Best Burger in Bangkok 2015......

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I guess I should have added, since I commented on their cheese pricing in the above post, that if you pay extra to add your choice of cheese to their burgers, they do actually serve up on their single patty burger two slices for the price, unlike most places. Here's what their basic burger with a cheddar cheese add looked like from a prior visit. Frankly for me, one slice per burger patty is enough.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Given the couple of positive comments here regarding New York Style Steak & Burger on Suk Soi 22, and always desperate for a really good hamburger in BKK amid so many poor ones, I figured I'd stop by the other day for a late lunch, and, I'm quite glad I did.

The restaurant is a pleasant place, the staff there seem genuinely nice and attentive in their service without being annoying, and their base model "The Big Boy Burger" with fries that I tried for 390b++ is one of the better/best hamburgers I can recall having in BKK, despite having a relatively high price. As I've been thinking about this thread, the essential judgment question that I keep thinking about is -- Would I go back to that place again for another round? -- and the answer for NYSS&B based on my initial visit is definitely yes.

New York Style Steak & Burger 01.jpg

New York Style Steak & Burger 03.jpg

A couple of things to note: the restaurant is pretty far down soi 22 from the main Sukhumvit Road, perhaps 300 - 400 meters, and the sidewalks there are like the typical Thai obstacle course, including lots of massage shops and ms ladies beckoning for your business. To their credit, NYSS&B is open from 11 am until 11 pm, so you can go there for lunch or during the afternoon, unlike some of the other burger restaurants around town that only open in the late afternoon/evenings. But, be aware that the only entrance to this second-floor eatery is a stairway round the back side of the Wine Depot restaurant that sits underneath on the ground floor.

As for their burger, the menu lists it at 220g of "homemade ground beef" and describes it as "grilled to order with sea salt & black pepper only," then adding, "The meat speaks for itself!" In this case, despite Thailand being awash in fake advertising claims, I'd agree with their boast. The hamburger patty at NYSS&B tasted really good to me, fresh and with a good flavor -- unlike the somehow oddly funky taste that a lot of Thai-cooked burgers seem to have. I asked for my burger cooked medium, and it came from the kitchen as medium and still juicy, another nice touch.

New York Style Steak & Burger 05.jpg

New York Style Steak & Burger 06.jpg

Straight out of the kitchen, the burger arrived a bit tall, but I flattened it out with my palm without incident and that made it easily eatable. The burger fills out most of the bun, unlike some of the almost meatball like patties some places like to turn out. The bun was fine, and the burger arrived with the standard lettuce, tomato, fresh onion slices, some pickles and a bit of Thousand Island dressing. Ahh, and also, a slice of what very much looked to be real cheese, as opposed to the processed stuff so common elsewhere.

The french fries are seasoned and arrive in a metal jar. And the portion is plenty generous, even though they put some wadded up paper in the bottom of the jar to lift the fries to the top/surface. My only demerit for their fries was that, for at least my portion, for some reason, about half the portion turned out to be little short bits of fries maybe an inch long or less and very crunchy, almost like they had taken the last remaining portion of fries after the bigger, regular size ones had already been doled out. The only other issue I had on my visit was the kitchen, subsequent to my order, seemed unusually slow in delivering my burger, especially considering they had no other business. Not sure why about that.

The restaurant has pretty much floor to ceiling windows on two sides facing out onto Soi 22, and has both an air con indoor dining area and an outdoor patio area that's covered by a clear plastic or plexiglass type cover. So it has an open and airy feel, although the view is pretty much limited to the tangles of telephone & utility wires running above the streeet and the big hotel across the street undergoing refurbishment. The interior is also decorated in U.S./NY style, including for me the bit over the top choice to use seat pillows made out of U.S. flag-style fabric.

New York Style Steak & Burger 04.jpg

I was there late afternoon just before the dinner hour, and I was the only customer in the place for my entire visit. The staff there said they've been open since January. And to my surprise, they actually had something I rarely seem to see at BKK restaurants, and that was a farang manager guy actually in the restaurant doing work and interacting with the Thai staff. All in all, a burger I'd go back for, and go again to try some of the other varieties they have on their menu. And thanks to the others here who alerted re this place and recommended it.

Just a couple updates to offer here:

First, re New York Style Steak & Burger on Suk Soi 22, they are now a participant in the Eatigo restaurant discount program, meaning you can get up to a 50% discount off your food bill, depending on the time of day you visit.

I took advantage of that to go back to NYSS&B recently and -- after trying A LOT of different BKK burger places over many months as detailed in this thread, my return visit reminded me just how good a burger they do at NYSS&B. And in fact, I'd have to say, I personally would rate their regular cheeseburger as the best I've had at any places I've tried in this thread.

The list menu price is a bit high, but knock that down by up to 50%, and their burgers become a great, delicious bargain.

This most recent visit, I tried their Firehouse Chili burger along with a side order of chili fries. The chili burger was up to their normal standard, but I wasn't wowed by their chili fries.

The day I was there, they also were advertising a separate weekday special during the day hours of buy one burger and get the second one at 50% off. I'm assuming that is a promotion that CANNOT be mixed with the Eatigo discounts. Also, don't know how long that separate promotion will last.

Also, Soi 22 seems to be undergoing a major renovation/transformation right now, with a lot of shops closed or in some stage of renewal. So customer foot traffic in the area may not be what it used to be.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Meanwhile, as for 25 Degrees down in the Silom area, I could have sworn I wrote a review here on their burgers after trying them back in mid-2013. I'm sure I tried their burgers because I have the photos to prove it, but finding anything I wrote at the time has proved impossible thus far.

So, suffice to say, I tried them, and wasn't sufficiently motivated to go back for more. Tried their regular 200g sirloin burger for what at the time was a 220++ price, and also their No. 3 special burger with avocado and green chili for what at the time was 330++ baht.

Good thing that their menu prices for burgers seem to have remained constant since then:

http://25degreesrestaurant.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/MENU_BURGER.pdf

Here's what I got:

Regular burger

Regular Sirloin Burger-220b++.jpg

Regular Sirloin Burger w Garnishes.jpg

No. 3 burger

No 3 Burger, Green Chili+Cheese+Avocado.jpg

No 3 Burger Green Chili + Cheese + Avocado.jpg

I've been in a second chances mode/mood lately:

--Went back to NYSS&B a second time as posted just above, and thought it as good as my original visit, and perhaps the best (IMHO)

--Didn't like Bully's burger on my past visit quite far back, but went back again recently (posted one page prior) and had a much different and better burger, enough to put them into my "worth considering" category.

--Then also, paid a return visit after quite a break to 25 Degrees near the Chong Nonsi BTS station. Didn't really care for their burgers the first couple times I tried them, and this latest visit wasn't any better or different, including the gristle bits in my burger patty. They stay on my not going back list. 220b for their base burger, plus 40 baht for a slice of cheese added, plus 100 baht for an optional added order of truffle fries.

PS - 25 Degrees is also a participant now in the Eatigo discounts program.

Edited May 10, 2016 by TallGuyJohninBKK