This was listed on the menu as a burger with 8oz Angus beef, wild & exotic mushrooms, truffle, brie, grilled onions, brioche bun, and served with house cut fries. I asked to have it rare, and they delivered: the beef patty was pink inside, and it was soft and juicy. The burger came with enoki mushrooms, baby trumpet mushrooms, and baby portobellos. I failed to detect truffle, but it undoubtedly contributed to the burger's deliciousness. There was also lettuce, tomato, sauteed onion slices, and slices of dill pickle. The warm brie cheese was an excellent pairing with the mushrooms because there is a layer of white mold on its rind. The fries were somewhat skinny but cut with skin on, which I appreciated, and they gave me some malt vinegar to splash them with. On the side was a wedge of watermelon and some slices of strawberry. I liked this burger a lot, and the location of Copehouse, in a little brick alley covered with colorful umbrellas, just enhanced the experience.
Location: Copehouse Bar & Bistro, 19 E Citrus Avenue Alley, Redlands, California. Date: November 8, 2020.
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This is the least expensive burger at Smokin' Burgers, but it tastes luxurious. The “meat” is a whole portobello mushroom cap that's nicely cooked, and it comes with pesto mayo, roasted tomato and red bell pepper, red onion, avocado slices, provolone cheese, balsamic glaze, and lettuce. The slice of cheese is just enough to add some fat to the mushroom, and the balsamic glaze adds sourness that brightens up the burger. While mushrooms don't always have a lot of flavor, and portobello is no exception, what they do have is umami, that elusive savoriness that keeps you coming back for more. The first time I had this burger, I thought it was definitely noteworthy, but I did miss some heat, so today I ordered it with some pickled jalapeño slices, and that made it perfect. This delicious, healthy, and juicy burger is messy to eat, but I am a big fan of messy food. For my side, I ditched the skinny fries and had it with a salad dressed with balsamic vinaigrette.
Location: Smokin' Burgers, 1775 E Palm Canyon Drive, Unit 220, Palm Springs, California. Date: September 17, 2020. Some time ago I met a lady at Tartan who recommended the veggie burger but told me to ask for it well done so it wouldn't be mushy. Finally I did that, ordering it with pickled jalapeños and a side of perfectly cooked broccoli. Apart from veggies, the kitchen confirmed that the burger also contains oats, rice, corn, beans, and cheese. It comes with ketchup and 1,000 island dressing, but if you ask you can also get BBQ sauce, and in my opinion that's the best option. The burger was dressed in the usual way with onion, lettuce, tomato, and dill pickles. There was a tender chewiness to it, it was savory. I could taste some garlic, and the neutral flavored bread held together nicely. With the sourness and heat from the pickled jalapeños, this was one of the best veggie burgers I've ever had.
Location: Tartan, 24 East Redlands Blvd., Redlands, California. Date: August 16, 2020. There's something about pineapple and meat that really works well. The pineapple imparts a sweetness and a tartness that complements meat, and it also adds enzymes that help to digest meat. In Mexico it's often used with tacos al pastor, which is shaved pork meat from a spit, but this Hawaiian style burger is 100% fresh Angus beef, never frozen, and I had my patty cooked medium rare, which left it nice and juicy. My burger patty came with a ring of grilled pineapple, grilled onion, pepper jack cheese, lettuce, cilantro aioly, and balsamic glaze. In this burger, the pineapple was the star of the show, as it's supposed to be. This place has won awards for its burgers, and their Aloha Burger wins a place in my noteworthy food blog. I ate outside, of course, because that's all you can do now, even though the evening temperature was over a 100°F. As you can see, I chose a refreshing salad as my side.
Location: Smokin' Burgers, 1775 E Palm Canyon Dr., Ste 220, Palm Springs, California. Date: July 9, 2020. Today I had my first Beyond burger, which like the Impossible burger (which I haven't tried yet) is a plant based patty designed to look, feel, and taste like a real beef patty. Did the beyond burger succeed? Here's my take on it. My burger came with red onion slices, lettuce, tomato slice, pickle slices, and thousand island dressing on a decent burger bun. The burger “meat” is indistinguishable from real beef in taste, and it's incredibly close in texture. There's a slight meatless meat smell to it, but it's hardly noticeable. The bottom line is that had I not known, I wouldn't have suspected that my burger wasn't real meat. The Beyond burger has no genetically modified ingredients in it, and the high protein content comes from a mixture of rice and bean products. I had my burger with a side of potato salad, and it was a good burger lunch.
