Best Burger in Bangkok 2015......

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Stay tuned on that...

[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.

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.

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.

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.

Edited June 13, 2015 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[smokie36]

Damn that might well be my dinner tonight!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

BTW, here is the prior Best Burgers in Bangkok thread that ran from 2007 to 2013!!!,

and hit 23 pages in total. Seems I had the last post there, among others, before that thread was archived.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/142476-best-burgers-in-bangkok/

Edited June 14, 2015 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Thian]

http://nysteakandburger.com/

OUR BURGERS

220g of homemade ground beef, grilled to order with sea salt & black pepper only. The meat speaks for itself Served with French Fries.

The Big Boy - 390 Baht

Cheddar cheese, lettuce, pickle, onion, tomato & Russian dressing.

Russian dressing?? <deleted>!

[TheAppletons]

Great, thanks for the review on NYSS&B.

(Edit to add: I'd order it without the salad dressing.)

Edited June 14, 2015 by TheAppletons

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

http://nysteakandburger.com/ OUR BURGERS

220g of homemade ground beef, grilled to order with sea salt & black pepper only. The meat speaks for itself Served with French Fries.

The Big Boy - 390 Baht

Cheddar cheese, lettuce, pickle, onion, tomato & Russian dressing.

I believe, it's pretty much another name for what is often called 1000 Island dressing.

BTW, they serve their basic burger with a cup of ketchup on the side (maybe for the burger or the fries, depending on people's tastes), as shown in my photo above. But I don't go for ketchup on my burgers or fries, and was glad they left it in a side cup that I could ignore.

For me, I prefer mustard. And, I must say, I was pleased when I inquired and was given the choice of French's regular mustard, an English mustard or a Dijon mustard to go with my burger. Extra points for that.

Edited June 14, 2015 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[DirtyDan]

1000 Island dressing is pretty much just a mixture of mayonnaise, relish and ketchup. (FYI - it's also the "secret sauce" on a MacDonald's Big Mac.) As a North American I would rather a little 1000 islands on top my patty than an egg and a beet-root - that's a shock from down under!

NYSB: I've also had that big-boy burger and loved the heck out of it... the "Russian Dressing" was a nice touch.

I wish that Sloane's sausage guy would make some burger patties too.

[Argus Tuft]

For all you Bangkok-ites, Carl's Junior has a promotion deal on Groupon this week. (also valid for their Pattaya store)

http://www.mygroupon.co.th/deals/bangkok_en/carl-s-junior/720443523

Anyone who is new to Groupon and wants a referral PM me.

Never tried Carl's Junior (they don't have them where I am), but seen it mentioned in this topic so thought a heads up might be in order.

[steven100]

To be fair to Carl Jnr's ... I think their burgers rate pretty high for size, taste & value for money.

NYS&B at 390 baht .... I'd expect an extra ordinary burger at that price. I see on TV last night in the USA the burger place called UMAMI burgers is getting big positive reviews from customers ... the meat is supposedly thick and juicy and tastes great ... Many people commented how good it tasted and they will come back.

I had a Mos burger a couple of days ago .. 155 baht ... but very small and tasteless .... 3 out of 10 for that one.

Edited June 15, 2015 by steven100

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

NYS&B at 390 baht .... I'd expect an extra ordinary burger at that price.

I probably should have added in my review above, that their Big Boy Burger is the basic burger on their menu, which also includes other burgers with added/fancier toppings at higher prices. And actually, it's 390b ++ that adds on another 17%.

Even so, for me, the thing that sets their burger apart from many of the others is the authentic beef taste and consistency of their beef burger, which seems to be very good. I don't need a huge patty of beef to have a good hamburger, but there's nothing that gets me to a bad hamburger quicker that a frozen/thawed/tasteless, dried-out or soup seasoning mixed burger fixed Thai style.

However, everyone has their limits price-wise, and NYSS&B's burger is approaching mine in terms of what I'm willing to pay for what is, after all, a hamburger.

This weekend, the wife and I went to Tribeca Restobar on Thong Lor 13 for brunch, and I was tempted to try their Wagyu burger. But it was priced at 450++, and I decided NO, I'm not going to try it, and thus I'm not going to review it here. Nor am I going to try/review the El Gaucho Argentinian Steakhouse burger that, if memory serves, is upwards of 700b all in. Others can, but I won't.

I'm trying to kind of keep to a general limit of 400 baht or so as the upper end of my burger entree budget. We'll see how that goes...

Edited June 15, 2015 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

BTW, over the night, I posted in another thread to bump it and keep it alive asking what's ever become of the plans for Teddy's Bigger Burgers

from Hawaii to supposedly open three restaurants here.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/758777-hawaiis-teddys-bigger-burgers-expanding-to-thailand/?p=9515601

It's been about 9 months since their original announcement of coming here, and the only thing I could find as linked above was a Bangkok Burger Blog

mention of them having done a limited time pop-up operations around the start of the year. After that....nothing....

[smokie36]

i've just eaten at NYS&B...and my first comment is salt.

