Today I arrived shortly after 11:30 AM to find a half-full restaurant and Nancy's husband Bob sitting at the bar. Once Nancy arrived, we made our way over to a table and began contemplating our choices. My favorite burger thus far has been the Red Hot (B Spot's online menu is available here). Between the juiciness of the burger, the juiciness of the pulled pork and the slight spiciness from the peppers, I have had few burger experiences that rivaled it. However, I have always been haunted by another menu selection, the Lola burger. Originating at Chef Symon's other restaurant Lola, this version was topped with a fried egg, bacon, cheddar cheese, pickled onions and mayonnaise. As much as I wanted another Red Hot, I felt obligated to pick something else off the menu so that I could write about it (no sense writing more than one review about the same food).
Since there were three of us dining at B Spot today, we decided to split an order of the garlic and Parmesan chicken wings:
These large and meaty wings were perfectly fried. The skin was crispy and the juicy meat inside was hot and delicious. The garlic came in the form of a roasted garlic paste that coated the wings. If you like garlic ... wait, scratch that ... if you LOVE garlic, then this is the chicken wing for you. Hours after I had eaten these beauties, I was still tasting and smelling of garlic. The only real complaint I had was that with all of the forward garlic flavor, the savory Parmesan cheese flavor was a little lost.
I was feeling a bit under the weather today, so I thought I would order a bowl of another Michael Symon classic, the tomato soup with blue cheese:
Just like the Lola burger, this soup has been around for several years. Done with a more rustic feel, the soup wasn't finely pureed, but was served with some texture. Adorning the top of the soup was some freshly cracked black pepper and a few small chunks of blue cheese. The acidity from the tomatoes worked well to tame the sharpness of the cheese. The one thing I felt was missing from the soup was some heat. Symon has posted the recipe for this soup before and I could've sworn that sriracha was one of the ingredients. Not a lot, mind you, but just enough to give the soup a slightly spicy edge. Whether or not the original recipe called for sriracha or not, in my mind I think it would've given the soup that certain je ne sais quoi.
Having finished my chicken wings and soup, I turned my attention to my Lola burger:
As with all burgers served at B Spot, a steak knife was provided in order to cut this gigantic burger down to a more manageable size:
As mentioned earlier, the Lola burger consisted of the Pat Freida hamburger patty, crispy bacon, a fried egg, cheddar cheese, pickled red onions, and a slathering of mayonnaise. All of this was placed between their now quite successful egg-based hamburger bun. One of the perks I've enjoyed when eating at B Spot was the ability to feel safe when ordering my burger cooked to something less than medium well. Today, as in previous visits, I ordered my burger medium and sure enough, it came out medium. While my burger was juicy, it didn't have the extreme juiciness of the Red Hot. Additionally, the combination of the ground beef with the egg, bacon, and cheese kind of put me in a "breakfasty" kind of mindset. The burger was good, don't get me wrong, but I felt like I should be enjoying it with a glass of orange juice or a cup of coffee.
Overall, I really enjoyed my lunch today at B Spot. While a few items were just a smidgen off for me, there were plenty of good things happening to keep me returning time and time again. I realize that there are sixteen burgers on the menu for a reason: Everyone has their own favorite. For me, nothing has yet to beat the Red Hot and honestly, I don't know if anything else on the menu will. But I will continue to try and find out.
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