Showing posts with label hamburgers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hamburgers. Show all posts

Monday, January 11, 2010

A Great Hamburger Is More Than Just The Sum Of Its Parts



In my opinion, you can’t judge a hamburger by any one of its many individual components. When determining whether a hamburger is worthy or not, you must consider it as one whole package. Praising the meat while damning the bun, or vice versa, makes no sense to me. A hamburger should be considered on how all of the components (meat, bun, toppings, and condiments) come together, because, unlike components of a traditional meal, the ingredients of a hamburger are eaten all at the same time.

Having said that, I do believe that the most important thing which determines whether a hamburger is the best it can be or not, is the bun. A great hamburger bun can make up for less than tasty meat more easily than a delicious meat patty can provide cover for a less than desirable bun. Over the years I’ve stopped eating burgers at more than one place because they decided to change their hamburger buns in some way. In some cases, they started serving less expensive buns, with predictable results. In other cases, they stopped toasting or grilling their buns. Despite how good the actual meat might have been, the bad bun tainted the entire experience. Like I said, with hamburgers, you must consider the entire package.

Because good meat, good hamburger buns, fresh toppings and quality condiments are so easily procured these days, it is no wonder that there are literally thousands of places around the country that serve great hamburgers. Despite all the variations of hamburgers there may be, the one common denominator of a great hamburger is that the preparer in each hamburger location clearly understands that a hamburger will rise or fall based upon just one of its individual components. In that regard, it’s like the old adage about a chain being “only as strong as its weakest link.”

When a hamburger place gets all of the components of a hamburger melding perfectly together, it is a wonderful thing indeed. It’s that first bite you take when you know whether you have a winner or not. It either works, or it doesn’t. It really is that simple.

Moonie’s Burger House in Cedar Park is one of those places which understand how important it is to blend good things together in order to make a great burger. There is no doubt, and certainly no secret around these parts, that the bun at Moonie’s is something special. But the meat is also very good, and the toppings are fresh. For two years straight, it has been voted as having the “best burgers and best fries” locally. I haven’t tried every place in the area, so I can’t offer my opinion on that, but what I will tell you is that the burgers here are excellent, and the first bite taken works every time. There is no weak component in a Moonie’s Burger.

Moonie’s offers a wide selection of hamburgers. Every one of the beef selections has a corresponding chicken offering, with all of the same toppings. Many of these selections are rather unique, including, but not limited to, “The Blue Moon,” which features bacon, tomato, red onions, and blue cheese, and the “Chili Cheese Burger With Frito’s On Top,” which has chili, cheese, Frito chips, lettuce, and onions. There is also a vegetarian offering available, called, appropriately enough, the “Veggie Burger” which consists of a veggie patty, lettuce, red onions, pickles and tomato.

My wife and I go to Moonie’s a heck of a lot more than once in a “Blue Moon” and we normally get the same thing every time we go there. I get the beef “Plain Jane with Cheese” and she gets the chicken “Plain Jane with Cheese.” The “Plain Jane” comes with mayonnaise, onions, lettuce, pickles, and tomato. Our preferred side is the sweet potato fries, which are always hot but not overly fried.

Moonie’s is one of those many hamburger places around the country which have figured out that a great hamburger is more than just the sum of its parts. And luckily, Moonie’s is located in the Texas Hill Country town of Cedar Park.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

The Stuffed Burger - One Unique And Very Delicious Hill Country Hamburger




Hamburgers, in whatever way they are prepared, are hard not to like. And sometimes, like the Cheddar Pour Burger I found in Cedar Park and wrote about in an earlier blog, you come across something really special. Such is the case with “The Stuffed Burger,” at Bam’s Roadhouse Grill in Lago Vista, Texas.

Bam’s Roadhouse Grill is located in Lago Vista, a town on the north shore of Lake Travis. It’s a very casual place (the ceiling is non-existent, with only wood rafters), and the upper portions of the building are exposed to the outside weather, necessitating the use of a water misting system to cool the place during the hotter months of the year. The first time I saw the building driving down the road, I thought it was barbecue smoke pouring out. That would have been good too, but the mister is better and feels really nice.

There is no table service, as such; you place your order at the walk up window. And, usually, the man taking your order is Bam himself, easily recognizable because of his bearded profile which adorns the signs outside. But the extra effort is worth it. The stuffed burgers have won local awards, and you can tell the place is popular just by driving by at lunch time. The dirt parking lot is packed with pickup trucks and other vehicles.

