Over time, I’ve built up quite the list of burgers. My map has, well, a lot of places, many recommended, many not. And it doesn’t include those places that I’ve reviewed in the past that have closed, since. I’ve tried to maintain a “top five” at the pinnacle. At the same time, I realized recently, that a couple of those top five are places that I haven’t been to in quite a few years, and it would be both worth re-checking them out, but also comparing them to some new spots, some of which may be contenders for one of those slots.
So I started off with Fat Broder, Kyopo BA, La Birra Bar, The Pony Line Bar, and Tierra de Nadie. Each of them stood out for different reasons. So first off, a re-visit was due for all five. For each of these I’m going to compare the photo and my thoughts from my first visit to my current revisit. With the exception of La Birra Bar’s original location, I’ve been back to all of these multiple times. [Note, the burger pictured at the top of the page is from none of these places.]
Fat Broder, Charcas 3787, Palermo – I declared this burger the best burger of 2018 (or at least the first half of at that point, but it carried through). I’d ordered their Juicy Lucy, a midwestern classic, and asserted that it was the first time I’d had a burger come out of the kitchen cooked rare since arriving in BA. I noted: “The cheese was the usual local orange cheddar slices – fine, but nothing special, basically, American cheese. The bacon was plentiful and actually crispy. The slices of onion, thin and crunchy. Pickles that aren’t overly sweet. The fries, some of the best I’ve had in town – clearly and properly either double or triple fried so they’re crisp on the surface and soft and creamy inside. And a trio of condiments available – a housemade ketchup, a smoked eggplant sauce (killer!), and a cilantro and lime mayo.” I’ve been back several times since, and tried others of their burgers, and been very happy every time. To date, it maintains, for me, the #1 slot in the city.
So, consistency and all that. They’ve got it down. The burger is as good as it always has been. Their Juicy Lucy is still my favorite. If there’s anything that I’ve objected to along the way, it’s their nomenclature. A Juicy Lucy is a specific type of burger, originating in Minnesota, and it involves a big, thick slab of American cheddar, that’s encased inside an even thicker, bigger burger patty. The idea being that it becomes a molten center, oozing out as you bite into it. It’s gimmicky, but it’s what the burger is. Fat Broder simply makes a two-patty smashed burger, each patty topped with a thin slice of American cheddar. The same happens with things like their Jack Cheese Burger. There is no Jack cheese in Argentina, and their simple use of local Danbo or Tybo cheese, which are fine as far as sandwich cheese slices go, but they aren’t Jack. Etc.
But, still easily one of the top burgers in the city. I do have one, new, disappointment. They’ve discontinued offering their housemade condiments. It’s now just little packets of Hellman’s mayo, mustard, and ketchup. And the only spicy thing available is a mango-chili barbecue sauce.
Kyopo BA, Av. Dr. J.F. Aranguren 3053, Floresta – My original description in 2016 was: “Perfectly cooked sous vide 60°C burger, lightly charred, thick and juicy, lightly but correctly seasoned, with Korean bbq sauce, garlic chili mayo, and kimchi slaw on toasted brioche; thin, golden fries tossed with pulled pork, spicy kimchi, cilantro lime mayo, sriracha, and a side of more kimchi slaw.” The original menu description noted the sous vide cooking to medium rare, Korean barbecue dressing, kimchi slaw, garlic-chili mayo, cilantro, and a brioche bun.
Obviously, presentation has changed. First off, they didn’t have Fries available on the day The Horde headed out there. The claim was that their fryer wasn’t working and therefore it was impossible to fry anything. Have you never heard of a pot? And for the same price, substituting a meager mixed salad (or a scoop of rice) seems a cheat. Then again, reading their menu, the burger comes with “rustic potatoes”, the pulled pork kimchi fries are only orderable as a side dish. Maybe that was true then too and I just didn’t note it, or maybe it was an option. I do note on their Instagram that they sometimes offer a combo special of two kimchi burgers, the pulled pork kimchi fries, and two beers – so it may well be, given that I went with a friend that first time, that we did that.
The new menu description is different from the old. It now states that it’s Korean marinated beef, kimchi, cheese, spicy mayo, and kimchi slaw. No more Korean bbq dressing, no more cilantro, and the addition of cheese. I don’t remember cheese on it, and it’s not listed on the old menu, nor does it seem to be in past photos. It feels like they’ve toned it down spice-wise, and tried to make it more “Argentine-friendly”. It’s still a really good burger, but it isn’t what it was on past visits. Kind of disappointing. I feel like they were all around having an off-day. Service and food was just not up to their usual level. Maybe it needs another visit. They’ve also opened a second location in the Caballito Shopping Center on Av. Rivadavia.
