vs.

I got into a little debate last Friday with my friend about burgers that got me thinking. He wasn’t a big fan of Ray’s Hell Burger cooked medium-rare with the au poivre preparation.  He went on to explain that he was a “burger purist,” so he’d try Ray’s again without the mish mash – Just a “real burger,” he said “cooked medium well.”  “Burgers aren’t supposed to be bloody.”

So I thought about my experience at Ray’s.  I didn’t have a medium rare or au poivre burger before then.  Usually at bars or other burger institutions if prompted I ask for the burger to be cooked medium.  It wasn’t until what I consider my “burger epiphany” at Ray’s Hell Burger that I discovered and appreciated the juicy and bloody goodness of the Ray’s Hell Burger.  After many blissful experiences, I crowned Ray’s as supreme in my books.

I made the trip to Ray’s last Saturday to introduce my dad to the ultimate burger. The convo with my friend made me order our burgers plain instead of au poivre to try the burger in its purest form. Unfortunately like my friend, my dad also didn’t get my love of the juicy medium rare patty as he picked it up, bit into it and the juices just made the patty and bun fall apart. There’s really an art form to eating the Hell Burger (a NECESSARY step is to cut the burger in half rather than tackling it whole so that you don’t make a mess).  It made me think about how I loved the burger BUT didn’t like how the bread didn’t hold up so well to the juices of the patty.  I had always pointed at the bread as the culprit.

As I watched my dad struggle with the burger it got me thinking – maybe it was the medium rare meat that was the culprit! The unpleasant soggy effect does indeed hinder the whole experience. I am a true believer that even in a burger – EVERY element of each dish should be executed perfectly on its own while combining with the other ingredients to form a perfect bite. The execution of each ingredient was perfect but the combination resulted in less than perfect results. Soggy bread doesn’t really equal a PERFECT burger, albeit the closest one to perfection.

Don’t get me wrong Ray’s Hell Burger is still the best burger I’ve ever had in spite of the bun. But maybe “Ray’s Hell” was wrong.  Maybe their medium rare recommendation is just hindering their burger from perfection.  Next time I’ll give the medium prep a try and test it out.  What are your thoughts?  How do you like your burgers?

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Hanger Steak @ Ray's

Bacon & Blue @ Ray's

My dad opted for a daily offering – the Sliced NY Strip with Mushrooms and Onions on the Side His cut was a LOT less flavorful than mine although still delicious. We savored every bite with the perfect mashed potatoes and creamed spinach that was flavorful, fresh and not too creamy to complement the steaks (and were complementary)! We also added the mac and cheese – which was buttery, and had a sharp cheddar flavor – but did not get the attention that the spinach and potatoes were getting.

The hanger steak, while usually a steal on its own at  $19.95 was part of a “Bistro Dinner” for $23.95” that included your choice of salad – blue cheese and bacon for me – and dessert – decadent silky dark chocolate mousse.  The salad was a surprisingly hearty portion with thick chunks of bacon and plenty of blue cheese tang to brighten up the crisp iceberg and ripe tomatoes! I was gently reminded to stop eating it all before I spoiled my appetite for the star of the show – a hearty portion of the TRULY DECADENT, RICH dark chocolate mousse – recommended by the waiter.  Oh how I loved the waiter after that recommendation!

A kink to the whole night was that my steak initially didn’t come out “au poivre” (my fave prep) – and the kitchen tried to trick me by bringing it back out within 5 minutes with a slathering of pepper crust… NONONO! I tend to get cranky when my food isn’t right and while tearing up the steak to find some bloody goodness, I KNEW I had to say something. 1) NO SIGNS OF RUBY meat -the steak was overcooked because they popped it back in the oven to cook; and 2) the pepper crust was cold – NOT crusted and cooked into the steak.  My smile was immediately turned upside down. Luckily the gracious manager was swift in amending this by quickly bringing me back a perfectly medium rare steak AU POIVRE. And also took 10% off my already low bill.  NOW THAT’s what wins me over and keeps loyal customers.

A huge part of the whole meal was the nice gratis touches to keep the customers happy – the spiced cashews to whet our appetite, the focaccia bread to satisfy our hunger pangs (that are aggravated as we see and smell everyone’s juicy steaks around us), and even the “tiger butter” fudge at the end that came with our checks.  Ray’s sure knows what warms the customer’s heart! And it doesn’t hurt that the whole meal for two turned out to be less than 50 dollars at the end of the day!

All in all, a fabulous meal, don’t you think?

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