Very salty everything.....excellent burger though in spite of this...good cheese and tasty fries.

Be better if they did proper chips but a minor quibble.

They should lay off the salt shaker a bit though....it had been heavily used on everything tonight..!...unnecessarily in my opinion.

Good though and probably best I've had in Bangkok in a long while.....juicy burger!!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Glad you finally stopped by there, Smokie, and nice to see you have a generally positive view of their burger. I think, thus far here, everyone who's posted on NYSS&B has been pretty positive about their burgers.

For me, I didn't notice any particular excessive saltiness in the burger I had, though obviously that's a matter of taste and taste buds, and perhaps varies some with the day to day preparation of their ground beef. But my fries certainly were well seasoned....

[TheAppletons]

i've just eaten at NYS&B...and my first comment is salt.

Very salty everything.....excellent burger though in spite of this...good cheese and tasty fries.

Be better if they did proper chips but a minor quibble.

They should lay off the salt shaker a bit though....it had been heavily used on everything tonight..!...unnecessarily in my opinion.

Good though and probably best I've had in Bangkok in a long while.....juicy burger!!

You guys with your "proper" this and "proper" that, lol.

Thanks for the review. Other than the amount of sodium, what did you not like about the fries? They look relatively good - and not unlike many others I've been served - in the photo.

Certainly appears you wouldn't leave hungry, though as John noted, probably with several hundred less baht.

Edited June 17, 2015 by TheAppletons

[smokie36]

i've just eaten at NYS&B...and my first comment is salt.

Very salty everything.....excellent burger though in spite of this...good cheese and tasty fries.

Be better if they did proper chips but a minor quibble.

They should lay off the salt shaker a bit though....it had been heavily used on everything tonight..!...unnecessarily in my opinion.

Good though and probably best I've had in Bangkok in a long while.....juicy burger!!

You guys with your "proper" this and "proper" that, lol.

Thanks for the review. Other than the amount of sodium, what did you not like about the fries? They look relatively good - and not unlike many others I've been served - in the photo.

Certainly appears you wouldn't leave hungry, though as John noted, probably with several hundred less baht.

Back to maccyD's with you peasants lol.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I think the Americans here among us would typically pronounce it -- "Mickey D's"... But either way, I don't eat there...

[smokie36]

i've just eaten at NYS&B...and my first comment is salt.

Very salty everything.....excellent burger though in spite of this...good cheese and tasty fries.

Be better if they did proper chips but a minor quibble.

They should lay off the salt shaker a bit though....it had been heavily used on everything tonight..!...unnecessarily in my opinion.

Good though and probably best I've had in Bangkok in a long while.....juicy burger!!

You guys with your "proper" this and "proper" that, lol.

Thanks for the review. Other than the amount of sodium, what did you not like about the fries? They look relatively good - and not unlike many others I've been served - in the photo.

Certainly appears you wouldn't leave hungry, though as John noted, probably with several hundred less baht.

The chips were pretty good. Bill was 600 Baht including a beer so yes not to be had often.....but I don't do burgers more than once a month so justifiable.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I'm keeping my own running burger list now (and note, this is just MY personal list):

Go Again:

New York Style Steak & Burger

Outback Steakhouse

Maybe:

Chop

Hard Rock Cafe

Won't Go Again:

No Idea Gastro

Garage Burger

Bangkok Burger Co.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Wow.. interesting development I see on Daniel Thaiger's Facebook feed... this being the burger truck guy of some fame:

A bitter sweet day for Daniel Thaiger! Tonight is officially our last night grilling up burgers on the legendary Sukhumvit soi 38! Come join us at 5:30pm as we close a very grateful chapter in the story of Daniel Thaiger!

We look forward to a change of scenery and new beginnings as we relocate to Sukhumvit 23 in front of CRAFT starting next week! Thank you all for your support and we hope that we get to see all of the familiar faces on Soi 23 as well smile emoticon

Mmmmm..... Now that he's closer to my home, this just may be my chance to sample his burgers...after putting it off due to the hassle factor for quite a long time... CRAFT's beers and Thaiger's burgers.... could be a marriage made in heaven!!!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Haaa!!!! I see the Bangkok Burger Blog has now done a review of New York Style Steak & Burger, and reading it, it bears a lot of similarity to the views/review I posted above (even down to noting the wadded up paper in the bottom of the french fries jar)... I don't always agree with BBB, but in this case...I generally do.

http://www.bangkokburgerblog.com/2015/06/18/new-york-style-steak-burger/

[TheAppletons]

Wow.. interesting development I see on Daniel Thaiger's Facebook feed... this being the burger truck guy of some fame:

A bitter sweet day for Daniel Thaiger! Tonight is officially our last night grilling up burgers on the legendary Sukhumvit soi 38! Come join us at 5:30pm as we close a very grateful chapter in the story of Daniel Thaiger!

