Burger & Barrel
25 W. Houston Street, SoHo, NY
You know what happens when a chef at a popular seafood restaurant wins Food & Wine Festival’s Burger Bash? Naturally, said chef opens his own burger joint. Burger & Barrel is the new burger establishment from Lure Fishbar chef Josh Capon. Capon took the burger crown in 2009 and has since been serving it on Lure’s menu. When demand became overwhelming, expansion was the obvious move. We had a hunch going in that we were going to feel this place, but Burger & Barrel delivered the goods at an even higher level than expected.
When I first saw the photos of this place, I rolled my eyes. Wine glasses and perfectly folded napkins on the table at a burger den? I was a bit skeptical of an upscale burger shop they’re calling a “winepub,” blatantly catering to the Soho demo. The joke is on me for judging a book by its cover. B&B is as serious about their meat as they are about their wine, which is respectable. Despite the fact that they barrel their own wines and serve them on tap, I’m still drinking a beer with my burger while Listening to Black Eyed Peas Mash Ups. Who’s programming the music here? It needs help.
As we suspected, the burgers are all excellent – the game winning bash burger is the best new burger we’ve tasted all year, and the menu is stocked with all kinds of goodness including an awesome Sloppy Joe burger, the hush-hush (not on the menu), very expensive Truffle Burger, a bunch of tasty apps and, the biggest surprise, the incredible Fried Chicken. Hill Country Chicken could learn a thing or two.
After this thoroughly enjoyable experience, we have a feeling that we’ll be revisiting the Lure Party Boat in the near future for a re-review.
Photo Credit: Daniel Krieger/Eater.com
Food Rundown:
Braised Short Rib Tacos
Really good, but a little on the expensive side. Two small tacos for ten bucks? Up that ante to three tacos for ten bucks, and we’re in business. Don’t order these if you don’t like spicy, these tacos pack some heat.
Chicken Lollipops
These were a big hit – the smokey ancho chile BBQ sauce does it up real nice. B&B needs to make actual buffalo wings too, in the same sauce and deliver to my apartment in the East Village please. I’d order them every Sunday for football and they would likely be the best wings in all of Manhattan (which, in case you haven’t heard us bitch about it, has no good wings).
Bash Style Burger
Not too big and not too small, Capon’s burgers are perfectly sized. The fourteen dollar Bash Burger is all kinds of juicy and served on a really nice brioche bun with caramelized onion, bacon jam (YES), pickles and American cheese. It’s incredible. Make sure you ask for the secret sauce with it too.
Sloppy Josh
A Sloppy Joe burger of the highest order, served with special sauce and cole slaw. Being the cole slaw freak that I am, I thoroughly enjoyed this non-traditional burger. For something that was supposed to be so sloppy, the sandwich actually held itself together pretty well and wasn’t a mess to eat. Check the Twitpic for a visual
B&B Classic
If bacon jam isn’t your thing, go with the classic. Another great burger served with lettuce, tomato, American cheese and pickles.
Truffle Burger
We haven’t actually tried this off the menu delicacy yet, but a couple of our friends have and say it’s absolutely ridiculous.
Fried Chicken
We were expecting an amazing burger, which we got. We weren’t expecting equally incredible fried chicken too. Wow, this stuff is up there with some of our favorites and deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Blue Ribbon, Pies ‘n’ Thighs, The Commodore and The Redhead among others. Look at it, it’s beautiful. The secret behind this incredibly moist meat? Capon uses Cornish hen instead of chicken.
Fries/Onion Rings
Onion Rings come standard on top of every burger, which always wins brownie points in our book. These O-Rings are great – big and super crispy. Also, we’d suggest going sweet potato fries over regular fries.
Spiked Shake
Vanilla Ice Cream and Makers Mark Bourbon blended with caramel sauce, check it out. Oh yes.
Dessert
We sampled a good amount of the sweet options and can safely say that, while everything we had was definitely enjoyable, most notably the Apple Fritters with vanilla Anglaise dipping sauce and Chocolate Chip Banana Cream Pie with whipped cream and chocolate chips, don’t feel like you HAVE to order any. Stick with the Spiked Shake and you’ll be a happy camper.
