Poco – Auld Lamb Slider

Poco
http://www.poconyc.com/
33 Avenue B
New York, NY 10009

THE CONQUEST
I started this site with the intention of talking about good food I got to eat with family and friends. It’s grown into so much more than I ever intended. Burger Conquest gives me an additional reason to hang out with my friends and meet new people. It also provides a great reason to celebrate, well, just about anything. One of my favorite days to celebrate is New Year’s Eve. There is no other holiday that brings together people for a party like the last day of the year. Everyone’s eating, drinking, celebrating and as the clock signifies it’s a new year, I love that 45-60 minutes where everyone is hugging, kissing, high-fiving and in general showing love and excitement. You just can’t get that feeling any other day or time.

I say what better way to send off a year than by eating burgers with your friends! That’s exactly what my wife Cara and I did with our friends Paul and Dawn. As we had planned to hit my bourbon, beer and rock speakeasy bar, Idle Hands, for the ringing in of baby new year, we wanted to eat somewhere near the bar. Enter, Poco, a lively tapas restaurant who’s food menu is is made even more special by their drink menu. It’s a really fun place, with a great menu designed, in part, by award winning chef Abe Lopez, one time victor of the Food Network’s “Chopped.”

You can read a full Burger Conquest review of the place by clicking here.

THE BURGER
I was wooed into a Burger Conquesting of Poco by owner Sarah Grizzle. Sarah, much like the restaurant she owns, is fun, creative and always accommodating. She demanded I come in and sink my teeth into one of their lamb sliders. As my luck would have it, on that night in particular, Poco ran out of their signature lamb sliders. For this New Year’s Eve dinner, I was praying not to have a repeat. Thankfully, that was not the case!

I find lamb to be a super iffy type of meat and in fact, I am so picky about it that 9 times out of 10, I’ll choose not to order it. But, when you get that 1 out of 10 and it pays off, it’s generally a pretty magical food moment. The lamb slider (although technically a mini-burger, not a slider) at Poco falls into this category. It’s a juicy little 2, maybe 3 bite treat whose spicing tastes more like you would find in Ortega taco mix than what I would come to expect in a lamb burger. Whatever the mix, it’s great and seeing as how I own the bar down the block, there’s a good chance I could become a permanent fixture here just to eat them! Especially when you can get them with pulled pork macaroni and cheese!

8 out of 10 ounces
-Rev

THE BURGERCOUNTQUEST
319 Burgers

Dec. 31, 2010 – 8:36 PM