BurgerClub

BurgerClub went to sample some N. California's local flavor when Goldburger got the tip off on this little gem just north of the Golden Gate Bridge in Sausalito, CA. Simply titled "Hamburgers", this burger joint features a circular rotating grill that's cleverly displayed in the front window. Its like a Gyro Rotisserie built for burgers. The line at Hamburgers spills out the door as the cooks grill and assemble burgers in batches. This process is chaotic but enjoyable as they create the burgers in front of you in a theatrical fashion.

I ordered a Cheeseburger with everythiing. They use a Lappi cheese from finland that's similar to monterey jack and the "Everything" as you can see posted on the sign above really does include everything. The patty is a nice size and fits into the pillowy sesame seed bun beautifully. My medium rare burger had enough pink in the middle, but the highlight of this burger is the way a rotating grill manages to lay an even char across the entire surface of the patty. The meat could use more seasoning but it did omit a descent amount of juice even though it didn't have too much fat. The cheese had good melt and a sublte flavor which added more texture than taste. The Iceburg lettuce was white and crisp and tended to slip too much. Thinly sliced mild red onions were nice and the tomato does its job of adding a little moisture and freshness to the sandwich. The relish was too sweet for me (I prefer pickle chips) and the ketchup, mustard, mayo combo was uneven with the yellow mustard making too strong of a statement.




The burger was fresh the crinkle cut fries came out hot and crispy and the price was affordable. The lack of seating moved us to a great bar next door were we could enjoy a cold draft with our burgers. Overall this is a great burger experience.

Hamburgers of Sausalito was an unexpected burger treat. The burger itself was nicely packaged, a little bundle of joy wrapped up in a neat package, delivered fresh off their rotating grill.

I had a cheese burger, with lettuce and tomato, though none of the usual condiments since I had a bottle of 'Wild Dicks' Smokin' Cheeks Picante' from the Kaz Vineyard in Sonoma, which several of us had visited the previous day. What really shook me to the core was the way this burger held together - as the pics show, it was very nicely constructed - I experienced none of the lettuce slippage otherwise mentioned.

Patty - though requested rare/ medium rare, the burger itself was medium rare, pretty well done considering it had been cooked on a single rotating grill with 10 other burgers. I should note the patty didn't seem overly compressed, like it had been groped by a randy teenager, rather it had quite a light bite;

Cheese - The Finnish Lappi cheese was, like much of Finland, quite dull and uninspiring. It did cover the burger evenly and, by seeping into every pore of burger and tomato, kept the package glued together in a half congealed/ have melted state; and

Buns - The buns were nicely toasted - the perfect loss of moisture to keep them firm when wrapped around that juicy burger meat and slippery lettuce, though not so firm that they crumbled when squeezed or held firmly.

Finally, I have to take my hat off to Kaz and his 'Wild Dicks' Smokin' Cheeks Picante'. As a long time hot sauce connoisseur, I was floored by the appropriateness of this Picante sauce for the burger and fries. The sauce was hot enough to work up a good sweat and release some endorphins, yet not so overpowering in it's flavour as to crush the palate- a terminal drawback of Tabasco.

RRH (CA, USA JULY 07)