A Hamburger Today
From the Mailbag: Best Burger World Tour
Reaching into the digital mailbag today finds this missive from the Chubby Hubby (that's his photo of some mini burgers at left here).
Dear Adam,
Hope this email finds you well. I know everyone and his kid brother must write to you asking for recommendations, so I’ve decided to jump on the bandwagon.
This spring, my wife and I are gonna go on a round-the-world jaunt. Singapore, Bangkok, Tokyo, Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., Paris, Dubai. So, if I were to ask you to recommend one great burger joint in each place, could ya and would ya?
—Chubby Hubby
Dear Chubby Hubby,
Since you produce one of the most hunger-inducing foodblogs out there, you can ride shotgun on the bandwagon today. I might not be too much help with the Asian burgers, but I'll do my best for recommendations where I can. Perhaps the AHT community can help where I'm of no use. Burgermeisters: Feel free to jump in in the Comments section.
Singapore: Dude. Are you serious? You're BASED IN SINGAPORE. Do you really need a recommendation there or is this just a cheeky test of AHT's overseas burger knowledge? Still need a Singapore burger tip? Here ya go ;)
Bangkok: This article on Where to Eat: Bangkok recommends a joint called Great American Rib: "A half pound of good tasting beef with lots of juice. It’s served on a standard size bun so it is a little hard to get your mouth around. I ordered it medium and it actually arrived that way." (Great American Rib: Sukhumvit Soi 36, about 1,000 m from Sukhumvit Road.) The author of the piece actually cites Tony Roma's as possibly the city's best burger, but as it's an American chain, it just seems like a cop out to recommend it to you.
Tokyo: My visits to Tokyo predate AHT, so my food focus when I was there was on Japanese cuisine as opposed to burgers. That means no first-hand burger experience beyond a McD's visit (for comparison to U.S. Big Macs) and a couple MOS Burger runs. I'm sure you're familiar with MOS already, so you can safely skip it. What I'd be really interested in were I to visit again would be the Sasebo burger at Big Man, located in LaLaport's Tokyo Panya Street. (I have no idea what LaLaport is, btw.) Not familiar with the Sasebo burger story? Get educated, my friend.
Los Angeles: OK. I'm going to get dinged for this no matter what I say. First of all, a shocking confession: I've never been to Los Angeles. So I know I'm wholly unqualified to answer this. I'm hoping the community of AHT burgermeisters will chime in here. Second of all, even if I HAD eaten all the burgers in L.A., I'd still get bludgeoned by partisans of one burger or another. That said, the burger I'd be most curious about in L.A. would be the one at the The Apple Pan. I'll try to get a hold of our man on the scene there, Hamburglar Hadley and see what he says as well.
New York City: I see from your comment here that you used to live near the Corner Bistro in New York. While I'm personally not a huge fan of the softball-size pub-style burgers that most New Yorkers seem to fancy, and of which CB's is an example, I'd hesitate to send you to Burger Joint or Shake Shack (two of my favorites), since they're not in the big-burger vein. I'd send you instead to J. G. Melon on the Upper East Side. It's one of the few pub-style burgers here that have left a lasting impression on my taste memory. (J. G. Melon: 1291 Third Avenue, New York NY 10021 at 74th Street; map)
Washington D.C.: Once again, a city I have only visited pre-AHT (try back in kindergarten), but AHT reader upon AHT reader has said, "Adam: Get thee to Five Guys. Now!"
Paris: While the obvious choice in the City of Lights may be Joe Allen, my money is on La Café Crème (4 Rue Dupetit Thouars, 75003; map), thanks to the very strong buy recommendation given by Mister Hamburger, a man I'd trust with my hamburger life. Here's a great general tip from Mister H.:
Mister Hamburger hasn't had meat as good as this in a burger in years. Mister Hamburger gives French cows and French chefs five hamburgers [out of a possible five]. Mister Hamburger has also noticed a correlation between restaurants in France that serve Steak Tartar and hamburgers--the French love their tartar and should they also make burgers at that place, you're virtually guaranteed a very high quality burger.
Dubai: Dude. You've stumped the band. Will Johnny Rockets do ya for?
AHT readers: Got better recommendations? Like I said—comment away!
Sin-sear-ly,
Adam
Photograph from chubbyhubby.net