Walrus & Carpenter (Bridgeport) – #5 on 2015 Best Burger List

Posted on June 19, 2015 by jfoodeats

Walrus + Carpenter is a new addition to my 2015 Best Burger list.

The “W+C Burger” included Cheddar cheese, smoked mayo, bacon, and a secret ingredient, bourbon onions. The meat was delicious, rich in flavor, topped with several strips of bacon, each mildly salty, to complement the beef and the “Bourbon Onions.” The melted Cheddar cheese was creamy and added a touch of nuttiness, and the mayo, which was smoked, a smidgen of smokiness plus more creamy delight. The toasted brioche bun was the perfect choice for this combination. The killer ingredient, and this may be the best topping I tasted, was the Bourbon onions. These were also some of the most delicious caramelized onions I have ever tasted. They were sweet, buttery and the slight crispiness from grilling was a bonus.

The Whelk (Westport) – #6 on 2015 Best Burger List

Posted on June 19, 2015 by jfoodeats

There was both a change in chef as well as a change in the toppings from last year’s first place finish. The 2015 “Dry Aged Beef Burger” at The Whelk was simpler than last year’s version and combined a rich blend of rich dry-aged beef topped with sweet pickles, belle bantam cheese, bacon and onion mayo on a brioche bun. The beef was perfectly seasoned and still delivered a rich flavor, which was complemented by the sweet pickles. The sauce added a wonderful sweet and creamy addition, while the nuttiness of the cheese and the smoky-saltiness of the bacon added additional flavors to the burger.

Prime Restaurant (Huntington, NY) – Great Burger @Brunch

Posted on June 18, 2015 by jfoodeats

Sandwiched between two fantastic crossings of the Long Island Sound from CT was a visit to Prime Restaurant in Huntington to enjoy their Sunday Jazz Brunch. The restaurant offers outside waterside tables in a relaxed environment plus more formal tables indoors. On this visit we were a little late for the first come first served tables on the deck and we were seated at a very quiet table next to the windows in the rear of the dining area where we could enjoy conversation with jazz in the background.

The Sunday Brunch menu consists of salads, maki rolls, eggs, and sandwiches, or dive into Prime’s famous and enormous steaks. I ordered the “Prime Burger” that includes a large 8 ounce patty, melted cheese, a slice of tomato, thinly sliced red onions, and lettuce on a brioche with a side of shoestring fries.

The burger was served on a wooden carving board, masquerading as a dinner plate, with the large order of fries assembled inside a wire basket. The burger was held together with a bamboo spear adorned with a cornichon.

I first grabbed few fries. The few on top were a little cool from sitting, but the next layer were hot, crispy, tasty and nicely salted. I next removed the onion slice (I am not a fan of raw onions) and cut the burger in half. It was perfectly prepared to my requested medium-rare. Likewise the kitchen prepared the bacon to crispy, but not overcooked. I pulled a little of the patty and tasted. The meat was deep in flavor, seasoned properly and excellent.

My first bite of the entire construction was delicious. The meat worked fantastically with the sweet tomato and the crispy lettuce was very refreshing. The bacon added just a touch of saltiness and a little smokiness. The roll was good, but it was not in the same league as the other ingredients, that would be my one suggestion, upgrade the bun, the meat deserves better.

We finished the meal with a single slice of cheesecake, topped with chocolate and caramel sauces. I was the only person at the table that was not fond of the cheesecake. I thought it was too gelatinous versus the creamy delightfulness of traditional NY Cheesecake.

Overall, it was a beautiful day on the Sound, a fantastic burger and a great time with friends.

Bounty Food Truck – #7 on 2015 Best Burger List

Posted on June 16, 2015 by jfoodeats

A lot of trucks sell burgers…Bounty Food Truck is the only one I found that sells one that is is great and should be included in my Best Burger List. Over the last year I enjoyed both the Bordelaise Burger and the Bounty Burger and each could make the list.

The “Bordelaise Burger” was outstanding. The meat was full of deep rich flavor and juicy, and then it was grilled to a perfect medium-rare. It was next topped with melted Gruyere cheese, which added a touch of creamy nuttiness. The slight pepperiness of the arugula was a fantastic addition and also contributed a little crunch. The caramelized onions were sweet and added just a touch of sweet back-notes and then the Malbec butter kicked in with a bold earthiness and a little pungency.

The “Bounty Burger” began with the same great meat, again prepared to a perfect medium-rare. This included traditional toppings of melted cheese, tomato, lettuce and onions in a sesame seed bun with a swath of Bounty sauce. The juicy meat and tomato slice was complemented by the slightly sweet sauce. It was a great burger.

