Burger Bear’s small but well thought-through menu

Old Street – for all its reputation for being at the centre of London’s entrepreneurial landscape – is not a pretty place. Yes, you might be able exit the tube station, thrown a stick and probably hit an iOS developer currently working on something ground-breaking and über cool (not that I’d advise doing such a thing, sticks can break break bones and all that), but it is basically a big stinking roundabout.

A few moments walk from Old Street Tube however, and hanging around until 2nd September is Red Market, occupying a dusty carpark behind some advertising hoardings, and a current haunt of a sizeable number of street food stalls. The guys behind the market have done their best to turn the place into something less of a draft wind tunnel and more of a form of urban beach. Well, there’s sand anyway. And table tennis. Oh and of course more hipsters than you can shake a stick at (shaking being far safer than throwing).

Burger Bear’s “Angry Bear” chilliburger

We were here to catch-up with Burger Bear who is currently resident there (having made a début up in Haringey Market a few months ago) and amongst the more recent entrants onto the London burger [cough] scene. It’s pretty early in the lifecycle of any start-up and the signs are pretty encouraging, because what they’re doing is sticking to the basics and for the most part getting them right.

The menu is small, but the is that result is that service can be easily managed by a small crew. A “Burger Bear” cheese burger and “Angry Bear” chill burger ordered, the cooking process would be pretty familiar to anyone who has watched a contemporary outfit at work; patties gently worked from hand shaped balls of blended-chuck before being cloched to keep the moisture level high whilst fusing the cheese and bun on top via the power of steam.  Light brioche buns licked with a gentle cross-hatch of French’s Mustard & Ketchup

The result reminded me very much of Mother Flipper at a similar stage of their operation; competent and tasty but yet to find their own voice. Or perhaps, taste. Well, you know what I mean. Manuel and his crew have since kicked on through their stints at eat.st and Brockley Market to really improve every element of their product and service.

Burger Bear’s “Burger Bear” cheeseburger

Burger Bear patties – probably as a result of me interrupting grill-man Tom to chat – came over-medium, but still packing a good deal of juice. Sure, I’d maybe say it was marginally under-salted, but I suspect that I’m probably in a minority who’d say so.  The chilli jam in the  ”Angry Bear” came with a decent, but not overpowering, kick. The “Grizzly Bear” – with bacon jam and oak smoked bacon – remained untested on this occasion, but in principle at least, sounds like worth coming back for.

And it might not be grilled under a gazebo in a converted carpark, for Burger Bear are in the process of relocating from markets to a proper bricks and mortar location (fingers crossed their SE London plans come to fruition). For all the minor-bitching there is about street markets, their hipness, their inconvenient combination of queueing and British al-fresco dining weather incompatibility, they serve to transition nascent operations from ideas to fully-fledged restaurants.

A few moments from the much lauded “Tech Hub” with its ability to successfully incubate new high-tech businesses, Red Market – at least seemingly for Burger Bear – has become a [cough] “Grub Hub”.

Burger Bear, various London locations (for now), check [website] [twitter] for details.

Katies “Kebabs & Burgers”, looking North up Peckham Hill Street appears on the left

Fairly frequently, I get the bus through Peckham on my to or from Central London. Many of these bus routes (78, 63, 363 amongst others) pass through Peckham past the side of the impressive library building along Peckham Hill Street (see map below).

Either side of the street is a branch of Peckham’s own “Katies” takeaway; one specialising in “Burgers & Kebabs”, the other “Chicken & Pizza”. It occurred to me one day, sat in traffic, which was the most popular. The obvious assumed South London answer would the one that sold chicken; South London supports an almost endless collection of fried chicken joints… so each time I went past, I counted the number of customers in each branch.

Looking North up Peckham Hill Street, Katies “Chicken & Pizza” indicated by state of the art graphical tool, is on the right

And so the “Katies vs Katies” bus game was born.

Depending on the time of day, day of the week and season, the results change. However, a few bus journeys a week is no way of keeping a decent score. I need more people to join in and post their findings.

