‘Kemble Park Tavern’
courtesy of ‘ZagatBuzz’
Add Kemble Park Tavern’s Brunch Burger to the list for “DC’s Best Burger.” This time Travel + Leisure Magazine is weighing in, declaring Kemble’s to be not only DC’s best, but one of the ten best in the country. The burger is topped with bacon and a fried egg and place atop a brioche roll. I’ve never had it, but for my money, you still can’t beat Ray’s. Can any of our readers weigh in?
I’m sorry, but Ray’s is NOT the best burger around. A burger is not just about the MEAT. It’s about the whole package! At Ray’s, the hellburger is so large that it really eclipses the taste of any of the other ingredients. If I wanted to focus so much on the meat, I would get a STEAK. (At Ray’s… they are the best!)
You can like the hellburger because it’s big, and because you respect the caveman attitude of it, but at the end of the day it’s just great marketing IMHO.
The Hellburger is, I believe, only 1/3 of a pound, which is about a standard restaurant-size burger. It may seem big because they prefer not to cook it to death, so it doesn’t shrink down. And I’ve never found it to overwhelm the other toppings on the burger, which exist after all to complement the meat. Burgers which are more about the toppings than the meat itself are from places that use substandard beef (says the chick who buys her beef 70lb at a time directly from the farmer). That said, the roasted garlic topping at Hellburger has pretty much changed my life.
See that’s were we differ in opinion. I don’t believe that the toppings are there to compliment. The meat is just one part of a good burger. An important part, but just as important is a good bun and great toppings. Substandard meat, or bun (as at Ray’s), or toppings can kill a good burger.
I would be surprised if it’s only 1/3 of a pound, as they recommend “cutting it in half to make it more manageable” … go get a steak with their roasted garlic topping! It’s the same, but better!