I am glad Bounty will park at the New Canaan Farmer’s Market this summer where I can sneak down and grab a great burger every Saturday.

#burger #newcanaanfarmersmarket #bounty

Fleisher’s Craft Butchery (Westport) – #8 on 2015 Best Burgers

Posted on June 14, 2015 by jfoodeats

A few years ago Saugatuck Craft Burchery opened in Westport, buying locally-raised meats and poultry, dry-aging the beef on premises and selling to the public. A second phase was opening a cafe using their meats as the centerpiece to the menu.

The “Craft Burger” is the next new addition to my Best Burger list. It included dry-aged beef, IPA fondue, bacon bits, bitter greens, and an onion ring served on a brioche. The meat was fantastic, perfectly prepared to medium-rare and delivered that wonderful rich flavor we have grown to expect from this butcher. The IPA fondue was a thick cheese sauce that covered the top of the meat and the mini-cubes of bacon were a great addition. The ingredient that elevated this burger was the bitter greens. It added a level of complexity that none other contained and the sweetness of the brioche was fantastic.

2015 Burger Favorites – #10 (tie) Mama’s Boy (South Norwalk)

Posted on June 12, 2015 by jfoodeats

For my 2015 Best Burgers in southwest CT, it was difficult to fill the last spot. There were two excellent burgers, each delivering a different flavor combinations. So I used poetic license and called it a tie.

The “Mama’s Boy Burger,” combined local grass fed beef with house-smoked bacon, Pimiento cheese, fried Vidalia onions and pickles on a brioche bun. The patty was juicy and perfectly seasoned, the bacon strips added a significant amount of smokiness and a touch of saltiness and sweet the pickle slices added sour and spicy notes. The fried Vadalia onion rings were delicious.

This mile-high presentation is held together by a steak knife, or the server would need exceptional balance or the fried onion rings would fall. I highly recommend that the guest add the pickles to the ingredients and enjoy with the patty. The sour and spiciness of the pickle really caps off an already great burger.

Parallel Post Burger (Trumbull) – #9 on 2015 Best Burger List

Posted on June 9, 2015 by jfoodeats

My 2015 Best Burgers in FFD County was posted on:

http://www.ctbites.com/home/2015/6/7/top-10-burgers-in-southwest-ct-2015-edition.html

In the #9 position was the “Double Burger” at Parallel Post in Trumbull. This lobby restaurant in the Marriott Hotel is stark in decor but alive with flavor.

The “Double Burger” includes two patties of very mild grass-fed beef, topped with Vermont cheddar cheese, Benton’s bacon and served on a sesame brioche bun with fancy sauce. The meat is delicious, and the bacon delivered a high level of smokiness to the entire burger. The nuttiness of the Cheddar was a great complement and the bacon added the salty component. The brioce was very buttery and really added to the overall composition. The fancy sauce was a tomato aioli with a little spiciness that added to versus detracted from the burger. The fries were perfect and there was just a little kick in the ketchup.

Amore Cucina (Stamford) – Outstanding Pizza

Posted on June 5, 2015 by jfoodeats

There is another entrant onto my Great Pizza List. Amore Cucina & Bar recently opened on Hope Street in Stamford and is serving outstanding pizza. On a recent Monday, Owner Bruno DiFabio, opened his doors with 100% of the proceeds earmarked for the Susan G Komen Research Foundation for Breast Cancer. DiFabio is no stranger to the limelight. He is a six-time World Pizza Champion and Television Personality and owns eleven restaurants in the US.

Amore serves two types of pizza and on this visit I sampled the “Ferentini” square pie. The making of the dough requires a 96-hour fermentation process, using condensed milk that breaks down the gluten in the flour. Bruno told me this creates close to a gluten free product and he recommends to people with gluten issues.

The Ferentini is topped with spicy salami, green olives, tomato, Mozzarella cheese and San Marzano purée, and was the winner in the Best Traditional Category at the Las Vegas Expo. The square shape is reminiscent of Chicago pan pizza and the thickness of the dough may give some concern, but after one bite you will understand that you are in the presence of pizza greatness.

The pizza was perfectly baked, with a tan crust and underside, the cheese was firmly holding all of the ingredients in place (I do not like when the cheese covers the ingredients) and they were evenly distributed so each bite of the six slices would capture all of the flavors. My first bite of the crust was similar to biting into air surrounded by a thin crispy crust…it was divine, and the flavor was fantastic. I moved onto the full slice and they were fantastic. The sweetness of the San Marzano purée combined with the spiciness of the salami and the brightness of the olives was perfect. The cheese added a hint of luscious creaminess. This was one of the best pizzas I have ever eaten.

