The Luck of the Irish...

“Best Burger in the O.C.” Award
-Orange Coast Magazine

“The Best Hamburgers in O.C., At This Celtic Bar that has Something For Everyone”
-ZAGAT Guide

Newport Beach, California, Thursday, 11:30 am. Three friends in business suits sit down next to a crackling fireplace in the dark back room of an irish pub across the street from Fashion Island. In researching the state of burgers in OC, all signs had pointed this direction as an example of the best.

We perused the menu, but had no time this day for bangars and mash or corned beef, all three of us zeroed immediately in on the burger choices. We decided to go in three different directions and to split potions with one another. All burgers are hand-formed 100% certified Angus half-pounders. All burgers came with an inordinate amount of lettuce, tomato, choice of raw or grilled onions, and a REALLY good brioche-esque grilled bun. They asked for our temperature prefences and actually did a perfect job meeting the requests of two mediums and one medium-well. The burger quality and flavor was very high and all ingredients were high-quality and fresh (two characteristics not usually associated with Irish food. There were several sides to choose from, but we all chose pub fries which were good, although a tad bit undercooked.

Burger Choice #1: The Bleu's Burger




Our waitress recommended the Bleu's Burger as a "must have." Listed as having crumbled blue cheese and onions, it actually was more of a blue cheese dressing-type spread with crumbles in it, this is a good thing, not a bad thing! The flavor of the blue cheese dressing was very good, however, against the overall size and number of ingredients, it was not overly forward. It contributed to the overall flavor rather than overshadowing it. If you wanted more flavor, you could always get a side of blue cheese dressing and add even more (which we may or may not have done).

Burger Choice #2: The St. Patty's




Although our waitress steered us in a different direction than the St. Patty's we all wanted to order it. Listed as having tillamook vintage cheddar, oak-smoked bacon, and homemade guacamole, it was an interesting option at an Irish pub. One would assume a burger named the St. Patty's would be a patty melt (which, if Muldoon's wanted to be really creative, they could do with soda bread, irish cheddar, and corned beef or something suitably irish like a Guiness reduction sauce or something). BUT, this St. Patty's Burger must be named in honor of the green guacamole. We all agreed that this was the best of the three burgers because the guacamole really added a lot of interesting flavor to the overall taste.


Burger Choice #3: The Macho




The choice of the Macho Burger was really just to try something totally different since we figured it would be academically lazy to order more than one of the same burgers. Listed with jack cheese, sliced avocado, and grilled ortega chili, it was another unusal option for an Irish-themed place. It was very good and the sliced avocado was very generously added.

Overall Impressions:


I don't know what it is about Irish pubs, but I have never left one without feeling happy. Beyond that, Muldoon's is a "best of breed" Irish pub that has something literally for everyone. Were the burgers as good as all of the hype? The jury is still out according to us since there are many other burgers to try before labeling them the best in OC, but there really isn't much that Muldoon's could improve on. The highest quality ingredients, handled properly (we could hear and smell our burgers being cooked on the char-grill ten feet away from us), and served in a friendly and happy environment (our sassy waitress Amanda was a good combination of engaging when she was there, mocking when we mocked her, and not overly present when we didn't want her there) probably add a few points to the overall review. A burger eaten in this environment, with good friends, will always taste better than the alternative. Imagine the review if we had been drinking pints!

Note: We cut a piece of burger for our missing wingman, reviewer B who couldn't make this particluar outing. We didn't let it sit for too long though...all pieces were consumed by the end of the meal.

Muldoons
202 Newport Center Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660
(949) 640-4110
http://www.muldoonspub.com/

Classic Burger Cafe is Just OK

Sunday afternoon, President's Day weekend, out at the Park running after a three year old all morning, it's Burger Time. I headed towards Peter's Gourmade in Tustin without really knowing why, but as I pulled up, I noticed that they are closed on Sundays. Realizing that Classic Burger Cafe is literally just around the corner, we made a right hand turn and entered the CBC (#7 apparently).





Upon entering the restaurant, the menu made my head spin with offering ranging from Breakfast served all day to pork chops to burritos to burgers. If it can be grilled, fried, or served with salsa, CBC has it.

I had high hope for the burgers given the name of the place, so I ordered a Cheeseburger for my wife ($3.25), a Western Bacon Cheeseburger (at their recommendation and with trademark infringement belonging to them, not me) for me ($4.85), and my son inexplicably wanted a Carne Asada Taco (inexplicably because he has never ordered a carne asada taco AND because he passed up things like corn dogs and chicken nuggets)($2.25). My wife asked me to get mushrooms on her burger (despite me explaining that it wasn't really a Counter-type "build your own" kind of place).

