http://www.barnsiderrestaurants.com/
480 Sand Creek Rd.
Albany, NY 12212
Tel: 518-869-2448
While in Albany for the holiday weekend, I was treated to a nice dinner out at The Barnsider. They are known around town for their beef, so I settled on a cheeseburger. It only came with half of a top bun for some reason, but I wasn't really in the mood for bread so that didn't matter. I slathered on a good amount of ketchup and removed the onion (because it was the most powerful red onion I'd ever tasted), and it was quite nice with lettuce and tomato. The meat was very fresh and so it crumbled easily.....do you know what I mean? They cooked it perfectly, so that was awesome. Overall I was happy with my burger in NY.
This weekend we are going up to Boston, where we will hopefully try the famous Mr. Bartley's burgers in Harvard Square. I am quite excited.
PLEASE please please make comments! We welcome your input, and we'd love to have new restaurant suggestions to add to our list!!!!
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Not Your Average Joe's
http://www.notyouraveragejoes.com/
19307 Promenade Drive (Lansdowne Town Center)
Leesburg, VA
(571) 333-5637
We ran the Herndon Turkey Trot on Saturday afternoon, and since we were half-way there, we continued on to the Leesburg outlets to return some stuff. What do to with our new-found riches(before Burgerman eats his arm off)? Head to NYAJ, of course! I actually opted for the rosemary scallop skewer because the creamy orzo, bacon, portobello, & spinach side dish it came with sounded too good to pass up on this chilly night (and it was), so Burgerman was the one who ate the burger. I'll let him tell you his thoughts. I had a fry.....very mushy and greasy and dark brown, I think someone needed to change the oil.
I will say that the dessert - the Peanut Butter Thing - is really awesome. It's a light & fluffy peanut butter ice cream pie with a crumbly oreo crust and oreo crumble stripe in the middle, served with chocolate sauce (not syrup, its like the stuff Starbucks puts in their drinks), caramel sauce, and real whipped cream. Mmmmm
19307 Promenade Drive (Lansdowne Town Center)
Leesburg, VA
(571) 333-5637
We ran the Herndon Turkey Trot on Saturday afternoon, and since we were half-way there, we continued on to the Leesburg outlets to return some stuff. What do to with our new-found riches(before Burgerman eats his arm off)? Head to NYAJ, of course! I actually opted for the rosemary scallop skewer because the creamy orzo, bacon, portobello, & spinach side dish it came with sounded too good to pass up on this chilly night (and it was), so Burgerman was the one who ate the burger. I'll let him tell you his thoughts. I had a fry.....very mushy and greasy and dark brown, I think someone needed to change the oil.
I will say that the dessert - the Peanut Butter Thing - is really awesome. It's a light & fluffy peanut butter ice cream pie with a crumbly oreo crust and oreo crumble stripe in the middle, served with chocolate sauce (not syrup, its like the stuff Starbucks puts in their drinks), caramel sauce, and real whipped cream. Mmmmm
Monday, November 12, 2007
Ceiba
http://www.ceibarestaurant.com/home.html
701 14th Street NW
Washington DC 20005
(202) 393-3983
Sadly, they changed their burger up just before we arrived, and I must say I was a bigger fan of the old presentation.....the tiny, crispy fries, the sweet potato bun, the pancetta all made it perfect in my mind. Substituting thick, starchy yucca fries, buttery, grilled sourdough, and tasteless, mush "caramelized" onions was a huge disappointment.
First off, this burger needs a sturdy bun to hold all the chorizo grease! Sourdough makes it seem like some kind of sloppy burger-panini, which is far from what it should be. The sweet flavor of the sweet potato bun complimented the chorizo nicely, whereas all the butter from the sourdough seems to make it a grilled heart-attack.
The yucca fries were a big much for my taste, and way too heavy of a side dish. The chorizo burger is heavy itself. The old crispy, potato-stick like fries could be added to the burger itself to give it a crunchy texture and salty bite, but also tasted great when dipped in the mustard aoli. So versatile! The yucca fries would be best used for building a small shelter in the wilderness.
The onions were tasteless. Why would you ever take away the bacon?
Thank goodness is still had a lot of manchego and the mustard sauce. But I barely recognized it as it was.
Oh, and they upped the price by a dollar to $14. Not cool since they made it worse.
Bring back your old burger, Ceiba!
Even the bartender agreed with us. And he gave us a free mojito. Booyah.
Rating: 3 to 3.5 (4.5 if it was made the old way, sadly)
701 14th Street NW
Washington DC 20005
(202) 393-3983
Sadly, they changed their burger up just before we arrived, and I must say I was a bigger fan of the old presentation.....the tiny, crispy fries, the sweet potato bun, the pancetta all made it perfect in my mind. Substituting thick, starchy yucca fries, buttery, grilled sourdough, and tasteless, mush "caramelized" onions was a huge disappointment.
