You may or may not have heard that I’m on a Restaurant Hiatus – that’s right, for all of July & August 2011, I won’t be eating at restaurants. The finer details are very much an “I’ll know it when I see it” type of thing, like Congress & porn, but ice cream for sure is totally allowed. I’ve got lots of posts in the bank to last y’all through (and I intend to post more about what I eat at home) and when I come out the other side, hopefully, I’ll be posting near-“real”-time, or closer than I am used to now. So the last night before I quit entirely, TC and I made plans to hit up Brindle Room for their burger that I’ve insisted is excellent. We got a little sidetracked at first, but quickly made our way to Brindle Rom after a lobster roll…
One of the specials on the menu, duck confit poutine, caught TC’s eye so that was ordered as well. There was plenty of super tender, juicy duck meat, and the gravy was super rich. The frites were crisp when they arrived, though of course, the nature of the dish is such that they eventually get soggy – drowning in gravy as they are. Unfortunately, though, there was an excess of duck fat – did you ever think you’d hear me say that? – and the only thing you could taste often was duck fat. It got to be a little too much, so I could only eat a little bit before I gave up, though TC soldiered on and ate most of it… The excess duck fat made it just sit like lead in our stomachs though. I would love if they could cut back a little on the amount of duck fat used! I also think the price, at $18, more than our burgers cost, was a bit excessive – I’d be okay with getting less duck if that would bring the price down a little bit.
But of course, the main event: burgers! When we ordered, our server took two steps away from our table, then returned a moment later to ask us if we wanted fries with our burgers. “It comes with fries, but you’re ordering poutine, so that might be too many fries for you – do you maybe want a salad with the burgers instead?” I really appreciated this thinking about the bigger picture and sharing with us, because I’ve gone to places that never mentioned to me my dish included something that I then ordered as a side dish. Very annoying. So this was much appreciated, and I quickly agreed – I’d actually meant to ask her about that, but totally forgot.
And you know, I totally expected it to be just some lettuce, whatever, some green stuff, a throaway salad. Nope. I wound up really enjoying this salad – raw kale, topped with sliced pears, pecorino, sliced/toasted almonds, and golden raisins, dressed very lightly. It was great to cut through the fat of everything else we ate; I liked it so much that I wound up asking the server more questions about it and I intend to recreate this at home shortly. REALLY enjoyed it.
As for the burger: topped with caramelized onions, but this time with American instead of cheddar, I was looking forward to this.
I actually was almost done with it before I remembered to take a cross section. Cooked perfectly to my order of medium rare, and that crust stays crunchy throughout the whole burger, so amazingly flavorful and just perfect… this is quickly becoming my favorite burger in the city. (Sorry Shake Shack!) I found out recently why it’s so good – it’s made with deckle fat. Just incredible. I might even become a regular here; honestly, if it weren’t so far out of the way from most things I do, I probably would have gone many more times already. The times I’ve been, there hasn’t been a line or a crowd, which is both good and bad; it means I can go enjoy myself, but then… it means I can go anytime I want?! Eeek…
To top all that off, we ordered the donut sundae as our finish. A warm (freshly fried, perhaps?) donut topped with ice cream, sliced almonds, caramel sauce, and two caramelized banana hunks, this was the perfect end to the meal. It was almost a bit too decadent, as I wound up eating just a bit of the donut and ice cream, and finishing the deliciously crunchy banana… so good.
Yvo says: Brindle Room is quickly becoming my favorite burger in the city, and I will definitely be back. I love the service, the laidback atmosphere, the burger… oh, that burger is just incredible. I intend to take many more people here, and I predict that this will be the next big burger go-to spot for many people. So hurry over there and get yourself a burger before it becomes super crowded, super hyped, to the point you can’t get a table without waiting for a very long time, and then with all that hype, the quality starts to decline… get yourself over there STAT!!!
hightly recommended for the burger; salad is slammin’ too, and other stuff is recommended
TT says
yes i get it. gotta go to the Brindle Room soooon!
Feisty Foodie says
Yes. Yes you do.
Sarah says
I. Need. That. BURGER!!!
Feisty Foodie says
UH YEAH YOU DO!!! Hahaha
Hungry says
I like cheeseburgers.
Feisty Foodie says
I like turtles
T.C. says
Me was happy to have gone to Brindle. Lucky for us the place wasn’t too crowded til later/ when we were leaving.
I had myself a Mother’s Milk to start off and cool down after a lob. roll. Duck Poutine def. very rich and drenched in duck fat. For a while, all I could taste was the duck. They should hold back a bit on it. Perhaps plop in more cheese curds.
I can’t believe I polished off most of it. /phatty fat
The burger was very juicy and delicious. I really enjoyed it and I’m usually about meatier burgers. Def. better than SS in the flavor dept. You will have to do the Luger Burger sometime. 😉
The kale salad was a very nice touch. I’m glad our waitress suggested it to us instead of having to pile up on more fries.
The donut sundae was awesome. It tasted like it was fresh fried. The warmth caught me off-guard but in a great way. I would’ve happily ate my own sundae. HAHAHA.
Feisty Foodie says
Yeah! It was a good night. Tomorrow’s post is about after Brindle Room. Hahaha 🙂
esther says
Yum! The burger looks amazing!
How does the meat compare to, let’s say, Five Napkin Burger? I don’t think Shake Shack is on the same playing field as a $12 burger, though I do like Shake Shack! 🙂
Feisty Foodie says
I’ve never had Five Napkin Burger – but I sort of disagree about SS not being on the same playing field. This includes fries, so once you add that on, isn’t SS around $10 and change? (More if you get a double Shack, which I don’t.)
I actually don’t tend to buy into the more expensive burgers, but Noah of Law & Food insisted so much that this was a great burger I had to give in and try it. Since he’s had expensive burgers, I will say that he compared this to Minetta Tavern’s burger – which is more than 2x as expensive – and said Brindle Room’s is better. I won’t defend that statement because I haven’t had MT’s, but I think that says a lot.
Hungry says
I have had Five Napkin and think Shake Shack is better. My fav is still Luger’s but that’s a pub style burger. Big meat, big bun. The Brindle Burger looks more like a fast food style (like SS).
Feisty Foodie says
Brindle is bigger than the single Shack, but might be less meat than a double. I have written sometimes about my preference towards smaller burgers – large pub style isn’t my thang, a la Donovan’s (which I didn’t like that much).
I can’t wait until I can go again, H & E! We should go together… mm burger
T.C. says
I think SS shackburger is better than the regular Five Napkin Burger. However, I would thoroughly enjoy their “Burger for Two” more than a double Shackburger.
Do I dare admit this? Yes, I do, but I would enjoy having two Brindle burgers more than 2 double Shackburgers. HAHA. However, the case would not hold true for the renowned Luger Burger!
And Donovan’s was horrible when I went a few months ago. The burger was charcoal on the outside and meat flavor wasn’t up to par at all. Cheeburger Cheeburger is WAY better than it.