Atomic Burger, Arco

You never know what you might run into in America.

On the way to the Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho lies a little, nondescript town called Arco, and the chief tourist attraction of Arco is a Nuclear Reactor, the EBR 1. (It also hosts the conning tower of a decommissioned nuclear sub in the local park).

What makes the EBR 1 special? It was the first Nuclear Power Plant to generate electricity in 1951. Hence it only seems right that we sampled the Atomic Burger at Pickle's Place, the local diner.

How was the burger?

It was pretty good. It was big. The pickles tasted great. The meat was well seasoned. It was definitely better than what you'd get in a regular fast food chain.

But would I drive all the way to Arco to have it again? I don't think so.

Taste - 3.5
Value - 2.5. It was over $8 for the Atomic Cheeseburger with chips and an extra $1.50 for onion rings. That's pretty pricey for a small town diner in the middle of nowhere.
Messiness - 3.0

In-N-Out Burger, Utah

Finally. After 4 visits to Salt Lake City the time had come. Today we got to eat at a local In-N-Out!

The first In-N-Out in Utah opened in Washington, near St George in 2008, and the first two In-N-Outs on the Wasatch Front opened late 2009. But this was the first time I got to eat one locally and it was great!

The last time I ate at In-N-Out I was a bit underwhelmed. It was on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. But we'd battled traffic for hours, it was 2:30pm and we were sitting in direct sunlight and I really wasn't in the mood. This time was different.

It was only a short drive away and we sat in absolute comfort and the Double-Double was all I remember it to be.

What makes it special?

It just works. There's no tricks. There's nothing fancy about it. It's just fresh, tasty and well-balanced. And that makes it the type of burger you can keep coming back to.

Was it as tasty as the Shake Shack burger? I don't think so, but by the same token it didn't feel anywhere near as greasy and it's literally half the price.

How about Five Guys? I think the Double Double has some real competition here, but I'll need one more visit before I make up my mind.

Whatever the case, In-N-Out has to be at the top of my list of favourite fast food joints and I bought the T-shirt to prove it!

Taste - 4.5
Value - 5.0
Messiness - 4.0
I'd be a regular if there was one in Sydney!

www.in-n-out.com

Wendy's, Fruita

I wasn't keen to go back to Wendy's after the enormous disappointment the Baconator turned out to be. But here we were in Fruita, on our way to the Colorado National Monument, and it was lunch. So what could I do?

What I did was order their run of the mill burger - Dave's Hot 'N Juicy 1/4lb. Cheeseburger. Who was Dave? I don't know. But as to the hamburger - it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either.

It looked good. The ingredients were fresh. Fries were good and the Lemonade was great. But it just lacked something. It was kind of bland. Nothing really wrong with it, but nothing that would really get you back to have another one.

So I have to rate it -
Taste - 2.5
Value - 4.0. You get a lot of burger for your money.
Messiness - 4.5. Easy to eat.
Would I eat again? Not unless I had to.

www.wendys.com

Fuddruckers. A blast from the past.

We moved on from New York to Washington D.C. and were met with one of the most worst heatwaves on record. The day we arrived it was 104F or 40 degrees celcius, and it was basically like that for our whole stay.

Luckily Fuddruckers was air-conditioned!

I hadn't been to a Fuddruckers since it closed at the top of Macquarie Centre back in my Uni days and going to the one in D.C., which was in Chinatown, brought back some memories.

They claim to have the world's greatest hamburgers, and they could be great, if you knew what you were doing, because you basically have to make it yourself.

I ordered the half pounder and then when it arrived I had to add my own fillings and condiments.

I added pickles and salsa and lettuce and tomato and had all sorts of sauces to add to the mix, and while the burger was enormous and filling, it was strangely disappointing and bland.

Was it me? Was it the burger? It's hard to tell. The meat definitely wasn't as tasty as Shake Shack. But everything was fresh and there was no end to the way you could construct your burger.

Maybe too much choice can be a bad thing at times!

Taste - 3.0. Better than a regular burger, but didn't really grab me.
Value - 4.0. You get a lot of burger for $5.50.
Messiness - 4.0. It's really up to you how messy your burger is.
Would I eat it again? It'd be worth another try I think.

http://www.fuddruckers.com

Five Guys

By this stage of the trip, I was as sick as a dog. Sore throat, cough, jet lag, general malaise...but I still had room for a burger and Five Guys was supposed to be one of the best.

Unfortunately we soon discovered that their much vaunted French Fries were cooked in peanut oil and that meant sushi for Tomas. But he still got to have a go on what I think was the most advanced and sophisticated soft-drink dispenser I had ever seen. Endless variety and touch-screen as well!

Anyway, I ordered a cheeseburger 'All the way', which included Ketchup, Mustard, Mayo, Lettuce, Pickle, Tomatoes, Grilled Onions, and Grilled Mushrooms.

The verdict?

Pearl loved it. Thought it was better than Shake Shack.

I loved it as well, the burger as a whole really worked well, though I thought the meat tasted better at Shake Shack. But having said that, given my illness, I think I'll need to have another one in SLC (there's one right near by) because you need to be objective when you're reviewing burgers.

Nevertheless at this stage I would give Five Guys,

Taste - 4.0. Right up there.
Value - 4.5. $5.99 for the burger. Great value for something of that quality.
Messiness - 3.0. Quite messy given all the extras.
Would I eat it again? Definitely. I'll go and get one when I get to Salt Lake City.

For all the details,
http://www.fiveguys.com

Not really a burger...momofuku má pêche

It was coming to the end of our time in New York and there were a few more things that we needed to do.

We needed to go to the 'Met', which was amazing.

We needed to visit FAO Schwarz.

And I needed to try one of David Chang's celebrated pork buns. So off we went to momofuku má pêche.

We got there pretty late, so only the bar menu was available, and the service was pretty slow. But the food was great and the buns were the highlight.


The pork belly was melt in your mouth and everything, the cucumber, the scallions and hoi sin sauce just worked beautifully together. And to top it all off it was only $10 for two!

Having said that, we didn't end up paying outside of giving a tip. We'd told them that Tomas was allergic to dairy and they gave us a dish with dairy by accident, so they covered our bill! I guess that's one way of avoiding a law suit.

http://www.momofuku.com/restaurants/ma-peche

Shake Shack...I'm Back!

It's another two years and the Koo family are back in the US of A, and this time we're starting on the East Coast. So what else can I do but got and have a burger and where better than Shake Shack?

I asked a native New Yorker before I left where I'd find a good burger and he said I had to go to Shake Shack, so the day after I got off the plane I did.

We went to the American Musuem of Natural History, which was great, and met up with some great friends who were also in New York from Sydney, the Chans.

So what more could you ask for - a fantastic museum, good friends and burgers!

The burger itself was pretty good. The meat especially was especially tasty. I really liked it, though there was a general consensus that the bun was a bit soft and greasy.

But putting that aside, I think this burger is up there.

It's 100% Angus and ground fresh daily.

I ordered the Double Shake Shack, which was a bit pricey at $7.10 and not very large, but in the end I thought it was worth it.

How do I rate it?

Taste - Right up there 4.5
Value - 3.0
Messiness - The super soft bun doesn't help 3.0
Would I eat it again? Sure. It was great.

We went to the Shake Shack on the Upper West Side. You check out the menu, including dog treats, here:
http://www.shakeshack.com/location/upper-west-side

Living up to its name.

I really must visit some time...


SMH - Man has a heart attack eating triple bypass burger