$17 Burger - Worth Every Penny

We went to The Spotted Pig on our second to last day in the Big Apple. It was high on our list of places to try and did not disappoint.

The Spotted Pig is known as a "gastropub" - basically a pub with highbrow food. OK, I'll just say right now that I am not a big fan of the word gastropub. It ranks up there with foodie, mouthfeel, and housemade in my opinion.

The word 'gastropub' has creeped into the lexicon of the Seattle restaurant scene recently. Quinn was probably the first to be referred to as a gastropub, though more by local food writers than by the restaurant itself. A new place in Belltown - Spur - just opened that includes gastropub in its name. Tell me if I'm wrong, but it seems like if you have to tell people you are a gastropub, you aren't doing something right.

OK - back to The Spotted Pig. We went there for an early lunch. It is located smack in the middle of Greenwich Village - on a street lined with trees and cute brownstones. The restaurant itself is pretty much a pub, but has an eclectic interior with lots of pig paraphernalia, potted herbs, mirrors, vintage beer and pub signs etc.

The burgers at TSP are highly regarded as some of the best burgers in Manhattan, so we knew that is what we wanted. We probably could have split one - because they were 1/2 pound patties, but we were on vacation and were feeling gluttonous.

Oh juicy, meaty gluttony indeed! The burger was served plain, other than the massive pile of roquefort cheese and mountain of shoestring fries. I considered asking for some lettuce, tomato and onion, but once I had a bite decided against it. This was pure simple burger pleasuredom. The buns were brioche and had a slight char to them. The meat was super juicy and flavorful and the cheese added just the right amount of tang. We were in a massive food coma the rest of the day, but it was worth every bite.