Tag: burgers

Burgerliscious 2018 is the eighth year of this Coral Gables Burger Festival.  After missing it last year (I was on a cruise; shame on me!), I went this year determined to make up for lost time.  Once again, my event timing interfered, as my trip to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival this past weekend left my stomach and palate feeling overloaded.  Still, I was determined to go and taste every single burger available.  And, what is exactly what I did.

My review of each burger is purely subjective and based on my own personal preferences.  As I hate mayo, pickles, and pairing sweet with savory, burgers that had any of these probably didn’t rate very highly with me.  This is not a reflection of the restaurant or the quality of their food, and should not discourage anyone from checking them out.  That being said, here are my thoughts on all of the offerings this year…

Burgers 1-4

• Burger 1: The Spartan by Clutch Burger
  • Lamb and wagyu blended patty with merguez sausage, Tzatziki sauce, roasted pepper Harissa sauce, feta cheese, and cucumber
  • Mediterranean/Greek flavors are not really my thing, but this burger was actually pretty good.  The meat was moist and the patty didn’t taste gamey, despite the lamb.
• Burger 2: Sweet Thai Sliders by The Mighty Spark
  • Thai seasoned chicken patty with peanut sauce and broccoli slaw on brioche
  • This is, quite possibly, the first time that a non-beef burger has caught my attention at one of these events.  It really did pay homage to Thai flavors in a way that brought out the sweet undertones of the cuisine without ruining the savory aspects of a burger.  Plus, they shared the recipe!
• Burger 3: The Frita by Off the Mile
  • A chorizo burger with potato sticks, Sriracha mayo, and sweet plantain
  • I appreciated the effort, but this burger kind of missed the mark for me.  The patty was a little bit dry, and the plantain kind of overtook the rest of the burger, so the flavors never really came together.
• Burger 4: The Tarpon Bend Burger from Tarpon Bend
  • A burger with white cheddar cheese and bacon onion jam on a Challah bun
  • This was a solid burger, and likely a burger that I would order when it shows up on a menu.  Though, for a competition, I feel like they played it a little bit safe.

Burgers 5-8

• Burger 5: Untitled Burger by Morton’s Steakhouse
  • A burger with bacon jam and blue cheese butter on a brioche bun
  • I’ll be honest, I was not excited at all about this burger when I saw them assembling them.  It just sounded so plain.  Then, I took a bite, and as the juicy patty gave way in my mouth, the flavors just exploded everywhere.  Not many ingredients, but each executed with such perfection and precision that I just couldn’t stop eating.  Not only did they get my vote, but I call for blue cheese butter to become a pantry staple.
• Burger 6: The Maple Bacon Cheddar Cheese Burger from Books and Books
  • A burger with caramelized onions, maple bacon, and cheddar cheese
  • This burger was a huge departure from my previous festival experiences with Books and Books.  Normally, their burgers are “out of the box” creations like turkey in pita, vegan burgers, and so on.  This was actually a great, simple burger that was enjoyable to eat.
• Burger 7: The Bacon Jam Burger by House Kitchen and Bar
  • A burger with bacon jam, white cheddar cheese, red pepper aioli, lettuce, and pickles
  • The patty on this burger was juicy and flavorful, but unfortunately as a mouthful all I tasted was pickles and mayo (two of the burger toppings that I dislike the most).
• Burger 8: La Bestia by Pizco y Nazca
  • A blended beef burger with potato sticks, spring mix, rocoto pepper aioli, and tomato jam on a pretzel bun
  • As with the previous time that they entered their signature burger, Pizco y Nazca stands out with a successful interpretation of Peruvian-inspired flavors on a bun.  The “mayo” flavor of the aioli did stand out more than I remember, which is mostly just nitpicking.

