Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Bobby's Burger Palace

188 Route 35 South (Monmouth Mall)
Eatontown, NJ 07724
www.bobbysburgerpalace.com

Like most people familiar with the Food Network, I have a crush on Bobby Flay.  So when we finally had the chance to check out his burger joint in Eatontown, I jumped at the chance to try it out.  It's not every day that a celebrity chef's restaurant is going to fit into our budget or not require some travel for us to get there, so we went with our family one day for lunch.

First, the decor.  It felt like an upscale diner; there are U shaped tables, which you'd expect someone named Flo to greet you from the other side.  The color combination is very Brady Bunch, but it's a kitsch I enjoyed... very Americana, shall we say.  Since we arrived early, we were the only patrons at the restaurant, but as we were leaving, we had folks sitting right next to us.  I'd imagine this cafeteria style seating might not be favorable to many American patrons, but I had no problem with it... it's not like they were spitting in my food.

Next, the service.  It was sort of a weird combination of counter and table service--you are shuffled to a counter where you place your order, then directed to sit wherever with a number.  Your drinks are brought to you followed by your food, and you also leave your trash behind.  The service was really helpful at making sure we had everything we needed.

As for the food, for my family, visiting a Burger joint is not common, largely because my husband is not a fan of beef, so when we discovered that one can choose a beef, turkey, or chicken burger, he was sold.  Initially, my husband and I both decided on the Dallas Burger, though he wanted his with chicken, but he ultimately decided on a Miami Burger.  He thought it was excellent on chicken, but thought it would be really lacking on a burger.  My Miami Burger was perfectly delicious.  I couldn't really tell you about it because I devoured it so quickly.  It was cooked perfectly for my tastes; unlike many of the recent crop of burger joints, they cook it to order instead of cooking every patty the same well done.  I do know that the cole slaw was perfect for my liking--crunchy with the right blend of sweet and vinegar.  I made a huge mess of myself, so it was nice that our server had brought extra napkins, you know, for the kids.

We also shared fries and sweet potato fries.  The servings are ENORMOUS.  A kid's serving of fries was enough for my husband while the kids and I had leftovers of the sweet potatoes.  Both come with a dipping sauce, in addition to the ketchup, mustard, and variety of barbecue sauces (c'mon, this is Bobby Flay, what did you expect?) already on the table.  I didn't taste the fries-my husband commented they were on the well done side-but the sweet potato fries were out of this world.

Finally, I gave into my shake craving, and my husband and I shared a black and white shake.  It wasn't really anything I'd go over the moon about, but it was a decent shake without that artificial taste you come across in so many drive thru ones.

In all, we had a good lunch that filled our bellies, more than we could eat, in fact, and got to try a new experience!

Bobby's Burger Palace on Urbanspoon

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