So, people of South London, traversers of Peckham, this is how you can help compile the ultimate data set on the eating habits of customers of Katies; As you pass each, nte the number of customers in each shop and Tweet as such;

#KvsK CP:[number of customers in "Chicken & Pizza"] KB:[number of customers in "Kebabs & Burgers] #Peckham

Nb: It is very important that both #KvsK & #Peckham are used to reduce potential noise from other non gamers.

I’ll pick up the structured data (date, time, day of week) automatically. If you’re unsure of the exact location, there’s a map below.

Map;

Van Dough’s Chorizo & Chilli on a sourdough base (close up)

Somewhere in France right now, people are sat in a bar wondering why you don’t see Citroen Hy vans like you used to. Of course, we know where they all are. Helping street food start-ups cook up food in car parks to hungry Rosbif. I for one hope that there will be a reciprocal arrangement for Commer Vans.

Van Dough have managed to cram a wood burning pizza oven into the back of their Hy, which turned up for a Peckham début at Bar Story over the Jubilee Weekend in a break between showers, to serve up their little sourdough-based packages to a keen crowd. Pizza has been somewhat overshadowed by the burger juggernaut, but with Homeslice (at Eat.St amongst other venues), Pizza Pilgrims on Soho’s Berwick Street and now Van Dough, it’s beginning to mount a fight back and rekindle our love for the simplest of cheap eats.

Van Dough’s Tomato & Basil on a sourdough base

Pizza is simultaneously the easiest and most tricky food to get right. The apparent simplicity of the dish gives you very little margin for error; ultimately you have to have great dough and great Mozzarella. Franco Manca – now stretching to 3 branches across London – have long been one of my go-to cheap dinners, and there is something of their philosophy evident in Van Dough’s output. Keeping the menu simple, free from gimmicks and ensuring that those two key elements are spot on…. making the output similarly attractive.

Van Dough mobbed at Bar Story, Peckham on their début service there

Whilst it is perhaps unrealistic to expect the the scale of Franco Manca’s pizzas replicated from a burner installed in the back of a van (and sure, I could have done with more chilli on the Chorizo number), but what Van Dough have done is to capture the essence of their sourdough base to a large extent and – in the form of their Mozzerella supply (apparently from Somerset) – maybe even exceed my expectations.

I’m not sure whether it was the result of anticipation watching smoke pour through the Hy’s little chimney or flames flicker against the cab window, but the creamy, smooth and slightly salty quality of that most basic of element of this most basic of street food, put a broad smile on my face.

Van Dough, various locations this summer, check [website] [twitter] for details.

Patty & Bun “Jose Jose” burger

There are times where attempting this street food thing ‘aint easy. For all the planning you might do, all the ordering and preparing of ingredients, letting everyone know where you’re going to be, you cannot control the weather. This long Jubilee weekend – our second and last 4 day break of the year – all over London, little clusters of smoky vans and grills under gazebos, met the hungry public at locations all over the city.

On the edge of the City of London, up on the roof of the Queen of Hoxton pub in East London, dodging the showers were “Patty & Bun”, fairly recent arrivals onto peoples London burger shortlist. A brief residency in The Doodle Bar in Battersea behind them, they’re about to pitch up for another residency in Soho‘s “The Endurance” pub for a month, from the 12th of June.

Cooking up on an exposed roof top at the end of a British Spring might be either judged ambitious or foolish, depending how things turn out. A week prior to our visit, London was bathed in dazzling heat up in the 80s. Jubilee weekend  instead was spent dodging showers, seeking out occasional flashes of (temporary) sunshine and – in the case of Patty & Bun – spending the first few hours of their début service fixing the electrics of their temporary kitchen so they could kick off. So it goes (top marks to Joe from P&B for keeping us updated as to the progress on the repairs whilst they took place)

Patty & Bun “Ari Gold” Cheeseburger

Power restored, and menu perused, we went for an “Ari Gold” cheeseburger ( inspired curious by Jeremy Piven‘s foul mouthed agent from “Entourage” for reasons I forgot to ask), a “Jose Jose” chilliburger and an order of their Rosemary-salt chips. Both are complex combinations of flavours, again ambitious, but as the sun just began to poke through the clouds, would they prove more reliable than the weather ?

