I’m happy that I finally made it to Bareburger and I'm even more excited to try the impossible burger; yes, the impossible burger, a burger that feels, looks and tastes like meat but isn’t. This burger helps the planet and costs ten times less. It uses 95% less land, 87% less CO2 emissions and 74% less water. The world is moving to impossible foods to satisfy the huge demand of the century. “These guys are trying to do to meat what Tesla did to cars.” A burger made entirely from plants for people who love meat. No more compromises!
On their website you read: “REINVENTING THE BURGER FROM THE GROUND UP; We spent the past five years researching what makes meat unique: the sizzle, the smell, the juicy first bite. Then we set out to find precisely the right ingredients from the plant kingdom to recreate the experience meat lovers crave. You’ve never tasted plants like this.”
Now let’s go back to Bareburger, a burger shop with table service offering a menu of several appetizers, salads, sandwiches, and burgers. The ambiance feels fresh and happy, wooden tables... Light blue colors painted on the walls, a bar, metal hoses and lots of wood. I love how well the place is lit!
From the diverse menu, I chose the supreme burger (beef, Colby, Black Forest, onion rings, chopped fries, green leaf, special sauce, brioche bun). The tabbouleh (ancient grain tabbouleh, Falafel, feta, grape tomatoes), Pablo chicken tenders (buttermilk ranch, smoke sauce), French fries (curry ginger ketchup).
I was so excited to try that impossible burger! I followed the guys on Instagram immediately and the photos they have really rock!
The impossible burger: let me introduce you to a very good looking burger that has two fluffy buns and a thick patty that looks exactly like real Angus beef cooked medium. Cut it in half and feel your knife cut into the texture of real meat. Look at its heart and let your senses guide you while your mouth starts watering... I had the first bite! It’s truly like a real burger, better than hundreds I’ve had, a meat burger like any other your brain expects to taste. Don’t imagine a gourmet sensation with fat dripping on your lips, in fact, it feels healthier, cleaner and richer in flavors. All of the above is the impossible burger, something that looks like a beef burger and tastes like one without using a single item from cows.
Now back to Bareburger food: the chicken Panko tenders have an unpleasant hidden background taste; I expected something juicier, lighter and most importantly not loaded with garlic. The side sauces add the lacking flavors but they’re not enough to cover over the taste of frying and burning. The fries are stale, not crispy enough, not good enough; one part is warm, another part is cold, some chewy, some melt... bizarre and unacceptable.
The supreme burger followed, that burger I’ve been hearing about; three huge onions rings spoil the experience, they’re too hard and taste of burnt oil. A very thick yet dry patty and average bread. The burger cannot even be considered an average one, it’s just bad. The tabbouleh is a shame and the falafel are not what real falafel should be... tabbouleh comes from my land after all and they have massacred it! It feels nothing like one and isn’t even tasty. The falafel filled with green grass tastes of burnt oil.
I’m happy to have discovered the impossible burger tonight... but very disappointed by Bareburger’s food otherwise. If visiting New York, you don’t need to come here!
