I'll be honest, it is very hard to find a good and honest burger anywhere in Mexico. Maybe it's the…read morebread, the meat or the toppings, but the burgers here always fall short to the neighbor's to the north. Granted, comparing burgers from Mexico to those in the US is like comparing tacos between both countries, there's nothing like a taco from Mexico, but I digress.
A disclaimer: I absolutely love burgers. People around me know of my affair with In-N-Out, my passion for the burger at Minetta Tavern in NY, and the deliciousness that is the burger at Au Cheval in Chicago. I am picky when it comes to burgers, but how can one not when you've tried such good burgers all over the country?
Burgers are a growing trend anywhere in Mexico. It seems that there is a burger stand or shop in every corner nowadays. There are even taco places that have started selling burgers, but at Monosabio, the burgers are the specialty, blank canvases that can be adorned and painted with different sauces, meats and toppings. There are a variety of burger-types to chose from, each one with a distinct name and a characteristic. One can also customize each burger by ordering an extra patty, a Kobe beef patty, bacon, or a variety of other toppings.
Now, the burger. I ordered the 'Tender Hooligan', topped with bacon, Monterey Jack cheese, and caramelized onion. First, the basics. The bread: A brioche like bun that is soft but not too rich. It's able to hold the patty and toppings; an adequate vessel but does not add much to the burger as a whole. The meat: I ordered mine medium well because few restaurants in Mexico know how to cook their meat properly. I consider it a rookie mistake to order the meat anything other than medium raw when ordering a burger, but mistrust came into play here. As it turns out, I got my meat well done. It was adequately seasoned, but no umami flavor to it. To the toppings: the bacon was OK, it added flavor and saltiness, but it was the run-of-the-mill type, and therefore not too exciting. The cheese and onion were there, but when everything came together it felt that something was missing.
I opened my burger and saw that there was no sauce. Being this a place that specializes in burgers, I expected the burgers to be built top to bottom, including any sauces that would make his burger great. When one adds the sauce one wants, the whole idea of the specialty burger tumbles to the ground because it becomes more of a place that relies on customization rather than the creativity of the chef or cook. There is a disparity of ideals there.
The sides are flimsy, although I haven't tried the fries. The onion rings are beer battered, light and crunchy. The seasoning on the batter could improve. The sides definitely have room for improvement.
A solid 3.5 for this place for creativity, ambiance, and service. Specialty burgers have a long way to go in Mexico, but it is appreciated that we are on the right path.
