The Counter
http://thecounterburger.com
4786 Admiralty Way
Marina del Rey CA 90292
THE STORY
I hit up my friends Raphi and Cybele from Electronic Arts as I was going to be in LA and suggested we meet up for a burger. When they told me The Counter was near them, the decision was instantly made. The concept at The Counter is simple, although the execution is pretty complicated. Freshly ground, 100% natural Angus beef and a enough topping choices to total up 312,120 possible burger combinations. My friend Jon from My Dive Bar recently described this place as being LA’s Democratic burger, all the choices are left up to you, whereas my other LA fave, Father’s Office is the Republican burger, you get served the burger the way they want it, no changes allowed. I laughed but as soon as I was handed by burger clipboard, I understood.
Question: How the hell could I ever lead the nation with this many choices?
THE BURGER
Answer: 1/3rd LB beef burger topped with Horseradish Cheddar, Bermuda Red Onion, Roasted Chiles, Fried Egg, Mixed Baby Greens, Honey Cured Bacon and Roasted Garlic Aioli happy served between the 2 sided love of an English Muffin. Not quite what I named as my perfect burger on A Hamburger Today but pretty damn close.
We started with an onion ring, regular and sweet potato fry appetizer. The BBQ sauce made the fries taste like BBQ potato chips. It was awesome. The chipotle mayo was dece and the ranch was good to go. We definitely ate too many of them as we waited for our burgers. Once the burger arrived it took me about 30 seconds to size it up before I could figure out how to go in. This was not going to be an easy battle.
Other than the baby greens which were just too bitter (although make the Father’s Office burger to damn tasty) and the Bermuda Red Onions just didn’t work in my combo. The cheese was strong but didn’t take over the flavor, the chiles gave a nice blend (next time I will go Pepperocinis) and the egg, bacon and aioli were tremendous. Packaged around a perfectly cooked medium rare burger, this made for one darn tootin tasty burger. I honestly can’t wait to go back. Make sure you check the menu to get the full skinny (or maybe fat in this case!) of your choices.
This Counter gives it…
8 out of 10 ounces
-Rev
I was pretty excited to hit up that place. Been hearing about it for a while but never made it there. Couldn't have had better company. I have to say I enjoyed watching you explore that menu & burger more than I actually enjoy my own creation. I love the idea, but was a bit let down when they forgot my caramelized onion spread (after i skipped the grilled onions!) and the meat was a bit too dry. The fries and bbq sauce were my absolute favorites!
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