I decided to try Hubert Keller's Burger Bar. The San Francisco location been open for a few months now, but despite my love of all things sandwiched between (whole wheat) burger buns, I've avoided it because: (1) I've been trying to stick to my P90X diet (especially while at work), (2) I can't stand Union Square, and (3) the early reviews have been decidedly un-good. Still, it was close by, and I was starving.
I sat at the bar and ordered a buffalo burger. Buffalo (or, actually, bison) meat is relatively low-fat and low-calorie, though I promptly offset all the fat- and calorie-savings by topping the patty with avocado, cheddar cheese and a fried egg.
My take? The bun was too dense, and it was smeared with butter. (I ended up scooping out the insides of the buns anyway -- a trick I learned from a friend who wanted to simultaneously reduce her carb intake and create a pocket for all the extra toppings so they wouldn't fall out of her burger.) The cheddar was too mild to register any flavor, and the burger was way too big and unwieldy. And the price (over $20) was obscene.
That said, the buffalo patty was pretty damn good; it was savory and juicy, and went well with the avocado and runny fried egg.
I'm not dying to return to Burger Bar anytime soon, but I'm definitely going to pick up some bison burger patties the next time I'm at Trader Joe's. (280 calories! 12 grams of fat! 43 grams of protein!)
