35 replies to this topic

[Rail Paul]

The Star-Ledger's Munchmobile has set out for a new season. The Munch is a 9 pax van with a huge hot dog on the roof, which transports a crew of observers to many food locations, usually tied to a theme. This week's theme is hamburgers

Burger Express, Carteret

a minute from the toll booths at Exit 12 on the New Jersey Turnpike, For fast-food burgers, they're acceptable. The fries fared better. Best item here: the chili fries, topped with a surprisingly tasty, tomatoey chili. And Christina, our resident mozzarella stick expert, rated the mozzarella sticks as "very delicious," "one of the best" she'd ever had.

Tumulty's, New Brunswick

More trains! Scale models of vintage freight and passenger stock are perched on sections of track along the walls at Tumulty's, "....The burgers here rated the second best of 13 sampled in a Star-Ledger story in 2003, and there was nothing on this visit to indicate they had slipped from that perch.
Death by Burger? You can get it here — two 10-ounce burgers, your choice of two toppings.

Sky Manor Restaurant, Alexandria

Start out with some crispy onion rings or the first-rate mozzarella sticks, accompanied by packaged marinara sauce.

The onion rings would turn out to be the day's hottest and crunchiest. But the fries lacked crispness. The Super Glassair III burger — a 12-ounce bacon cheeseburger on a toasted roll with your choice of cheese — is mammoth and meaty.


Cheeburger Cheeburger, Westfield

Service, despite the hubbub, was friendly and efficient. Eat a Pounder — actually a 20-ounce cheeseburger — and get your snapshot on the Wall of Famers. The cool thing here is that you have as many toppings as you want on your burger; the choices range from banana peppers and barbecue sauce to chopped garlic, artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers.

The train station is a pickle's toss away, but the Big Dog, keeping to a tight schedule, awaited. Next stop: Belleville.

Michael's Roscommon House, Belleville

Here, at the last stop of the night, we found burger near-nirvana. No fancy toppings here; this is one burger that tastes great all by itself, thank you very much.

Pals Cabin, West Orange

The half-pound burger, resplendent on a sesame bun, seems twice as big. It's the real deal, fat and juicy. The fries are good and salty, but the onion rings, flaky, not crispy, were a major disappointment. One sandwich rates mention — the turkey gobbler wrap, with homemade sage stuffing and cranberry sauce, wrapped in a tortilla.

St. James's Gate Publick House, Maplewood

St. James, with its Irish-pub look, somehow seems right at home in the village of Maplewood. What a cool, cozy place, with large picture windows, a century-old bar and leather tables and chairs.

Another terrific burger, abundantly juicy, slightly better than the one at Pals, not quite as good as its counterpart at Michael's Roscommon House. You can get shepherd's pie, bangers and mash, and other authentic fare.

St. James's Gate boasted absolutely the best fries at our seven burger stops. Skip the house fries, instantly forgettable, and order the Publick House chips, browned, super-crispy and altogether addictive.


Burgers

[Kim]

Did you notice that on this weeks trip, they had two 13 year old girls? the tasters seem so uneducated about food...I know its meant to be a fun, not-too-serious kind of thing ( I mean, there is a hot dog on the top of the van, right?) but there's not enough valid information to really get an idea of each place..and, while the SL bills itself as the State's paper, its really a North Jersey paper, and the destinations mostly reflect that.

[ngatti]

a North Jersey paper.

Not from my vantage point.

[Rail Paul]

The St James Gate Publick House in Maplewood looked interesting. Good burger, convenient location for me. That works.

On tap list:

Guinness Stout
Smithwicks Ale
Harp Larger
Boddingtons Pale Ale
John Courage
McSorleys Ale
Michelob Ultra
Hefe-Weizen
Newcastle Brown Ale

[Kim]

On tap list:

Guinness Stout
Smithwicks Ale
Harp Larger
Boddingtons Pale Ale
John Courage
McSorleys Ale
Michelob Ultra
Hefe-Weizen
Newcastle Brown Ale

Paul, I know you and Nick must remember this song from Sesame Street..."One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just isn't the saaaammmeee...one of the things is not like the other, Can you choose and play this game?"

[Rail Paul]

On tap list:

Guinness Stout
Smithwicks Ale
Harp Larger
Boddingtons Pale Ale
John Courage
McSorleys Ale
Michelob Ultra
Hefe-Weizen
Newcastle Brown Ale

Paul, I know you and Nick must remember this song from Sesame Street..."One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just isn't the saaaammmeee...one of the things is not like the other, Can you choose and play this game?"

Maybe they have some customers who prefer to buy American made products (only)? Their bottled beer selections are more universal.

[ngatti]

Michelob

You flatter me, Kim. I was well into high school when Sesame Street came on the air.

[Kim]

Michelob

You flatter me, Kim. I was well into high school when Sesame Street came on the air.

uh, no shit sherlock...I figured you watched it w/ the gatti rugrats...

[Rail Paul]

St. James's Gate Publick House, Maplewood

St. James, with its Irish-pub look, somehow seems right at home in the village of Maplewood. What a cool, cozy place, with large picture windows, a century-old bar and leather tables and chairs.

Another terrific burger, abundantly juicy, slightly better than the one at Pals, not quite as good as its counterpart at Michael's Roscommon House. You can get shepherd's pie, bangers and mash, and other authentic fare.

