Peanut Butter & Bacon on a Burger? Say What?
As someone who considers themselves a pretty serious foodie, I am always on the lookout for what is next and big in the heart of New York City. A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled upon this article on the website Thrillist which had a link devoted to what they thought are the five best burgers in NYC. After quickly perusing the list, the one that really caught my eye was Whitman’s “Juicy Lucy” (See above photo). It might have been my insane hunger urges, but I quickly made reservations to go to this lovely and quaint joint nestled in the East Village to test drive Ms. Lucy and see what else they had in store for my and my friend.
The place itself has an upstairs and downstairs seating. The upstairs part looks pretty similar to a ton of other burger joints out there, but I loved the downstairs part as it reminded me oddly enough of being on a ship of sorts. We were first treated to a bowl of their local pickles, to which I love as I happen to be a big pickle lover (Go ahead, “That’s What She Said”.) Each of them had a distinct taste that was tart and sour and I happened to like each one. We also split their wedge salad which tasted really fresh and had the most important topping of all toppings on it- Bacon. Anytime you infuse bacon into something it is generally a very good thing, and this wasn’t a disappointment whatsoever. So far, so good.
Then came the entrees. I of course opted to try what Thrillist described so brilliantly about their “Juicy Lucy”. This burger consisted of beef short rib, pimento cheese, caramelized onions, lettuce, tomato, spicy pickles and special sauce. Overall I thought the burger was quite tasty and the special sauce definitely added a nice zing to it. My friend tried something on a much different course, their PB&B burgers, consisted of two things you would never think would go together- peanut butter and bacon. You got that right folks- Peanut Butter on a burger. He told me that it tasted really well as he was just as shocked as I was about the flavor combination. To compliment the burgers, they served us some really great fried Kale and homemade fries, which really worked well with the meal. No complaints at this point as well.
To finish it off, they made us a ice cream cookie sandwich, and the cookies themselves were made fresh on the spot for us. As odd as this sounds, that was my favorite meal out of all of them. I love when you can taste the freshness in ingredients, especially sweets, and their cookie sandwich did not let either of us down. Overall, a 9 out of 10 in my books, adding in that the service was phenomenal to boot.
If you are ever in the east village, go ahead and try Whitman’s out. From this foodie’s perspective, as well as Thrillist’s, they are definitely one to watch out for when it comes to being one of the best burgers in Manhattan on top of so many other things. Take a look at their website for further information.
Whitman’s NYC
406 East 9th Street
212-228-8011