A New York-ish Burger at The Bowery in Hollywood

Posted by Damon Gambuto, August 26, 2009 at 2:45 PM

My having grown up in New York City has always been a strange source of power. When non-New Yorkers find out that I scraped together a childhood on the streets of Manhattan I usually get a nod of surprise and a look of what is either masked pity or tittering fascination. People actually grow up there? As it happens, yes. What was it like? Youthful wonder that gives way to adolescent angst; perhaps you know the feeling.

I'd always try to disabuse people of the notion that it was so very different than their hometowns. That childhood's myopia is a general condition that makes concrete jungles and grassy backyards blur into the background of our narcissism. Of course, I'd secretly enjoyed the special interest the simple accident of my birth initiated. It felt strangely earned—payback for the formative years of meaner streets.

But as the anomie that was the New York of the '70s and '80s is a dustbin narrative, the survivor's pride of having grown up there has waned. New York has received such a scrub of money and law enforcement that it seems less the oddity to most that it once did. That said, don't be surprised to find many folks in Los Angeles finding ways of casually mentioning their connection to New York in conversation, or, in the case of Bowery, building a restaurant about it.

Owner George Abou-Daoud describes himself as a "native New Yorker." It's a phrase that always makes me think of a mustachioed Daniel Day-Lewis doing a knife throwing routine, but the implication is clear; Abou-Daoud's Bowery on Sunset is an authentic recreation of a New York-style bar. Welcome to the simulation that is Los Angeles. Let's try the burger.

The look of Bowery is more subway station than bar as the black and white tile abounds, but the scale of the space is modest. A row of tables runs along one wall and the bar defines the room. A chalkboard lists a predictable, yet solid selection of beer and wine. (Pabst in a can is a punchline—Chimay Red is a delight.)

The burger boasts sirloin origins and an English muffin instead of a proper bun. The first choice piques my interest; the second sets the limits of what this burger can be. It starts at $9.50 and goes up at $1 per topping. My cheddar and grilled onions selection means I'm paying $11.50 for this casual bar burger. Add $3 for fries and I can't help but feel that the pricing is New York-style too.

The burger arrives looking like a hulking mass of meat with, by dint of an English muffin's diminutive nature, a suspect bun ratio. A first bite confirms this, but there's something to be said for allowing what is clearly a high quality meat and cheese take center stage. The patty is beautifully charred and the meat has a depth of flavor that is the advantage of sirloin. The temperature is a smidge high, but, to be honest, with such a thick patty I'd rather the cook have erred on the medium side of the spectrum.

The cheese adds some nice extra fat and even a noticeable layer of flavor, and the onion contributes some sweetness. And that's what you get. Bowery's burger is, in what could be called a New York tradition, all about the meat (and cheese if you choose it). The English muffin can barely stand up to this hefty (at least eight ounce) patty. This is one reason why it will always elude me as a choice of bun: I enjoy it with a bit of butter and a cup of coffee, but I never get enough substance from it on my burgers. While the charring of the patty is deep and flavorful enough to let this meat stand on its own, I found myself longing for the team effort of flavor and texture that makes a burger so satisfying.

The fries are an interesting hybrid of shoestring cut and what seems an attempt at Belgian preparation. Unfortunately, they fall short on execution. The effect is most reminiscent of In-N-Out. While I'm happy to have my potatoes fresh cut, certainly there are better things to imitate at In-N-Out than the fries.

The Bowery has received a lot of attention for its burger, but in the final analysis, I don't know if feels entirely warranted. Doubtless it's a good burger, but when looking at an over $20 bill for my burger, fries, and a coke, it feels like it should be great. I feel like I'm paying for a simulation of a bygone New York that has been scrubbed clean of its grime and its charm of being affordable. Perhaps this is closer to what the real thing has become than I'd like to admit.

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Tags: AHT reviews, Bowery, Damon Gambuto, Los Angeles, reviews, Southern California