Boston Magazine held their first annual Battle of the Burger last night and guess who went! This girl! And the bf too, as my guest. Anyone that knows me personally is aware of how much I love burgers of all sizes including sliders all the way up to massive burgers around town at places like Hillstone. So this event made me completely giddy!
Basically you are provided with a popsicle stick and you just hop around to each of the 20 restaurants stations, tasting all the creative burger selections. Once you make your choice for the best burger, just put your stick in the restaurants mason jar! Pretty easy right? Then they tallied up all the sticks and chose the top burger.
It really was a great night with an amazing sunset, good summer temperatures, live music, and beer stations everywhere you look. There were a few lounge areas, a photo booth, a cookbook signing, and Bliss spa employees giving arm and hand massages. Time flew by at this outdoor waterfront burger-bonanza.
But even though there was lots to do, plenty to drink (including Vitamin Water and Amstel Light), music to dance to, and corn to nosh on, the burgers were the star of the show of course. I personally was obsessed with the Sin Burger by The Blue Ox. They featured 1/2 a pound of USDA prime beef burger, applewood smoked bacon, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato and truffled mayo on a brioche bun. So good!
My other favorite (which won my vote and scored the bf a free t-shirt) was The Hillbilly Burger by Olde Magoun’s Saloon. They topped their burger with house smoked pulled pork, North Carolina coleslaw, American cheese, and a pepper vinegar BBQ sauce. It was all piled high and served on a buttered and grilled artisanal brioche roll. Pretty amazing.
Now onto the boyfriends picks. He loved the Banh Mi Burger by Bond. They took Angus beef and featured the burger with Vietnamese flavors including nuoc nam, soy, slivered garlic, scallion, jalapeno and lime zest. The burger was served on a black sesame roll with Vietnamese pork paté, srirachi aïoli, cilantro leaves, basil, mint and pickled vegetables. I think they won him over with their cocktails they served it with too. I don’t know all the ingredients involved but it featured pear vodka and basil seeds.
His vote went to Smith & Wollensky though with their Foie Gras Mushroom Ragout Burger. They featured hand ground burgers made fresh on premise from steak trimmings and served on a brioche roll with a foie gras mushroom ragout. They even gave out recipe cards for event goers to take home.
I also want to mention a couple of other burgers we found interesting and tasty. The Boston Cream Burger by Cafeteria included grass-fed beef, cheddar cheese, caramelized onions, and a habanero-radish cream cheese on a griddled bun. They gave out flip-flops to those that voted for them. Also the Saloon Burger (by Saloon) was pretty memorable, featuring grass-fed Maine ground chuck with roasted bone marrow, pickled shallots and hen of the woods mushrooms.
But the funny thing is, none of the ones that interested us or that we loved won! First place went to The Hot Mess by Boston Burger Company! Their recipe included 8 ounces of certified Angus beef and American cheese with a mixture of jalapenos, red onion, pickle bacon, homemade 1000 island dressing, shredded lettuce and sweet potato fries. Congrats to them!
[slideshow]
savorlifesflavors says
omg what a fantastic day!
mlevine3010 says
Yeah burgers and beers are pretty much a winning combo ! add in summer weather and live music and definitely a night to remember 🙂 Thanks for checking out my post !