Due to the language gap, we received her cheeseburger with the standard fixings, lettuce, tomato, diced onions, and thousand island with a SIDE of FRIED MUSHROOMS. Good, but not what we expected.



Here is her burger pictured (white plate is ours, not theirs). For research purposes, I tried a quarter of it. As you can see, the burger patty is very thin and is totally overwhelmed by the condiments. It tasted pretty smoky and charred which I liked, but she didn't like the thousand island dressing.



So how was the Western Bacon Cheeseburger? As you can see, the same small burger was now dressed up with onion rings above and below it, cheese, and a drenching of tangy barbecue sauce. Did it taste good? Yes, but that is because there was a serious amount of non-burger tasty items on the bun. The burger was secondary. Was it worth $4.85? Absolutely, but I would prefer the option to pay more for a hand-formed burger patty made from fresh ground beef.

So, I know what you are wondering...how was the carne asada? Again, for research purposes, I tasted some of the taco (which was accompanied by a really good salsa verde). It was great tasting asada.

Based on all of this, would I go back to Classic Burger Cafe? Yes I would, I wouldn't go out of my way to do so, but if I was hungry and in the area, it would be worth a stop. Would I order a burger again? Probably not since the burger itself was underwhelming and the mexican food seemed to be the better option.


Classic Burger Cafe #7
15712 Tustin Village Way
Tustin, CA
(714) 667-3884

The Slopper

A blogger writes here about a Pueblo burger invention called a Slopper where a hamburger is submerged in green chili. This would be wonderful to try, but also got me thinking about trying to find the best chili size in the OC. The chili size is a unique concoction that merges two of the best comfort foods; chili and burgers. Stay tuned to see if an OC chili size can be located.

image from A Hamburger Today blog

These are a few of my favorite things...

Slashfood points out here that a Philadelphia chef is trying to draw attention to the plight of the company that makes tastykakes by serving sliders made with peanut butter tastykakes as the bun. Despite the fact that I love sliders and LOVE chocolate enrobed peanut butter tastykakes, I am not sure that this would be a good combination. I would try it though...

More Burger News

The OC Register reports that 3,170 pounds of potentially tainted ground beef and burgers have been recalled. Hopefully, this is the end of this story.

Burger News

The Fast Food Maven at the OC Register writes that Bravo Burgers will be adding a location in Mission Viejo in March. We are looking forward to sampling their Burgers.

And how could we not take this opportunity to share what looks like the best snack on tap at the party: bacon-wrapped, cream cheese-filled jalapenos. I know what you're thinking, how do I get invited to that party?!

B

Super Sunday!

In this year of the burger, how could we pass up the chance to serve burgers! And what better type of burger to serve at a Super Bowl party than sliders? This is a picture of 48, 2 oz. slider patties waiting their turn to be grilled and eaten with various number of dips, chips, crackers, etc.

B

Peter's Gourmade My Day

Outside view



Inside View



I had been hearing big things about the food coming out of a gas station in Tustin. Given the buzz of food trucks everywhere and an increased general awareness (it seems) of non-chain food options, it took me a few times hearing about it before I ventured over to Tustin to try Peter's Gourmade. Now I wish that I had tried it sooner!

The Burger

I selected the "ABC Burger" from the menu. It is described as:

ABC Burger 5.75
All-Beef Angus patty served on a toasted potato bun with lettuce, onion, tomato, Famous Dave’s Pickle Chips, ketchup, mustard & Mayo with Bacon, Fresh Avocado & Melted Cheddar Cheese.

It was INCREDIBLE! The burger texture was the single best burger I have ever had. It was the softest and most tender (not an adjective usually used with Burgers) patty I have tried.

The mayo, ketchup, mustard, avocado, and melted cheddar created a silky smooth sauce flavor and the thick and crisp bacon created a smoky and crisp counter point.

I also sampled the french fries which were simply very good. Crisp, skinny, well-cooked, and salty, they were awesome. AND, with a drink and fries added to the burger for $2 extra, it was a very good deal.

I can't wait to go back to try the Greek Fries, french fries with feta and gyro meat on top!

Peter's Gourmade Grill
15851 McFadden Blvd.
Tustin, CA
(In the Valero gas station)
Website