Overall, Amore is a great place, the décor is wonderful, the owner is a great person who can deliver exceptional food and gives back to the community and the pizza is world class.

Tiger’s Den Sports Bar & Grill (Ridgefield) – Disappointing First Visit

Posted on June 1, 2015 by jfoodeats

There has been a fair amount of chatter on-line for Tiger’s Den Sports Bar & Grill in Ridgefield so I decided to see if all of the fuss was justified. Located AT 25 Catoonah Street, the restaurant itself occupies a stand-alone building in the rear of the property with a separate parking lot and entrance. The interior is pure sports bar with seating for fifty at tables and a long front to rear bar with stools. There are six TVs and sports memorabilia adorning all of the walls and 30 beers and mixed drinks occupy a lengthy beverage menu.

I arrived mid-day, grabbed a seat in front of the TVs to view three different sporting events and ordered a bacon cheeseburger medium-rare with fries.

When it arrived I followed my normal practice and cut it in half. As soon as the knife entered the meat I knew the bad news…it was cooked beyond well-done, hard on the exterior and gray throughout. I sampled one of the fries and it was inundated with salt, not edible. I asked the server for a re-do and he was quick to remove the burger, embarrassed after seeing the burger’s interior. While I waited, the staff was apologetic and asked if I wanted a salad while I waited. They were incredibly customer focused during the entire meal. They were the highlight of the visit.

Burger #2 arrived with a new batch of fries. The edges of the burger were very crispy and when I cut the patty in half the middle was borderline raw while the edges were well done, but I was not going to return a second badly cooked burger. Surprisingly the meat was very tasty and offered a nice level of smokiness. It was topped with two slices of bacon, which were very good and the melted American cheese gave a nice level of creaminess. The brioche bun delivered a descent buttery flavor. Unfortunately like the original fries, the kitchen was careless with the salt, some bites were without any seasoning and other bites were over-salted. It was next to impossible to finish the burger. The fries were scalding hot and again they were over-salted and they were not fully cooked on the interior.

Overall it was a very disappointing visit to Tiger’s, not for the ingredients in their burger, which were very good, but with the lack of focus from the kitchen in its preparation.

Prairie Dogs – Great Potential; Needs Time

Posted on May 31, 2015 by jfoodeats

I really wanted to love this place. With two of my favorite dishes, burgers and dogs covered with creative toppings, I was hoping for a great couple of options. The website espoused local, fresh and natural ingredients, the combinations looked great and it was in a neighborhood which is beginning to boom with great food.

I arrived at 600 on a midweek night and there were a couple of people at the bar and a few at tables. The interior is well done, relaxing with a great Marilyn Monroe poster adorning the rear wall and the entire left wall is covered with a chalk board menu. The owner (I think it was the owner) approached and I asked for the “Tree Fort Root Beer” on the menu. They did not have it and he suggested, and I ordered, the Boylan’s Birch Beer.

I looked through the menu and ordered the Bahn Mi Joy Dog and a BYO Burger with American cheese, crisp onion strings, and B&B pickles. He suggested that a small order of fries would be a great accompaniment.

The Dog was all-beef in a natural casing and topped with char siu pork, chicken liver pate, pickled carrot, daikon, jalapeño peppers, and cilantro and a schmear of shoyu mayo. The dog was surprisingly mild in flavors with just a hint of saltiness. The pork was almost tasteless with a boiled meat flavor and texture. The liver was the highlight of the ingredients and delivered a good amount of flavor, the carrots and daikon were crunchy and also flavorful. I was hoping for a bright bold set of flavors in this combination and it just fell flat and was a bit disappointing

The burger had great potential. The meat had great flavor and was cooked with a loose grind, but a little sparse at probably 4 ounces. The strips of bacon added just a hint of smokiness and saltiness and the American cheese was creamy and perfectly melted. The crispy onion rings delivered a touch of pungency and crunch and the B&B pickles were excellent. Unfortunately, the kitchen overcooked the burger to medium-well, eliminating all of the juiciness, and then over-salted the patty before placing it on the bun. A little more care may have made for a great burger.

The kitchen took both a similar and slightly different approach in the preparation of the fries. First they were under-cooked, and then they were over-salted. Not a good combination.

Overall I still love the concept and if they can get the correct balance of flavors and instruct the kitchen to prepare as ordered and as the product deserves this may become a really good burger and dog place, but they still have growing pains to address.

Jfood Eats

Eating and Enjoying