DMANBURGER “Joy Burger Bar”

Perched in this restaurant vacant neighborhood, a burger meets Tiki bar promises grand delights, though its deliverance is marred by simple- yet fixable dilemmas. The atmosphere is pleasant and vocational, white-washed stressed windows slung open over simple retro-style seating, giving the feeling that you’re lounging hammock-wrapped in Jamaica or some other exotic locale-while listening to the likes of Norah Jones and Dean Martin. Memorabilia of a food culture past shines, old Heinz ketchup signs, Coca Cola trinkets and a ham-fisted name play sign “EnJoy”- sparingly highlight the walls. The style is bright and fun, unlike the Joy Burger team, who are clad in saggy, uncomfortable blue overalls while donning belittling red conductor style hats – unfortunately their moods match the color of their garb: Blue.

        

Lazily a staffer gives me a playing card, symbolizing the marker for my order-and grunts, “We’ll call ya.” I admired the images on the wall as I was shunned away to my table.Israeli born owner, Roy Ben-Jacob, shows his painstaking chore- transforming his vision from a bodega/grocery store into a hopeful burger emporium. I can’t help but feel that the Joy that is sold through the name, just doesn’t shine through in the people that work there. Despite my differences with the help, the menu is full of spice and variety. Burgers come in Munch 3oz [$3.50]; Midi 5oz. [$4.75] and Maxi 8oz. [$5.95] and can be slathered with an available bounty of condiments such as, garlic mayo, chimichurri and spicy mango.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Munch I ordered was the pick of the litter. Dolloped with an earthy chimichurri and ribbons of onions- it was juicy and delightful to the end. On contrast, the Midi and Maxi’s were dull and chewy. The Midi I chose with a spicy mayo, was light and zesty, but the meat was gnaw-worthy and grisly. The Maxi reminded me of a suped up Whopper, and was too big for the bun. It was toasted perfectly, but it wasn’t enough to save the over-sized meaty matter-it was unsuccessfully housing. When visiting Joy Burger Bar, stick with the Munch and couple it with the chimichurri and a helping of over-sized crispy onion rings- which one of the despondent Joy burger assembly line obviously found a little Joy in preparing.

 

Joy Burger Downtown opens in August on 6th Ave. and Washington Pl. http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2010/07/joy_burger_brings_the_privileg.html</a

 

 

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DMANBURGER “Jane Restaurant”

After a burger tasting planned for a well-known burger haunt fell through, I walked aimlessly and annoyed that my burger craving was postponed and prolonged -”What else is in this area” ? I asked myself ”Minetta Tavern”, “Five Guys” ? Not willing to deal with the waiting and unsure chance of getting a table at Minetta, or needlessly following the hordes of burger reviewers that flock after Five Guys, I was lost for ideas. Reluctantly I decided to expel my idea of a burger mission, and just go to a normal brunch, perhaps giving my arteries a rest -and maybe order a salad? I noticed that there were swarms of people outside Jane, an American bistro and sister restaurant of  The Smith,  a partnership of Glen Harris and Jeffrey Lefcourt. I asked myself- “Could this have a decent burger”?  I quickly scanned the crowded room hoping to catch a glimpse of other burger fanatics nourishing themselves on my unsuspecting prey. I noticed a guy, about to devour this surprisingly gorgeous specimen, and I was sold. I approached the maitre’d and asked for her next available table, then lounged on the front bench basking in the welcomed sunlight that was beating down on the city. The menu at Jane consists of your usual brunch/lunch favorites: Caesar Salad, Eggs Benedict, BLT and Vanilla Bean French Toast, the latter of which is supposedly their signature. The decor is modern contemporary with wide panoramic windows and comfortable banquette’s along each wall, the scene is a retrospect of Soho-fashionistas meets NYC students, with some restaurant savvy tourists thrown in for good measure.

