Oysters & Hush Puppies

Oysters & Hush Puppies, originally uploaded by ~db~.

I walked through Farmers Market the other day and stopped at The Gumbo Pot for a quick bite of oysters with a side of hush puppies. The oysters were good, if a little small. As for the hush puppies, I don't know why I keep ordering them from this place. They are consistently dry and dense. Next time I promise to order the fried pickles instead. Oysters and hush puppies, about $5.

Five Guys Cheeseburger and Fries

Five Guys Cheeseburger and Fries, originally uploaded by ~db~.

I was walking along Wilshire Blvd, headed towards LACMA, when I came across a Five Guys location. I hadn't planned on having a burger that day, but Five Guys was on the list, so I decided to check it out.

I ordered a regular two-patty cheeseburger with everything (i.e. "all the way"), which includes mayo, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, grilled onions and mushrooms (there's several other toppings available, all for free). I was surprisingly disappointed.

The burger was fine, but not outstanding. First, it's a hot mess, which isn't bad in itself, but next time I'll probably leave off the mushrooms and maybe the tomatoes. Also, wrapping it in foil, even though it was an eat-in order, means the lettuce gets soft instead of staying crunchy.

But the biggest problem I had was with the meat. Using two smashed patties maximizes surface area and creates a lot of flavor, but risks overcooking, which happened here. A properly cooked smashed burger still has a bit of pink in the middle. Not here.

The fries, on the other hand, were pretty excellent. Cooked properly, they had a bit of bite on the outside, and were pillowy soft on the inside. The small order was about twice as much as shown here, with the remainder just dumped into the bag it is served in.

So all in all it was okay, and I'll be back. But next time it's their "Little" burger with a more discriminating choice of toppings. Cheeseburger and fries, about $10.

Go Burger Kobe Sliders

Go Burger Kobe Sliders, originally uploaded by ~db~.

The Kobe Sliders from Go Burger were good, if not quite the level of last week's burger. By default, you get small versions of their BLT, Maytag Blue, and BBQ burgers. The sliders are perfectly sized, just enough for two or three good sized bites. As with the larger burger, the bun is soft and serves to hold in the juices as you bite.

Even that tall BLT smushed down into a crunchy little packet of flavor and indeed was the best of the three. The Maytag Blue was nice, if a little wet, but as is often the case, the intense flavor of the Maytag threatened to get in the way of the beef. The BBQ slider was pretty simple and suffered from an over-generous dollop of sauce hidden inside the onion ring, which squirted out on first bite and did overpower the flavor of everything else. Far from terrible, it was fine. It just wasn't great.

Also fine if not great were the Duck Fat Fries. I really wanted to love them and expected a lot of flavor. Instead I got a good, but only good, order of fries. Although they appeared nicely done, they were mostly too-soft and, again, lacked a lot of flavor. Not nearly as nice as the sweet potato fries from last time.

That said, an awesome tarragon aioli dipping sauce came with the fries. That is what I should have had last time instead of that goopy chipotle mayo. But I digress.

So again, overall they were good, with one or two real high points. I'm not sure I'll order them again, but I won't turn the plate away if someone sends it my way. Kobe Sliders and Duck Fat Fries, under $18.