is an image of my Truffle Mushroom and Swiss.  I really enjoy putting "real" pictures in my posts.  It's horrible to see a picture on a menu and your food looks nothing like it.


I copy their website in all of my reviews so that you can check them out and see for yourself.  I will try to get better about talking about other things on the menus as well.  I just can't review something that I haven't put across my lips.  If anyone wants to see something in these posts let me know.

It's been far too long

It has been WAY too long since I have posted last.  I am happy to report that I have not fallen off the face of the earth, at least not yet. It seems that life has gotten extremely busy between getting my oldest son into school and a very hectic and busy time at work.

I am very happy to report that I will be posting two new burger blogs that I have been sitting on for a few weeks.  So yes I have still been enjoying a good burger here and there.  The next two blogs will be featuring Smashburger and Cheeseburger in Paradise. 

I am still looking for any new burger places that you have come across.  It can be anything that you thought was special or fantastic.  I do know of a new burger joint opening this month and I am excited to try that as soon as I can.  That place is called Bulldog Burger and frankly from what you can find on-line seems interesting and delicious.  More on that to come after sampling their menu.

On another note I am saddened to report that Tommy Colinas has been closed.  They have been closed for a while, but I was hoping it was relocating and not a closure.  They were probably still in the top spot for the best burger in town, but now that title is up for grabs.  They did set the bar incredibly high, and hopefully after you read these blogs, you go right out and try them, as they may not be around forever.

So just like anything in life the sun will still come up and there will be a better burger around the next corner.