Only One Thing To Say

One Market

Listed high on the cheeseburger list is One Market, located at....why don't you just guess?

Here was the menu listing:

Hamburger & Potato Tots, sweet onions, Pt. Reyes blue cheese, cole slaw, port dijon - $14.75

I thought about asking for the burger with something other than blue cheese. Now understand - I like blue cheese. I like a good Cobb Salad as much as the next guy. And I like Pt. Reyes blue. But I was suspicious of blue cheese on a burger - I thought it would dominate the taste of everything. When the waiter came to take the order, I went ahead with the chef's cheeseburger vision and ordered it as listed on the menu.

Big mistake.

Just as I thought, all I could taste was blue cheese. I made a point of tasting the meat separately, and it was pretty good. The burger was perfectly cooked, and there was a nice bun. I can't even remember the slaw. My advice - when you go blue, plan to say P.U.

I think I would have liked it just fine with cheddar. It was perfectly cooked. Tater Tots were OK - they were bigger than Tots should be, but I think I'd rather have something else.

I asked the waiter what cuts of meat were in the hamburger grind. He replied, "choice." These guys generally don't get it. I still believe the real secret is in the meat combo in the grind.

Lark Creek Steakburger

I took a walk today to Westfield Shopping Center and used it as an opportunity to have a burger at Lark Creek Steak.

I had eaten there once before, and was generally disappointed in the steak I had, but really, really, really liked the croutons in their salad. I'm not kidding, those were the greatest croutons I ever had, and I make some of the greatest croutons ever. After the meal I walked over to the chefs and congratulated them on their croutons. Probably some little serf makes them, but man, they were delicious.

I wasn't there for croutons today, just the burger. Good burger. Half pounder, topped with roasted onions and sharp cheddar, perfectly cooked to medium rare. $14.50 ish.

I asked the waiter if he knew what cut of meat it was and he said it was filet. Really? Really? It was on the lean side, and after the first bite the meat seemed like it could have a little more flavor, but that answer surprises me. Who would make a burger out of tenderloin? Too lean, though it didn't seem OVERLY lean.

I've been paying attention to meat grinds because I think that may be the great secret of a great burger. I'm definitely for using short ribs as a part. I'm going to try short ribs and filet, though cerebrally I feel sure that despite the cost, short rib and NY strip may be the way to go. Most burgers are made with what is left over. The right grind conbo makes all the difference, which is why I loved Tyler's burger at Wayfare Tavern.

Gotta great tip from Dean Duffy - Morton's serves $6 burgers in the bar during happy hour. Despite Michael Bauer's horrific review of Morton's recently*, that's something I really want to try.

*He started the review by apologizing to all of the restaurants he had described as expensive previously. Morton's set a new standard.

Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger

Here is an update on my ill-fated San Francisco cheeseburger project.

Actually, it was literally ill-fated for the first restaurant in this series, Midi, where I ate their cheeseburger at the bar and then they went out of business. Good size with gorgonzola cheese, the meat was fairly lean, the burger properly cooked. Great fries. $13. RIP, though I’d likely not return for that anyway.

When I drive home headed down Sutter Street, I always pass a place called Sliders on the corner of Sutter and Polk. It’s a chrome plated modern diner serving primarily burgers and sides. They cook the burgers on a four foot round grill. The meat is nothing special, and the burgers look greasy on the grill. You can get 6 or 8 oz. burgers, and pretty much anything you want on it. In fact, they have a condiment bar with a pretty wide array of dopey things. I ordered an 8 oz. cheeseburger, put some lettuce on it and powered it down with a side of onion rings. Cost was about $10 total. Burger was fair. Nothing special.

A client took me to The Daily Grill on Geary off Powell. I’ve been by that place a million times, but it never occurred to me to give it a try despite its proximity to my office. The restaurant is a beautiful New York style B & G with lots of dark wood. They have a fairly complete comfort food menu. Nice, not great burger for about $13 with shoestring fries. I liked the restaurant quite a bit, and imagine I’ll be back, though I’d probably work the rest of the menu and pass on the burger.

Finally yesterday I went down to the Ball Park with the Colonel and C. Lo. for our rendezvous with "our" World Series Trophy. I’ll post the picture when the Colonel gets me a scanned copy. Afterwards C. Lo. and I talked about going to Marlowe (home of Michael Bauer’s favorite burger), but we were concerned that they weren’t serving lunch at 2:30 when we left the trophy line, so we settled on The Public House. At the time KNBR was broadcasting there all day, pushing an auction* of stupid sports stuff for youth sports. We caught the end of Fitz and Brooks and the beginning of the Razor and Mr. T.

* Is there anything dopier than listening to an auction on the radio, particularly an auction of stuff like hanging out with the radio hosts? Hearing them plug themselves over and over reminded me of the scene in “That Thing You Do” in which The Wonders are interviewed by an self-important windbag on the radio in which the only thing they actually say is “Hi.”

By the way, that's me wearing my double Nobel Prize in front of the Willie statue, the ball park and The Public House.

Anyway The Public House had an incredibly limited menu (3 appetizers, 5 sandwiches including a burger). I went for the burger, C. Lo. for the Cuban sandwich which turned into a burger when they determined they were out of the Cubans. Jeez. How do you run out of 20% of your menu at 2:30 PM?

The burger came with bacon, avocado and cheddar. The meat was somehow very smokey, and worse, overcooked – medium well instead of medium rare. It was a tall burger, but pressed down with a little pressure. Somehow the contents disappeared well before the bun. It was messy to eat (I think avocado makes the contents slide around too much), not terribly tasty. It came with a choice of fries, chips or coleslaw for $13. Bad burger, bad restaurant. What a disappointment. And not a particularly nice sports bar. With Paragon a block northeast, I’ll never be back.