The Golden State Cafe -- Los Angeles CA

426 N Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 60306
The Golden State Cafe Website

The burger busting adventure began with taking Happy Meal to the LACMA only to discover that the children’s museum was closed. Living in a cash strapped state is not always awesome. They gave us a free pass to the other museums, but it was a fool’s errand. Rodin, Rauschenberg, Hockney, Pollock, and Japanese netsuke collections simply failed to get anything more than a lukewarm response out of a 7-year old.

Off to The Golden State for a burger. The thrill of driving down Fairfax and seeking parking on a Saturday around noon was that one discovered how well everyone else’s horn works, and then one had the opportunity to show others their middle finger.

We ordered 2 The Burgers Med Rare and with nothing on them but the aged Cheddar. We ordered at the register and then seated ourselves. I found the tip line on the receipt curious considering that no service had yet been rendered.

After about 10 minutes, two picture perfect burgers showed up at our table. Just a tiny hint (not quite enough) of beef funk, the seasoning was spot on, and the burgers were juicy. I never once felt the need for salt or mustard. Meat : Bun ratio was skewed slightly in favor of the brioche. This was almost exactly the same as the bun that the WORLD’S BEST BURGER came on at Olives in Vegas. The burger at The Golden State was 1.5 ounces lighter, so the ratio was a little off when judged against the Olives Burger.

While the grind was a little fine, the meat was perfectly pattied and not over-manipulated, so the mouth feel was crumbly rather than mealy.

This burger flirted with greatness—at a 10 dollar price point, it is the current king of the second tier of burgerdom. Dry aged beef in lieu of wet aged beef and a slightly larger portion would push this burger from tier two to tier one, and it would also bump up the price. It was probably priced just right for its Fairfax location and target market.

The fries were just plain great—standard cut and nice and crispy—well-seasoned.

The Burger Breakdown... 

• Med Rare---close enough
• Grilled not griddled-HUGE difference..griddling is better.
• Sear—nearly non-existent
• Seasoning—hell yes
• Bun—egg washed brioche from Rockenwagner
• Blend--rib meat and chuck with wet-aged, rib fat cut back in.
• Grind—fine, but this worked out for this burger.
• The staff—burger geeks just like the guys at Umami—it’s always a treat to geek out over niche food with those skilled in the art.

Things to skip:
• The aoli—it’s like tarragon flavored tartar sauce—keep it away from your burger.
• Curry ketchup---ketchup in general doesn’t belong on the burger.

Burger Review -- Close to being a truly marvelous burger..prepared with care and skill but just short of the mark.


Rating...4 Bites

Continental Burgers -- Diamond Bar, CA

233 Gentle Springs Lane
Diamond Bar, CA 91765

Happy Meal and I drove to meet Ugly Bag of Mostly Water in Diamond Bar. He was visiting Riverside, CA from FL, and Diamond Bar was the halfway point. Besides, Continental Burgers got a kickass review on Yelp.  That's right...TheBurgerBusters will fly all the way across the continent just to sample a burger.  We have unlimited funds and amazing health insurance.  Ugly Bag of Mostly Water has been having a monthly RotoRooter-type service for both his coronary arteries and his colon for about 4 years now.  Oh, they use the same hose, because he is just that tough.

Keep in mind that it was 103 degrees in Diamond Bar, CA, and Continental Burgers did not have the AC working, so it was also103 degrees inside Continental Burgers.  On the plus side, the toy vending machines in there had stuff that you wouldn't find elsewhere---my favorite was the "Limited Edition" Cholo figurines (Homies)--no kidding. 

I got the double cheeseburger, since the patties looked to be thin enough to shave with.

The burger patties were unseasoned, preformed patties with a low fat content.  The burgers were grilled hard--a little too hard.  The burgers showed up at about the temperature of the surface of the sun. At least the cheese was melted properly.  The char from the grill gave the whole works a backyard BBQ, smoky favor, so that was nice. The beef was finely ground, and the texture was a little rubbery. This suggested that the beef had been frozen

What was odd, was that this joint served Mexican food, so they griddled plenty of chorizo that day (it was on the menu), and that was where burgers should have been cooked--on the griddle in a pool of salty, orange, chorizo fat. 

The gooey, American cheese and untoasted bun sort of saved the burger in terms of moisture, since a toasted bun would have turned this into a giant dust bunny.