So many burgers that we tried in London of late have suffered from severe underseasoning. P&B to their credit most certainly do not fall at this first hurdle, the patties cooked just over medium – retaining a pink heart – cloched during cooking to retain their juices, released as you bite into the finished article.

The “Ari Gold” (Lettuce, Tomato, Pickled Onions, Ketchup, their own smokey mayo in a Brioche bun) whilst in principle not ground breaking in concept, managed the difficult trick t become more than the sum of its component parts. In particular, the onion didn’t overpower its brethren-in-bun (a common complaint), a nicely balanced and well-constructed take on a classic cheeseburger.

Patty & Bun’s chips

“Jose Jose”, the menu’s chilliburger, upped the anti further (Cheese, Tomato, Rocket, Chilli Chorizo Relish, Pickled Onions, that smokey mayo again, a bit of ketchup all in a Brioche bun). Thinking back to Ribstock a couple of months back, Ben Spalding used a similar basis as that relish for his marinade (albeit, much reduced) and much on that occasion as an accompaniment to pork, the chilli and Chorizo add real depth to the sandwich but without introducing too much heat. Whilst I might have welcomed a bit of extra heat, again the balance was well achieved; even the tomato (which I normally try and avoid as a burger ingredient as it add moisture, but generally no flavour) felt part of the mix and not as a generic afterthought. The chips, double fried and in skins, were well seasoned and light on the Rosemary (so another personal bugbear dodged by P&B).

Pulling together these burgers together this well in only their second outing  - even of their first was a weekly residency over a couple of months – especially after such a difficult set-up, shows the P&B boys have really got their service really well drilled. Attention to detail in how to construct a balanced combination of flavours is something that is not easy to achieve, taking these two factors into account, you’d be wise to get in early for their upcoming Soho gig. Once word gets out, there be a familiarly epic queue for sure.

Patty & Burger, residency at The Endurance, Soho from 12th June for one month [website] [twitter]

Duke’s Horseradish & Mustard “Memphis Sauce”

Few weeks ago, wandering around the excellent Ribstock, it struck me that (unless I missed some hidden rules) everything was very…. well, porky. It was an amazing event; 10 dishes from top chefs and 3 drinks for £20 (or £25 if you were slow on the draw) plus additional craft beers for £2 a pop from some of London’s best micro-breweries, yet none of the chefs had cooked anything beyond pork ribs.

Pork ribs can be  - and in the case of Ribstock generally were – excellent, but they are not the only choice. OK, Lamb ribs are one for the adventurous given the difficulty in getting the fat to render into something tasty, but Beef ribs ? Why no takers ?

Amongst those micro-breweries stocking the bar at Ribstock was Beavertown Brewery, who provide the liquid part of the “Duke’s Brew & Que“, a new-ish establishment set-up in North London’s De Beauvoir Town (read as Haggerston, given it’s 2 minutes walk from said Overground station). Given the fact that their “8 Ball” IPA was my favourite brew of the day, it went straight onto the “to visit” list (Laura made similar positive noises about their “Smog Rocket” Porter).

Beef Ribs at Duke’s

Bank Holiday Monday lunchtime, we’re more-than-a-bit bit hungry and only two stops down the line from Duke’s. An end of lunchtime walk-up (they do accept bookings should you wish to make a special trip) and we make a quick scan and order of the small menu. Pork Sliders, Beef ribs and deep fried pickles & Okra with some fries on the side. Oh and 8-Ball & Porter  to wash it down.

Duke’s Beef Ribs up close…

Sitting watching the open-kitchen was enlightening as ever; a busy lunchtime service and a well organised crew, well-drilled, however service lagged slightly behind their high standards  - some food sat on the warmers for longer than ideal – but this is another establishment in its infancy, so it’s important not to be over judgemental on that score.