St. James's Gate boasted absolutely the best fries at our seven burger stops. Skip the house fries, instantly forgettable, and order the Publick House chips, browned, super-crispy and altogether addictive.

I'd agree with that review.

Burger was 8 oz, ordered and delivered medium rare, Good external char, light pink / red center. Slightly juicy. Topped with a thin slice of ham and melted cheddar and cashel cheese. Fries. $8 for that

Fries were forgettable, house chips were excellent. Double cooked, some to a dark brown. Served with malt vinegar. Stout was fine, prob served about 50 degrees, which is OK by me. $5. Dee had a pint of Harp and their three cheese Dublin burger. With tip, the bill came to $35

Nice place, down Maplewood Ave from the train station. Very Maplewood crowd, quite representative of the diverse affluence. Lots of kids. The town markets itself as different from most suburbs.

Jocelyne's is across the street. Recently rated one of the best in the state by one paper (NSL?), but just five tables filled at 8pm, two tables at 915, they can't be making much money even if it has a two week wait for weekends

[hotdoglover]

Last night my wife and I went to St. James. We had a few pints of beer at the bar. The wheat beer was a Belgian Wit (Hoegaarden) rather than a hefeweizen, which I would have preferred. I had the burger and fries, which were very good. I agree totally with Rail Paul. I find that most of the bars and brewpubs that I go to serve a pretty decent burger. My wife had the reuben which was excellent. As good a reuben as I've had anywhere. A nice place that I will be coming back to.

As for other hamburgers, the Star Ledger has reviewed them before and doesn't like to repeat places that they've already been to. The best burgers I've had at bars/restaurants, which I like to distinguish from fast food burgers, are at Barnacle Bills in Rumson and Gaffer's Pub in West Orange, both reviewed in the Ledger in past years. For a fast food burger, nothing beats White Rose on 1st Ave. in Roselle. White Rose is similar to White Mana and White Diamond, but better because there is more meat in their burgers. I think all of these places get their meat from the same source.

Out of the other burgers reviewed in the article, I've been to Tumulty's and Burger Express. Tumulty's was a few years ago, but I remember it being very good. Burger Express is mediocre. Most places, even fast food places make at least an okay burger that tastes good when you're really hungry or have been drinking. Burger Express is barley edible. In fact, I can't remember having a burger that I would rate lower. The only times I've eaten there have been after midnight following an annual bus trip to a ballgame. The bus pickup is in Carteret, so we go there after being dropped off. The fries, chicken, and Taylor Ham sandwiches are pretty good.

[ghostrider]

On tap list:

Guinness Stout
Smithwicks Ale
Harp Larger
Boddingtons Pale Ale
John Courage
McSorleys Ale
Michelob Ultra
Hefe-Weizen
Newcastle Brown Ale

Paul, I know you and Nick must remember this song from Sesame Street..."One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just isn't the saaaammmeee...one of the things is not like the other, Can you choose and play this game?"

Maybe they have some customers who prefer to buy American made products (only)? Their bottled beer selections are more universal.

Not to pick nits, but isn't it the Hefe-Weizen (which I assume is German or perhaps Belgian) the only ONE that is not like the others?

There are two pairs I see that are not like the others but only the Hefe-Weizen stands alone.

(In terms of taste, you could make a case that the Michelob stands alone - or should be poured down the drain alone - but that's another matter. )

[Rail Paul]

I just assumed that the Anheuser product, as the only US-made brew, was the outlier. No?

They had plenty of bottled beer choices, these are the draft choices.

[glenn]

I know this is not what the Munchmobile had in mind when it came to burgers, but how in the world did Fatburger gain acclaim and notoriety? I stopped at the infamous Fatburger in Jersey City for, um, dinner. Forget the foolishness with having the cashier yell out the order and the line cook yell it back to confirm it. Next time I'll bring three sets of earplugs. I wasn't expecting a sirloin steak, but jeez, do they really have to burn the damn thing to a crisp? Considering there is no choice of temperature and the standard is extremely well, I just have to shake my head in amazement that this is what the American palette has come to. I had to try the shake if only for comparison purposes. I had a customer at Melt tell me he got a shake at FB for $2 less and just as good. To my tastes, this wasn't even real ice cream but that stupid mix the fast food places use. I dunno for sure, someone else might know better. And the fries. Obviously frozen and had an oily taste. Seemed like the oil in the fryer hadn't been changed for a good long while. And not done enough. And they were the best item.

[ghostrider]

I just assumed that the Anheuser product, as the only US-made brew, was the outlier. No?

They had plenty of bottled beer choices, these are the draft choices.

Your eyes must have skipped over the McSorley's, a legendary NYC brew.

As a longtime fan of UK brews, I have to say that that's about the best on-tap list I've seen from an NJ bar. Where the heck is Maplewood? Must MapQuest, must cogitate....

[Rail Paul]

I just assumed that the Anheuser product, as the only US-made brew, was the outlier.  No?

They had plenty of bottled beer choices, these are the draft choices.

Your eyes must have skipped over the McSorley's, a legendary NYC brew.

As a longtime fan of UK brews, I have to say that that's about the best on-tap list I've seen from an NJ bar. Where the heck is Maplewood? Must MapQuest, must cogitate....

West of Newark, just north of I-78.

The resto is about 100 yards from the MidTown Direct train station

Nice town, with skyrocketing real estate prices. Running about 15-20% per year, with doubles in five years not unusual. The forty minutes to MidTown NY makes a huge difference.