Before I get into the review of Smokey’s Saloon, a little story.
When I first went to New York almost 15 years ago now, I stayed with my cousin on the upper west side. He pointed out the good eating places around, mainly those neighborhood only joints famous only in that five block radius (a common NYC perspective). A place to go for good pastrami, a place for falafel, and the ultimate corner pizza place for the neighborhood (when ever I visited since then I make way for a slice at 83rd and Lexington, or there abouts).
Among the must try selections, was a famous burger place in town called Jackson Hole. While the burger was undoubtedly good, and expensive even for NYC, it was a bit to hoity-toity for me when I think of the humble burger. The burgers were not hand eaters, rather they were mostly served like an open-faced sandwich, you ate them with a knife and fork. This started a culinary point of debate in my mind, what is a burger, and what is simply beef and bread?
When Smokey’s Saloon first opened, it promised to be a gourmet type burger place, and in fact I recall even that Jackson Hole place mentioned as a model. While Smokey’s does not exactly copy the place, it does raise some of the same questions.
One of the striking things about Smokey’s is its hole in the wall feel. I do not know why, but recent success here has not inspired the owner to get a bigger place, menu, conspicuous location, etc. which is par for the course any small operation gets popular here. This choice is manna from heaven since no doubt part of the nice thing about this place is the coziness and the décor. Décor reminds me of some of the bar and grills my dad used to take me to in Omaha where filet mignon was considered a diet dish because it was such small cut of meat. Small, dark, and, well, smokey.
I have eaten here before, but never reviewed it properly. The menu has many permutations of burger, but that’s about it burgers and sandwiches. Curiously, and thankfully if you ask me, the menu sticks to basic topping combinations. The oddest topping on the menu I recall was a slice of Pineapple. The major draw back to the menu is the very steep Kraze-type drinks prices. Get the water and drink elsewhere if you can. I ordered the basic burger and paid W5500.
The burger literally exploded with juice from the first bite. The dry plate soon became a shallow soup dish of water and grease. This is not a problem by its self from my standpoint, I only mention it if you plan to wear something fancy you do not want to get messy (then again why the hell are you coming here in the first place). Incidentally, the profuse water indicates two things; one the beef was expertly seared and cooked, two it was frozen.
All in all the ingredients are very good. Great meat and fresh veggies. The food was expertly prepared. Even obvious thought was given to the seasoning of the patty (old French saying, “A good chef knows how to salt”). The problem here is that ubiquitous gummy off-the-shelf bun used on this thing.
Smokey’s biggest flaw is a perfect storm of unique situations. First it’s a big two-hander, so you need to negotiate your way round lifting and eating the thing. Second, you have commercially available Korean ground beef, which is ground too fine and the meat/fat ratio is never quite right. These two things lead to a burger patty that can fall apart on you as it’s manhandled between plate and mouth. Third, you got that water balloon effect of grease and juice. Fourth, you then have that lifeless spongy bread. These latter two cause the bun to soak-up all that water and grease and turn into a semi-solid paste. All four of these things creates a situation where you have to eat fast from first bite because your bun “wrapper” is rapidly disintegrating at the same time your patty is falling apart in pieces. Eating here with your hands, its like a worlds fastest eater contest.
This gets me back to my story. Is Smokey’s burger more of a fork and knife affair as the place may be trying to emulate? If so is it really a burger?
Smokey’s Saloon: ****1/2
Alley behind the Hamilton Hotel in Iteawon, towards the east.
English menus, English barely spoken
Past reviews:
Thunder Burger: ****
Nashville’s=***1/2
Navy Club=***1/2
Home(made) burger=***
Kraze Burger=*
21 Comments
i tried their Philly Cheese steak. Arrived on a hamburger bun. The prices are far too exhorbitant for this humble Englishee teacher. Fries were nice, though also expensive.
I’m curious; why do they charge tax on the meal, while other restaurants don’t? I suppose if they just hid the tax in the food prices, you’d have to break an extra “man-won” for the tab.
No offense, but I really call “bullcrap” on the whole myth of “poor” English teachers.
Ground too fine, frozen beef, “water ballon effect,” gummy off-the-shelf bun, and yet four and a half stars? Ach Herr Burgermeister! It must have tasted a lot better than your description. But that pool of grease on the plate is not too encouraging.
I’ve been to some places in the Midwest where you ate the burgers with a knife and fork because they were so damn big.
Two things.
1. I ate at Jackson Hole in NYC when I went up there with a friend in the late 1980s. I don’t remember the food but I still keep their card in part of my wallet along with a Korean Go association card from the early 90s and an account card from a bank in Des Moines for the Alan Keyes for President Campaign. I have no I idea why I keep those.