Pulled Pork Sliders at Duke’s

The food was similarly mixed, but again with the emphasis on the positive; the Okra & Pickles was really only Okra and as a result lacked the required tang (whilst in itself a decent stab), the sliders were tasty and tangy, but lacking a little moisture in the pulled pork. However, the beef ribs were fantastic…. perfectly cooked, sweet caramelised fat hugging the bones, rested properly to retain the juice and and once we’d discovered that the magic yellow bottle on the table was in fact “Horseradish & Mustard”, set off beautifully. These, with that as a sauce, would have rocked Ribstock. Really.

The place is at this stage a work in progress, the menu is still being shaken down to find the real staples and they are still working to find the right suppliers to provide the perfect raw materials. For too long, London’s ‘cue lovers were for too dependent upon Bodean’s gradually fading light to give them their fix, with Pit Cue and now Duke’s popping up, I’m hoping that all will continue to raise the standards that – on the evidence of much of this meal – it is evident they have the ability to reach.

Duke’s Brew & Que, 33 Downham Road, De Beauvoir Town, Hackney, London N1 5AA [terrible, 1995 style website]

I’m sure that anyone interested in food in Birmingham has been following the explosion of street food in London with interest, and the occasional train ticket. There’s a good chance that they will also have stumbled across the Twitter account of The Meat Shack, who have been talking a good game about their burgers for at least 8 months now, but with no actual sign of any end product appearing on the street. Apparently, Birmingham Council aren’t interested in having a street food scene. Well, finally, after much cajoling on Twitter (which I may have been involved in!), they bought themselves a portable grill, and booked themselves in to this month’s Stirchley Community Market.

The Meat Shack’s pattys on the grill, cloche at the ready

Now, before proceeding with the review, I should state that I haven’t made it down to any of the street food establishments in London, due mainly to having 2 young kids, coupled with my naturally high levels of inertia. Also I must admit that I’ve also been scared off by the tales of long queues that a lot of the vendors generate, what with my tolerance for hearing the phrase “When are we going to eat, I’m starving. And bored.” repeated endlessly being quite low! So, although I’ve read many a blog post on them (on here, amongst other places, natch), I’m in no position to be able to make any comparisons, so this is just going to be a Caesar-esque, thumbs up or thumbs down review.

So, with a little trepidation, I packed the wife and kids into the car, and moseyed on down to the Stirchley Working Man’s Club to witness their inaugural outing.

First thing we noticed upon arrival was that Mr Meat Shack (or Paul as he is also known) was extremely stressed, as their baker had let them down on the bun front; whereas the test brioche buns he’d brought them the week before were apparently excellent, the ones delivered today were under-prooved and over-cooked, which had necessitated an
emergency trip to Sainsbury’s. Not an ideal start for the burger perfectionist Paul!

It being their first outing, they were keeping things simple on the menu front, with just the three burgers:

Menu @ The Meat Shack

Smash O Shack – a straight up burger
Mr C Shack – their cheeseburger
The Hell Shack – a chilli cheeseburger

With four of us of various sizes to feed, I ordered one of each, though as this family operates on the “Joey doesn’t share” principle, I had no illusions about being able to try all of them. Or anything other than my own. I then perched myself beside the grill to watch the action. The locally-sourced 28 day aged beef was shaped into round balls, and placed onto the grill, before being get squashed down with a grill press, and generously seasoned. The cheeseburgers are additionally steam finished by covering them with a cloche, melting the cheese perfectly, and giving the bun a nice sheen.

“Ready to eat” @ The Meat Shack

After watching a fair few burgers served up to the waiting crowd, ours were up. My Hell Shack looked good. The base had ketchup and American mustard generously spread over it, with chopped Iceberg lettuce, a smattering of red onion (not normally a fan of raw onion on, well, anything, but this wasn’t over-powering at all), and a generous layer of pickled gherkin layered on top of it. The patty had a generous amount of chopped green chillies under the steam-melted cheese, was perfectly seasoned, and nicely pink in the middle, giving up a decent amount of juice. The chillis gave out a decent amount of heat, without being in danger of drifting into machismo territory. Needless to say, the burger disappeared pretty quickly.

