Text 520, 116 rader
Skriven 2013-05-17 01:48:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: burger cottage 557
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Time for my day of fun at MGH. I'd had a lot of water with my
somewhat salty meals the day before, because in the past the
phlebotomy techs have complained about my veins, which is a
little cheeky, but if a few cups of liquid makes their life
easier, well, why not. Here's why not: I blew up like a
balloon and unfortunately  had to take an extra-large dose of
diuretic. So I planned my itinerary thus: bathroom just before
going to the bus stop. Bathroom at the station before getting
on the subway. Bathroom downstairs at the hospital. Check in.
Bathroom before the appointment. Bathroom after the appointment,
before the first set of tests. Bathroom before the second set
of tests. Bathroom after the second set of tests. Bathroom
between the subway and the bus. It is annoying to be regulated
by one's bladder, but it works when it has to.

I got on the bus just fine, which dropped me off at Alewife
station even a tad early, so I sat there and read my book
until just the right moment to pee and then go downstairs
to the train, which I calculated to be 12:45, allowing me
30 minutes (for a 20-minute trip, you know how things are)
and then another bathroom break before the 1:30 appointment.
Perfect. The train trundled in at 12:50. And sat. And sat.

Turns out that somewhere nearby there had been a fire (later
announcements corrected this to "fire department activity")
that disabled one of the trains. The good thing was that I wasn't
on that train (I would have freaked) but on another that was
sitting in the station; the bad thing was that the supervisor
who could okay our departure was. The other bad thing was we
didn't leave until a bit after 1, and there was this bladder
sitting there and getting more anxious by the minute. I barely
made it to the secret uncrowded bathroom on the second floor,
which was strangely crowded, but thank goodness there was a
urinal free.

Turns out again that the doc (my uberglam cardiologist) was
subbing on two services in addition to her own and was late -
not horribly so, and it didn't matter as there are bathrooms
all over the place in hospitals.

I decided that not having eaten but a handful of almonds, and
as it was late afternoon by the time I got out of there, I
should treat myself to a big old slab of protein. I thought
about Scampo, but that's bizarrely overpriced. Then: why not
Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage, an old favorite, which I've gone
to off and on since around 1970, when it was Mr. and Mrs.
Bartley's Burger Cottage (run by probably the only Birchers in
Cambridge, but you don't quibble about politics when good meat
is at stake); in the meantime for a while the Mr. was dropped,
I don't know why, then it supplanted the Mrs. altogether. In
the old days, the burgers were better than any other in New
England that I know about, including the dish's birthplace Louis'
Lunch and Clean Dave's beloved Ted's. In the '90s and '00s, the
meat here didn't seem to be so luscious as before, perhaps there
was some health-conscious choice to serve leaner meat for leaner
customers, something like that; still worth taking out-of-town
tourists to, though. Now: back to form, plus they're not afraid
to cook a truly rare burger (hard to come by just about anyplace
back around 1970).

[bbp] Surprisingly, the plain burger is only $5.95.

At the Burger Cottage, the "bun 'n' burger" comes in at a
nickel more. It however weighs 7 oz, an ounce or so bigger than
Bobby's at his Burger Palace, and in this arena size does in
fact matter.

[bbp] When my burger came, it was rare, 1/3 lb, not frozen but still
[bbp] preformed (not completely round), on a heavily sesame-seeded
[bbp] bun that would have been better toasted

I did mention that Bobby's wasn't of the beefiest beef? Well,
this day Bartley's gave me some of the best beef I've had in a
long time, which was an extra-pleasant surprise, as in recent
years its burgers have been quite respectable but not super-meaty.

[bbp] I have scant experience with what a salad should look like
[bbp] after being topped with a hot burger and its grease.

To correct this deficiency, and because I am sort of semiwatching
my carbs, I ordered THE MRS. B - "a burger no roll on a bed of
spinach w/chopped egg, crumbled bacon, walnuts, tomatoes, red onion,
drizzled with lemon vinagrette," rare.

I watched the counterman, who to my failing eyes looked to be the
younger Mr. B: his technique was kind of peculiar: he started with
two softballs of meat (for two orders) on the heat with a griddle
press on top. No actual pressure, though, and the weight looked kind
of wimpy. Lots of sizzling. At intervals, he turned the burgers,
which gradually took the appropriate shape. Despite the weight and
the length of cooking (way over 5 minutes), he took mine off at just
the right time, just before the inside had started to set, but after
the outside had developed a nice dark brown crust. Nice job, And as
I said, the meat was of the greatest toothsomeness. All the listed
salad ingredients were what they were; my quibble being that there
was too much egg (perhaps as much as a whole) and not enough bacon,
and what there was of it was overcrisp, almost black in spots. What
happens when baby spinach leaves get sat on by a nice warm greasy
burger? It wilts a bit, not too much, and itself gets pleasantly
greasy by association. Pretty nice overall, but I'm not sure it's
worth $12, or twice the price of a regular burger.

A pint of lime rickey was not too sweet (juice of a lime or two,
shot of syrup, fill with soda water); the price was also not too
sweet, having gone up to over $3, with raspberry even more. 

[bbp] Though the reviews are mixed and the complaints about cost
[bbp] loud, we found the experience good and the value decent.
[bbp] I am surprised and gratified to report that I will probably
[bbp] return, but no special trip for sure.

Bartley's get the special trip that Bobby's doesn't. Too bad
it's a half hour walk to Toscanini's (also worth a special trip).
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