Before hitting the stores yesterday with my shopping buddy, we had lunch at the Blvd in Beverly Hills. The restaurant located within the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, or as I often refer to it...the Pretty Woman hotel. Prior to visiting a restaurant I always have a little look see at the menu. So, I usually arrive with a pretty solid idea of what I will be eating. So, as I looked over the menu on Friday. One particular item jumped out at me...the Blvd Burger.
I've had burgers on the brain for a minute. Admittedly, I don't eat burgers very often. When I do, I expect to enjoy it. There is nothing better than a good old-fashioned hamburger...or cheeseburger in my case. But, back to my point. A couple of weeks ago on Top Chef, the quickfire challenge involved burgers. The chefs were asked to use the Red Robin menu for inspiration. Most of them were probably inspired more by the chef judging the quickfire...Chef Daniel Boulud. Boulud is a past James Beard award winner and chef of several restaurants. On the show, they highlighted one of Boulud's most popular dishes at his restaurant Daniel...the DB burger. In case you missed the description, the DB burger is composed of an exterior of ground sirloin with a filling of boned short ribs braised in red wine, foie gras, black truffle and a mirepoix of root vegetables. The homemade bun is topped with toasted parmesan and layered with fresh horseradish mayonnaise, tomato confit, fresh tomato and frisée lettuce. All of that, coming in at a cool $27. Amazing. Seriously, I'm salivating just thinking about how wonderful that burger is. It's a carnivore's dream.
So, when I saw the description of the BLVD Burger on website, I knew I had to have it. The website noted that the burger was composed of Kobe Beef, Foie Gras Mousse, Truffle Butter, Chanterelles, and Crispy Onion Rings. However, the burger I ate was a bit different. First of all, let's talk about the bun. The burger bun was a brioche with sesame and sunflower seeds. The texture was perfect. Not too soft, like a traditional bun and not too hard like the bread used for The Cheesecake Factory's Factory Burger. It was also a beautiful dark brown. So, great buns. hee hee
The patty was sirloin, not Kobe. That was fine with me. I enjoy sirloin. The patty needed a little bit more salt and it would have been perfect. In addition to the sirloin patty, we have foie gras mousse and truffle butter. The truffle butter just melted into the bun and added the perfect amount of moisture to the burger that we usually count on mayo to provide. The menu identified the mushrooms as simply "wild mushrooms". However, they appeared to be trumpet mushrooms. Which bring me to my least favorite part of the burger. They are a little waxier than the average mushroom, but very good. Still, the texture didn't work well for me. The burger was so juicy and the mushroom just interfered with the experience for me. I enjoy trumpets more in pasta dishes. Lastly, the onions were not fried rings, they were grilled red onions. I was a very happy camper. I love love love grilled onions on burgers. So, that made up for any disappointment with the mushrooms.
Since I gorged myself on the fantastic pretzel bread prior to the arrival of my meal, I was unable to finish my burger. However, what I did eat, I loved. It was rich and decadent. Extremely enjoyable. But, I would expect nothing less from a $20 burger.
So, when I saw the description of the BLVD Burger on website, I knew I had to have it. The website noted that the burger was composed of Kobe Beef, Foie Gras Mousse, Truffle Butter, Chanterelles, and Crispy Onion Rings. However, the burger I ate was a bit different. First of all, let's talk about the bun. The burger bun was a brioche with sesame and sunflower seeds. The texture was perfect. Not too soft, like a traditional bun and not too hard like the bread used for The Cheesecake Factory's Factory Burger. It was also a beautiful dark brown. So, great buns. hee hee
The patty was sirloin, not Kobe. That was fine with me. I enjoy sirloin. The patty needed a little bit more salt and it would have been perfect. In addition to the sirloin patty, we have foie gras mousse and truffle butter. The truffle butter just melted into the bun and added the perfect amount of moisture to the burger that we usually count on mayo to provide. The menu identified the mushrooms as simply "wild mushrooms". However, they appeared to be trumpet mushrooms. Which bring me to my least favorite part of the burger. They are a little waxier than the average mushroom, but very good. Still, the texture didn't work well for me. The burger was so juicy and the mushroom just interfered with the experience for me. I enjoy trumpets more in pasta dishes. Lastly, the onions were not fried rings, they were grilled red onions. I was a very happy camper. I love love love grilled onions on burgers. So, that made up for any disappointment with the mushrooms.
Since I gorged myself on the fantastic pretzel bread prior to the arrival of my meal, I was unable to finish my burger. However, what I did eat, I loved. It was rich and decadent. Extremely enjoyable. But, I would expect nothing less from a $20 burger.
http://www.fourseasons.com/beverlywilshire/dining/the_blvd.html
No comments:
Post a Comment