Burgers 9-12

• Burger 9: The Ranchero Burger by Miller’s Ale House
  • A burger patty stuffed with bacon, cheddar, and jalapeño and topped with pico de gallo and garlic aioli
  • I think that there was some thought put into each component of the burger, but not into how to tie all of them together.  What we ended up with was a burger where the individual components were at war with each other to stand out, but they never quite came together as a cohesive burger.
• Burger 10: Untitled Burger from Shula’s 347
  • A burger with Manchego cheese, maple bacon jam, and guava sauce
  • I think that this was the first time that I actually enjoyed guava on a burger.  The sauce was tangy sweet, but not so sweet that you wondered by there is dessert on your burger.
• Burger 11: Untitled Burger from Doctor’s Hospital
  • A burger with honey cured bacon, potato gallette,Monterey Jack cheese, and secret sauce.
  • If you’re curious, a potato galette is sort of like a savory pancake made of potato.  Also, it is quite delicious on a burger.
• Burger 12: McFoie Sliders from Bulla Gastrobar (Burgerliscious 2018 Best in Bun Winner)
  • A burger with Mahon cheese foam and served on a handmade steamed bun
  • This burger was absolutely surreal, but not in a bad way.  The steamed bun really made this burger stand out.  Biting it was like biting into bread-flavored air.  The name of the burger seemed to suggest that the burger might have Foie Gras on it, but if it did then I couldn’t taste it (which is a good thing).

Burgers 13-16

• Burger 13: Untitled Burger from Dune at The Ritz Carlton Key Biscayne
  • A bison and Foie Gras burger with bacon demi glace and truffle aioli
  • The pairing of bison and Foie Gras is actually a smart move.  Bison is a very lean meat, so adding the fatty richness of the Foie Gras would help to prevent a dry patty.  Despite this, the burger just didn’t work for me.  I think that the foie gras just made it taste too “earthy.”
• Burger 14: The Knaus Berry Burger by 109 Burger Joint
  • An Angus beef burger with caramelized apple, Swiss cheese, and bacon on a Knaus Berry Farms sticky bun.
  • If you are a fan of sweet/savory pairings, then this burger is for you.  As I am not, I was unable to wrap my head around it.  But hey, there must be a reason why McGriddles are still on the McDonald’s breakfast menu.  This is just taking the gourmet approach to them.
• Burger 15: Burger and the Beast by Jr’s Gourmet Burgers (Burgerliscious 2018 People’s Choice Winner)
  • A burger with grilled onions, signature homemade pink sauce, and American cheese on a slider bun
  • As usual, I am apparently the only human being in all of South Florida who hates mayo, and therefore hates all variations of “pink sauce” that appear on burgers around here.  This burger didn’t do it for me, but the public felt otherwise.
• Burger 16: The Fritanga Especial by Pincho Factory
  • An all natural Angus beef patty with fried cheese, tangy cilantro slaw, guacamole and aji amarillo sauce on toasted brioche
  • This burger was a bit misleading.  The name implies Nicaraguan-inspired ingredients, but they sneak the Peruvian aji amarillo in there as if we won’t notice that you’ll never see that in any fritanga.  It threw the burger a little off balance.

Burger 17 and desserts

• Burger 17: The Pub Burger from Carolina Ale House
  • A burger with cheddar cheese, secret sauce, onion strings, and bacon
  • Poor Carolina Ale House.  I almost left without tasting them because they arrived late and then had issues getting their grill going.  The burger was good, but didn’t stand out in any way.  Still, for all of the issues that they ran into during the event, they should be very proud of what they put out.
• Cookies from Night Owl Cookies: Night Owl Cookies seems to be a foodie fest regular, as I think I have seen them at almost any local festival.  Their cookies are a bit too sweet and dense for my tastes, but they seem to be quite popular.
• Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream Sundae from Frice Cream: This was Seminole Squash ice cream with bourbon caramel sauce, vanilla whipped cream, and a brown sugar waffle cone.  For starters, I would like to say that I have made pumpkin ice cream at home.  It has NEVER turned out as creamy and luscious as this ice cream was.  However, the waffle bowl that they served it in was hopelessly brittle.  Using the tiny wooden paddle that we were given in lieu of a spoon, each attempt at scooping the ice cream resulted in breaking the waffle cone bowl until I was basically holding the ice cream itself in the palm of my hand.  I ate it right out of my hands without a second thought, because it was THAT good, but in the future they might want to think about putting them in a small plate or bowl for more stability.  And, maybe giving actual spoons.
• Mini Dessert Bar from Seasons 52: The Seasons 52 dessert bar also makes a comeback, and adds some different flavors.  Last night we had pecan pie, pumpkin pie, key lime pie, and S’mores brownie.

Congratulations to the winners of Burgerliscious 2018, and I am looking forward to next year!

Another year, another barrage of burger competitions.  As usual, Burgerliscious in Coral Gables is the last burger festival that I attend every year, and  the competition was fierce!  Local restaurants brought out their “A” game.  And, as usual, some fared better than others.