So, my overall verdict? Well, Claire and I had seconds, and the kids ate everything put in front of them, so that should tell you everything you need to know! Having now taken their first step into the world of street food, I’m looking forward to seeing how they develop, as  well as the improvement a decent bun will make. But, all in all, a promising start, so a thumbs up from me!

[Thanks to @loafonline and @smokeandumami for some of the photos. It appears that my cheap-as phone doesn't take the best pictures!]

The Meat Shack, Stirchley Community Market, Birmingham [Twitter] [Market Website]

Ingredients list at Dickson’s

6 days in New York is nowhere near long enough to even make a dent in even a small shortlist of joints to hit, checking back I think we managed around 50% of the places pre-selected and added onto a GMap (over use of which landed me with a mobile bill of over £400 when we returned back to the UK).

Of course, one of the beauties of visiting a city as vibrantly foodie as NYC, is randomly bumping into places; diners, food stands, bars as you wander around. Here’s just three places that fall into that bracket that you might want to add to your shortlist when you visit (but hey, be sensible, buy a local SIM like I DIDN’T [shudders]).

Pony Bar, Hell’s Kitchen

Beer menu at The Pony Bar

The chances of the closest bar to your hotel turning out to be the best bar you find all week, is pretty slim. But in The Pony Bar, we struck lucky.  A fairly recent addition to this district over on the West side of Manhattan, The Pony Bar is based on a pretty simple, but difficult to execute premise; 20 local(ish) craft beers on a daily changing menu served for a flat $5 price. Expect everything from Pales to Stouts, via IPAs, Blondes and Blanches, mainly served in 14oz glasses (so a pint-ish size, with 8oz for the pricier and high alcohol brews).

TV screens on the walls display the name, origin and ABV of each and whilst we didn’t sample any of the food on offer, what passed by (burgers, pulled meat sandwiches et al) looked perfectly complimentary to the much-lengthier beer menu (and far, far better than what we ate in a much complimented, but massively disappointing Barbecue joint a couple of blocks away). It gets busy – as all good places inevitably do – but if you’re anywhere near and fancy a beer, it’s a great way to work your way through many of the best beers that the US microbrewery industry currently offers.

Dickson’s Farmstand Meats, Chelsea Market

Dickson’s beef dog with pickled jalapenos

Chelsea Market – formerly a biscuit warehouse – sits on the southern end of The Highline and is sort of an indoor semi-permanent version of London’s own Borough Market (and just as busy and tourist dense). Amidst this sits Dickson’s; a high-end butchers shop selling properly reared heritage meats and, luckily for us with a mid-morning post-walk hunger, their own beef hotdogs to take-away for a couple of dollars.

Our choice of toppings – pickled jalapeños - complemented the richness of the ‘dog perfectly. It’s a little off the beaten track in the market, not in the main food court bit and it’s not obvious that you can buy hot food. But seek it out, away from the throng and you’ll be well-rewarded.

Coppelia, W 14th Street (Chelsea-ish, between 6th & 7th Ave)

Another fairly new NYC venue is this 24 hour-a-day Latin diner, serving up a variety of dishes from The Caribbean  / South America. Oh and Korea, for reasons that we never established (but most likely as a result of the success of Kogi in Los Angeles trending Mexican/Korean fusion across to the East Coast).

Passion Fruit Float at Coppelia

Korean Tacos (Skirt steak, Jalapeno Kimchi, Salsa Verde and accompanying Rice and Beans) and Cubano sandwich (Roasted pork and ham, swiss cheese, pickles and mustard) were quickly ordered, along with a Passion Fruit Float. Weirdly, the float turned out to be the real star, a real kick of fresh fruit undiluted by the ice-cream…. I regretted being boring and sticking to beer.

