Burgerquest Final Results

The "Burger Quest" is over.  
Thursday the 22nd of January 2015 marked the end of our "Quest".

We "Burgerteers" want everyone to know that our "Burger Quest" was not meant to be, nor is it, the final word on burgers here in Merida.  However, we stand united that we feel our findings will tickle your taste buds and give you reason to smile!

Our final four, in no particular order, were La Rueda Parrilla Gaucha Norte, La Cabaña Sonorense Steak House, La Recova Montejo Parrilla Argentina & Contemporanea and La Pamplona Steak House by Salamanca. 
The aforementioned names are the full names of each restaurant.
We also went to them in that order not by preference but by time constraints and ease of flow from one to the other.

FYI: We finished the day at Dairy Queen!

At each restaurant we ordered the true and steadfast naked burger.  Bun and meat only!  Nothing else just the bread and the meat.  Each was asked to cook it either medium or medium rare due to the way it was cooked at our previous visit.

This process took four hours to consume the equivalent of one burger per "Burgerteer"!
We started at 12:30 and finished at 4:30 and a consensus was reached.

Note:  A point of observance that we would like to pass along to you, our loyal followers......we have noticed a trend for almost every restaurant to cook their burgers a little bit rarer than what you ask for. 

Of course before we reveal our findings allow me to take you through the day with us on our "Quest" of the Final Four!
We felt that it was appropriate to feature each of the final four with some additional words and a few more photos for your viewing pleasure.

Our first stop...........

Here are a few pictures of the interior and patio area...

Once again I called ahead and Francisco Sosa, manager of La Rueda, allowed us to have a burger if we got there early which is why we started here.

Our waiter, Jorge, who had also waited on us on our previous visit was there and was at the table as we were seated.  He speaks English.
We got our menus and he took our drink orders.

After receiving our drinks we made our naked burger order.  We ordered the Kobe beef style burger at 115 pesos and asked for it to be cooked medium and of course to be cut in four pieces.
The Burgers at La Rueda come with no sides! 
You cannot order fries as they do not offer them.

Please see that at the bottom of the menu it states that the burgers are ONLY served after 7:30 PM.

The burger arrived almost as ordered with no additional items, cut into four pieces but it was cooked more rare than medium as you can see.  

  

The sesame bun was grilled, the patty was preformed but the meat had not been over worked which gives a much denser texture.

The meat had been seared to a perfect level by a very hot grill.  It gave it the charcoal flavor associated with a great burger while allowing for the interior to be very tender and juicy.  To the best of our ability we feel it was seasoned only with salt.

The meat to bun ratio was spot on!   

This burger was setting the bar at a high level and as we strode to our steed and drew our swords we once again for all to hear chanted "All for one burger and a burger for all"!

Check out this link for more information:   https://www.facebook.com/pages/La-Rueda/169246916447008

Our second stop..........

Here are a few pictures of the interior and soon to be new bar area.

I'd like to add that this bar area will be separated from the dining area and closed off by doors so that when there are sporting events, etc the noise of the bar will not filter out into the dining areas.

We were greeted at the door and seated.  We received menus and the waiter took our drink order.

After receiving our drinks we made our naked burger order.  We ordered the rib eye burger at 65 pesos and asked for it to be cooked medium and of course to be cut in four pieces.

Pedro, the owner, came out to greet us as he does just about every customer that enters his establishment.

The burger arrived as ordered with no additional items, cut into four pieces and cooked exactly medium.

The sesame bun was grilled, the patty was hand formed.

The meat was not over worked.

The meat had been seared to a perfect level by a very hot grill. It gave it the charcoal flavor associated with a great burger while allowing for the interior to be very tender and juicy. To the best of our ability we feel it was seasoned only with salt.

The meat to bun ratio was spot on!   

This burger came with fries and they were very, very good.  Cooked perfectly, they were crunchy but still soft in the middle and seasoned to a precise point where none of us had to add salt or anything.

Once again as we strode to our steed we drew our swords once again and for all to hear chanted "All for one burger and a burger for all"!

Check out this link for more information:  https://www.facebook.com/LaCabanaSonorense

Our third stop.........

Here are a few pictures of the interior.........

There is even more to this restaurant that I didn't take photos of.  La Recova is an upscale restaurant and considered one of the "finer dining" restaurants here in Merida.

We were greeted at the door and seated.  We received menus and the waiter took our drink order.

After receiving our drinks we made our naked burger order.  We ordered the USDA Prime burger of the house (de la casa)  at 170 pesos and asked for it to be cooked medium rare and of course to be cut in four pieces.

The burger arrived almost as ordered with no additional items, cut into four pieces but cooked medium not medium rare.

The sesame bun was not grilled, the patty was preformed and over worked which gave it a denser texture and not very juicy.
The meat was seasoned lightly with something besides salt.

The meat had been seared by a relatively hot grill but it only had a minimal amount of the charcoal flavor associated with a great burger.  The interior was not tender and juicy.

The meat to bun ratio was heavy on the meat side.    

This burger came with souffléd potatoes which resembled small sopapillas. 

Check out this link for more information: 
http://www.larecovamerida.com/

Once again as we strode to our steed we drew our swords again and for all to hear chanted "All for one burger and a burger for all"!

