Flottes

Burger reviewed: The "12" burger

Venue: Flottes - Rue Cambon, Paris

Date: 08/09/2103

Today's burger adventure saw the Fellows sample our first burger treat in the "City of Love". Our venue of choice, Flottes (do not ask me how to pronounce it), is a surprisingly large venue with a much larger English influence than many other restaurants about town (this was evidenced by the menu being written in English only). Located next to Pierre Herme's world famous macaron store, Flottes specialises in traditional French cuisine with a slightly modern twist.

The first thing to note is that the service was top notch. When we walked in we were immediately greeted by a waiter. Let that be a lesson to all restaurant staff - all you have to do is simply acknowledge me with a "I'll be with you in a moment" and I will happily wait for 10 minutes to be shown a table. Without acknowledgement I would be lucky to wait 3 minutes. To make things even better we were sat in a private room complete with nice paintings and French books on the walls. It was a truly lovely setting to enjoy our first ever Parisian burger. 

Upon glancing over the menu we noticed several burgers but the one that caught our eye was the "12" burger. Unfortunately, after I read the menu and ordered the burger I was expecting a 12 inch burger. Instead of a Man vs Food style giant, what arrived was a modest sized burger put together with high quality ingredients. 

The beef patty was exceptional. It was clearly handmade and I think the patty mixture was simply a porterhouse run through a mincer a few times. Due to the quality of the meat used in the mince this beef patty was delicious, covering all parts of the palette like Zizou covering all parts of the soccer field. The inside of the patty was cooked to more of a medium rare (which seems to be the style of French chefs) but the outside of the party was not charred as much as we would have liked. If the chef turned up the temperature of the grill plate a few notches this would have given the best quality patties we have tried a run for their money.

The bun was a real let down. It seemed like your stock standard burger bun that you would pull off the shelf at Coles. I really expected better of a country known for their bread. 

The toppings on the burger were unlike any that we have ever had here at Burger Friday - an interesting combination of sauteed mushrooms and foie gras. Foie gras is a French delicacy and is the liver of specially fattened ducks or geese. Foie gras has come under the fire of animal rights enthusiasts who have claimed that using tubes to force-feed the animals in order to fatten them up is inhumane. This initially put me off. But upon consulting our friendly waiter, we were informed that the foei gras used at Flottes was not sourced from farms who employ this tube force-feeding technique. Rather, a different type of feed that is used to fatten up the animals. Knowing this settled my stomach enough to tuck into the burger without feeling like a terrible human being. And what a result! In our opinion, foie gras is in a league of its own in terms of decadence (and not the kind of decadence like on the Inbetweeners movie) - velvety, rich and creamy. It was a pure delight to eat. However, teaming foei gras with sauteed mushrooms was not a good idea. The two had a similar texture which gave the burger a slippery feel/texture. I was kind of hoping that the foie gras would essentially melt and ooze down the burger creating a quasi-sauce. But as you can tell from the picture, the foie gras was quite substantial and basically acted like a second patty rather than fulfilling my saucing needs.

The burger did have some top quality bacon which was cooked crisply enough to partially cut through this slippery texture but the race was run.

This is the part of the blog where I usually talk about the sauce and how adequately it meshed the ingredients of the burger together. Unfortunately, this burger had no sauce to speak of. Meaning that the burger was very rich and left you feeling greasy. Even a cheeky French Hollandaise would have lightened the mood a bit. With the lack of sauce this burger was bit on the dry side meaning that you needed to choke it down (don't get me started on French athletes choking). 

All in all, this burger had a number of the highest of quality ingredients, including the ultimate X-factor in foie gras, but lacked a sauce to bring the burger together which ultimately resulted in a burger which underperformed. Seeing something with the X-factor only to underperform reminds me of so many French sportspeople but the one I am choosing today is former French tennis player turned Channel 7 special commentator Henri Leconte. Leconte burst onto the French tennis scene by winning the 1981 French junior championship and spent a number of years at the pointy end of grand slams thanks to his sizzling play. The pinnacle of Leconte's career came in 1998 when he made the final of the French Open, only to be smashed in straight ones by Mats Wilander. Ultimately, Leconte found most of his success playing doubles and actually nabbed a grand slam. My advice to Flottes would be to follow in the footsteps of our dear Henri - team up with a quality sidekick (a tangy sauce for the purposes of this analogy) who can make up for your deficiencies. If that happens, you are onto a real winner.

