The Gorbals

I have been wanting to try The Gorbals for a while now. Once I found out that they had bacon wrapped matzoh balls, I was in. The restaurant is located in an old hotel. I actually had trouble figuring out where it was at first. It is very strange when you walk in from an old building to the clean modern look of the restaurant. The menu is very eclectic and has some interesting takes on old classics, including the matzoh balls. We also tried the popcorn chicken gizzards, roasted marrow, and the mofongo. All of the dishes had distinct flavors. The menu also changes every so often, so I may need to go back to check out the fried chicken and ribs which are supposed to be amazing but were not on the menu when I was there.

 On to the burger. My first observations was that this is a messy burger. I went to cut it half and the burger fell apart! The bun was nicely toasted sesame seed bun. The meat was well seasoned but wasn’t the great meaty flavor of the burgers I have at the top of my list. The burger is listed on the menu as “Burger, onions six ways”, and they were not kidding. There was some sort of onion mayo, onion slices, chopped ions. I think there were pickled onions. I don’t even know if I figured out all six ways.  Even though the burger was good, I don’t think it is why you go to The Gorbals.

Local Peasant

I have been wanting to try The Local Peasant for a while now. There are so many great gastropubs in the city and when I found one in the valley I had to check it out. The restaurant is very unassuming from the outside. I actually didn’t know it was there until I looked it up. Inside the décor is standard upscale pub, with beers on a chalkboard on the wall and some communal tables and a long bar to grab a drink and some food. The rest of menu looked very good and the waitress said the short ribs are the best thing on the menu. I will have to go back to try other things.

There are two burgers on the menu. One has egg and the other doesn’t. I took the waitress’ opinion and got the one with the fried egg. The meat is all natural grass fed beef and the flavor really showed. Even with the egg on top it had the really good meat flavor that I look for in a burger. The bun may have been almost as good as the meat. It was a brioche bun that had a good chewy texture and didn’t get soggy with the egg yolk dripping all over. The burger also comes with onions and a choice of cheese, I chose cheddar. The burger was very good, but not elite. My one change would be more onions. It was really great when I got all of the flavors mixed together with the meatiness from the patty to the sweetness of the onion and the gooey egg yolk. I want more of that.

Hole in the Wall Burger Joint

I have had many people tell me about Hole in the Wall Burger Joint. Many claimed it to be one of the best burgers they have had. Naturally, I had to check it out. It took me a while to get around to it, but it was worth the wait. The place is aptly named. I went to the West LA location. It is located behind a strip mall off a side street. Normally the driveway would lead to the loading zone or an alley behind the mall, but in this case it leads to meaty deliciousness. The place is not that big. There are a few tables inside and a couple more right outside on the “patio”. The order process is similar to The Counter where you fill out your sheet. There are a lot fewer choices, but they are all quality choices.

As you can see above, I chose the beef burger. The beef is grass fed angus meat. The burger was cooked to a perfect medium, a little pink on the inside and a little char on the outside. The meat was fresh, but didn’t come through as much as I would have expected. They have 5 different choices for bun, including brioche, pretzel and even no bun. Of course I had to go with the pretzel bun. On first glance it looks impressive.

When you get that full pretzel taste included with all of the other flavors it is really tasty. Unfortunately, it seemed to get lost a little bit. I think because the bun wasn’t salted, the flavor got a little lost. I got my burger topped with onion mayo, cheddar cheese, lettuce, sliced red onion, mustard pickle relish, and sautéed onions. The sautéed onions were very sweet and plentiful. Almost made the burger hard to pick up. The mustard pickle relish was the flavor that held it all together. I recommend adding that to whatever combination you choose.

Overall the ingredients are fresh, the place is cozy and chill. If you happened to be in west LA and can find it, I highly recommend trying Hole in the Wall Burger Joint.

Short Order

I have been wanting to try Short Order since I first heard Nancy Silverton was opening a burger joint. I am a huge fan of Osteria Mozza and Campanile, which she was also a part of. The restaurant took a little longer to open than expected, but it was worth the wait. It definitely fits in with the Farmer’s Market. It is a two story restaurant, but it is not very big so we had to wait a little while to get seated. There are a few patio seats which will be very nice during the summer. Aside from the burgers, we ordered the pickle chips (which were a special appetizer) and the Short Order Spuds with truffle salt. I highly recommend the spuds. They are basically potato wedges made from a baked potato and definitely opt for the truffle salt, it is well worth it.

Now for the reason the we are here. I ordered the Ida’s Old School burger. The meat is grass fed from Magruder Ranch in Mendocino County. The meat was very fresh and had good flavor. The one weird thing is that you can only order your burgers either Medium Rare or Medium well. I usually order my burgers medium. I ordered it Medium Well because I do not like it too rare. Funny thing is that they cooked the medium well patty to a perfect pink on the inside with a little char on the outside. The bun was a standard brioche bun. It served its purpose, but the burger was a bit messy and the bottom of the bun got soggy and did not hold the burger together. The burger was topped with cheddar cheese, SQIRL handmade pickles, rosso bruno tomatoes, griddled onions, iceberg lettuce and secret sauce. I didn’t get a lot of the cheddar flavor but the pickles and the secret sauce (which was a little like thousand island, but with a special twist). I also usually don’t like tomatoes on my burgers, but the ones used on this burger were very good. Overall, the burger was good and I recommend it. I look forward to trying some of the other burgers there. I also need to go back when it is warmer to try the shakes.

