Well Done

We've let this site sit too long. After having a gross burger and starting a BBQ blog, I feel a bit motivated to start again.

So here it is - over a year too late...our first blog from March 1, 2007 - written by Brian.

jeremy burger

------------------------------------------

Peter Luger Burger.
Inaugural bite.

I am going into this, the very first Williamsburger outing, having never eaten the Luger burger. My only expectation: greatness. If not just because J has built it up in my head, but Oprah tells me it is so! I mean c'mon, Gale "The Burger Queen" King rated it the #2 burger in all of the country. If she says it's "delicious," it's delicious.

And it is. But more on that later... this is supposed to be the presentation paragraph.

My first impression is that it looks a little small on the plate, but that must be because I was looking from the top down, instead of from the side. What this burger lacks in circumference it more than makes up for in an impressive 5 inches of height. And, no joke, the patty is almost 2 of those tasty, tasty vertical inches. Don't be fooled; it WILL put you into a meat coma by the time you're done with it, the fries, and two or three Brooklyn Lagers. Let's see. Presentation. What else? Those steak-style fries come out looking good. There is a thick slice of a huge white onion on the side (the lone topping), which is too much onion for me. But the best part about onion is that it grows in pick-your-own-size layers... like those paper towels. And we all got cheese on our burgers, which comes out perfectly melted and covering basically the whole patty. To sum up presentation, it's very good. They should serve it on a smaller plate, just cause there's some empty space which contributes to the burger looking a bit wee at first impression, but hey, that's life.

On to taste. The bun is a bigger version of the onion roll they serve. I love the flavor and it's baked perfectly. My only qualm is that it's sort of a dry bread with lots of air pockets so it really sucks up a lot of that burger juice and sauce (or, in my associate's case, only ketchup), which I prefer to drip all over my hands, face, clothing and the first three rows of spectators. The cheese seems to be a slice of good old American, which is the only choice offered for the cheeseburger here. It's a great match for the beef. Which leads me into the star of the show: the patty. This hamburger, er, Luger Burger patty is the most beefy tasting thing I've ever experienced in my greasy, cholesterol filled life. It tastes more like steak than steak tastes like steak (like Diet Dr. Pepper!). If I had a friend who had never had beef before today, I would put him or her on the next meat cruise to heaven, first stop, Peter Luger. If you want to know what the essence of beef is, no seasoning, no special cooking method, nothing other than the best hand-selected cuts you've ever had in a burger... look no further than the Luger Burger. The meat is just plain that good.

But here's the thing: for being one of the best steakhouses around, I'm really shocked that not just my own, but all of our burgers, were over-cooked. I go for medium-rare, and this was an easy medium. The outside was just browned (so far so good), but there was no cool, pink center waiting for me. The meat was pretty uniformly pinky-brown through and through, but at least every bite was still juicy and flavorful. Never-the-less, the overcooked element was pretty disappointing, and the only factor that kept this burger from earning my highest recommendation. AUTHOR'S NOTE: I did return to Luger's a month later and am happy to report that this time the burger was cooked to absolute dripping, perfection.

Bottom line, the Luger Burger is close to infallible. It's a sandwich that adheres to my principle rules of design: do as much as you possibly can, with as little as you can possibly use. And it's delicious.

Food Average: 4.43333333333333
Total Average: 4.31111111111111

-------
second visit in Feb
Food Average: 4.55
Total Average: 4.46666666666667