I would definitely recommend this burger if you find yourself strolling down Rue Cambon. In order to counteract the richness of the burger, I recommend the macarons next door. Or if you would like a more traditional French dessert try the in-house creme brulee - I caused a bit of a disturbance in the restaurant when I cracked the caramelised sugar on top of the creme brulee with my spoon. Seriously, it sounded like glass shattering.

Score: 37.5/50 

The Shack

Burger reviewed: The Western King

Venue: The Shack (Perth)

Date: 26/07/2013

Today's burger adventure saw Burger Friday tackle the first of Perth's many pseudo burger chain restaurants. The venue of choice - The Shack (previously known as The Local Shack. And before that, The Burger Shack). What is particularly perplexing about the name changes of this venue is that The Shack does not give off the feeling of a shack at all. With its high ceilings, big doors and rustic paint work you could be forgiven for thinking you are chowing down in a cafe in inner-city Melbourne. But who cares about the venue? We are here for a burger.

The Shack boasts 18 different burgers ranging from the stock standard beef burger to a chicken burger called the "Thai Cockfight" (whenever I hear the word cockfight I can't help but think of Seinfeld episode where Kramer and Little Jerry Seinfeld take on Marcellino's "dog with glove on its head"). This presents an obvious selection dilemma in that we are spoilt for choice. However, as we have a selection policy of choosing a burger that our rating scale is not prejudicial towards, we ordered the Western King with cheese and bacon and got ready to nosh.    
  
The patty was well put together and had that fibrous texture indicative of a handmade patty. What became obvious from the start was the adventurous use of dried herbs and spices in the patty mixture which created a flavoursome first bite. My only gripe with the patty was that it was cooked to more of a well done than a medium which meant that some of juice from the meat had been cooked out of it. I would recommend that the chef at The Local Shack turn the temperature of the grill plate up slightly - this will allow a slight charring of the outside whilst keeping the inside juicy and medium rather than cooking the patty completely through (we should write a book on grilling burger patties - "A time to grill" or "To grill a mockingbird").

My main gripe with this burger is around the quality of the bun. It didn't seem fresh, was a bit on the crusty side and was quite heavy. And to make things even worse, this was one of the hardest burgers to eat from a structural integrity standpoint. This burger resisted all burger management techniques. Even the universally accepted "cut the burger in half" burger management technique (pictured above) - a technique so proven it has taken its rightful place along side the other game changing techniques such as the famed "bite and suck the filling" pie eating technique and the hair dressing methodology of putting the hair between two fingers and cutting above them. If it wasn't for Clause 7 of our sacred Constitution, I would have reached for the knife and fork.  

The salads were fresh and played their part. Salads on a burger is like Snicko in the Decision Review System - while it can add value, it is left out of the decision making process for good reason.

The sauce was the real winner. An eclectic mix of guacamole and seeded mustard which created a tangy and refreshing salsa that cleansed the palette with every bite. Full marks for the sauce. 

The chips were a quality side dish. Similar to the burger, they were sprinkled with dried herbs and spices and were accompanied by a quality sauce. Plentiful in supply (a large serving was enough for two people) and cooked to a level that saw them crunchy on the outside but remain fluffy on the inside.  

Overall, the herbs and spices used in the patty and chips teamed well with the extravagant sauce combination. However, the cooking of the patty and the poorness of the bun let the team down. This display of flare and extravagance only to be ultimately let down reminded me of Dean Wallis in the 1999 Preliminary Final against Carlton. A rugged defender without an attacking bone in his body, Wallis decided to take the game on in the final minute only to be caught by a Fraser Brown tackle, ultimately costing the Dons a chance of overrunning the Blues and a spot in the Granny.  

