Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Post Blais Off & TV Debut - Thank You!

As the curtain closes on what's been a whirlwind week for us at Burger Bedlam, we wanted to convey our sincere thanks to all our readers, friends and family who checked us out on Blais Off this past Friday. We had a rockin' time at Royale with some of the production crew and Royale staff while taking in our first on-screen action. A big thanks goes out to Sarah, the Manager and our Blais Off co-star, who knows just how well a shot of Jameson tastes after a burger! Another big thanks to Rev, our brother in burger pursuits, from Burger Conquest for showing up and the rest of our buddies who made it to hang with yours truly.

With all that said, it's every bit surreal as one might think to see yourself on TV.  Despite our fifteen minutes of fame, given that we try to fly under the radar when doing our reviews, we gotta think we're still safe from getting recognized (aside from the awkward stares as we take macro pictures of our burgers as we eat). Our search for the best burger in NYC will continue with a small ounce of pride in our back pockets, knowing that we did our best to represent the rest of the burger bloggers and foodies in all of us on National TV.

We leave you with the preview clip from the show, hopefully soon enough we'll be able to link the actual episode for your viewing pleasure, but for now this will have to do:



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Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Best Burger in NYC Search: Burger Bedlam's TV Debut!

Just over a year ago we at Burger Bedlam innocently started this website to document our search for the best burger in NYC. Fast forward to today, after substantial time spent blogging, countless adventures consuming burgers (good AND bad) and with your unwavering support, we have finally created a product which has allowed us to earn a reputation as...ahem...burger experts. Due to said reputation, we were contacted not too long ago by producers at the Discovery Channel's sister station, the Science Channel to take part in a show they were producing about burgers, hosted by Mr. Top Chef himself, Richard Blais. *He was runner-up, but don't sweat the important details!

So, it's with great excitement that we write today to ask you to tune in (or set your DVRs) this Friday, December 17th @ 10:30pm ET to the Science Channel HD for the 2nd episode (1st episode on pizza precedes it at 10pm) of the brand new show Blais Off with Richard Blais. We are featured quite a bit throughout the show and hopefully they didn't edit out some of our glorious commentary - the word juxtaposition was used once - or our artful bites into each burger with bacon hanging out of our mouths. Plus, we'd love to have you share in the first (and likely most non-camera ready/awkward) of our TV appearances.

For those of you in the NYC area that would like to come hang for a viewing party hosted at Royale (where filming was done) with us, below are the details. The producers have warned that it may get quite crowded, so come early. We plan on getting there by 9pm.

Friday, December 17th
Royale (our review is linked)
10th Street & Avenue C
(212) 254-6600

Thanks for all your support!

Cheers,
Brett & Kyle

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Friday, December 10, 2010

Attention: The Ridiculously Good Looking Burger Bedlam Logo

As some of you may have noticed, Burger Bedlam has a fancy new logo and banner adorned on the site, our Facebook profile and Twitter account. Thanks to our good buddy Stefan Lawrence whom we found after admiring his work on the awesome men’s style blog, Put This On, our site has taken on a more complete look. As such, we felt it necessary to dedicate a blog post to him for all his hard work. Finally able to shed a bit of the “blog” feel and turn the corner to a cleaner, more composed theme, we’re grateful to Stefan and his talents. Best of all, aside from his creative ingenuity, he’s blessed with the same love of burgers as yours truly…how fitting. So, thank you Stefan, searching for the best burger in NYC just got that much more really really ridiculously good looking!

Follow Stefan on his Twitter account here and check his other creations and contact him via his website here.

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Monday, December 6, 2010

Best Burger in NYC Search: Bill's Bar & Burger

 22 9th Avenue (cross of W. 13th St.)
(212) 414-3003
Burger: The Fat Cat Burger ($7.95) 

Since it’s auspicious opening back in October of 2009 at its Meatpacking District location (a second opened in Rockefeller Center this year), Bill’s Bar & Burger has become quite a contender on the best burger in NYC landscape. Boasting rave reviews from a multitude of authorities on the burger scene, we unquestionably had to garner a vote of the now extremely popular burger palace. Bearing a Miraclean griddle (finger point to AHT for the reference) and utilizing the “smashing technique” which Shake Shack so famously applies, it’s easy to understand how quickly Bill’s was able to manufacture a contingent of regulars. Some have gone as far as calling Bill’s burgers the answer to Shake Shack, so justifiably, we were anxious to have a bite.

Our Expectations: The Fat Cat Burger. A 5 ounce, hand-pressed secret-blend patty care of whom else – Pat LaFrieda. Toppings consist of caramelized onions, American cheese, lettuce, tomato and dill pickles all on a toasted English Muffin. We went with what our server (and many reviews) called the best of the bunch on Bill’s menu, aside from the popular Classic option.

The Burger

Meat: We sound like a broken record by now, but it’s hard to beat a Pat LaFrieda blended patty. We’ve tasted quite a few, but Bill’s deserves credit as being a quintessential world beater from the wildly popular meat purveyor. Nicely seared with a crisp edge and salty yet savory seasoning, the meat was awfully tasty. Though, with a smashed burger come some detractors. Namely, the temperature of the patty lacks accuracy and often heavily skews toward the medium to medium well side despite an order of medium rare. Still, Bill’s was able to produce enough juiciness to keep us content. However, we’d love a slightly larger patty, with 6-7 ounces consistently keeping us more satisfied.


Toppings: Nothing spectacular but we didn’t expect much with the commonly used onions, LTP (lettuce, tomato, pickles) and American cheese. Regardless, the cheese melted to our liking, coating the patty like a warm blanket. The onions were nice but quite greasy, almost to the point of overpowering the meat. A little less grease and slightly more crunch would make for a better addition.


Bun: The English Muffin is an admirable touch to Bill’s Fat Cat, and it provides unique flavor to every bite. It covers the patty naturally with great proportions and kept the juices intact as we devoured. Though, the muffins were slightly over done and a bit tough to bite through – making us question their freshness. We had the same problem with Royale during our review, and we know how that one turned out. In both cases it might have just been an off day or an aberration so we can give Bill’s the benefit of the doubt in this instance…maybe. As far as English Muffins go, they may want to check out Zaitzeff for the perfect muffin (Portuguese).


Bedlam's Bill’s Bar & Burger Judgment

Meat (47): Insane flavor and a beautiful char, the patty was the clear standout during our experience, an important factor in our rating system. LaFrieda keeps pumpin’ out the best blends around, and Bill’s blend is no joke.

Toppings (19): Just a bit above average with good cheese but fairly heavy caramelized onions. We’d like sweeter with more crunch rather than oily and somewhat too soggy.

Bun (20): Success in terms of bun to burger ratio as well as pleasant taste and functionality. The freshness and toasting execution was off though, so we hope to come back sometime for a better batch of muffins.

Ranking: 86 out of 100