First off, this burger needs a sturdy bun to hold all the chorizo grease! Sourdough makes it seem like some kind of sloppy burger-panini, which is far from what it should be. The sweet flavor of the sweet potato bun complimented the chorizo nicely, whereas all the butter from the sourdough seems to make it a grilled heart-attack.
The yucca fries were a big much for my taste, and way too heavy of a side dish. The chorizo burger is heavy itself. The old crispy, potato-stick like fries could be added to the burger itself to give it a crunchy texture and salty bite, but also tasted great when dipped in the mustard aoli. So versatile! The yucca fries would be best used for building a small shelter in the wilderness.
The onions were tasteless. Why would you ever take away the bacon?
Thank goodness is still had a lot of manchego and the mustard sauce. But I barely recognized it as it was.
Oh, and they upped the price by a dollar to $14. Not cool since they made it worse.
Bring back your old burger, Ceiba!
Even the bartender agreed with us. And he gave us a free mojito. Booyah.
Rating: 3 to 3.5 (4.5 if it was made the old way, sadly)
Friday, November 02, 2007
Central
http://www.centralmichelrichard.com/
1001 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington DC 20004
(202) 626-0015
A few months back when I treated myself to a lobster burger at lunchtime, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. This time, however, I was here to try the beef burger. I read that Michel Richard tried 12 different kinds of beef before settling on the one he makes his patties out of....wow.
The service sucked at first, and we got pissed, because this place is not cheap. However, we talked to the waitstaff and things got better. Drinks were divine, to start. A mojito with finely crushed ice so it seemed frozen, and a pisco sour but made with pear brandy. I ordered the burger medium, with cheese. The bun, crispy potato discs, heaven mayo-esque sauce, tomato, and fries all were just like the lobster burger. One cool thing is the the bun and all accompaniments are sized perfectly to the burger; therefore, it is served as a sandwich and meant to be eaten as is. I cheated and put on some homemade ketchup, and I shouldn't have.
The meat.......WOW. They must put butter in that patty. It was like filet mignon, but a burger. They know what medium means, too. And it was ridiculously filling.
The bun is an enigma. Its almost like a biscuit or something, because its so soft. Perhaps too soft, because it does tend to disintegrate after the juices seep in, making a mess. But its a delicious mess.
The fries are super awesome too, as is the homemade ketchup. Generous portion
Yes it is $16, but its really good, and it comes with fries. The dining room was lacking atmosphere for a Friday night, but the bar/lounge area was hopping and gave off a really fun vibe. If there had a been a table available in there, that's where we would've sat.
The chocolate lava cake was by far the favorite dessert. I got the chocolate mousse, because all I've heard is OMG get the mousse!, both on blogs and from our waitress. Well, it was the best chocolate mousse I've had, but I guess chocolate mousse just isn't that thrilling. Also, people talk about how amazing the little crunchy chocolate beads are that garnish the heaping bowl of mousse. Hate to tell you folks, but those are the same little buggers that come with YoCrunch yogurt. Not that exciting if you ask me.
Rating: 4.5 to 5
1001 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington DC 20004
(202) 626-0015
A few months back when I treated myself to a lobster burger at lunchtime, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. This time, however, I was here to try the beef burger. I read that Michel Richard tried 12 different kinds of beef before settling on the one he makes his patties out of....wow.
The service sucked at first, and we got pissed, because this place is not cheap. However, we talked to the waitstaff and things got better. Drinks were divine, to start. A mojito with finely crushed ice so it seemed frozen, and a pisco sour but made with pear brandy. I ordered the burger medium, with cheese. The bun, crispy potato discs, heaven mayo-esque sauce, tomato, and fries all were just like the lobster burger. One cool thing is the the bun and all accompaniments are sized perfectly to the burger; therefore, it is served as a sandwich and meant to be eaten as is. I cheated and put on some homemade ketchup, and I shouldn't have.
The meat.......WOW. They must put butter in that patty. It was like filet mignon, but a burger. They know what medium means, too. And it was ridiculously filling.
The bun is an enigma. Its almost like a biscuit or something, because its so soft. Perhaps too soft, because it does tend to disintegrate after the juices seep in, making a mess. But its a delicious mess.
The fries are super awesome too, as is the homemade ketchup. Generous portion
Yes it is $16, but its really good, and it comes with fries. The dining room was lacking atmosphere for a Friday night, but the bar/lounge area was hopping and gave off a really fun vibe. If there had a been a table available in there, that's where we would've sat.
The chocolate lava cake was by far the favorite dessert. I got the chocolate mousse, because all I've heard is OMG get the mousse!, both on blogs and from our waitress. Well, it was the best chocolate mousse I've had, but I guess chocolate mousse just isn't that thrilling. Also, people talk about how amazing the little crunchy chocolate beads are that garnish the heaping bowl of mousse. Hate to tell you folks, but those are the same little buggers that come with YoCrunch yogurt. Not that exciting if you ask me.
Rating: 4.5 to 5
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