If you find yourself in the CBD and need a beef injection, check out The Local Shack and the vast array of burger treats it offers.

Score: 33/50

Shake Shack (New York)

Burger reviewed: The Double Shack

Venue: Shake Shack

Date: 17 August 2013

Continuing on the Burger Friday Fellows journey around America, our next stop on tour is the Shake Shack.

If you like burgers and have not heard of Shake Shack then you might as well have been living under a rock. Nine years ago, New York's, and arguably the world's, hamburger landscape changed forever when an unassuming shack began serving up humanely raised 100% Angus beef.

Started by Danny Meyer in Washington Square Park in NYC, this little roadside burger cart grew into a hospitality group and a cultural phenom, and the rest is history. Since then, Shake Shacks have been popping up worldwide developing a market, alongside companies like Five Guys, into what is now known as the Better Burger market (i.e., above your McDonalds or Burger Kings, but below your gourmet burgers). As the Fellows like to dabble in cult phenoms, as well as food which falls into the Better Burger market, Shake Shack was high on our list of food to try in NYC. This and the fact that almost all of the fellows burger loving friends were continually yabbering about it before we left.

So while in NYC, the Fellows headed to the original Washington Square Park site on what was a glorious summers day to try the most talked about burger in the world to see if the hype lived up to the bite.

Greeted by a line curling around the Parks walkway, the Shack almost blends into the surrounding greenery, with the only give away being the connecting fairy lights and the hundreds of people mingling around in excitement. After about a 30 minute wait to order and another ten whilst it cooked, our food arrived.

In true Burger Friday tradition we ordered the signature Shack burger and decided to do it with a double pattie because, as with beef and beer, two is always better than one. The Shack burger is a 100% Angus beef pattie served with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles and a special Shack Sauce, all squeezed between a marshmallow-like soft bun.

The incredible simplicity of the ingredients listed above, belie the complexity of the flavourings and sensations that exploded in my mouth on that very first bite. While almost everyone I know has talked up this burger as being almost orgasmic, i had found it hard to believe the hype until I could taste it to prove it. So after that first bite, I was a believer. This is a great burger.

The burger literally melted into your mouth with every morsel, dissolving into a beefy and savoury remnant. I would say that this is without doubt the softest burger I have ever eaten. Think of velvety cake like substance that just happens to taste like burger.

While small in size, it was extremely rich in flavour and by the end I was starting to feel a little overwhelmed by choosing the double.

Although it may seem sacrosanct to criticise the burger, and that this act may cause Shack devotees to seek me out for directed acts of revenge, I did have some things I did not like about the burger.

The hero and the villain for me was the Angus beef pattie. Cooked to a perfectly juicy medium from reportedly ground fresh daily beef, it was so buttery soft that it hard to determine where it stood on the liquified to hockey puck pattie cooking ratio. For mine if it had an offsetting somewhat less soft bun, it would have been perfect. Ala the M&M effect. Or, alternativel,y with the bun it had, I would have liked to have seen the pattie charred to give some contrast in texture. (What's soft on the outside and hard on the inside? - maybe avocado?)

The super soft bun, plus the soft pattie meant that there was too much of the sameness, and towards the end of the burger it got a bit blah.

The other thing which I thought it could have also used was slightly more tang. Whilst the Shake Sauce was zesty, I found myself adding American mustard which was freely available from the condiments stand.

The accompanying chocolate shake and crinkle cut fries were both solid and a good addition to the burger, in flavour and at making sure my daily calorie intake was met in a single serving.

In light of the hype, and the overwhelming softness of the burger, I am going to dub this the Wayne Gretsky. Like Shake Shack, Gretsky is universally known as one of the all time greats. While it might be hard to argue that he was truly soft, rumour has it that whilst teams usually have an enforcer who fights your battles on the ice, Gretzky supposedly took it a bit further by having a bodyguard roam the rink just in case things got too out of hand. Regardless it is still a hall of fame burger and I can testify the hype.

If in New York, or a Shake Shack is near you (they are expanding at a rapid rate), definitively go try it out to see what the fuss is about for yourself.

