[Food] Best in NYC - Burgers
This week I decided to embark on a journey to experience all the popular burgers in NYC. Why? Mostly because I was bored. Besides, I was inspired by my bro, Minh ML, who had a similar journy to try all the best burgers in Boston.
I didn't like burgers when I was younger, but after listening to a radio station describing how good the cheese, the beef came together, and how delicious the coke broke down the fatty cheesy taste, I became interested in burgers. After that, I had really good gourmet burgers which really changed my mind about the food.
So with the just-for-fun attitude, I have documented all the burger joints that I have tried while I am still in NYC below, in chronicle order.
I try to go to the local restaurants, ones that can't be found outside NYC. I also won't try chains like Shake Shack because that is just a regular fast-food restaurant. Maybe one day if I think it's worth my while, I will write a blog post about fast-food burger chains hahaha.
Ratings are like this,
5 = one of the best ever
4 = good, would love to come back
3 = average, probably won't come back unless there's an occasion
2 = bad
1 = super bad experience
The reason I wanted to try this restaurant was because, it was a "hidden" restaurant. "Hidden" was in quotation because it was not exactly hard to find haha. Located inside the Le Meridian Hotel, the restaurant was super crowded during lunch/dinner time, and you could easily spot the line which usually extended all the way to the hotel lobby.
Once inside, follow the red curtain to a corner to find the neon sign depicting a burger. If you see a line of people, that is it. The interior was pretty hip, with all the wall decorations. There was also an old-time tube TV, which was airing shows from the 80s and 90s.
Onto the food, the price was jacked up a little bit. I got a "the works" cheeseburger with all the toppings (lettuce, onion, tomato, pickle, mayo, mustard, and ketchup), and a soda for $17.51 including tax and before tips.
It took a while to wait for my burger. I didn't particularly mind because it felt cool and privileged sitting inside a hidden restaurant. Plus, that meant they made the burger from fresh. It wasn't easy to find a table though. It was 9pm when I visited but it was still quite crowded.
The burger wasn't that particularly outstanding. It was fast food type burger. Definitely not gourmet / artisan burger. The beef patty and the cheese were pretty fresh-of-frying-pan though. The beef however, was quite average and flavorless. The fries were regular fast food fries that weren't much different from McDonalds.
Still, it tasted much better than fast food chains like Shake Shack or In-n-Out. If one day you treat me to a fast food burger dinner, I would pick this one over Shake Shack and In-n-Out every time. Let me just put it that way.
This restaurant was hyped up to have the best burger in New York, so I just had to try it out. On a windy evening, I made my way from Times Square (where I lived) to East Village to try the burger here.
The restaurant was a typical East Village tiny one, with not much space.
The Sebastians's Steakhouse Burger was $17 dollar that came with caramelized onions, american cheese, fries (recommended medium) Agly Brothers Blend 10/36 (copy and paste from their menu).
The burger was pretty good! The one and only special thing about it was the beef. The beef was much much better compared to a regular burger beef patty. The beef patty was firm, and I could feel chunks of beefs in the patty, making every bite pretty wild in taste. I really liked the beef patty.
Besides the beef, the buns were regular. The fries were fresh, a little thick, and crispy. Definitely higher quality than fast food fries.
I liked that they put the pickles separately, so it didn't mess with the taste of the beef. The ketchup was much better than regular ketchup. Probably homemade.
I had lots of ketchup because it was good!
It was a surprise for me to have found this restaurant. I passed by this joint almost every week, and was never aware of its existence!
The restaurant was so small and didn't stand out a lot, so when I saw 1200+ reviews on Yelp, with 4.5 stars, I just had to try it out.
The inside was tiny, with no restroom, but nice decor.
I had the Breakroom burger which had 6oz. Angus beef patty with confit crispy pork belly, fried onion halves, runny egg, jalapenos, American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and pickles.
Just the ingredients already made it sound delicious!
Pretty good burger! For a $10.33 (CASH ONLY), i got a pretty high quality burger. The patty was an average beef patty, but adding the pork belly made the meat taste fattier, more chewy, and more flavorful. The onion ring and the well-done fried egg also made the burger more interesting.
The jalapenos were the main things that differentiated this burger from others. These peppers added a nice hot and sour taste. Plus, the buns were firm and not soggy at all towards the end.
The restaurant was quite empty at around 2:30 PM on a Saturday. Kinda hidden.
I would come back to try other items!
Best burger in Boston according to my bro - Craigie on Main
I didn't like burgers when I was younger, but after listening to a radio station describing how good the cheese, the beef came together, and how delicious the coke broke down the fatty cheesy taste, I became interested in burgers. After that, I had really good gourmet burgers which really changed my mind about the food.