But, I’d say, this place’s slot in my top five is in question at this point.
La Birra Bar – El Templo, Av. San Juan 4359, Boedo. I discovered that the original location has closed. Since my original review in 2016, they’ve morphed into a small chain of places – with twelve other locations that show up on Google Maps. Now, I’ve tried their branch here in Recoleta, and another in Villa Crespo, and didn’t find either of them up to the quality of the original. My original thoughts were: “Great bun, great, well seasoned burgers, all offered medium rare unless you demand otherwise, and actually cooked that way, really good fries and onion rings. Housemade condiments – the “spicy” ketchup, while not really that spicy, has a faint kick to it, but more importantly, it just tastes so much better than commercial ketchup; and the barbecue sauce isn’t so sweet you feel like it should be served with dessert, and has a haunting smokiness to it, along with a bourbon kick; the basil aioli is what a mayonnaise ought to be.”
Obviously, comparing the first photo to the second, the entire burger, fries, and bun are completely different. The second photo is my favorite burger at the Recoleta location. Originally, I didn’t care for them all that much – it’s much more a fast food kind of outlet, with a lot of takeout rather than a real sit-down kind of place. There’s no warmth to it, and the burgers, while good, just aren’t at all what they were at the original spot. Neither are the fries. And, they don’t have the housemade sauces, just little packets of cheap commercial ketchup, mayo, mustard. With the original gone, this place drops off the list.
The Pony Line Bar, Four Seasons Hotel, Posadas 1086, Retiro. A long time (since 2013) favorite bar for both its classic and creative cocktails, and decent bar food. This ground floor bar offers two different burgers. Each has its own charms. The classic burger is a beautifully seasoned, thick patty, topped with white cheddar, bacon, and pickles. The toppings are pretty much my dream toppings. But they also offer up a 45-day aged steak burger topped with a local “Lincoln” cheese, which is supposed to be a sort of Lincolnshire style cheese, similar to the French Comté, along with an herb aioli, lettuce, and tomato. Both served on a cheese inflected bun.
What I want is the 45-day aged steak burger with the toppings from the classic. But they simply refuse to do it. I’ve tried. Repeatedly. But no. Still, either of them is a damned good burger. They’re both, oddly, served with a green salad, and there was no other option. It’s strange. I’ve had both burgers a few times over the years. Sometimes they come automatically with delicious, thick cut fries dusted with truffle salt, sometimes they come with the salad. And regardless of which, the other option never seems to be available. On the recent revisit, I got the classic and salad. I’m not clear why they’ve started plating it on a piece of tin foil, on top of a plate, in the Four Seasons Hotel. Slumming?
Overall, I’m keeping it on my top five list, though their intransigence, for me, makes it vulnerable to replacement. Give me my aged burger, with the classic toppings, and the truffle fries, and it’d be secure, probably for all time.
Tierra de Nadie, Av. Avellaneda 588/Av. Acoyte 263, Caballito. Originally, a long, narrow spot on Avellaneda, with maybe six tables, that spot is now only open in the evenings, and appears to be primarily oriented around takeout. At lunchtime, they have a new location around the corner and a block up, on Acoyte, probably triple the size, for both dine-in and takeout.
My original assessment: “[They] have managed to overcome every objection I can muster. In a world where a “3Hot Chilli Peppers” burger, with two well seasoned smashed patties surrounding a mass of gooey melted cheddar, slices of fresh jalapeños, rocoto mayo, an ají limo (okay, I could have used more than one of those on top), three slices of perfectly crispy bacon, and dead-on caramelized onions (that weren’t overly sweet) can exist, I can like, no love, a smashed patty burger. Oh, and quite possibly the best fries in the city – are those skin-on french fries? Why yes, I believe they are.”
Now, this is my first time back since that 2015 visit. It’s out of the way for me, and, I don’t know, the place just doesn’t occur to me when I’m thinking about a burger. So, again, I went back to the 3Hot Chilli Burger, and can’t vouch for any of the others on the extensive menu. Oh, but this one has changed. They’re no longer quite so shy about the chilies. There are numerous slices of pickled jalapeños, there are at least four pickled “other” chili peppers – not the single ají limo they offered the first time, but these are more like whole cayenne peppers, and the rocoto sauce is now not just a drizzle of a sort of rocoto mayo, but a sloppy slathering of a rocoto peanut sauce. All in all, this might be the fieriest dish I’ve had in BA outside of Koreatown. The fries are no longer skin-on, but they’re still damned good.
This one’s secure in its spot.
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