I enjoy the fact that a lot of these competitors tend challenge my idea of what the “ideal” burger is, and sometimes even bring me around to trying new things on my burgers.  Of course, this means getting out of my comfort zone and trying burgers with toppings that I typically don’t like (hello there, mayo, onions, and pickles).  Sometimes, I wind up pleasantly surprised.

So, who impressed me at Burgerliscious 2016?  Let’s see!

 

Burgers 1-4

• Burger #1: Fetes and Events – Fondue Burger
  • Beef sliders with truffle tomato jam, crispy prosciutto, and brown butter sweet potato bread.
  • What stood out the most to me about this burger was the crispy prosciutto, which was a pleasant salty crunch for me.  Unfortunately, the fondue was kind of lumpy and the burger was already cold, which ruined it for me
• Burger #2: Swine Southern Table and Bar – Swine Burger Sliders
  • Short rib, brisket, and smoked pork blend patty with homemade dill pickle, thick-cut house-smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato, American cheese, and Swine Special Sauce
  • Swine, whenever they participate, always turn out their same signature burger.  As the saying goes, “Don’t mess with the classics.”  As always, it’s a strong contender with an incredibly juicy and flavorful patty, awesome bacon, and melty cheese.  It was one of my favorites
• Burger #3: The Big Easy – The Big Easy Burger
  • Local natural prime beef patty, tomatoes, red wine onion jam, rocket leaves, Braai sauce
  • I had two Google the last two ingredients on their burger to even know what they actually were.  Despite the exotic ingredients, this burger was pretty ordinary.  What stood out the most was that the bread was kind of dry and hard, which wasn’t pleasant for me
• Burger #4: Christy’s – Christy’s Slider
  • House-ground sirloin burger, portabella mushroom, aged Swiss cheese, truffle aioli, and bibb lettuce on a Hawaiian roll
  • I’m usually not a had of mushrooms on my burgers, but this burger’s bite of portabella was one of my favorites of the evening.  The flavors of the burger came together very well.

Burgers 5-8

• Burger #5: Doctor’s Hospital – Mediterranean-inspired Burger
  • Bruschetta topping (red onion, garlic, slivered kalamata olives, tomato, european cucumbers, Avocado, lemon zest, and fresh Herbs de Provence), Herb cheese (whipped Mascarpone cheese, whipped butter, fresh garden herbs), chopped fresh arugula, frise, and romaine, on a Hawaiian roll grilled with herb butter
  • Doctor’s Hospital always comes up with some pretty crazy burgers, which kind of makes me imagine that their chef is some culinary mad scientist and we are all his guinea pigs.  I was very fearful when I noticed that there were olives on the burger (which I probably hate even more than mayo), but I tried it anyway.  Sadly, one bite was enough for me to know that this wasn’t for me.
• Burger #6: John Martin’s – The Pub Burger
  • Beef patty with Irish cheddar, bacon, and pickles
  • This burger was confusing.  It had a patty that was incredibly dry and tasted like it might not actually be beef, although the claims were that it was locally sourced beef.  Maybe it was just the way that it was prepared, but this burger was not a success.  The chips that came with it were great, though.
• Burger #7: Rok:Brgr – Rok this Way Burger (People’s Choice Winner!)
  • Special “ROK” burger blend patty topped with 10-hour smoked brisket, aged cheddar cheese, Chioptle BBQ aioli, pickled red onions, and house made pickles
  • Rok:Brgr does it again!  The brisket, covered with the melted cheddar cheese, simply melted in your mouth, and the beef patty was juicy and cooked to perfection.  The tang of the red onions gave a nice contrast that rounded the flavors of the burger out.  My only complaint is that this burger is not on their restaurant menu yet.  They need to get on that.
• Burger #8: The Cafe at Books and Books – The One Night Stand Burger
  • A 50/50 chuck and sirloin blend patty topped with J Wakefield Brewing Up Smoked Ported BBQ Sauce, caramelized onions, and Bleu cheese
  • The Cafe at Books and Books normally serves up one of the weirdest burgers of the evening every year, so it was a shock for me to find their station had such a tame burger.  The Bleu cheese and the caramelized onions paired very well together (*gasp!*…I enjoyed onions on my burger!).  I think this was one of the better burgers of the night.

