Battle of the Decadent Burgers

[muon]

While I've been meaning to sample the DB Burger for quite some time -- this latest salvo in burger decadence just sounds, well, silly.

From today's pagesix:

Burger deluxe

"THE World's Most Decadent Hamburger" has come to New York. Served at the Old Homestead in - where else? - the Meatpacking District, the $41 sandwich is made of "hand-massaged, beer-fed" kobe beef, "lobster mushrooms" and micro greens on a parmesan twist roll. "It's the world's most incredible beef," boasts owner Marc Sherry. "Each cattle is hand-massaged and beer-fed, so when the meat is slaughtered the fat content and marbling is very high." The fatty feast is costlier than Manhattan's previous record-holders, the $29 dinnertime burger at '21' and the $27 DB Burger at DB Bistro Moderne.

This just sounds like a really expensive Big Mac, while the DB Burger sounds inventive and worth trying. Anyone feel differently; and/or has anyone sampled both?

[paw]

Actually, you've got it backwards. I had the kobe burger at Old Homestead for lunch today. Yes, it is decadent (and I mean that in the traditional sense, before it started getting applied to chocolate chip cookies). Yes, it is sickeningly expensive. Yes, I felt oddly guilty about eating it, and I didn't know i had the Guilt gene. And yes, the thing is too damn big. Four of us ordered it, all healthy young men, and nobody could finish it. I'd have to guess that you're getting close to a pound of beef. And the kitchen makes the patties way too thick--an inch and a half minimum--so there's no way to cook them evenly. All four of us asked for medium rare, but the done-ness of the meat varied widly; mine was brown throughout, somebody else's was bloody-raw in the center.

Nevertheless. This was one extremely delicious burger. Juicy (all that fat!), very flavorful, and well seasoned (decent salt level, although I think I tasted something less welcome in the mix, like steak sauce? not sure). I kicked the microgreens to the side of the plate where they belonged. Ditto the lobster mushrooms. Just beef and bun for me, and after eating half the burger, I gave up on the bun, too. It was just taking up valuable stomach space.

The db burger, on the other hand, is a press release masquerading as a meal. I've had plenty of good things at db, so it's clear the kitchen knows right from wrong. I have to conclude the burger is just a gimmick.

[Haggis]

I'd have to guess that you're getting close to a pound of beef.

20 ounces according to Channel 5 News which had a nice report about it tonite.

[vengroff]

All four of us asked for medium rare, but the done-ness of the meat varied widly; mine was brown throughout, somebody else's was bloody-raw in the center.

If the kitchen can't produce a consistent level of doneness even within the same order, someone should be fired. They're just wasting expensive ingredients. I would have sent them all back.

The db burger, on the other hand, is a press release masquerading as a meal.

At least db knows what medium rare means.

[Bux]

I'm not much of a fan of steak houses and I am a fan of Daniel Boulud, but it seems to me that the db burger (which I've had) is decadent in the sense that it's over refined and indulgent. I've not had, nor am I tempted to try more of the best meat money can buy than a grown man can or would care to eat at sitting, poorly cooked on a bun. It seems decadent in the sense of moral decline and an expression of vulgarity. Unlike db's well crafted burger the Homestead gimmick seems designed for publicity and conspicuous consumption.

[bpearis]

In the 1/15 NY Times, Ed Levine calls the $41 monstrosity "genuinely lousy, a mushy, gray thing of loose consistency and little flavor."

Edited January 15, 2003 by bpearis (log)

[TheBoatMan]

Appears DB is trying to up the ante in the burger war with his trumped up troufle burger...

*edited to omit material posted in violation of copyright*

[chopjwu12]

Let me start of by saying i thought the 41 dollar kobe beef burger was one of the stupidest things ive ever seen. But to follow that with a 50 dollar truffle burger almost tops it. Kobe beef should in no shape or form be ground. Thats a perfectly good way to throw a nice product down the shiter. I think i can understand the truffle thing a little more but i dont think its a good idea. Whatever happene dto a nice ratio to fat and beef burger. Thats more my thing.

[cabrales]

Perhaps this is telling about me rather than about the db truffle burger, but I am quite interested in the black truffle burger at db. Since the regular db burger is almost $30, the $50 price reflects a $20 increase only for fresh black truffles. (Note I don't know if I'll have time to sample the burger, but I will try.)

I took in the regular db burger earlier this week (before the Wednesday NYT article), and will be able to recall the taste to compare it when I take in the black truffle burger. My dining companion and I agreed that the black truffle effect which is supposed to be a component of the existing db burger and which is described in the name of such burger could not be meaningfully detected in the taste of such burger.

Edited January 16, 2003 by cabrales (log)

[chopjwu12]

I agree when i had the original DB burger i didn't tast truffle. I saw it there but i think they were canned truffles that taste alot liek olives and not truffles. I would imagine you will be able to taste truffle in the new one. I think its interesting and all but i can find something better to spend my hard earned 50 bucks on.

