A Hamburger Today
Review: Mo Pitkin's
At some point in November I heard about a burger that was unusual, but had potential, and was laden with cholesterol. It sounded up my alley. The fact that we've tended to stay on the straight and narrow here at A Hamburger Today convinced me I had to try something new. I'll admit, my favorite burgers are those that stick to the basics, but there are so many other options and I'm determined to bring a few of these to you.
Our first venture into the world of crazyburgers, is the Mo Burger from Mo Pitkin's in New York City's East Village. The Mo Burger is a half-pound beef burger topped with fried onions, a fried egg and chopped chicken liver (see? lot's of cholesterol). Mo Pitkin's describes it's cooking as Judeo-Latino, but this sandwich falls heavy on the Judeo side. That being said, I don't know too many young Jews who like chopped liver. Since I'm part of that minority, I was excited to give this burger a try.
As you can see from the picture, the burger looks great. The meat was slightly pink in the center, as requested, and the onions and egg were cooked perfectly. My only concern was the amount of chopped liver smeared on the bun. Liver is incredibly rich and I tend to be careful with my portions, but I slapped the top of bun on and put my faith in the chef.
I loved the mix of the egg, fried onion and ground beef. Both the textures and the tastes compliment each other well. Unfortunately, the chopped liver was a disappointing addition to the burger experience. The saltiness of the recipe combined with the quantity of chopped liver was very distracting. More importantly, the meat was just average. I couldn't confirm the fat content of the beef, but it tasted lean and a little flavorless. You're probably thinking, "How could you know how it tasted? It was covered in egg and chicken liver?" Well, I brought Adam along and he stuck with his stand-by, the cheeseburger.
Neither of us loved our burgers. Mine was an interesting mix of textures and a valiant effort in adding chopped liver to the burger lexicon, but it came up a little flat. Adam said his cheddar-burger was in the good-but-not-great category. We agreed on the texture and flavor of the meat. Despite being cooked properly, it wasn't very juicy, which tends to be a sign of missing flavor.
Am I telling you to skip Mo Pitkin's in your search for the perfect burger? Well, yes, but I don't think you should skip the place all together. Their other fare tends to work well and their stable of live performances are even better. If you end up here and are dying for a burger, you'll be fine ordering one. You can skip the Mo Burger unless you are completely nuts for chopped liver.
It seems our first attempt at a crazyburger wasn't quite a success, but I'm not discouraged. I know that I will at some point come across an unusual combination that will blow me away. If you have any suggestions or experiences of your own, feel free to share them in the comments.
MO PITKIN'S
Location:34 Avenue A (btwn. 2nd and 3rd), East Village, NYC
Phone: 212-777-5660
Cost: $9 for a cheeseburger, $11 for the Mo Burger (both include fries)