Burgers 9-12

• Burger #9: Shula 347 Grill – Shula Slider
  • American Wagyu beef topped with Vermont aged cheddar, Cipollini onions, and bacon jam
  • I was very underwhelmed by this burger.
• Burger #10: Ventanas – The Ventanas Burger
  • A beef patty with tomato jam, arugula, Bleu cheese, and spiced bacon on a brioche bun
  • This was a very good burger put out by a newcomer on the event roster.
• Burger #11: Off the Mile – The Frita
  • A Cuban frita (burger patty made with pork and chorizo) topped with potato sticks and sweet plantain
  • I thought I knew what to expect after eating all of those fritas at the Frita Showdown not too long ago, but my first bite was like an explosion of grease in my mouth.  Not pleasant at all.
• Burger #12: Bricktop’s Slider
  • A burger with bacon, cheddar, and pickles
  • The burger was simple enough, but unfortunately it was incredibly dry

Burgers 13-16

• Burger #13: Pincho Factory – Pincho Burger (Winner Judge’s Choice)
  • A burger with lettuce, tomato, onion, potato sticks, pink sauce, and American cheese
  • The sauce that they put on this burger is tastes so much of mayonnaise, and they put SO MUCH on it, that I couldn’t get past the first bite.  As usual, I disagree with the judges’ decision on giving them the win, but oh well.
• Burger #14: BurgerFi – House Veggie Burger
  • House veggie patty with house secret sauce, lettuce, tomato, and white American cheese
  • I was absolutely terrified to try this burger after finding out that it was not a meat patty.  Those fears were unfounded, as the burger was actually very flavorful.  I think that it worked because the patty was not intended to taste like meat, which is where a lot of other meatless burgers fail.
• Burger #15: American Harvest – The American Harvest Burger
  • beef patty with house dressing, caramelized shallots, creamy fontina cheese, and Dade County Pickles
  • I enjoyed the pickled vegetables served on the side of the burger more than I enjoyed the actual burger.  It wasn’t a bad burger, though.  There were just better ones available.
• Burger #16: Copper 29 – Pork Slider
  • Pork slider with mango aioli, cabbage, and pickle
  • I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about this one.  I think the mango aioli was a little bit too overpowering, but it had a lot of potential.

Burgers 17-20

• Burger #17: Iron Tribe – Paleo Burger
  • A beef burger with paleo mayo and paleo bbq sauce wrapped in lettuce and served with plantain chips cooked in coconut oil
  • When I took my first bite, I wanted to look the chef in the eye and ask him what I ever did to deserve this.  That being said, I do appreciate that a healthy food provider made an earnest attempt to give health nuts a burger.  It didn’t work at all for me, but I’m sure that this made some Paleo person’s day.
• Burger #18: Pisco y Nazca – La Bestia Burger
  • A burger with aji panca, spicy aioli, and potato sticks on a pretzel bun
  • This was the same burger that they made the last time that they participated, only now they’re in slider form.  The slider form kind of messed up the balance of the burger, so all of the flavors get lost in the overwhelming taste of the aji panca.  I think it would have worked better if they had scaled back on that to account for the smaller sizes.
• Burger #19: Bulla Gastrobar – The Bulla Burger
  • Grass fed Angus beef with Piquillo peppers, tetilla, caramelized onions, and honey thyme glaze on a homemade bun
  • I was excited to try these burgers because they looked so nice and juicy, but they ended up being kind of bland.
• Burger #20: Tarpon Bend – Sweet Bacon Cheddar Short Rib Burger
  • A burger with aged cheddar cheese, diced red onion, bacon, miso aioli, and balsamic reduction on a Challah roll
  • The patty itself was cooked perfectly, but I don’t think that the actual burger toppings worked very well together.

 

Final Burger

• Burger #21 – Shake Shack – The BBQ Shackmeister
  • An all natural Angus beef cheeseburger topped with crispy beer-marinated shallots and Shack BBQ sauce
  • Shake Shack has a reputation for dishing out some decent burgers, but this burger was a salt bomb.  I needed to drink like an entire gallon of water after one bite.

As usual, there were sweets available to counter all of the savory!

Cupcakes provided by Dee-lish Cupcakes.

And, of course, the usual dessert shots from Seasons 52!

Since it started to rain, I didn’t linger.  But, thankfully, I got to taste all of the burgers at Burgerliscious 2016 before I had to make a dash for the safety of my car.  Until next time!