The last proper Cubano sandwich I’d eaten was in Florida, 20 years before and I still recall the importance of the mustard in the mix. It should be painted onto the bread before toasting, so every morsel of meat inside gets an accompanying sting as you bit into it. Coppelia’s version hit that mark, if perhaps a little less brave with the mustard than I’d ideally like (but perfectly adequate for those with normal functioning taste buds).

The Tacos too were a little light on the heat - jalapeños being maybe slightly too subtle for the Kimchi crema – but the balance of the dish is undeniably good. Skirt was cooked perfectly (note; why don’t we use more skirt steak in the UK ?) and despite the heat-issue, turn out that Kimchi works as well in a Taco, as it seems to do with ‘dogs and burgers. Given that Coppelia is open 24 hours a day, both of these would do wonders for a post Pony Bar dinner. Now there’s a suggestion I must retain for future use.

Pony Bar, 637, 10th Ave (45st & 10 Ave), NYC [website]

Dickson’s Farmstand Meats, Chelsea Market, 75 9th Ave, NYC [website]

Coppelia, 207 West 14th Street (between 6th & 7th Ave), NYC [website]

Minetta Tavern, Greenwich Village, NYC

It takes time to appreciate Minetta Tavern. In our case, it took a booking 6 weeks prior to secure a 6pm Monday 2 hour table slot, for others it requires somewhat nefarious means to get one of the 70 covers available in this minute (by New York standards) venue tucked away in Greenwich Village, behind seemingly permanently closed blinds.

It’s around 3 years ago that British-born serial restaurant entrepreneur Keith McNally got his hands on this city stalwart, sitting on this street corner since the early 1930′s. Preferring a light evolution to complete revolution, the place still feels steeped in its own history, the dining floor feeling more of an amphitheatre than a restaurant; tables that you feel have hosted business deals of less a than legitimate nature,  photographs surrounding the tales indicate that these seats once hosted the great and the good of the worlds of sports and entertainment.

Split shin bone marrow at Minetta Tavern, NYC

What McNally has done is to re-establish Minetta’s reputation for carnivore excellence. With the guidance of butchery genius Pat La Frieda, one dish in particular draws punters – and this one in particular – to the re-launched venue; the fabled “Black Label Burger”. Sure you can gorge yourself on the huge range of well-chosen meats; the stuffed duck confit that Laura chose as an alternative, was opulent as it was addictive, the length-cut bone marrow served with crostini was akin to essence of roast dinner in a crispy morsel.

Simply put, the Black Label Burger is something not to be taken lightly. You could be say that it has to deliver at a price-tag of $26 – let’s not confuse the matter with comparing that to many a poor quality gastro-burger in London with that sort of price tag, this is a HUGE price in NYC – and it delivers something of an unusual richness. The patty is made up with a special La Frieda blend of côte de boeuf and rib-eye (with short rib, brisket and skirt), dry-aged for around 6 weeks before it hits the grills.

The Black Label Burger (badly shot by me) at Minetta Tavern, NYC.

The result, is rich and smooth, smokey and when served medium-rare, oozing juice… and possibly clarified butter. The temptation to fine mince has been resisted – a small criticism I have in the otherwise excellent “Burger & Lobster” back in London is the over-fine mincing – it’s by no means course-cut, but it retains the character of the excellent blend, letting the high quality constituent parts in the patty blend perfectly. The brioche bun allows compression, without disintegration, remaining flaky throughout.

Increasingly, I’ve become increasingly convinced that trying to generically refer to all minced pattys served in buns as burgers is utterly redundant. How could I compare Minetta to Shake Shack ?  Or for that matter, Bar Boulud to Mother Flipper ? It’s unfair to try, given that a south London carpark is not Knightsbridge, a hut in a park is not an historic high-end grill.

What Minetta represents is possibly the best a burger can be. Make it from the best available cuts, allow the best chefs to cook it in the best possible conditions and you’ll end up with the Black Label. It’s almost the end game. What exists beyond this ?

