Corkbar

I was downtown at Staples Center for All-Star weekend and decided to stay away from the crowds at LA Live for dinner. I remember by friend Neil (who is supposed to be contributing to this blog) has wanted me to go to Corkbar for a while now, so I gave it a shot. The restaurant is sort of tucked away from downtown on the first floor of an office residential building. It is not very big but has a very foodie vibe. Our waitress was very personable and was knowledgeable about the menu and drink list. They have a good wine list and plenty of microbrews for any taste you might have. The menu is always fairly small and everything looked very good. But, we were there for one reason…

The burger is not huge but was very filling. It comes on challah bread but was not as egg-y as most challahs I have had, which made it a bit like a brioche. Overall, this bun was very good. I thought they could have sliced it to have more on the bottom half but I enjoyed it. It comes topped with lettuce, tomatoes, onion, house-made pickles and roasted tomato burger sauce. Other than the sauce, the toppings were lost in grand scheme of the burger. The reason they are lost is the meat is amazing. I think this was the best burger patty I have had since I started blogging. The waitress told us that the chef grounds the beef for the patties fresh at the restaurant. You really need to go try this burger. It may not be the best all around burger, but the meat is worth the price of admission.

Remember to follow on twitter @bestburgerla.

26 Beach

Once my coworker found out about my burger adventure, she started raving about 26 Beach. We decided to check it out one day after work. This is definitely a beachy place. It is located right on the border of Venice and Marina Del Rey. There are two sections of the restaurant. One is a normal restaurant type of place with booths and tables. The other, where we sat, is on a patio of sorts where the roof can be opened or closed depending on the weather. It does not have the feel of a great burger place. The menu is as varied but burgers dominated the choices.

On to the burger. I was torn between the King Kobe the IV or the Maytag Burger, which is not on the website. The waiter said the Maytag burger was better so I went with that. The burgers are very impressive when they first arrive. Bigger than some people’s head. They Maytag burger comes on a choice of wheat or brioche bun. I went with the brioche. It is becoming the typical bun at all of the burger places. The patty is 100% Angus beef and was cooked to a perfect medium with a little pink in the middle. The burger came with mixed greens, red onion and Maytag blue cheese. They did a good job of not over-doing the blue cheese, especially since Maytag is a particularly strong. To go along with the blue cheese, the chef went with bacon and pear compote. The pear compote is what intrigued ne about the burger. Thankfully, the bacon did not overwhelm the rest of the burger. The pear compote was a nice complement to the rest of the flavors.

Overall this was a very good burger. I could not bring myself to put it in the top five, despite some campaigning. If you are in the Venice or Marina and are looking for a good burger, check out 26 Beach.