PrintBlue Ribbon Bakery
Blue Ribbon Bakery
Address: 35 Downing Street, New York NY 10014 (Greenwich Village, b/n Downing and Bedford; map)
Getting There: 1 train to Houston Street; B/C/D/E/F/V to West 4th Street
Phone: 212-337-0404
Cost: $14.50, comes with fries
Website: blueribbonrestaurants.com
The Skinny: Very good thick and expansive burger with potential for greatness, were it cooked to order and more juicy. Excellent custom house-made bun.
Want Fries with That? Yes. Even if they didn't come standard with this burger, they're hand-cut and quite good, with a crisp salty exterior and fluffy moist interior.
Went to Blue Ribbon Bakery for brunch yesterday. Like many New Yorkers, I'm a fan of the place. I normally go at dinner and get the fried chicken, which I think is among the best in the city, but this time I wanted to try the burger again, having had it on a couple of occasions before.
It's pretty good, not great, but has greatness potential. At least the one I had on this most recent visit.
First off, I love the size and shape. It's a hefty burger, I'm guessing eight ounces or so, but it's not the typical New York pub-style burger that I'd normally slag off in a report. Instead, its patty is thick and expansive (about an inch thick and probably just shy of six inches in diameter), filling out a custom-baked, lightly toasted, modestly sesame-topped bun.
And while Serious Eats overlord Ed Levine once deemed it a "fancy-pants" burger, I'd say that the Blue Ribbon burger is just south of being fancy—or at least steps on the border of fanciness but doesn't cross into absurd territory. Sure, the surroundings at Blue Ribbon are more upscale than a corner diner, but the burger itself is straightforward and powerful, served with some great fries, a wedge of iceberg lettuce, a couple thin slices of red onion and tomato, and a pickle spear. No fancy-pants hallmarks like a brioche bun or frisée in place of lettuce. No off-balance house-made ketchup.
The only thing keeping this burger from being truly great—at least this time—was that it was cooked to medium or so instead of the medium-rare I'd ordered. Which might explain, in part, a lack of overall juiciness. Not to say that it was dry, just that a burger this thick and good-looking seemed like it would be bursting with moistness. It was not.
The relative lack of juice, though, wouldn't stop me from ordering it here if I were in a burger mood. And I'll likely order it again, if just to check up on it from time to time. That is, if I'm not down with the fried chicken and mashers for some odd reason.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it pleasant. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Burger by Location
Browse the Archives
Recently Commented On
The Hamburger Fatty Melt, a Burger with Two Grilled Cheese Sandwiches as Its Bun
Blogwatch: The One-Pound Chateau Louise Burger
The Big H Burger at Harold's Diner in Hilton Head, South Carolina
Best Cheeseburger in Lower Alabama from The Creekbank Restaurant
6 Comments:
Big doesn't necessarily mean "fancy". While it does look big in the pic...it also looks ....gorgeous!! I am hoping the shiny sheen on the bun is just a touch of grease and not camera lighting. The cheese looks perfectly melted. It doesn't even have bacon! But the Mona Lisa wasn't wearing a bikini either. I am a medium rare guy too..but the looks of that 'thang.!!!..medium rare..shmedium rare..EAT IT!!
Cheers, TB.
texas blues at 11:15PM on 02/04/08
for $15, that counts as fancy pants to me... not that I wouldn't go get it, but it is up there as far as cost..
were they busy during lunch? i wonder if the burger would be closer to the medium rare you ordered when the restaurant is less busy? or is that usually not a factor?
foodinmouth at 11:37AM on 02/05/08
@foodinmouth: Yeah. That's true. I guess I've lost sight of some things. $15 is a lot for a burger and fries.
Adam Kuban at 2:12PM on 02/06/08
Looks totally delish. But tell us more, Adam. In my experience, Blue Ribbon has a penchant for taking traditional foods and putting an untraditional spin on them, often by using an "alternate" specialty cheese. I seem to recall having a "reuben" there that was made with something like Portuguese chorico instead of corned beef or pastrami, and topped with a special, imported, artisanal cheese instead of swiss. It was great, but it was no reuben!
So, what kind of cheese is that? Do they say what kind of meat is used in the patty? Could it have been a bit on the dry side due to the use of, say, sirloin, instead of chuck?
Just curious. Blue Ribbon is one of my favorite eateries in NYC. It's one of my never-miss joints when I'm in the city, so I want to know more!
And $15 is nothing. That's what I pay for the top-notch cheeseburger and fries at Houston's -- the only decent burger I've been able to find in the OC (not counting In-n-Out, which is a completely different beast).
LoCo at 2:44PM on 02/09/08
**sigh**that looks soooo good.
wookie at 3:57PM on 02/09/08
Loco...In-n-Out, while not a great burger is most definitely a good burger for the money. Can you say "Animal Style"? As far as chains...which I am not a fan of...gimme Carls Jr. or In-n Out over the big 3 any day!
Cheers, TB.
texas blues at 10:59PM on 02/12/08