The Brindle Burger

Today I traded the New York Times for a couple of magazines during my Sunday coffee house ritual.  While catching up on this week's Time Out, I came across their feature on the city's best new burgers.  We all know about Burger Joint and Minetta, but apparently some newbies are tearing up the scene.  Of the 5 burgers featured in the magazine, one was easy enough for me to get to so I finished my java and headed to The Brindle Room in the East Village.

I arrived at just after 5, so there weren't many people in the dark, skinny restaurant.  Table for one!  A little weird/sad to eat by myself, but a delicious burger sounded better than take-out in my apartment and I had a good book to keep me company.  Everything looked good, but I was there for important burger research so I quickly shut the menu to avoid any distractions and ordered the burger.  Usually the burger isn't available for dinner but since it recently received all this press, it has remained a dinner special.

The chef brought the plate to my table himself and I couldn't wait to dig in.  The burger is the perfect size.  Large enough to satisfy, not so big you can't handle eating the whole thing.  The burger is made with bits of dry-aged rib eye so it tastes like a steak on a bun.  It's pan seared, so it acquires a nice, salty crust, which is balanced by the cheese of your choice and sweet caramelized onions.  It's served with a pile of thick, skin-on fries that are topped with a little sea salt.

For $13 including tax, this burger can't be beat.  I give it an A+.  Like I said, the rest of the menu looked great, but it will be hard to order anything else because I agree with Time Out; this is absolutely one of the best burgers in the city.