Sadly, the cheese did not get enough salt into the mix, so mustard and salt were needed to save this bad boy from complete blandness.

Somehow, this thing ended up being crazy filling and pretty satisfying.  It was a lot like the burger at Jim's Burger Haven in Denver, CO, but it was grilled instead of griddled.  The standard, seeded burger bun was generally pleasant and nutty big and flat.

The Yelpers were completely crazy over the fried zucchini--Ugly Bag of Mostly Water and I agreed that it was nothing to write home about.

Burger Review --This burger was pretty good--not awesome.

Rating...3 Bites 

Breadbar -- Century City, CA

Century City Mall
10250 Santa Monica Blvd
Century City, CA 90067
BreadBar Website 

Today's offering comes from Breadbar in the Century City Mall in LA.  Fellow Busters and I settled on Breadbar since it was the only place that we hadn't been to yet and that we didn't already hate.

Strikes against:

• Overcooked--Med Rare request came out Med Well
• Top Bun--only vaguely toasted
• Sear--Mediocre
• Cheese--Unmelted
• Plate--Cool to the touch
• Seasoning--Flakes of sea salt on the burger--too much--the grit was not appropriate.
• Grind--too fine

Now, in spite of all this, the burger was probably the best burger in the area.

• The meat was juicy and flavorful--not enough to overcome the saltiness--it tasted of Angus and blood with a little pepper.
• The meat:bun ratio was right where it needed to be.  The bun looked daunting and dry, but it compressed and yielded properly.
• The cheese, in spite of not being melted, provided a nice complement in terms of flavor and texture.
• The patty was probably pre-formed based on the rubbery edges, but the quality of the beef rose above the abusive handling and preparation.

Burger Review -- A completely flawed burger in terms of preparation, which almost succeeded in spite of the incompetence of the kitchen staff.

Rating...3 Bites

Untested Burger Recipe

I just found this, and from a protein biochemistry standpoint, this recipe is flawless.

I'd skip the sauce and the onions, though.

By J. M. HIRSCH
AP Food Editor

OLD-FASHIONED
BURGERS WITH
CLASSIC SAUCE
Start to finish: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 4
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon ketchup
1/2 teaspoon sweet pickle relish
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
10 ounces sirloin steak tips , cut into 1-inch
chunks
6 ounces boneless beef short ribs, cut into
1-inch chunks
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, divided
4 soft hamburger buns
1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
4 slices American cheese
Thinly sliced onion

To prepare the classic sauce, in a small bowl whisk together the mayonnaise, ketchup, relish,
sugar, vinegar and black pepper. Set aside.

To prepare the burgers, place the steak and rib chunks on a baking sheet in a single layer,
leaving 1/2 inch of space around each chunk. Freeze the meat until very firm and starting to
harden around edges but still pliable, 15 to 25 minutes.

Place half of the meat in a food processor and pulse until it is coarsely ground, 10 to 15 quick
pulses, stopping and redistributing the meat around bowl as necessary to ensure the beef is
evenly ground. Transfer the meat to the baking sheet, overturning the bowl and without directly
touching meat. Repeat grinding with remaining meat.

Spread the meat over sheet and inspect carefully, discarding any long strands of gristle or large
chunks of hard meat or fat.

Gently separate the ground meat into 4 equal mounds. Without picking up the meat, use your
fingers to gently shape each mound into a loose patty 1/2 inch thick and 4 inches in diameter,
leaving the edges and surface ragged. Season the top of each patty with salt and pepper. Using a
spatula, flip the patties and season the other side. Refrigerate.

In a heavy-bottomed 12-inch skillet over medium, melt 1/2 tablespoon of the butter until foaming.
Add the bun tops, cut-side down, and toast until light golden brown, about 2 minutes. Repeat with
remaining butter and bun bottoms. Set buns aside and wipe out the skillet with paper towels.
Return the skillet to high heat. Add the oil and heat until just smoking. Using a spatula, transfer
the burgers to the skillet and cook without moving for 3 minutes. Flip the burgers over and cook
for 1 minute. Top each patty with a slice of cheese and continue to cook until the cheese is
melted, about 1 minute longer.

Transfer the patties to the bun bottoms and top with onion. Spread 2 teaspoons of burger sauce
on each bun top. Cover burgers and serve immediately.

This is a recipe from Chris Kimball