There's lots of stories about the origin of the Hamburger. I'm not as interested in the stories as I am in how they taste, so I'll get right down to business. I lived in Trenton for a handful of years, and in that time, I ate at Mastori's in Bordentown several times. Not as much as I'd have liked to, but I got my fix. The place is great for many reasons: it's huge so there's always seating, they give you complimentary fresh home-baked cream cheese-filled and cinnamon-filled breads that are fantastic, and their portions are quite large. Plus, their food is (mostly) damned good diner-type food. Their menu is ENORMOUS, and it's got every diner favorite and then some on it. It's a BIT pricier than most diners, but you do get more bang for the buck overall.
So, when eating at a diner, the first things that pop into my mind are burgers and breakfast. Breakfast is a no-brainer at a diner, and burgers are usually a fairly safe bet for a cheaper, easy bite. Some are better than others, of course, and to me, Mastori's is better than just about all. The thing that sets this burger apart, beyond the fact that it's 3/4 pound and they have some interesting toppings to choose from, is that it tastes like absolutely FRESH ground beef. This isn't a frozen patty, and it's not a leftover meatloaf....it's FRESH ground beef that crumbles and barely holds together with each bite. It's moist (I'm assuming it's not the 94% lean stuff your mom tried to use when she got on a health kick), juicy, and a true pleasure to eat.
I forget the menu name of the one I got (Circle something), but it had a whole slab of grilled bermuda onion, as well as a thick slice of Canadian bacon, cheddar, and BBQ sauce on top. Enormous! My good buddy Frank got one called the "Ham" Hamburger, with sliced Virginia Ham, cheese, and I believe BBQ sauce as well on top. Well, I like to call these "Fork and Knife" burgers, because trying to eat them with your hands is just silly, even downright irresponsible! The other members of our party got yummy chicken pot pies, and one poor soul got chicken parm (at a diner? C'mon, Craig...). Frank and I were in serious beef comas after dinner, and his gal Aimee got a huge hunk of cake, none of which any of us touched, HA! It looked great, though. This place can definitely bake, and definitely cook some ground beef. I have it on good authority that their breakfast is also pretty out of control. That'll be a future blog post...
So, in conclusion, thanks to America's brave soldiers for protecting our ability to go out and have a fantastic burger at a place like Mastori's. Here's a picture of Frank struggling, against my advice, to eat this burger with his hands:
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