Burger Friday rating: 42/50

Prospect Espresso

Burger Reviewed: the Prospects Burger

Venue: Prospect Espresso - 2A Prospect Hill Rd, Camberwell

Date: 15 July 2013

On a stereotypical Melbourne day - torrential downpour followed by blue skies and sunshine - we ventured to Prospect Espresso in Camberwell. Espresso is the type of cafe that makes a name for itself through word of mouth; the type of place that you could be forgiven for overlooking on your way past the many shopfronts on Burke Rd, but fortunately for us this place has started to make a name for itself in burger enthusiast circles. Needless to say, we were not disappointed.

In a world where first impressions count more so than ever before, we were greeted promptly by an energetic and bubbly waitress who quickly found us a seat at the large wooden communal table. A growing trend in Melbourne hospitality, the table dominates the décor but is complemented by a mixture of smaller tables. Although space is at a premium, it is a well organized layout which fits nicely with the rustic furniture and fittings. It has somewhat of a refurbished inner-city warehouse apartment feel to it and although quiet loud, it still has a homely and welcoming vibe.

Although Prospect Espresso receives rave reviews for it's coffee, we ventured to this cafe to sample the house burger - house minced beef, bacon, cheese, pickles, lettuce, chips and aioli for the fair price of $18. It came out in good speed for what was a busy Friday afternoon but most impressive was the presentation. While some of us here at Burger Friday prefer the look of a greasy, juicy, American-style burger, I am one who prefers the postcard burger. This would be right at the top of that list (unfortunately my camera work on the iPhone 5 doesn't do this justice). Credit must be given for the use of props; the inclusion of the traditional (albeit miniature) frying basket to hold the chips is a great look.

The burger was smaller than what we're used to, but what it lacked in size it made up for in flavour. The burger was cooked to perfection, it was charred on the outside trapping in the moisture and juices from the gelatinous pattie. The ground and hand pressed pattie was lightly season and while some might have preferred a bigger statement from the pattie (in terms of herbs and spices), the precise cooking makes this pattie a winner. Many outstanding patties have been ruined by the chef (or should i say cook), but this was mastery of a fry pan at its finest.

It didn't stop there though. The bacon was equally impressive as it was crispy and charred, with enough rind left on to provide a salty crunch. While no one wants a pork belly rasher of bacon (i.e., 90% fat), the burger does benefit from having some of the natural fat stay on the bacon. This was evident here as the saltiness of the bacon balanced tang from the aioli. This rivals the Trunk Diner for best use of bacon on a burger - a real pleasure.

When you have two genuine stars like the pattie and the bacon, you can be forgiven for overlooking the other accompaniments. There was nothing to fault with these, the lettuce was crisp and the pickles provided a nice savoury touch. They were able contributors to a two starred attack, not too dissimilar to Jack Gunston or Pau Puopolo to the Hawthorn attack.

I have already touched on the presentation of the chips, but it is one thing to look impressive, it is another thing altogether to meet (and exceed) those expectations. These chips were top-notch. Golden brown, crunchy, seasoned yet fluffy and light in the middle. They were perfectly suited to the aioli which was fresh and light.

My only real gripe with this burger was the absence of a boutique beer, or any beer for that matter, to wash it down with. Hardly relevant in our culinary quest to find Melbourne's best burger, particularly given the number of licensed venues in close proximity, but there is something extra special about a soothing ale to accompany a delicious meal.

I had some difficulty, and agonised long and hard, as to who I would liken this burger to. Ultimately, I settled on Daniel Geale. The little known Australian boxer (which is changing quickly) is a no-nonsense, honest and rugged fighter. Where the likes of Mundine have polarised the Australian boxing public, Geale is a contemporary gentleman in a sport that is characterised by ego, salesmanship and bravado. Although he recently lost his IBF world title, he retained his humility and will be back fighting in those ranks before too long. Like Geale, the Espresso burger is understated and unpretentious and also has the potential to be a household name on the burger circuit. A relative unknown; it won't last for long.

Do yourself a favour and go sample this burger now. You will not be disappointed.

Burger Friday Rating: 41/50