BLT Burger - The best burger in NYC, New York

Today is National Hamburger Day and clearly I needed to celebrate it! So we decided to go to my favorite burger place in NY: BLT Burger.

If you do not know, BLT stands for Bistro Laurent Tourondel. Laurent Tourondel is a passionate and talented Chef, born and raised in Auvergne, France (great cheeses in Auvergne!). He told Food & Wine magazine that he ended up cooking because he was really bad at school. Today, his name is on several restaurants across the country: BLT Prime, BLT Steak, BLT Fish and...BLT Burger. 

Trust me: it is not because Laurent Tourondel is French that I like this place! I have tried many burgers here, but I can tell you: it is the best! The meat is always perfectly cooked, juicy and extremely tasty (yes: it tastes like real meat!), the bun is perfect (it is a sesame brioche bun).

So we decided to go today. We thought the place would be busy; first because it is most of the time, but also because they had a contest for the creation of the Dream burger: people could submit their creation and the one winning would get his/her burger on the menu. I submitted mine, but I guess it was too basic (some sort of burger reuben). So, there were not too many people. Good!

We started first with fried pickles, a Southern US specialty.

It is a slice of pickled dipped in a batter and fried, similar to the onion rings, but with pickles! I liked it! The taste was surprising as I could get the sour taste of the pickle mixed with the fried batter and the ranch chili-paprika dipping sauce that gave some kick to it.

Then, we got our burgers. We decided to order two different ones. The first one was the Maytag blue burger.

It is made with Maytag blue cheese, balsamic caramelized onions and mushrooms. At first, I was scared that the blue cheese would be too overpowering. Fortunately, there was just enough to give a taste that would not overshadow the taste of the meat. The onions and mushrooms were divine and a great addition, giving some texture to the burger.

The second burger was the classic one, with Vermont Cheddar cheese ($1 additional for the cheese).

It is simple and delicious. The meat on both burger was perfectly cooked (medium) and very juicy. It really tasted like meat, not like these burgers that you would get in fast food (I know: not the same price).

For the sides, we went for the onion rings.

The onion rings were good, a bit crispy and not too greasy. I just would have liked some ranch dressing with it.

We also got fries.

We chose the classic; otherwise, they propose waffle fries, sweet potato fries...These were like I like them: golden brown, crispy and regular cut.

The last thing we got was a vanilla milk shake.

Look: one of us had to sacrificed himself to get a combo price. I did. For $17, you can get a burger, fries and a milk shake. The later was very good. Not too thick, with the necessary amount of vanilla syrup. They gave the old fashion feel by serving it in an ice cream glass, adding whipped cream and top it with sprinkles. Delish! For You information, they also serve milk shakes with alcohol...

So, again, I was not disappointed by BLT Burger, that remains my top burger place in NYC. However, prices are a bit on the high range as for this meal we ended up with a bill of $52. Worth it though!

Enjoy (I did)!