We look forward to a change of scenery and new beginnings as we relocate to Sukhumvit 23 in front of CRAFT starting next week! Thank you all for your support and we hope that we get to see all of the familiar faces on Soi 23 as well smile emoticon

Mmmmm..... Now that he's closer to my home, this just may be my chance to sample his burgers...after putting it off due to the hassle factor for quite a long time... CRAFT's beers and Thaiger's burgers.... could be a marriage made in heaven!!!

The hassle factor? Two stops on the BTS?

Though I will say that the burger/beer combo is appealing and just inside the building is the whiskey and cigar place.

Edited June 21, 2015 by TheAppletons

[smokie36]

Wow.. interesting development I see on Daniel Thaiger's Facebook feed... this being the burger truck guy of some fame:

A bitter sweet day for Daniel Thaiger! Tonight is officially our last night grilling up burgers on the legendary Sukhumvit soi 38! Come join us at 5:30pm as we close a very grateful chapter in the story of Daniel Thaiger!

We look forward to a change of scenery and new beginnings as we relocate to Sukhumvit 23 in front of CRAFT starting next week! Thank you all for your support and we hope that we get to see all of the familiar faces on Soi 23 as well smile emoticon

Mmmmm..... Now that he's closer to my home, this just may be my chance to sample his burgers...after putting it off due to the hassle factor for quite a long time... CRAFT's beers and Thaiger's burgers.... could be a marriage made in heaven!!!

The hassle factor? Two stops on the BTS?

Though I will say that the burger/beer combo is appealing and just inside the building is the whiskey and cigar place.

Craft is insanely expensive so I'll give that a miss.

Moves the Thaiger truck closer to me as well so I may try it soon.

Thanks for the heads up.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The hassle factor? Two stops on the BTS?

Though I will say that the burger/beer combo is appealing and just inside the building is the whiskey and cigar place.

Not so much the location re BTS, though that's part of it.

More standing around on a busy street waiting in a potentially long queue line, not knowing if he's going to be sold out for the day by the time you arrive.

And then, either having to eat there on the street in the heat or lately rain, or carry the burger back home all the while it's getting cold and soggy... That's what I generically call, the hassle factor compared to a sit-down restaurant with aircon or at least a roof over my head.

[Stan42]

I'm keeping my own running burger list now (and note, this is just MY personal list):

Go Again:

New York Style Steak & Burger

Outback Steakhouse

Maybe:

Chop

Hard Rock Cafe

Won't Go Again:

No Idea Gastro

Garage Burger

Bangkok Burger Co.

What didn't you like about the burgers at No Idea ?

[smokie36]

I'm keeping my own running burger list now (and note, this is just MY personal list):

Go Again:

New York Style Steak & Burger

Outback Steakhouse

Maybe:

Chop

Hard Rock Cafe

Won't Go Again:

No Idea Gastro

Garage Burger

Bangkok Burger Co.

What didn't you like about the burgers at No Idea ?

Read the thread....he did explain.

Have to say their lamb shank is great....not tried the burger.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

What didn't you like about the burgers at No Idea ?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813409-best-burger-in-bangkok-2015/page-7#entry9497090

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I went back the other day, and was looking thru the various ratings on the Bangkok Burger Blog. Although he stopped giving number ratings at some point, there's still a way on the site to look at the places he previously graded 8-10.

Some of those higher rated places (although mostly rated a couple years ago) that haven't been much mentioned here include:

--25 Degrees (I've tried several of their burgers, but came away with a so-so impression)

--Audrey Cafe, Thong Lor & Central Embassy (pretty good Thai food there, but never tried their hamburger as yet)

--Bully's Pub, Suk Rd near Soi 4 (I've had their burgers in the past, but long ago. I do remember they weren't bad, but I don't remember if they were especially good)

--Hyde and Seek Gastro Bar (never had their burger, but had one of my best ever BKK brunches there, so worth a shot)

--Monsoon Cafe, Suk Soi 8 (had one of their burgers once just to eat, but wasn't thinking with my reviewer hat at the time)

--The Tavern, Suk Soi 4 (never been)

Some of these places, I need to get around to visiting or revisiting strictly for burger review purposes.... If anyone's tried the burgers at any of these places lately, please do chime in...

Edited June 21, 2015 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[smokie36]

Hyde and Seek.....someone sat next to me ordered one a few months ago and it looked small.

Their pulled pork burger looks better from pics....might try that soon.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Hyde and Seek.....someone sat next to me ordered one a few months ago and it looked small.

Their pulled pork burger looks better from pics....might try that soon.

FWIW, the Burger Blog gave it a 9/10 rating (which he seemed to give only very rarely) back in 2011 and called it a "gourmet burger without the pretence." However, he also noted the burger was only 170g in size and shaped in an oval, too high and not flat enough.

Here's what H&S's menu offering is today for their burgers:

Here's the photo of their burger from their website (which oddly, looks in presentation very much like the NYSS&B burger (with the toothpicked pickle and fries in a metal jar):

And here's what their burger looked like in the Burger Blog post:

IMHO, the burger LOOKS better in the restaurant website photo than it does in the blog photo, in terms of the shaping of their burger patty. Don't know which one reflects what they'd serve today.