West 4th and Jane (Redux)

So I reviewed West 4th and Jane almost a year and a half ago. Since then, it has become one of our favorite happy hour places after work. The upstairs area is a great lounge-y place to hang out and play connect 4 (provided by the restaurant). The wait staff is very friendly and the beer selection is still very good. Over the past year, they have revamped the menu and even updated the burger, so naturally I had to give it another try.

The new burger is made with Ground Waygu beef. The meat was pretty good but didn’t deliver the strong meat flavor of the elite burgers on my list. I also ordered it medium and it was a little undercooked, but not to the point where it needed to go back. The bun was one of the best parts. It had some poppy seeds on the top and had a somewhat salty flavor to it. It also held together well even with the juicy patty. The burger comes topped with truffle mayo, fried onions, goat cheese, and purple Cherokee tomato. I did not get a lot of the flavor from the truffle mayo. The goat cheese was very creamy but I think they were a little heavy handed with the cheese. It kind of overwhelmed the rest of the flavors. The fried onions were a good touch, but I felt there could have been more of them. I should have been able to get that salty fried onion flavor in more bites.
Overall, it is still a very good burger and great place to hang out. So stop by if you are in the area.

Tavern on 2

I don’t spend a lot of time in Long Beach, but I recently became acquainted with the Long Beach USC Alumni Club. Their president kept mentioning Tavern on 2 to me as a great burger place in Long Beach that I needed to check out. They decided to host a fundraiser at Tavern on 2. This was a great opportunity to check out the burgers and hang out with my fellow Trojans. If you haven’t spent much time in Long Beach you might not be familiar with the Belmont Shore area. 2nd Street is a great stretch of restaurants and shops and is within walking distance to the ocean. Tavern on 2 is a small gastropub with a good selection of beer and a menu featuring everything from burgers to breakfast. The staff there is all very friendly and attentive.

On to the burger. Some people got the short rib burger, which looked great, but that wouldn’t be a real comparison. I went with the Black & Blue Burger. The beef is Paso Prime Ranch Beef. The meat was a little charred but not necessarily over cooked. The bun, part of the reason I chose the burger, didn’t have the full pretzel flavor I am usually used to. It really just felt heavy and made the burger filling. The burger was topped with Maytag blue cheese, rosemary candied bacon, horseradish mayo, arugula and tomato. The star of the burger was the horseradish mayo. It was flavorful and the best part of the burger. The arugula and tomato added the pepper and sweet flavors that you really look for in the burger. The blue cheese was a little overwhelming. It is a strong flavor and it kind of took over the flavor of the burger. Bacon can also overwhelm the burger. The bacon flavor did not come through. Overall there seemed to be something off with the overall flavor of the burger. Now that I think about it, I think it is the rosemary in the candied bacon. The burger definitely sounded better on paper then it was in execution. I would love to come back and try the short rib and chorizo burger.

Lab Brewing Co

I was first alerted of The Lab Brewing Co from my friend Neil that works out in the Agoura Hills area. He saw that they were offering a challenge that if their burger is not one of the 10 best burgers you have eaten in LA, then its free. I figured this was a challenge I couldn’t pass up. The restaurant has a very swanky modern décor but is not pretentious. It is very inviting and friendly. As you can tell from the name of the place, they brew their own beer on site. We got to meet with Roger, who is one of the owners and the beer master. He is very passionate about beer and can really explain the differences between the different types and flavors. He also brews some very good beer. I think our group really enjoyed the Cold Fusion Java Porter and the new IPA he just created. Since we only went for the burger we didn’t get to order any of the other food, but other items on the menu looked very good, so I may have to go back to try some other items.

Lets get to the challenge. I tried THE LAB Burger. The burger comes with a Wagyu Kobe beef patty that is ground in house. The meat was very flavorful and really showed through the rest of the flavors. This was the sign of good things to come. The bun is a La Brea Bakery bun. It was nothing special but held the ingredients together and had a nice texture. The burger is topped with caramelized onions, arugula, bacon and blue and gruyere cheeses. The onions and the arugula were very tasty and offered a sweet and peppery flavor which complemented the meaty flavor of the patty. The cheeses were well used. Blue cheese can be overpowering sometimes, but they used the right amount of cheese and it worked extremely well with the other flavors. The cheese really made the burger. The bacon is a little bit of a mystery for me. I really didn’t taste it in the burger, but to be honest, I am not sure it would have made it better. I am very happy to say that they passed the challenge. This truly was one of the 10 best burgers in LA.