[ngatti]

Before I pass judgement, I have to think that when people see "Kobe", they think strip loin, rib, and tenderloin. There must be *less marketable* cheaper (relative term) cuts that could be ground into chopped meat *and* remain guilt free. No doubt expensive but hey the meat from the chuck may be expensive for chuck, but it's still chuck. I don't think grinding these cuts is so decadent.

edit: It's a big cow

Nick

Edited January 17, 2003 by ngatti (log)

[tommy]

it just seems ridiculous. a 40 dollar burger is decandent by definition. grinding up kobe beef (is it really from kobe? or perhaps the US) for a 40 dollar burger is ridiculous. the reviews not being stellar are suggesting that it's just ridiculous. it's all ridiculous.

the question then becomes: is "kobe chuck" anything special, after grinding and half-assed cooking.

the answer, in the context of this burger, seems to be "no."

[macrosan]

Sorry, but I steadfastly refuse to ridicule this $40 Kobeburger. Well not until after I've tried it, anyway

[cabrales]

With all respect, I fail to see why a $50 black truffle burger is any more decadent or guilt-inducing than a $50 entree at another restaurant. There is nothing fundamental about a burger that to me renders the utilization of black truffles with it particularly decadent. Yes, there are much less expensive burgers and truffles are not normally shaved and included in burgers. However, why does that make a $50 burger inappropriately priced?

Note I rarely experience any guilt when it comes to dining or other decisions about how I allocate resources.

[tommy]

i think cabrales is right. truffles, for the sake of truffles, when you can't taste them, isn't decadent. it's just stupid.

[cabrales]

tommy -- The truffles in the pre-existing ($28 or 29?) db burger could not be meaningfully tasted. No member has yet reported on the "new" $50 black truffle shaved db burger.

[Wilfrid]

They are getting national publicity with these stunts/dishes. NBC Today covered the Old Homestead burger yesterday and the dB burger this morning. I can't tell you what the verdict was. Katie Couric made a comment of such banal idiocy about her arteries that I was forced to switch back to Despierta America, where at least the inanity is intentional.

[tommy]

i'm pretty sure i won't taste 21 extra dollars worth of truffles, considering the lack of truffle flavor in his first creation. some people "throw money at their problems," while DB seems to throw truffles.

separately, a good portion of society would consider *any* 50 entree "decadent." when it's called a "burger" at 50, it fits the profile of "decadent." subjectively speaking of course.

[cabrales]

i'm pretty sure i won't taste 21 extra dollars worth of truffles, considering the lack of truffle flavor in his first creation.

Well, $21 dollars doesn't buy that much fresh black truffle. However, the *fresh* black truffles would presumably be presented in shavings/slices. I do not know whether the pre-existing burger had shavings/slices as the method for including black truffles, or what black truffles were included.

I don't subjectively consider a $50 entree (in the sense of a principal dish) decadent. I've paid that much for an appetizer on many occasions in France. It depends on the level of cuisine inhering in what I receive.

Edited January 17, 2003 by cabrales (log)

[Wilfrid]

The existing burger allegedly incorporates truffles, but has no shavings. The picture on the Today show this morning, which made Katie concerned for her health, indicated liberal shavings. Since a small black truffle can set you back sixty bucks, the price doesn't seem unfair. I could be persuaded that creating the dish in the first place is decadent, but it'd be harder to sell it much cheaper.

[TheBoatMan]

Before I pass judgement, I have to think that when people see "Kobe", they think strip loin, rib, and tenderloin.  There must be *less marketable* cheaper (relative term) cuts that could be ground into chopped meat *and* remain guilt free.  No doubt expensive but hey the meat from the chuck may be expensive for chuck, but it's still chuck.  I don't think grinding these cuts  is so decadent.

edit:  It's a big cow

Nick

You can see on lobels web site that they sell many cuts of Wagyu, their version of Kobe beef....

Their wagyu ground beef can be had for a mere 17.00 a pound

Wagyu Filet Mignon - Wagyu Tenderloin Roast - Wagyu Chateaubriand Roasts - Wagyu Boneless Strip Steaks -Wagyu Center Cut Sirloin - Wagyu London Broil - Wagyu Skirt Steak - Wagyu Boneless Rib Steaks - Wagyu Boneless Rib Roast - Wagyu Brisket - Wagyu Short Ribs - Wagyu Pot Roast - Wagyu Beef for Stew - Wagyu Ground Beef

[cabrales]

Have other members detected how black truffles were incorporated into the pre-existing $29 db burger?

Edited January 17, 2003 by cabrales (log)

[Wilfrid]

They were in the patty, not shaved on top. But in almost indiscernible quantities. Or are you saying they weren't there?

[cabrales]

Wilfrid -- I am not suggesting the black truffles are not in the existing burger. I was asking where they were in the burger. You seem to believe that the black truffles were inside the patty (i.e., ground up and included in the beef or in a discrete part of the inside of the patty, like the foie)?

[Rail Paul]

National Public Radio had a feature article about the Old Homestead burger on Weekend Edition Saturday. Pre-recorded piece as the reporter was in the restaurant, eating the burger.

Reporter Brooke Gladstone described the burger (medium rare) as "slightly gelatinous" in the center. Wasn't greatly impressed. Liked the fries though, and intended to take the remains of the burger home to her dog, or to her boss, whichever got there first.

Tone of the piece was a slightly arch view of decadence in the big city. Should be on the NPR website later today.