Food and Drink: September 2004 Archives

The search for the perfect burger in New York is a generally pleasant one. And while I haven't sampled D B Bistro's rather rich combination of ground beef, foie gras, black truffles and braised short ribs (the $29 price tag does include pommes frites), I have snacked my way through a few burgers.

We'll start with Pop Burger, just inches from the Meatpacking district. The fries, super crisp on the outside, tender and steamy hot on the inside, are excellent examples of the style, but the burgers are just two small (pun intended) and the service abysmal. I always leave wanting one more cute little perfectly stacked burger and wishing I hadn't just spent $10 on two miniburgers, fries and a soda.

Of course were anyone from NYC actually reading this, they would heartily scold me for having yet to toss Corner Bistro into the mix. Despite reasonably credible stories I've heard about trains of roaches crawling up the wall, the burgers do live up to the hype. The scrawny little white buns meld nicely with the ground beef and gooey cheese, and as long as you never set the thing down, you're golden. But then again, maybe it's the $2 McSorley's beer that affixes Corner Bistro to a special part of my clogging arteries.

Most recently, I sampled the ambience that is Burger Joint. Tucked behind a curtain in the gleaming Le Parker Meridien lobby sits a small room that pays homage to burgers and 70s den decor. As for the burger, the sizeable meaty patty arrives wrapped in paper and topped with cheese, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, ketchup and mayo. If you didn't have to wait in line behind 10 midtown business people, it'd be pretty cool.

But wait, isn't this blog about Brooklyn? Yes. Because the best burger I've had in all of New York is at Schnack. Unfortunately, my umbrella is no match for the remnants of hurricane Jeanne (see above picture of my "covered" subway station), and I didn't get out to take a photo of it. Schnack passes the crave test. I crave the unrivaled melt-in-your-mouth tenderness of its patties, the tangy Schnack sauce, the oozing melty cheese.  Of almost equal praise are its pickles that would make many a deli pickle shrink in dishonor.  Consider the beer float an added bonus even if it does taste more like ice cream than beer.