Location: Smokin' Burgers, 1775 E Palm Canyon Dr, Ste 220, Palm Springs, California. Date: June 25, 2020. The town of Hatch in New Mexico is famous for its green chiles, and everyone I talked to about it in Las Cruces said I should stop at Sparkys, which turned out to be a sprawling funky joint with historic signs on the walls and live music. I ordered Combo #1, the famous chile cheeseburger with a side and a drink. I got a 7oz burger which I ordered medium rare, a side of sweet corn chowder with Hatch chiles and onion, and iced tea. A nice juicy meat patty with lots of spicy green Hatch chile was served with a slice of American cheese on a soft bun. The sweet corn was sweet all right, in a milky broth, but there wasn't much chile in it which was probably good as the burger was quite spicy. The sweetness of the corn played nicely with the spiciness in the burger. It's definitely the green Hatch chiles that make this burger noteworthy; without them, it wouldn't distinguish itself.
Location: Sparkys Burgers, 115 Franklin Street, Hatch, New Mexico. Date: January 17, 2020. This place has a nopal beef burger and, among other exotic meats, a camel burger. I was torn between the two until the server said, “Just ask for the camel burger nopal style.” So I got my beloved nopal (cactus paddle) with the exotic meat that I'd come for, and it was real desert food: the ship of the desert (isn't that what they call camel?) with cactus; what a combo! It wasn't on the menu, but I got it. The burger came with a whole nopal paddle sliced and grilled like they do in Mexico, lots of avocado, crema, pickles, lettuce, red onion, and tomato. Surprisingly (because I thought camel meat might be dry) it was one of the juiciest burgers I've ever had! With the slimy and sour nopal paddle, plus all the other juicy components, this was crazee good! There was also a layer of melted fresh white cheese, and the whole thing was served on a browned white bun. I'm not sure how much the camel meat had to do with it, but this was one of the best burgers I've ever had; in fact, it may have been the best. For vegetarians, one could just do the prickly pear cactus paddle, which is quite meaty, and forget the meat. The photo looks a bit sloppy, but that's because I pulled the burger apart to show the cactus.
Location: Crazee Burger, corner of 30th Street & Lincoln, San Diego, California. Date: December 30, 2019. My initial question was if there was enough beet in this burger for it to be bloody enough to mimic meat, and the answer, as you can see, was yes. It also contained carrot, beans, cashews, and chewy onion straws that somehow mimicked bacon. The burger was spicy and a little smoky, and if it wasn't for the healthy whole wheat bun, I may have thought it was real meat! It was dressed, like most burgers, with a tomato slice and lettuce, as well as a healthy version of mayonnaise and, although I actually didn't see it, BBQ sauce (this is probably where the smoky taste came from). My only complaint is that the burger was a little dry; I'd order it again with extra tomato and sauce. I found the use of beet in a vegetarian patty to be clever; it's something I want to try myself.
Location: The Living Root Cellar, 12 N 6th Street, Redlands, CA 92373. Date: March 28, 2019. When I asked why this super spicy burger was called 187, I was told that the chef originally wanted to call it 666, but opted for 187 in the end, the police and gang code for murder or death. It's advertised as the hottest burger in the desert, and it comes with jalapeňo pepper jack cheese, grilled habanero, raw jalapeňo slices, ancho chile spread, and special ghost pepper sauce. It also comes with bacon, and you can have your burger cooked the way you like it; I asked for rare, figuring that with all the spice it would be quite safe even as tartar. I was asked if I'd like the ghost pepper sauce on the side, just in case I wasn't up to it, but I declined and let them slather it onto the bun. Even though the burger was super spicy, it was moist and delicious. I'd rank it up there as one of the best tasting burgers I've had, and it must have activated my endorphins because it left me feeling really good. I was a bit worried about what would happen in the morning, but I didn't have to wait that long; I had to use the bathroom twice before I even went to bed. This morning all is well, and I'm almost certainly going to eat the 187 again.
Location: Smokin Burgers, 1775 E Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California. Date: February 16, 2019. The complete hamburger in Spain must not only have lettuce and tomato but also a runny sunny side up egg. You put the top bun on the egg, squeeze, and the broken yolk provides a sauce. I purposely let some drip on the fries as potato and egg yolk are a perfect match. My complete hamburger also came with a slice of cheese which in the United States would make it a complete cheeseburger. Location: El Cau on the plaza in Viladrau, Catalunya, Spain. Date: November 28, 2018. |
AuthorChef Roland has been a legal resident of seven countries and has travelled in over thirty, documenting food along the way. He currently resides in the desert in Southern California. Categories
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