THIS WEEK'S BURGER QUEST:
Visit the Dining section of NewHampshire.com to read previous Our Gourmet reviews listed by town. |
Like many kids growing up in America, I thought that was the real deal and it was many years before I realized that the typical fast-food burger I grew up on was a pale imitation of the real thing: a thick, hot, juicy slab of beef cooked just right and topped with any of a variety of extras.
That, of course, is a far cry from its ancestor, a dish that came to America in the early 19th century with German immigrants who had adapted it from a dish they had brought from Russia around the 14th century. The Russian version was made of raw, chopped beef and known as tartare.
The German version was a sort of salt beef made to withstand long journeys rather than sizzle on the grill. To attract sailors from Germany, stands along the harbor would advertise beef served “In the Hamburg style.” Hence the name “hamburger.”
Fortunately, a good burger today resembles those early Hamburg steaks not at all. This week we continue on our quest for the best burgers in the state. Every other week we will give you the skinny on some of the burgers we tried and give you our recommendations as to which are the best. Then we’ll tell you which is the best of the best. So, if you know of a really great burger, let us know where to find it at gourmet@unionleader.com and we’ll check it out.
CJ’s Great West Grill
782 S. Willow St., Manchester
627-8600; go2cjs.com
OG: TDC and I tend to be a bit skeptical when it comes to anything resembling a chain restaurant, and CJ’s is part of a small, local chain that includes Cactus Jack’s and T-Bones. CJ’s, however, was a pleasant surprise. The restaurant is all done in a Southwest theme and is roomy, but popular, so it’s often quite crowded.
I ordered a basic 1/2-pound cheddar burger ($8.99) and added sautéed mushrooms (.50). A 1/2-pound burger is more than enough for me, but I managed to put a pretty good dent in it. The meat was cooked exactly as ordered, was fresh, flavorful, juicy and reasonably priced. (On Monday through Friday you can get a burger AND a beer for $8.99.) One of the best so far. 9.5
The Dining Companion: I ordered the M.A.F. Burger ($9.99). This burger is named for one of the owners and consists of a freshly grilled burger served on a fresh baguette, with grilled onions and peppers drenched in BBQ sauce. It is served with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, and melted American cheese. This burger was delicious. The beef was cooked just like I liked it and had a nice flavor just by itself. Add the toppings and this was one of the better burgers I have eaten in awhile. 9.5.
Total: 19/20
Elm City Brewing Company
Colony Mill Marketplace, Keene
355-3335; elmcitybrewing.com
OG: Elm City Brewing is a fun place we came across one sunny weekend in Keene. Lots of people were enjoying the outside patio and soaking up the rays. Inside, the restaurant is roomy, clean and pleasant — probably quite popular with local college students.
The restaurant has a separate section just for its charbroiled burgers — always a good sign — and I immediately zoomed in to the BBQ & bacon cheeseburger ($7.99), a grilled burger topped with the eatery’s homemade peach BBQ sauce, bacon and cheddar cheese. The burger was nicely cooked with a charbroiled taste, perfectly complemented by the sweet and tangy barbecue sauce. The bacon was a pleasant extra. Coupled with a glass of Elm City’s Peachy Keene Kolsch, it was a pleasant experience all the way around. 8
TDC: The Blues Burger ($7.99), was a well-grilled burger with caramelized onions and bleu cheese. It was a tasty burger with just enough crumbled blue cheese not to overpower the sweetness of the onions or the fresh beef in the burger. 8.5
Total: 16.5/20
CR Sparks
18 Kilton Road, Bedford
647-7275; crsparks.com
OG: We’ve been to CR Sparks for dinner before and it’s one of the places we really like, so we figured we’d try an upscale burger choice: the restaurants’s wood grilled Kobe burger ($16.95). This little number is served with bleu D’Auvergne cheese, lettuce, oven dried tomato and topped with delicate and crisp onion rings. The onion rings were tasty and added a nice element to the burger. The bleu cheese was very flavorful, but although bleu D’Auvergne is a bit milder than some bleu cheeses, it overpowered the beef and I couldn’t taste the tomato at all. All these flavors were wonderful on their own, but when put together got lost to the cheese. The end result fell a bit short of my expectations — and for $16.95 I expect it not only to taste good, but to do my laundry and walk my dog as well. 7
TDC: When you hear the words Kobe beef, and bleu D’Auvergne cheese, you think decadence and that it must be good, so when it was suggested that we try their burger, I was all for it. Unfortunately, I was let down. The burger arrived and was beautifully presented with hand-cut fries and a couple of butter pickles, but when I bit into it, the burger’s flavor was overpowered by a big slab of blue cheese on top. It was just too much for the subtle flavors of Kobe beef and made it almost inedible in that mode. I then decided to deconstruct the burger to at least try the items that made it up. The oven dried tomatoes were better than most sun dried I have had, the onion rings were sliver thin and were light and delicious on their own. Unfortunately I couldn’t get the true taste of the Kobe beef out of the burger. Due to that, and the price, I can’t rate this burger high. 6
Total: 13/20
THIS WEEK'S WINNER: CJ’s Great West Grill
MAY 6 WINNER: Billy’s Sports Bar and Grill