The wine list is however, not especially accessible. Deserts – if you have room – are limited to a few soufflés . As a flip to that, that staff and service are impeccable (treating my ham-fisted wine spilling by replacing my glass for free). Minetta is a treat, but as a meat lover, it’s one that in NYC you need to experience.

Minetta Tavern
113 MacDougal St., New York, NY 10012
[website]

5Napkin

The 5Napkin burger, with Gruyère and caramelized onions

On the first night in NYC, 5Napkin’s original location in Hell’s Kitchen was the first burger on the list (mainly because it was pretty close to our hotel). Whilst it wasn’t the original home of the 5Napkin burger – that was Nice Matin across town – but so popular was it that it spawned this offspring, which now extends to seven branches across the city and beyond to Atlanta, Boston and Miami. If anything, the place feels like a slightly more upmarket version of London’s own Byron Burger chain.

Firstly an apology to 5Napkin. I cocked up the reservation and we arrived precisely one hour late for our table. To their credit, they found us another within a few minutes and we quickly ordered the eponymous (caramelized onions, Gruyere cheese, Rosemary aioli) plus a Bacon/Cheddar (both ordered medium) plus Deep-Fried Pickle & Pastrami Rolls to share. The latter arrived quickly, doused in ‘kraut and mustard oil, a slightly over-greasy treat.

5Napkin Bacon/Cheddar

Burgers were sadly, less successful. “Medium” is a somewhat interpretive cooking grade of course, but both were well on the well side. Not unrecoverable of course, if the blend of the patty can take it. And can it ? No idea I’m afraid because the 5Napkin caramelized onions are so overwhelmingly sweet and cloying that you cannot taste anything else. The Gruyere might have been amazing, but it didn’t stand a chance against the onslaught of the all-pervading sweetness that encased it. If the Bacon/Cheddar was anything to go by, it the patty is nice (if over salted for some, although not me) but hardly noteworthy.

Great service, helpful (and forgiving) staff, but fare that on this visit, was well out of balance.

The Spotted Pig

A few days later and down on Greenwich Street and we’re in a totally different establishment. The Spotted Pig is a NYC take on the British gastropub, with chef April Bloomfield impressively counting River Cafe and Bibendum on her cooking CV.

The glorious sight of The Spotted Pig's house burger

Spotted Pig is another establishment with a no reservation policy which – depending on your opinion – is either the ultimate in fairness or maddeningly annoying. Generally, I’m with the latter, especially when I’m visiting a new city and want to create a proper itinery, however, knowing this in advance we still tried the stupidest walk-up time for 7pm on a Saturday night and settled in for a (promised by the excellent, hipster front-of-house staff) two hour wait. Just over an hour later, having sampled the excellent (if over priced by local comparison) craft beer list, we were led to our table.

The Spotted Pig's Shoestrings

In that hour, I’d seen enough of their house burgers pass by to have built up a serious case of dish envy. Most intriguing was the accompanying almost-Vermicelli nest of fries (billed as “Shoestrings”) and whilst I was primarily in any case here for the self-same well admired burger, anticipation was building. It was at this point, I noticed that it was served with Roquefort. I’m not a burger-cheese fascist by any means, but Roquefort is a brave, brave choice. And as it turns out a brain-meltingly stupid one.

The Spotted Pig's Bacon Kale

Whilst Laura tucked into her apparently excellent Char salad and (definitely lovely) Kale and Bacon side, I was in cheese hell. One bite in and I knew it was wrong, so I tried removing what was left from the carefully griddled brioche bun, but to little avail. I had an apparently well-blended and perfectly medium-cooked patty seemingly beloved by all who have reviewed it, but all I had was a face full of snorty, blue sheep’s cheese. That nest of fries was beautiful, but virtually impossible to eat; pulling it apart was a logistical challenge in the first place and once you had, it was cold and over-seasoned. Watching almost-full plates of these shoestrings return to the kitchen on otherwise empty plates was heartbreaking.

After 5Napkin a couple of nights previously, I could almost cry in despair.

