Are you back again? Surely not for more on America and it’s love of the burger? Oh, very well, if you insist. But please allow me one small digression (I’ll get to it later).
So having discussed two fast food joints, let me discuss two restaurant burgers and the digression of roast beef sandwiches.
The first burger under discussion is from O’Connells, an Irish pub beside the Italian ‘Hill’ district. We both had cheeseburgers which featured a two-inch high patty covered in cheese. Given the option of American or Swiss and being a true European (?) I made the wrong choice – Swiss is not the cheese for a burger, it doesn’t melt as well as American. We were asked how we wanted the burgers cooked ... my usual answer being medium rare ... and I was disappointed. The thickness of the burger would never have allowed a uniform medium rare. A word from our server could have pre-warned me, but no!
The toppings and sides with this burger were simple, unfortunately, a single slice of onion on a fairly standard sesame bun, some soggy and cooling crinkle cut fries and most weirdly a large pickle cut into quarters length-wise. All in all, a disappointment, but at least O'Connell's had a wide variety of beers on offer and a price tag to match the White Castle meal we had had the day before.
Much better, in my humble opinion, is their Roast Beef Sandwich: slices of thin cut roast beef served ‘Au Jus’, with a side dish of beef roasting juices which makes the sandwich even more unctuous, moist and lip smackingly tasty (Sorry, dear reader, normal language will hopefully resume after a short period back in Blighty). The bready element of the sandwich was made up of a roll that passes for what the Americans would call ‘French bread’ – longer than a sub, indeed as long as a baguette, but with the same texture and taste as a submarine roll.
As a direct comparison to the O’Connells burger, I offer Baxters, a restaurant with great views over the Lake of the Ozarks (photo above). It's about three to four hours' drive from St Louis and where we spent the middle of the week at a resort while I was introduced to Jefferson City, Missouri’s State Capital, and some of its residents.
We started with onion strings: very thin cuts of breaded onion, although the bread coating was almost tempura thin. The only bad thing that I could possibly say about these is that while they started out being crispy, the lower down that we got in pile of strings, the soggier they got. They were served with Ranch dressing: a light (liquid), slightly tart, seasoned, milky white condiment often made from packet mixes.
The server again asked how I wanted my burger cooked and this time it came out to order. The patty was thinner than the O’Connells burger, but we will forgive them that as the burger was moist and flavourful. This time I did not make the mistake of having Swiss and the other topping was more onion strings. Almost the best part of the burger was, however, the bun – it was brioche like. The bun maintained its shape, soaked up the juices from the burger and added a delicious buttery flavour.
Unable to leave this at just burgers, I'll offer a comparison O’Connell's roast beef sandwich. On my previous visit to St Louis, I was introduced to the Sportsman’s Park, a bar in Frontenac, a well-to-do suburb in St Louis County. There, after what I will admit were several beers, I had my first roast beef sandwich with ‘Au Jus’. This beef was served paper thin, thinner than O’Connells, and in small rolls, which fit into the hand superbly and probably more importantly into the bowl of the beef jus better as well.
Just to confirm that my tasting notes were not a drunken illusion (it’s my article and my excuse, so I’m sticking to it) , we returned this time as well. Indeed the sandwiches were as good as I recalled, even better as the buns has the same brioche-like consistency as the Baxter’s burger bun and this time I added the onion strings which were as good as Baxter’s if not better, having the same style of coating and being less oily further down the bowl we went – the lady had to have some as well, which we will forgive her, as it is her blog.
Overall in the burger stakes, the winner has to be Baxter’s, but I would certainly go for the Sportsman’s Park sandwiches over any of the burgers.
1 comment:
Piers, if you should ever be inclined to choose Swiss cheese on a burger, the addition of mushrooms and braised onions (caramelized is best) is a good combination. I like a little mayonnaise on a burger, too, but that's a personal preference.
I enjoyed reading your guest posts!
-- Madolyn
Post a Comment