Not sure if you ever caught a tv episode where Flay talks about shakes (There was one where he talked about both shakes and burgers), but he was very very specific in his belief that a good milk shake MUST be eaten with a spoon. So it seems that your shake was, if anything, less thick than he would have it made (but then again, I'm sure your burgers were more cooked than he would have had it made...)
I also found it to be KEY that these get served with maple syrup. Kind of a "duh" statement, but when eating them plain (I taste everything as I go), they really do lack sweetness compared to regular diner pancakes.
I made this recipe for he first time - actually the first time I've made pancakes period. I made the following changes:
3/4 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 tsp almond extract
blueberries (almond and blueberries is classic)
1/3 zest of a lemon (no white)
half the juice of a lemon (instead of the water)
Due to the tartness of the blueberries, and due to the "just a touch runny" consistency of the batter, I'd leave the lemon juice out next time. I'd also back the almond down to 3/4 tsp. Can't wait to do this again, this recipe definitely has big time potential.
I ate at Bonfire in the delta lounge and it was awesome. The Nachos were embarrassingly large, but beautifully arranged, and (well, ok, it's hard to f these up) the Kobe Beef Corn Dogs had a great presentation as well. I'm definitely eating there again, "airport" food this was not. Just my 2cents.
crispy - or else it means you're English
milk - it's the childhood comfort thing
Strip Steak - best mix of flavor and tenderness
poached eggs, spinach puree and potato pancakes with melted cheddar from Elephant and Castle in the Village. You get some 7 grain double sided toast, spread some butter, some spinach, pop the egg over it and enjoy with a spanish latte on the side.
I can see where you may have been underwhlemed, but I have to slightly disagree with this post. I went to BBP with a friend. We got the Napa Valley Burger, Dallas Burger, CrunchBurger, fries, onion rings, chips with Blue Cheese sauce (which you did not mention), a coconut shake and a pistachio shake. I'll be happy to send my pictures- they look like they are out of a magazine. Food was good, not great. Shake Shack's burger is still my #1- lock. The pistachio shake was insane. Give it another shot. Your burger did look like it got sat on, but I'm telling you, they could not have made my burger look any more pretty.
How sad that this concept doesn't seem to be working. I hope Bobby reads this and corrects the service problems before he rushes right down to Houston and opens another one. May I suggest Memorial City Mall, Bobby?
I have to admit that I took some guilty pleasure in this place not being a "home run". Bobby Flay is bizarre and I don't want him to be the next burger icon. Let him go back to his Southwest fusion bs. I guess he just can't lose those stupid sauce bottles. He is rich by now though so I have to give him that. Someday I hope to have my own "In and Out" style burger joint (A bigger patty, hold the thousand island. I'm not a fan of their burgers themselves). The simplicity of In and Out is what it's "all about".
I'm in agreement with all of those who have had a tasty well done burger. They're not available at the regular fast food chains (McD's, BK, JitB, Carl's Jr/Hardees). I like medium myself, but you can't have that today. Nobody will forget the E. Coli deaths that decimated families and Jack in the Box. Not corporations anyway, the liability would be staggering if another incident were to happen due to undercooking.
I would like to mention a chain that I haven't read any comments about. It's been a few years, but "Islands" was one of my favorites. Islands has extremely tacky Hawaiin decor, but the burgers are big, juicy, and flavorful. They have one in Rancho Mirage, CA that never failed to give me a great burger experience.
I've been looking forward to this review....another fantastic play by play by Nick. Great photos and great detail. CheeseburgerDeluxe is full of positive energy today. First here and then on Slice.
contrary to what the public thinks, a restaurant can serve a burger close to raw if the customer perfers it that way. The health department reccomends an internal temp to be at 158 to 160 degrees. As long as signs are posted indicating the risk potential in eating a burger other than well-done. It is a reccomendation not a law. That's in Connecticut and Mass maybe it is done differently in New York as alot is !!!!!
@thebigguy I didn't see the show but I will look for it on YouTube. I suppose it is an aesthetic consideration but in my view if you need a spoon then you may as well just eat ice cream.
@ Kenji, I was quoting Flay from his recent interview when he stated that the burgers are cooked medium and beyond and gave the 158 temp. The relative inconsistency between the crunch and palace burger leads me to deduce that the over cooked state of the former was an error. The obsession with melting the cheese seems to be taking priority over delivering on the promised temp. I fully concur that a burger can be cooked through and still remain juicy. In fact some of my favorite burgers come exactly that way such as White Mana and All American (the latter by the way a much better option for burgers in LI than BBP)
@BirdDoggie: Come on. It's not like AHT has been ALL BBP, ALL THE TIME since we first mentioned it. The other posts were "It exists." Here, Nick actually went and tried it. If you want other burgers that we've covered, I think there are plenty here: http://aht.seriouseats.com/reviews
Sorry to quibble food science again but, 158 degrees is well beyond medium. The very top end of what would be considered medium is around 145, while medium-well would go up to around 155 at most. 158 is into the well-done range.
This could mean two things - BBP is actually serving what the Suffolk County Health Department considers an unsafe burger (IE, a true 135-140 degree medium burger), or BBP didn't accidentally overcook your burger - they cooked it to 158 degrees, but for some reason insist on calling that a medium burger (maybe just to please most customers who value food based on its description than actual flavor?)
Although I'd also like to state my opinion that I think it's perfectly possible to make a juicy, tender, flavorful well-done burger provided the meat is freshly ground, fatty enough, and loosely packed. I think too many people get caught up on the done-ness of their meat to the point that they judge a burger or steak first on how properly done it is, and only secondly on how it actually tastes (Nick - I'm not saying that you're doing this here, by the way - just a general statement).
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