2. The thing to remember about our waygook brothers and sisters in the hagwans is that, while they make an average of 1.9 mil (after taxes) + housing, most of them are stuck with $300-500 a month of student loan payments. Keeping themselves in a steady supply of beer will set them back another few hundred and eating out (ramyeong and PJ sandwiches get old after a while) will cost them a little more. Assuming that they want to go home with some money in their pockets, that does not leave much more to play with.
Big fan of their Sloppy Joe. Wish they had some good beers on tap.
show me a “rich” English teacher and i’ll bet that boy/girl had a free (or partially free) ride in college and was smart enough to never apply for or use a credit card. after rent, korean bills, student loan, home bills, and credit card, there ain’t much left. spending more than a few clams on one meal is a big deal for a lot of people.
Dram Man: Your ranking doesn’t match the verbiage. What gives? And did you try the fries? Horrendous last time I was in there.
dram_man, yeh, you’re right; “poor” was a poor choice of word. But Jackson’ already got me figured out; almost $500/mth student loans. cc’s are paid off, and boozing has toned down, so we’ll see how the next year goes..
Dram_man, I’m really worried about your LDL cholesterol levels. Please remember to eat lots of kimchi between burgers, as I am told this prevents all ailments even birdflu.
PS What’s the best dram to take with your burger. An 18 year old single malt, or does it depend on the burger?
This is a confusing review and a surprising outcome. It mentions “great meat”, but then adds “ground beef, which is ground too fine and the meat/fat ratio is never quite right”. Then it moves on to the “lifeless spongy bread”.
So, if you find a burger with proper ground beef, with a bun that’s less “gummy” and that doesn’t turn into a “semi-solid paste”, and can be eaten at a more leasurely pace it’ll get the 1/2 splot not given to Smokey’s?
Too charitable. 3 splots.
And if you had the fries you’d find it hard to give more than 2.
A couple ground rules I should set:
1. I am not reviewing fries people get over it.
2. The negtives are more to show why it does not get the coveted five stars, not the ranking it gets.
3. Its the “korean burger hunt” for a reason, if you want absolutes consult your Zagat.
Take it easy on Dram_man, he’s just incoherent sometimes.
The best that one can do is to go to those places and see for oneself.
Just keep the burger pictures and the directions to the places coming.
Understood it’s ’bout the burger, but you do note fries in earlier reviews. Perhaps fries should be omitted? Or perhaps both should be reviewed as a set? What’s a burger without fries?
Granted it’s subjective, but the negatives you cite, especially in this review, certainly seem quite negative, i.e. more than a half splot’s worth. If 5 splots are coveted, then 4 1/2 is near perfection.
No such thing as absolutes in food reviews. It’s the enigma of the reviews, and those scores that were later lowered, that may generate questions.
Do appreciate the effort, though. It’s a refreshing change of pace here.
I think the sloppy joe is a good choice here and always enjoyed the fries and the Costco pickles. My only complaint here was the catsup. I explained to the owner about the availability of Heinz way back when he first opened. He promised to buy some, and low and behold, a month or so later I went in and he had a bottle behind the counter available upon request. A couple of months ago they didn’t have the Heinz. Was it popular or did they just lose it? Not sure.
Still can’t understand why Gecko’s, whose food is always tasty for me, still refuses to serve Heinz. Their cheap Korean catsup almost ruined any meal I’ve ever had there.
Note: If after the first bite you take any hamburger and place it back down on your plate right-side-up you haven’t
eaten enough burgers to know a good burger.
What’s with the ketchup fetish? It all tastes the same to me.
But as for good burgers, I’ll be in the San Francisco Bay Area for two weeks starting Tuesday. Phyllis’s Giant Burger–here I come.
Mike’s cheeseburger in Chiang Mai kicks some butt for some late night grease.
http://img.photobucket.com/alb.....C03334.jpg
Do you people realize, what goes into “ground meat” ? Or what kinds of meat are used for “grounding” beef ?
warning ! warning !
It can kill you. Fact.
Do you people realize, what goes into “ground meat” ? Or what kinds of meat are used for “grounding” beef ?
warning ! warning !
It can kill you. Fact.”
I did have a temporary job, in a meat processing factory once, and was amused by the despatch note covering “one number set of false teeth”. Apparently, an operative on the meat grinding unit had a choking fit, and did notice their teeth flying out. Fortunately, they were discovered in the processing unit, before making their way into the product and returned by despatch note.
Went there for the first time yesterday. The burger was good, but considering the cost it is unlikely I’ll go back. For about the same price I can get a much bigger TGIF chesseburger.
Mike’s cheeseburger in Chiang Mai kicks some butt for some late night grease.
Why on earth would ANYONE want to eat a burger when all of that great perfumed Thai food is available? It staggers the imagination! A burger is a welcome respite when you tire of the same four flavors of Korean food, but a burger over yellow curry? Have a cold Chang or Singha and reconsider.