I had great hopes for the veggie burger at Bobby's Burger Palace. Founded by reputable chef and Food Network star Bobby Flay, I thought for sure this would be a treat or at least an impressionable veggie burger. I was impressed they even had a whole vegetarian section on the menu! Walking into the restaurant, I was feeling very good vibes coming off of the twisty lamps and tables. While not super crowded, the people who were eating there seemed happy and well fed. But not very many of them seemed to be eating the veggie burger.
We'll start with the good. They offer a side called "The undecided", where instead of choosing between fries, sweet potato fries and onion rings, you can do half and half of each! How many times have you been standing in line thinking, "Do I do the fries or the onion rings?". Bobby Flay clearly knows the feeling and lets you choose a bit of both worlds! Yes you have to pay a dollar extra, but I thought the idea was fun.
The sweet potato fries were good, but the onion rings were on the disappointing side. Their lack of flavor could be covered up by the ranch dipping sauce, which was much to rich to make it a nice flavor combination. Each meal also comes with a pickle, which could be plus for some people, but as more of a non-pickle lover myself, it didn't really get extra points.
Now for the burger itself. The menu described it as: BBQ wild mushrooms, chickpeas and quinoa, with American cheese, tomato, pickles, romaine, red pepper chipotle mayo. Sound exciting right?
Not so. Or maybe too much so. As one food critic described it, "I feel like I took a bite out of some herbal medicine."
For me, my biggest issue was i wasn't sure what it was trying to be. The barbequed wild mushrooms had kind of an earthy taste and could have been good, but combined with the romaine, American cheese and quinoa, it just felt like too many things were being combined into one. I liked the chipotle mayo sauce--it made the burger a little spicy, but it was probably what I liked the best.
Not terribly impressed by the bun.
So interesting? Yes. Would I recommend this burger or order it again? Probably not any time soon.
I'll have to try the shake next time.