So with the just-for-fun attitude, I have documented all the burger joints that I have tried while I am still in NYC below, in chronicle order.
I try to go to the local restaurants, ones that can't be found outside NYC. I also won't try chains like Shake Shack because that is just a regular fast-food restaurant. Maybe one day if I think it's worth my while, I will write a blog post about fast-food burger chains hahaha.
Ratings are like this,
5 = one of the best ever
4 = good, would love to come back
3 = average, probably won't come back unless there's an occasion
2 = bad
1 = super bad experience
1. Burger Joint (3 points)
https://www.yelp.com/biz/burger-joint-new-york?hrid=LgI4h6C7kub738e37di70AThe reason I wanted to try this restaurant was because, it was a "hidden" restaurant. "Hidden" was in quotation because it was not exactly hard to find haha. Located inside the Le Meridian Hotel, the restaurant was super crowded during lunch/dinner time, and you could easily spot the line which usually extended all the way to the hotel lobby.
Le Meridian Hotel
Once inside, follow the red curtain to a corner to find the neon sign depicting a burger. If you see a line of people, that is it. The interior was pretty hip, with all the wall decorations. There was also an old-time tube TV, which was airing shows from the 80s and 90s.
Turn left here
Follow the sign
Inside
Onto the food, the price was jacked up a little bit. I got a "the works" cheeseburger with all the toppings (lettuce, onion, tomato, pickle, mayo, mustard, and ketchup), and a soda for $17.51 including tax and before tips.
It took a while to wait for my burger. I didn't particularly mind because it felt cool and privileged sitting inside a hidden restaurant. Plus, that meant they made the burger from fresh. It wasn't easy to find a table though. It was 9pm when I visited but it was still quite crowded.
The counter
The burger wasn't that particularly outstanding. It was fast food type burger. Definitely not gourmet / artisan burger. The beef patty and the cheese were pretty fresh-of-frying-pan though. The beef however, was quite average and flavorless. The fries were regular fast food fries that weren't much different from McDonalds.
Burger was regular fast food type
Still, it tasted much better than fast food chains like Shake Shack or In-n-Out. If one day you treat me to a fast food burger dinner, I would pick this one over Shake Shack and In-n-Out every time. Let me just put it that way.
2. Brindle Room (4 points)
This restaurant was hyped up to have the best burger in New York, so I just had to try it out. On a windy evening, I made my way from Times Square (where I lived) to East Village to try the burger here.
The restaurant was a typical East Village tiny one, with not much space.
The Sebastians's Steakhouse Burger was $17 dollar that came with caramelized onions, american cheese, fries (recommended medium) Agly Brothers Blend 10/36 (copy and paste from their menu).
The burger was pretty good! The one and only special thing about it was the beef. The beef was much much better compared to a regular burger beef patty. The beef patty was firm, and I could feel chunks of beefs in the patty, making every bite pretty wild in taste. I really liked the beef patty.
The $17 Sebastians's Steakhouse Burger
Besides the beef, the buns were regular. The fries were fresh, a little thick, and crispy. Definitely higher quality than fast food fries.
I liked that they put the pickles separately, so it didn't mess with the taste of the beef. The ketchup was much better than regular ketchup. Probably homemade.
I had lots of ketchup because it was good!
3. Breakroom (4 points)
https://www.yelp.com/biz/breakroom-new-york?hrid=u9RiUPmEgm1yDcdN7egFAwIt was a surprise for me to have found this restaurant. I passed by this joint almost every week, and was never aware of its existence!
The restaurant was so small and didn't stand out a lot, so when I saw 1200+ reviews on Yelp, with 4.5 stars, I just had to try it out.
The inside was tiny, with no restroom, but nice decor.
I had the Breakroom burger which had 6oz. Angus beef patty with confit crispy pork belly, fried onion halves, runny egg, jalapenos, American cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and pickles.
Just the ingredients already made it sound delicious!
Pretty good burger! For a $10.33 (CASH ONLY), i got a pretty high quality burger. The patty was an average beef patty, but adding the pork belly made the meat taste fattier, more chewy, and more flavorful. The onion ring and the well-done fried egg also made the burger more interesting.
Breakroom Burger
The jalapenos were the main things that differentiated this burger from others. These peppers added a nice hot and sour taste. Plus, the buns were firm and not soggy at all towards the end.
The restaurant was quite empty at around 2:30 PM on a Saturday. Kinda hidden.
I would come back to try other items!
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