"Rare" Burger Is Well Done

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THANK YOU, KAREEM, and shame on me for taking so long to follow up on your advice! Kareem is a regular bar customer of mine who has been inviting me to visit (and professionally return the favor) where he bartends, using the added temptation of boasting about what great burgers they serve where he works. Well it took me over a year, but I finally, trying to effect as much thorough National Burger Month research as possible, decided to take him up on his invitation, and headed to the Murray Hill location of the ever increasingly popular Rare Bar & Grill to finally try out their wares.

I ventured to this roomy yet cozy restaurant tucked away in the ground floor corner of the Affinia Shelbourne Hotel, mid-afternoon on a Saturday (unfortunately, Kareem works nights, but I look forward to returning).

Rare Burger

I order the M&M burger (Why "M&M"? Don't know; didn't ask), which is a whiskey-flambéd burger topped with cheddar, applewood-smoked bacon, and caramelized shallots. I also order a side of truffle parmesan fries, which are about as dated a menu item as the molten chocolate "lava" cake (or even and Ambrosia salad).

Rare Bar & Grill M&M Burger

Rare Bar & Grill Truffle Fries

Rare Bar & Grill M&M Burger

The burger was delicious—a moist, juicy, and crumbly-enough-for medium rare MODEL BURGER (at its price point, what it slightly lacked in diameter was more than made up for in height) that was expertly elevated by the slightly sweet and aromatic shallots, the smoky salt of the nicely cooked bacon, and rich sharpness from the cheddar cheese. The truffle fries almost kitschy in its almost old-school quaintness, but seem to go down more and more easily with a very fresh tasting ketchup.

The burger bodes well for the rest of the menu, and if I get through the rest of National Burger Month without suffering a happily earned heart attack, I look very much forward to catching up with Kareem during his actual shift, and trying to convince him—and/or maybe myself—that I'm primarily there to visit him!

Bun Apple Tea!

KACnyc

Kerry Alaric Cheeseboro