Situated in Midtown, with a casual, friendly atmosphere, Bar Breton had a lively scene going on when I stopped by around 6:30 p.m. on a weekday. I went there with the intention of trying their galettes, a specialty of the French region of Brittany, but after reading over their menu and feeling a bit uninspired, I decided to spring for the $16 BB Burger. I tend to roll my eyes whenever a burger's priced over $10, as it seems so counterintuitive to the nature of the burger, but hey—I was curious. Autopsy shot and more after the jump.
The lone burger on the menu comes with red onion, butter lettuce, tomato, homemade pickles, a choice of American, blue, or Swiss cheese, and a side of french fries. I'm a solid cheddar girl, but American is always a solid backup. The abundant toppings are sandwiched by a brioche bun from Balthazar. I'm not a fan of brioche burger buns, but this wasn't as sweet as some of the ones out there.
The bigger problem was its failure at stopping the flood of burger juices from destroying its structural integrity. I'm always relieved when I receive a burger the way I ordered it (medium rare in this case) and especially happy when it's juicy, but there was little to no bottom bun left by the time I dug in, leaving me with a precarious balancing act. There's such a thing as a too-juicy burger, and this is it.
I took my first bite and would have enjoyed it immensely if it weren't for the lack of seasoning. This was a bland patty in desperate need of some salt, a problem I seem to encounter all too frequently nowadays. It's also a sizeable burger, clocking in between nine and ten ounces, so come with an appetite. A blend of short rib and brisket, the burger is cooked over a grill, but I couldn't discern any grill marks with the double cheese blanket.
Is the BB Burger worth $16? No, but with the crispy, perfectly salted fries and a properly seasoned patty, it's definitely worth a try.
Bar Breton
254 5th Avenue, New York NY 10001 (b/n 28th and 29th; map)
212-555-1234 barbreton.com
"overly" juicy burger? i wasn't sure that was possible. as for the other observation "is it worth $16"? well, i'm a huge burger lover and i have yet to eat a burger worth $16. i couldn't agree more with jkdurmmer...
It's too bad you saw things this way. Burgers are a complex, man-made creation of ground-up muscle and fat. The fat content decision for making a burger depends on how you want it cooked. If you want your burger super rare, you can go with a fat content of 5% and still have it come out juicy. If you like a really well done burger, sometimes a fat content of 25-30% can make sense, or mixing in pork with it. Restaurants standardize the fat/muscle mix of their burgers based on what their customers typically order, which is medium or medium well.
Since you ordered medium-rare and got it, I would expect an especially juicy burger. Some places, like Shake Shack, (smartly) assume your temperature unless you press them for something different. In the future, when ordering from a thick burger restaurant, I would ask the waiter what they normally cook. If you order something off that (like medium-rare or rare when they do medium or medium-well), you might ask them to give it an extra squeeze on the grill before serving (assuming you don't like it so juicy).
The photo makes it look fantastic. However, it appears to be cooked rare (i.e., red throughout, or cold red center), not medium-rare (i.e., warm red center with gray surrounding). Granted, the color on my screen may not accurately depict the original.
Looks like that bun arrived at the restaurant UNCUT.
Looks like the cook cut the bun a bit top heavy, making the bottom a bit thin.
When cutting a burger roll, the bottom should always be a bit thicker than the top, AND the bottom of the bottom should ideally be toasted as well. This all insures that the juices of the burger do not disintergrate the bottom half of the roll.
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8 Comments:
$16? For $16 I could buy 5lbs of 80/20 beef and feed the neighborhood.
jkdrummer at 12:30PM on 08/03/09
Based on the picture I would guess the reason it was too juicy and fell apart is they forgot to cook it.
stewmeat at 12:49PM on 08/03/09
@stewmeat : LOL!
QueenAlli at 1:34PM on 08/03/09
"overly" juicy burger? i wasn't sure that was possible. as for the other observation "is it worth $16"? well, i'm a huge burger lover and i have yet to eat a burger worth $16. i couldn't agree more with jkdurmmer...
HerbyN at 10:55AM on 08/04/09
It's too bad you saw things this way. Burgers are a complex, man-made creation of ground-up muscle and fat. The fat content decision for making a burger depends on how you want it cooked. If you want your burger super rare, you can go with a fat content of 5% and still have it come out juicy. If you like a really well done burger, sometimes a fat content of 25-30% can make sense, or mixing in pork with it. Restaurants standardize the fat/muscle mix of their burgers based on what their customers typically order, which is medium or medium well.
Since you ordered medium-rare and got it, I would expect an especially juicy burger. Some places, like Shake Shack, (smartly) assume your temperature unless you press them for something different. In the future, when ordering from a thick burger restaurant, I would ask the waiter what they normally cook. If you order something off that (like medium-rare or rare when they do medium or medium-well), you might ask them to give it an extra squeeze on the grill before serving (assuming you don't like it so juicy).
punctum at 9:55PM on 08/04/09
The photo makes it look fantastic. However, it appears to be cooked rare (i.e., red throughout, or cold red center), not medium-rare (i.e., warm red center with gray surrounding). Granted, the color on my screen may not accurately depict the original.
Lorenzo at 1:29PM on 08/05/09
Looks like that bun arrived at the restaurant UNCUT.
Looks like the cook cut the bun a bit top heavy, making the bottom a bit thin.
When cutting a burger roll, the bottom should always be a bit thicker than the top, AND the bottom of the bottom should ideally be toasted as well. This all insures that the juices of the burger do not disintergrate the bottom half of the roll.
gabagool at 10:31AM on 09/16/09
Oh yeah. Sorry but the ABSOLUTE worse thing you can do to the burger is "give it a little squeeze". That grounds for instant dismissal.
gabagool at 10:33AM on 09/16/09