Vegan Food Review: The Impossible Burger

Details: Had the Impossible Burger at the Bareburger at 366 W 46th St, New York, NY 10036. Official site is https://www.impossiblefoods.com/burger/

There’s been a lot of hype for the Impossible Burger. Is it worth the hype? Sort of.

Restaurant Review: Five Guys Burgers and Fries

Details: I went to the one near Rockerfeller Center in New York City, but there are lots of locations all over the city. Official site is http://www.fiveguys.com/

So I’ve reviewed a number of fast casual burger places and it’s about time to review this place. Five Guys is burger and fries place that also serves hot dogs. The main difference between this place and the others in New York City are that they serve boxes of peanuts for free, many of the toppings are free (not bacon), and the style of their fries is a little different.

When I come here, I normally order a cheeseburger all the way (has all of their free toppings) and an order of their fries, either Cajun or regular. The burger is about as good as a Shake Shack burger or slightly worse. The fries however, are probably the best fries out of all fast casual burger places in this price range. They are thick cut and fried as their ordered. You can get some Cajun spices sprinkled onto it or just have the regular old salt. What I love about Five Guys is that after they put your order into a brown paper bag, they then take a scoop of more fries and dump it into the bag. This turns the bag into a greasy mess, but it’s nice that they give you more than enough fries than is necessary. Normally, I have trouble polishing off a regular sized order of fries.

The price for a cheese burger all the way and an order of regular fries is around fifteen dollars. That puts the price at just about the same range as Shake Shack.

So which is better? Shake Shack or Five Guys? I would say that Shake Shack has slightly better hamburgers, while Five Guys has far better fries. So, either is all right depending on what your feeling.

Score: 6.5/10

Restaurant Review: Hendricks

Details: Located at 557 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10016. Official site is http://www.hendriksnyc.com/

The website of Hendricks says “High Quality Ingredients.” Well, even if the ingredients were high quality, the food wasn’t that good.

Came here with a friend. I ordered the lamb meatloaf which came with mashed potatoes and vegetables. My friend ordered the black Angus burger that came with fries and garlic mayo.

The burger was good he said, as were the fries. My vegetables and mashed potatoes were good. The meat loaf was pretty terrible. It tasted like a loaf of the gyro meat you’d get from a halal cart off the side of the street, which wasn’t what I wanted. It was pretty shit.

The waitress was nice. The interior was also nice.

Score: 4/10 I thought a bit about how I felt about this place and I’ve concluded that this place was not great. I feel like I ordered the wrong thing and that there is better stuff on the menu. However, they put that meat loaf on the menu and should stand by it. Accordingly, this place gets a four out of ten.

Restaurant Review: The Spotted Pig (West Village, NYC)

Came here for lunch. Was worried there would be a line since this place has a Michelin star, but luckily, we got a table in ten minutes.

The decor was interesting and kind of eclectic. It’s a pub.

Service was very helpful and nice.

We ordered the favorites: hamburger with shoestring fries, the chicken liver toast, the deviled eggs, and the roll mops (pickled herring). Everything was fine. Only thing that stuck out was the chicken liver toast, which was very good. If you like liver.

Score: 7.0/10 

Official site: http://www.thespottedpig.com/#home

Restaurant Review: Shake Shack

Details: Located at Madison Square Park, Madison Ave & E.23rd St, New York, NY 10010, among other locations. Official site is https://www.shakeshack.com/

Shake Shack has long since become an institution in Manhattan. Many people claim that it is the best burger in New York City. I don’t think it’s the best, but it is pretty good and it’s always fun to head out to Washington Square Park and have a burger on a sunny day.

There are multiple locations for Shake Shack and deciding which one is the best is debatable. The best Shake Shack burger I ever had was in the Upper West Side location on 77th Street. Unfortunately, they serve the skinny, un-rippled fries which are pretty lousy. Accordingly, the best Shake Shack in my opinion would be the one in Washington Square Park because they have the crispy rippled fries I prefer. The burger are pretty decent there as well and they have the Park Burger exclusively at this location. It’s nothing extraordinary, just a burger with bacon and cheese sauce.

I enjoy everything on their menu. The Shack Burger, the Shack-cago Dog, the Frozen Custard, it’s all good. It is more expensive than McDonald’s, but it’s appropriately priced considering the demand this city has for Shake Shack.

Score: 7.8/10 Good place for a burger and to hang out. Just prepare yourself for the lines. There are always lines for this place and you will usually wait around thirty minutes to an hour if you go during peak times.