The Slater's 50/50

The Slater's 50/50, originally uploaded by ~db~.

I have heard a lot about Slater's 50/50 over the last couple of years. And it's no surprise when you're signature product is a burger made of 50% bacon! I mean, what burger lover wouldn't be interested? So it was that when I visited Pasadena yesterday and found myself near the restaurant, I was compelled to try it out.

And it was good. Very good. Much better than I thought it would be. It addition to the beef/bacon patty, there's mashed avocado, pepper jack cheese, and chipotle adobo mayo, topped with a "sunny side up" egg, all set in a nice and soft white brioche bun.

If I may digress for a moment. I put "sunny side up" egg description in quotes here because it wasn't sunny side up at all. The whites of the egg were completely solid, with the yolks almost fully set. In fact, the entire egg pretty much slid out as one piece when I took my first bite. This is almost always the case when I get an egg on a burger and completely defeats its purpose, which is to allow the yolk to break and drench the burger with its creamy unctuousness. It's unfortunate and usually results in my setting the egg puck off to the side.

Now, back to the burger itself. When ordering, I was told they didn't offer it medium rare, because of the bacon. So I ordered it medium and this turned out to be the correct choice. It was juicy and (obviously) full of flavor. My two biggest concerns about a burger made of 50% bacon, that it would be too salty or that the bacon would overwhelm everything else, were thankfully unfounded. The creaminess of the avocado balanced the salt, the bit of heat from the cheese and mayo cut through the fat. And while much of the bun was left behind, it was soft and tasty and perfect for sopping up the juices. It's a messy meal, but not overly so. The pickle was fine, but in place of the egg, it could have really used some crunch inside the burger.

Still, despite the worthless egg and lack of fresh-veggie crunch, it was a good burger and I'd gladly have it again. Also, the place was fun, busy but not overly loud, and all the staff were helpful and pleasant. Oh, and there are something like 100 different beers available. I sat at the bar and ordered a draught Harp Ale, which went well with the sandwich. Burger and beer, about $16.