Our fourth and last stop.............

Here are a couple of pictures of the interior.......

Because of the hour that we arrived, around 3, the place was packed and the valet parking individual told us that the only seating was at the bar. So, we assumed the bar position and that didn't seem to be alien to any of us!  LOL!

The interior is one big dining area along with the bar. 

We were greeted at the top of the stairs
and seated.  We received menus and the bartender took our drink order.

After receiving our drinks we made our naked burger order.  We ordered the Angus burger at 115 pesos and asked for it to be cooked medium and of course to be cut in four pieces.

The burger arrived not even close as ordered!  It was delivered with mayo, cheese and bacon.  Plus it was cooked much more rare then medium as you can see.  However, it was cut into four pieces!

It was very noisy since the place was full but we can guarantee you that we ordered it correctly and it was understood.


Since we are "Burgerteers" and nothing deters us from our appointed "Quest" we removed the additional items and did our best to surmise the flavor of the meat.  
You may ask why not send it back????? We had given thought to either sending it back or ordering another but the consensus was that it took over 45 minutes to get this one and we didn't want to wait another 45 minutes.  We knew the wait was due to the fact that they were slammed.

The sesame bun was not grilled, the patty was preformed but not over worked.  The meat had been grilled but the exact flavor was eluding us due to it having been in contact with the added toppings. The flavor seemed fine but it only had a minimal amount of the charcoal flavor associated with a great burger. The meat was on the chewy side but it was juicy.

The meat to bun ratio was spot on.    

The fries that came with it were good, not great!

Check out this link for more information: 
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pamplona-Steak-House-tel9441413/448712515261765

For the last time we strode to our steed but this time we were all tilting a wee bit as we drew our swords again and for all to hear chanted "All for one burger and a burger for all"!


Now I need to say before I go any farther that every "Quest" in life does sometimes change the way we look at things.  You know that I like rare meat and most of the others like it less rare but my personal observation over the course of our "Quest" is that my fellow "Burgerteers" are starting to lean towards the rarer side of things and being rewarded by the flavors they have experienced when prepared correctly.  Now don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with having a burger or a steak cooked more on the "well done" side, and, ah, oh, choke, crap....yes there is, it just ruins the flavor!  Forget I said that!  LOL!

Our final analysis was based on numerous factors that we felt had to be considered.  The flavor of the meat and bun were paramount!  However, there were other major factors as well, quality/type of meat to be compared, consistency from the first to second visit, and the "wallet" affect or as it is better known, the "bang for the buck"!  (this had to be considered since we did not have a deep pocketed sponsor!...maybe next Quest, hint!  hint!)  LOL!

Our choice for the best "Quest" Burger is.........






envelope please.......................................







drum roll..............................................

Please stop by when you get a chance and tell Pedro the the "Burgerteers" sent you.  He and his family will appreciate your business and your taste buds will enjoy your choice! 

FYI: La Cabaña Sonorense and La Rueda were very close but two factors pushed La Cabaña Sonorense into first place.  Those two items were price and not serving a burger for lunch.

We were disappointed with La Recova and Pamplona because our first visits were really good. You can see the difference in the burgers by looking at the pictures from our first visits in the previous posts and the pictures in this our final visits.

Regardless, these four restaurants would not have been chosen as our "Final Four" if they had not previously impressed us. Setting aside the inconsistencies that we all know arise in many of the restaurants here, we, "The Burgerteers" feel that all of our "Final Four" restaurants are good places to have a burger and each offers your a different dining experience.

Who knows, maybe you'll go forth as loyal subjects of the Merida Burger Kingdom and conduct your own mini-"Quest" and try each one to see what you think.  
An honorable mention is being given to Scott over at Canada Burger.  

They couldn't be considered because their burger is a pork burger but that doesn't take away the fact that Canada Burger has a great burger and you should check it out.  You get a cheeseburger, fries and a can of soda for 80 pesos.  
Check out this link for more information: 
http://www.canadaburger.com/

We have been asked by many of you if there will be another "Quest" and at this point we believe there will be.

This "Quest" started on July 18th 2014 which means out of 28 possible Fridays for a "Burger Quest" to happen we got around to it almost half the Fridays.  I don't think that's a bad average considering that we are all retired, we all like to travel and we all have wives or almismo w/o papers not to mention that there's an occasional medical thing or two that comes along from time to time at our ages!
We have bantered around what the future "Quest" might be but we have not come to any conclusions.
We will make you a promise that if and when another "Quest" is chosen and we your dandy "Adventurteers" strap on our swords and saddle up again we will certainly let you know.

In closing, we, the "Burgerteers" humbly want to thank our followers for sticking with us throughout our "Quest"!
We appreciated both the good and not so good feedback that we received. We are pleased that we were able to pass on information about various restaurants that serve burgers here in Merida.  We hope that you found our information useful and that we helped you find a great burger!

"All for one burger and a burger for all"!

PS:  The "Burgerteers" received no compensations, bribes, discounts or free burgers nor were any pressures or influences of any type placed upon us for our reviews.  Our "Quest" was totally self serving and yummy!