My party and I were seated in the back of the packed dining room. Excitement suddenly came over me that I had found a great new burger place, my hopes of being the first to discover this new burger find, were dashed when I noticed on my handy Google App , that every man and his dog had reviewed the place!  Happily there weren’t too many distasteful slurs, so I felt confident that we were in for an unexpected treat. The burger was slated on the menu simply as “Jane Burger” with white cheddar, double smoke bacon, special sauce and fries. After careful interrogation of the waitress, I found out that there was a creamy mayonnaise based jalapeno marmalade and tangy green pickled tomatoes hidden in there also. The burger arrived, and was gargantuan! Served on a fat brioche bun with crispy french fries and cheese oozing out the side-I was a happy camper. My first bite was powered by the smokiness of the bacon, and crispy dill flavor of the pickled tomato. This was a novel and inventive alternative, capturing the flavor of a tomato and a dill pickle together. The beef was 100% ground sirloin, that was dripping with juices which quickly ran down my hands and forearms, like a rapid river. This was good in a way, because it told me that the burger was juicy and full of flavor. However it also told me, that my last bite could likely be dry. The flavor and texture was above average and I enjoyed it immensely, savoring every bite, unfortunately the last few bites were definitely dry, and drained of  juices. This tiny detail may seem trivial, but previous giants of the burger world have been known to avoid this paltry dilemma.

Jane restaurant is the perfect place to enjoy good decent brunch fare, while shopping in Soho, or maybe before catching a frou-frou artistically saturated film at the Angelika ? On the weekend expect to wait 10-15 mins. for a table, but if it’s a nice day you can work on your tan, take your mind off the stresses of life, and gawk at the brunch searching masses walk by, undoubtedly on the hunt for something fabulous and ever so popular. Well next time you’re in Soho and on that same hunt, the DMANBURGER say’s “look no further than Jane”.

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DMANBURGER “Flip Burger”

On 59th and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan you’ll find Bloomingdale’s, the iconic department store famous for such historic events as the invention of the hoop skirt, the modern shopping bag and one of the stops on the Queen of England’s 1976 New York shopping spree. Flip burger shares the menswear floor with such labels as Helmut Lang, Viktor Rolf and Hugo Boss. It caters to high-end Euro-shoppers and opulent Upper East Side families hoping to keep their ankle biters at bay, while they take a break from browsing the latest fashions. The decor is sparse and light with minimalistic fittings, subtle backlighting, that tightly seats about 70 hungry shoppers. The menu offers signatures burgers, salads and also a create your own burger section where one can mix and match their burger fixings choosing from several burger building materials, such as a unique variety of buns, side sauces and other accoutrements.

My server Jodie was a smart and knowledgeable, flitting about the room offering stumped and indecisive customers; such as me, help in selecting the greatest burger combination. She suggested the wasabi and ginger brioche bun with my choice of the hearty /short rib blend, coupled with the rich smoky homemade BBQ sauce and velvety blue cheese. As an extra treat I sampled another burger with the sweet/brisket blend, sweet pickle relish and rich gooey Jack cheese .Unfortunately my choice of BBQ sauce was quite overpowering to a delicate and beautiful La Frieda blend of patty, the meat flavor was superior and was melt in the mouth good with every bite. The soft yet toastiness of the bun was the last foundation to an exquisite burger creation. The sweet/brisket blend was refreshing, bursting out with flavor by the “tangy sweet pickle relish” that was so good that it would make a Southern Grandma jealous. The Jack cheese was divine and was perfectly slathered on the patty and paired with a plain perfectly toasted brioche bun. The French fries were shoestring thin and crispy, served with a plentiful measure in a cone of paper, but they were mundane to taste, lacking in flavor and seasoning. Unfortunately Flip burger is not cheap, with French fries at $5.00; create your own burgers staring at $12 and signature burgers from $16 to $23 for the Wagyu Benedict burger.

Flip burger was an adequate in-department store eatery and worth a visit while, after meandering around Bloomingdale’s on a busy Saturday shopping, I would recommend that you keep it simple, and try not to get too adventurous with the multi-condiment menu, the beef blend is well worth trying with minimal condiments. If you are not sure ask your server I found them quite helpful and knowledgeable with the exact flavor match that will comfort your carnivorous palette. Flip is solely owned by the Bloomingdale’s Corporation and is the guinea pig restaurant for them, to judge whether they will appear in other stores. Honestly if I wasn’t shopping at Bloomingdale’s I probably wouldn’t eat there again, not because it wasn’t good, but because I find eating in a department store kind of depressing, it brings me back to my childhood waiting around for hours at some basement department store eatery while my mother shops the unmentionables counter and my father screams frustrated about where my mother is and………..well, you get the picture!

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