If you like Five Guys, You will Love These Burgers

Ah, the hamburger.  The fast food staple that has come to define American cuisine to people around the world.  So greasy, so fatty, yet so delicious that I really can't resist doing another post about it.

This post, however, is going to be a little different from my post about Backyard Bistro.  Today I am going to talk about this wonderful restaurant called BurgerFi.  It is a chain based out of Fort Lauderdale that uses all organic ingredients to make their burgers, fries, onion rings, hot dogs, and frozen custard.  I would describe it as a Five Guys for those who enjoy shopping at Whole Foods and the Fresh Market.  The difference isn't that noticeable, but it's the little things that make BurgerFi a better option for burger lovers like myself.

Excuse the picture's awkward orientation.  Just look at the burger.

Let's start with the burger itself.   It was not an enormous burger; it was about the size of my fist, and I have a pretty small fist, so that's saying something.  Once you bite into it, however, you forget that it's not that big.  The meat was cooked perfectly, and all of the condiments complemented each other quite nicely.  I ordered a bacon cheeseburger with white Cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, pickles, mayo, and ketchup, and it was rather delightful.  The cheddar went well with the burger, moreso than the American cheese, which had the consistency of a Kraft Single (just don't order that.  If you go with anything else, you are good).  The bacon was nice and crunchy, the lettuce and tomato were fresh, and the pickles had a homemade texture that really added something special to the burger.

Now I shall talk about the bun.  The way that they cut it, it functions more as a pocket holding everything together than a bookend for the insides, which makes it easier to eat and pretty darn adorable.  On top of that, they brand the top, which makes it a little steamy, in turn making it soft and fluffy.  It serves its purpose well.

One thing that I will say about this burger is that the grilled onions are a little sweet.  You can see in the picture that they are almost brown, which tells me that they are very caramelized, which is either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your taste buds.  I personally could have done without them, as typically when I grill onions, I make sure to sear them just a little bit so that you get rid of the bitter raw onion taste while still maintaining the actual onion flavor.  Other than that and it's size, it's not a bad deal.  It's also relatively inexpensive, as it cost me about $6.

I have to comment on the fries and the onion rings, because they are far too delicious to ignore.  The fries are remarkable, just crispy enough on the outside and soft enough on the inside to rank them high on the list of the best fries I've eaten.  The inside has a baked potato-like consistency, which may sound a little gross, but is actually really delicious and interesting.  The thick grains of salt also added to the flavor of the fries, just adding the needed zest here and there that the fries themselves lacked.

As for the onion rings, as you can see below, they were thick, and the batter really blew me away.  A slight hint of beer flavor really made this batter, and the firmness also made them easier to eat than other onion rings that I have had in the past.  There isn't much to say about them other than that.

Look at those.  My mouth is watering a little just thinking about them.

Another really interesting thing about this restaurant is that they serve frozen custard and concretes similar to those of the popular local chain called Goodberry's.  I'm not a huge Goodberry's fan, due to the fact that you have to load it with condiments in order to get rid of the custard's odd aftertaste, which can be expensive and undesirable.  In the case of BurgerFi custard, there is no aftertaste, which means that I could get a small serving without having to pay for loads of other stuff to put in it.  Yay!  I ordered a small Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip frozen custard, which was really, really delicious.  It tasted like a creamy pumpkin pie with bits of crust and chocolate chips mixed in.  Needless to say, it was pretty incredible.

BurgerFi gives Five Guys a run for its money, using fresh, organic ingredients that really add to the flavor of everything on the menu.  It's not that expensive, and in my opinion, is better than Five Guys for this reason.  Give this place a try.  You won't regret it.

Wait. Let me get this straight. The Chinese Restaurant's Specialty is Korean Food?

Hey there everyone!  I'm sorry that I haven't posted in a while--with classwork and college applications, I barely get time out of my day to write any more.  However, that doesn't mean that I don't have anything coming up in the near future!  I've had some interesting experiences within the past couple of months, some disappointing and some not, and I will be sharing them with you promptly.  So stay tuned!

Ok.  So we shall start out with a bit of an anomaly.  It was a Saturday night, it was raining, and we were hungry, so of course, the logical thing to do is to drive forty minutes out into Durham to have some soup. (I know, "what is a logic?" But I'm getting to it, don't worry)

Like I said, it was raining, and we get to this little hole in the wall Chinese restaurant called China Express at the intersection of highways 55 and 54.  There was an Indian restaurant next door that appeared to be closed, and we ran inside to avoid getting wet.

The place looks, basically, like any other Chinese restaurant.  However, unlike other Chinese restaurants, it has a dark secret.  It specializes in...

Korean Noodle Bowls.

I know what you're thinking.  Really?  A "Chinese" place that specializes in Korean Noodle Bowls?  What is going on here?

Well, we ordered some Chinese appetizers, and after noting that they were mediocre at best, I ordered the Jan Pong, a spicy seafood, meat, and vegetable soup that was well hidden on the menu on the back (just kidding.  It was the first item on the back of the menu.  I plead guilty).  But it was seriously delicious.

You can't really tell from this picture, but this was a LOT of food.  

Don't get me wrong, though, because there was no way I could complain.

Look at that.  Just look.  The vegetables are colorful, the shrimp are perfectly plump, and you can't tell, but the noodles are just the perfect combination of firm and tender, and as long as my arm, at least.  Even though my arms are small, I think that's pretty long for a noodle.  The broth was spicy, yet it was also flavorful, capturing the flavors of the squid, scallops, and shrimp as well as that of the vegetables, creating a wonderful mixture of flavors that just explode in your mouth.

I really don't think they should call this place China Express.  The Chinese food is ok, but Durham is a town that would appreciate a good noodle restaurant.  Despite the fact that North Carolina is not as diverse as some other states, even in the "metropolitan" Triangle, I think that we could all appreciate the ownership of this place opening up a Korean restaurant instead of a Chinese restaurant with a well kept secret.

Despite the false getup, this place is awesome.  I usually refrain from using such a terrible word, but the experience was nothing short of that.  And, as I was looking up in awe over this wonderful Jan Pang, I noticed that the restaurant's ceiling has really cool panelling.  Check it out!

DRAGONS.  DRAGONS EVERYWHERE.

Ok.  I'm not going to pretend that I am not amused by dragons.  As a teenager, I cannot resist a good depiction of a dragon.  It's also so quintessentially Chinese looking, that I feel that people could go to this place and order Chinese food without thinking twice about it.  Which makes me sad.

Moral of the Story:  When you are at an ethnic restaurant, make sure to explore the menu.  You may find something that you wouldn't expect that is incredibly more delicious than everything else, but the trick is to be a little adventurous.