Lure Fishbar: $17 “Lure Style” Cheeseburger is Tasty but Overpriced
January 31, 2008
NYC Food Guy finally made the pilgrimage to Lure’s subterranean location on the corner of Prince and Mercer and this is what awaited me. Looks pretty delicious doesn’t it?
Find out why it didn’t live up to my expectations after the break.
With two crispy onion rings crowning the pre-cut, untoasted brioche bun, this grilled cheeseburger is adorned with shredded iceburg lettuce, sliced tomato, sliced pickles, and “Lure sauce”, which is basically a tasteless Russian dressing.
Fries are included in the $17 price tag and come in a small dish with some ketchup, dijon mustard, and mayo for dipping.
You can order a normal cheeseburger for $16 or you can order it “Lure Style” for a dollar more. All “Lure Style” adds is a spread of this ordinary Russian Dressing:
I admit I had high expectations for Lure’s burger after William Tigertt called it the best burger below 14th Street and compared it to the legendary In-N-Out in a 2006 article on Eater.com.
Here’s where it all fell short:
1) The burger, while cooked to order, was grilled on a flat griddle, not over an open flame
2) The Lure sauce didn’t enhance the overall taste or add much flavor
3) The entire burger was smaller than I had hoped, a big blow considering the price
4) The bun was untoasted and would have benefited greatly from a smear of butter and a little time on the grill
5) The fries were too salty in addition to being too small for optimal dipping
Two good things about the burger:
1) Quality ingredients and careful preparation resulted in a burger that didn’t sit like a lump of grease in my stomach
2) In the end, the burger didn’t floor me but it was pretty tasty. It was not worth the $17 price tag but if you’re in the area on payday, as Adam Kuban remarks, this burger is worth a try.
If pressed to nominate a better burger below 14th Street…
I’d go with Blue Ribbon Brasserie’s Cheeseburger; it’s cheaper ($15), flame broiled, and it comes with better fries. Keep an eye out for my review.
Lure Fishbar
142 Mercer St., New York, NY 10012
at Prince St.
(212) 431-7676
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February 6th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Hey- I know you like Ziggiz’s a lot. I just tried the burger at Seymour Burton and it was awesome and they have fries like Ziggiz. It’s not a huge burger per se but pretty awesome. Maybe worth checking out.
http://nyctastes.blogspot.com/2008/02/seymour-burton-does-it-get-better-than.html
BTW I loved the Lure burger but agree it’s slightly overpriced.
February 6th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Roze-
Awesome. I read an article about Seymour Burton the other day from Frank Bruni who said this burger approaches “greatness.”
Here’s the link:
http://events.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/dining/reviews/09unde.html?ref=dining
Those fries look great, don’t know how they stack up compared to Ziggiz, but only one way to find out. What are your top 5 fries in the city?
February 7th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Top 5- that’s tough. Two Places immediately come to mind.
Beppe- Tuscan fries. These are amazing. They are totally different than Ziggiz in that they are almost like steak fries (and I hate steak fries btw) but they are somehow crispy all around and pretty uniformly topped with herbs and spices. For $9, which is a little pricey, you get a huge plate- enough to serve about 3-4 people.
The other one that came to mind is Les Halles. These are long, thin and crispy. Quite possibly perfect. I would get them more if the place itself wasn’t so tightly packed.
Those are my faves, some other include Pomme Frites, Houstons, the Spotted Pig & Pearls (the last 2 are shoestring). Oops that might be 6 🙂
I’d love to find some great waffle fries but everywhere I’ve tried has been pretty weak. Thoughts?
February 9th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Roze-
Thanks for the response. As far as waffle fries go, I’ve never experienced them in any way shape or form except the frozen variety at places like Big Nick’s. It would be pretty killer if someone whipped up some fresh ones, huh?
I like your selection of fries, they’re quite diverse. Les Halles’ were delicious. I had them a few weeks back and I have to agree, being packed in like sardines takes away from the experience a bit, but the food was great.
My top 5 fries
1) Houston’s – potatoey shoestrings, well spiced and delicious
2) Ziggiz – you know the deal hear, thin, double-fried, amazing
3) Burger Joint – as close to satisfying that McDonald’s desire without eating McDonalds
4) Kensington Kosher Deli – well done steak fries (great neck, ny)
5) Shake Shack crinkle cut – well salted and delicious