This self-professed “Home of the Stuffed Burger,” has some outstanding ones, indeed. There are four half-pound hickory smoked burgers offered, and all are filled with their own particular stuffing. “Britt’s Bleu Burger” is packed with bleu cheese and red onions. “Popeye’s Burger” is filled with spinach, artichokes, parmesan, Romano, and mozzarella cheese. The “El Paso Burger” is loaded with jalapeno peppers and cheese, and then topped with sautéed mushrooms. But, I save the best (and most popular) stuffed burger for last.

In my humble opinion, and in the opinion of many others, the best of the best of Bam’s stuffed burgers is the “Hatch Chile Burger.” Hatch chili peppers are from New Mexico, a state which is just to the west of Texas, and which grows, arguably, the best chili peppers this country, or perhaps the world, has to offer. Bam uses these peppers in this burger, and the result is an unbelievably great hamburger.

The “Hatch Chile Burger” is composed of one-half pound of hickory smoked beef; packed with Hatch, New Mexico green chili peppers, cheddar cheese and bacon. This is then served up between both sides of a semi-sweet hamburger bun, along with homemade chips and salsa.

When you bite into the Hatch Chile Burger, you get a burst of different flavors all at once. This surge of flavors is perhaps common in Mexican and Asian cuisine, but not so much in the United States, at least with respect to the traditional European-based foods of this country. The burger is a mixture of appetizing flavors. It is moist, smoky, salty, with a mild presence of chili peppers, and the soft impact of a somewhat sweet hamburger bun. The burger temperature is hot, and the flavors blend together perfectly into one great sandwich. Trust me, this is one excellent hamburger. It works on all levels. I don't know how they stuff the ingredients into these burgers like they do, and I guess I really don't care, because the end result is incredible.

Bam’s Roadhouse Grill also has a wonderful selection of other items on its menu, including daily specials like catfish and chicken fried chicken. Live music is occasionally available, and takeout orders are popular for those wishing to enjoy the good food as they play out on Lake Travis.

These Lago Vista stuffed burgers are unique and are wonderful hamburgers, and I can’t recommend them enough. When I left the place after lunch, having devoured the Hatch Chile Burger, I was "stuffed" myself.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Cheddar Pour Burger


I’ve been eating hamburgers all my life, and I’ve eaten them all over the world. Whether here in the United States, in Europe, or in Asia, I've enjoyed some excellent burgers.

The hamburger sandwich is unique, because you can eat it as plain or ostentatious as you want, and still call it a hamburger. I have a very good friend who wants nothing more than the meat inside a bun. No ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, pickles, onions, or anything else is required by him. When he orders it, he simply states, “I’d like a hamburger, plain.” He’s always questioned after he gives the order, and always has to repeat, in different words, that he wants the bun and the beef, and nothing more.

The traditional “American Diner” hamburger of the 1940’s was a patty of ground beef on a toasted or grilled buttered bun, topped with onions. Perhaps pickles or relish were added, and maybe, if ordered and available, tomato and lettuce. Condiments of mustard and ketchup in plastic squirt containers were on the counter to be added by the customer.

Other variations appeared during the 1900’s. Small and inexpensive hamburgers on buns the size of dinner rolls, steamed, in and around onions, became popular. In the 1960’s, the chain hamburger restaurants grew to unbelievable fame and fortune. Along the way, there were regional specialties like the Springfield, Illinois, “Horseshoe” and the Midwest “Loose Meat” sandwich.

“Garbage Burgers,” beef patties topped with literally everything you can imagine eventually came on the scene, and then later, those “Yuppie Burgers,” vegetable “hamburgers,” covered with guacamole, avocado, and who knows what other things that are supposed to be healthy for you.

I’ve seen it all with respect to hamburgers. But, I have to tell you, in all honesty, I’ve never seen anything like the “Cheddar Pour Burger” in my entire life. While the burger itself is hiding just beneath the bun, the fried cheese spreads out far and wide. This sandwich is, as far as I can tell, only available at J&J Barbeque and Burgers, in Cedar Park, Texas. If it's available elsewhere, I've never seen nor heard about it.

I don’t know how it is cooked, because it is prepared by grill cooks out of sight of the customers. But, speculating as I often do, it looks like they add a large amount of cheddar cheese over the hamburger, allowing it to spill way over onto the hot grill, where it fries into a crispy and chewy topping. When served, it looks like a derby hat, or a flying saucer with french fries on the side. You can order it in several sizes and get whatever toppings you want with it. I got the smallest size, and at least for me, it was almost too much to eat.

This is one distinctive and delicious burger, and if you find yourself in Cedar Park, it's worth giving it a try.