The cooking at The Spotted Pig was exemplary on a technical level, and in the execution on the plates that Laura (sensibly) ordered. I could well have eaten NYC’s best burger. And I will never know.

5 Napkin Burger 630 9th Ave (@ 45th Street), NYC, USA. [website]

The Spotted Pig 314 W. 11th Street (@ Greenwich St), NYC, USA. [website]

The Shake Shack lunchbox awaiting demolition

When planning first started for a Spring NYC trip, I started to make a list of likely candidates for a “Burger Adventure” across the city. As I polled people for their tips, two words cropped up every time, generally with an increasing volume of nodding; Shake and Shack. It was for that reason, that on the last full day of the trip that we joined the epic queue that snaked around a sun-bathed Madison Square Park mid-afternoon and hoped that the experience would match the ensuing wait. I’ll skip to the end. It does.

On the face of it, here are the facts; Shake Shack is – at least in this original location – a burger stand in a city park. All seating is outdoors, which at least in the city’s unseasonally warm Spring, affords a chance to eat whilst enjoying a constant parade of the well-dressed miniature dogs, that seem to almost outnumber the human visitors to the park. It’s menu is a mix of burgers, hotdogs and the shakes (along with their frozen custard cousins) which give provide the inspiration for the eponymous name.

Shake Shack "Smoke Shack" special

Rotating daily specials – advertised on boards along the queue route – add to the simple choices; 5 burgers (served as single or double pattys), dogs with a similar number of topping choices, shakes/custard in various forms and drinks (both sodas and alcoholic varities). Prices are keen, burgers ranging from $3.50 to just over $8, dogs $3 upwards and their crinkle-cut chips on the side for just north of $2.50.

The Shack Burger modelled by @laurabygaslight

Let’s deal first with the obvious first question, that of the queue. Yes, it can be long. Our mid-afternoon wait before ordering was around 40 minutes, with another 10 minutes before receiving our food. On a nice day like that that we experienced, it was a pleasant experience and the queue moves pretty steadily, in less fair conditions it would be less enjoyable. Having said that, this is still a burger stand in a park where you’re going to be parting with no more than $10. Comparing this experience with any bricks and mortar operation would be grossly unfair, but  having done my fair share of queuing for street burgers of late, this was one of the more pleasant waits.

Frisky Dog full dressed

We ordered the day’s burger special; “Smoke Shack”, a bacon/cheese with cherry pepper relish and the house “Shack Sauce” (their variation on the trad mayo/ketchup sauce), a standard single “Shack Burger” (lettuce, tomato, cheese and the “Shack Sauce”), Frisky Dog (with tomato infused onions), fries and a soda to wash it down with. A few minutes later and the buzzer signalled our order box was ready for collection and a moments pause for photography later, we tucked in.

The pattys are 4oz beef mixes, hand shaped and cooked just north of medium. This a burger of the traditional variety, unsullied by pretention, but concocted perfectly. Served in a grease-proof paper half-dish (an innovation that I wish would become popular in the UK), each lasted no more than a couple of minutes of silent consumption; the special’s sting of chilli and lick of salt from the bacon meshed beautifully with the still-moist beef, the house standard burger managed to balance the basic perfectly.

The Shake Shack queue weaves its way through Madison Square Park

The dog was marginally less successful; served as a half-slice, it lacked real juice until the tomato/onion sauce was added… this is a dog that needs well-saucing to bring it to properly life (or in this case with a little sweet & sour mix). Fries too, hot and crispy as they were, needed a good dousing in salt before they stepped up to the standard set by the burgers.

As the popularity of Shake Shack has grown in the 8 years of their existence, they’ve spawned a few more branches and there’s some groans that this has come at the price of inconsistency across the locations. This may be true, but at their original location in the park, there’s little to suggest that either their popularity, or the quality of what they do, is in on the wain. Ignore the inevitable wait, just go visit.

Shake Shack

Madison Square Park (Madison Ave. / East 23rd St.), NYC.

[website]