Burger 40: Bungalow West's Buffalo Burger

A couple of years ago, the West End of Long Beach, New York was graced with the opening of The Bungalow West.  After continued success at the original location 3 miles east of here, The Bungalow West opened and began serving a variety of food immediately.  The menu consists of breakfast all day, which is top of the line, and lunch and dinner where you can order anything from tacos, burritos, and quesadillas, to panini sandwiches, protein shakes, and of course, burgers.

The Buffalo Burger: Our beef burgers are 1/2 pound, certified prime beef.  Burger is topped with buffalo sauce and melted bleu cheese.  

The Beef:  They were not joking when they said their beef burgers are 1/2 pound certified prime beef.  A lot of places may say this, and whether or not it be true is one thing.  But taking a bite out of this burger, I can assure you if there was a blue ribbon award from the Burger Bill Committee of One, this beef would be awarded.  The beef was cooked medium, with pinkness on the inside and cooked thoroughly on the outer edges.  The herbs and spices could be seen inside the patty which fell apart in your mouth as you took each bite.  This was, without a doubt (and very surprisingly), the best beef patty I have bitten into so far.  4 out of 4.

The Bun:  Brioche buns are often very dense and contain a lot of bread.  This bun was light and fluffy and did not overpower the sandwich in any way.  The toasted bun gave a nice crunch and a cloud-like softness with each bite.  3 out of 4.

The BTBR: While the bun did not overpower the sandwich, the bun was larger than the patty itself, creating some bites which contained bun and no beef.  For the portions that had equal amounts, it was made up for.  3 out of 4.

The Presentation:  This burger was ordered to go, but even in the to-go dish it was arranged exactly how it would have been on a plate.  Major props for taking time to make a to go order look presentable and not just wrapping it up and throwing it in a bag. 3 out of 4.

The Cheese: The bleu cheese was alright.  I've had better bleu cheeses on this burger quest, and I have definitely had worse cheeses.  So a 2 out of 3 is a fair rating for the fair cheese.

The Sear:  The sear on this burger was an optical illusion, as in, I do not know how they did it.  The inside of the burger fell apart inside your mouth and melted instantly.  The outside contained a firm, crunchy, bite that was present for every bite.  The grill must have been set to 1000 degrees to sear the outside of this burger so well while keeping the inside so tender and juicy.  3 out of 3.

Overall Taste:  Overall, the burger was great.  The buffalo sauce and bleu cheese could have been higher quality, and the bun a little smaller, or maybe a tiny bit more meat to compensate the size of the brioche.  This burger bellies a 4 out of 5 overall.

BBSR: 22 / 27