Finally had the opportunity to get to the Panther Pub in Allamuchy, New Jersey.  If you are unfamiliar with the area, first know that Allamuchy is pronounced Al-uh-moo-chee.  Then know that Allamuchy is essentially comprised of one gated community (Panther Valley) a bunch of farms, and a strip mall.  In this strip mall is a new pub that opened in February of 2012.  It took me over three months to get there for the first time, but I am glad I did.

This is Burger Mayhem’s first perfect score, after nearly a year of rating establishments.  Long story short, I loved the burger, ordered more fries, and had the opportunity to drink my favorite IPA, all in one meal.  If anything approaches perfection, the Panther Pub is it for me.

I will start my review by simply saying that if you like wings, you NEED to get to Marley’s, and you need to get there yesterday.  I have never had a better wing in my entire life.  Now, for the rest of the review.

Went to Marley’s a couple weeks ago with Steve and three other guys.  Steve was punctual (as usual), and the rest of us were a bit late for various reasons.  Nonetheless, we got to the bar for a pre-dinner drink.  Determined fairly quickly that A) they had Victory Hop Devil on tap and B) it was only $3.75 a glass (if I read the bill correctly). Victory indeed.

I brought a gift certificate from restaurant.com that gave us $50 off the bill, assuming we were able to spend $100.  Easy.  We got a couple orders of wings and a quesadilla, a couple rounds of beers, and our burgers.  Mine had cheddar, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayo.  I do not typically get mayo on a burger, but something compelled me.

The burger was cooked perfectly, and was quite good.  I would definitely order a burger again, and play with the available combinations.  The sweet potato fries were good, but not the best I have ever had.

The bar and restaurant portions are fairly separated, and the televisions are in the bar area.  that being said, the dining room was very conducive to having fun conversation with your group.

I will be going back sooner than later, and I am hoping some of my fellow Hackettstown residents will follow me.

A long, long, long…LONG time ago I played guitar in a band called Resist. I haven’t seen most of these hombres in over 10 years except for the Wisk (see Zinburger review). I, ironically, see him everyday. Resist was about industrial music, the three C’s, working at Staples and Barrys Pizza (as well as Barry’s II), practicing in a death trap and a Tahoe (a fine race). Don’t worry, none of this should make sense. It’s an homage to four good friends. Now on to the joint.

Due to fate and a flight from England, we were going to get the band back together. Not to play, but to hang out for a few beers. I had heard of a place called Boom Burger – A burger joint that advertised themselves as a sports bar with burgers. Sounded like exactly the type of place I’m looking for. Too bad it only “sounded” good.

Back in 2008 I decided to brew my own beer.  I got one of those do-it-yourself kits for Christmas, and created Russo’s American Ale.  While  I waited for the beer to brew, I had visions of creating the best beer man had ever tasted, bottling it, and making a fortune.  Obviously I would open a brew-pub where I could sell my liquid gold, along with tasty burgers and assorted faire.  This place would be named something really witty, like “Groggy’s” or “Slider’s” or “The Maxx,” and we would have the coolest music, the best food, and the kick ass kareoke on Thursdays.  Best place ever.

Saved by The Beer

I poured my first Russo’s AA, and it looked magnificent.  It had the color of a Sam Adam’s Lager.  I was going to be in for a treat.  Now I was going to own a few locations, each with a unique feel. And because the beer is so damn awesome, the name will be even more amazing.  Maybe something after a 19th century person, like “Cornelius Cuthbert’s” or “Maggie’s Ale Shed.”  A handlebar mustache as the logo would seal the deal.

Then I tasted Russo’s AA, and the DJ scratched the record to a screeching halt.  It was like the entire party was looking at me.  Russo’s American Ale tasted more like Russo’s Apple Juice and Rubbing Alcohol.  I must have contaminated the batch with a cat hair or something, because it tasted like Sheee-iiitttt.  Instantly, my dreams of pub ownership and being a master brewer were dashed (at least temporarily), and I went right back to doing what I do best:  Visiting the people who do it right.

And Long Valley Pub and Brewery does it right.  Went there last night with my wife as our post Valentine’s Day outing.  It was my first outing since my son was born, and I was not about to pass up the opportunity to review a burger.

I got the Turkey Burger, and yes, I know.  Some of you will read that and be appalled that I did not get a burger made with beef, or argue that turkey burgers are not actually burgers. Well, you can jam your beef up your ass.  This burger was incredible.  It was simply a seasoned turkey patty on a brioche bun with cranberry mayo.  I added swiss cheese for $1, and asked for extra cranberry mayo on the side.  The burger came with lettuce, tomato, and pickles (on the side).  I ate the pickles, and added the lettuce to a portion of the burger to try it out.  The tomato sat in the same position on the plate, and for all I know, is still sitting on that same plate in that same position right now.  I like tomatoes, but I feel like tomatoes do little to enhance the flavor of many burgers, and this gem was not about to be ruined ny tomato.

Free of charge, I was able to opt for waffle fries instead of hand cut fries.  I had a feeling that the waffle fries were going to be good, and I was not at all disappointed.  They had a slightly sweet taste to them, making them utterly irresistible.

And to top it all off, I had one North Pole Pale Ale, this season’s specialty brew.  As defined by the restaurant’s website:

Our North Pole Pale Ale is similar to the traditional English Pale Ales in every way. It is dry hopped with East Kent Goldings. Its bitterness is noticeable but not overwhelming. We are serving it with nitrogen dispense.

It was very good, so good in fact that I am convinced that everything should be served with a nitrogen dispense.  ”Here is your milk with nitrogen dispense.” “Here are your peas with nitrogen dispense.” Nitrogen dispense must be the key ingredient, no?

I highly recommend this place, but might hold off until there is a sporting event.  I think the location is perfect for a group of guys to go watch sports, but during the week, it is more of a date scene or family outing scene from what I can tell.

If your a fan of burgers than throw on your collared shirt and head over to the David Todd in Morristown for what had to be the most gourmet burger I’ve had up to this point in my meat eating career.  If your looking for a cool place to hang out with some friends to enjoy drink specials and good burgers, save your cash and look else where. This is fancy. I mean I sat next to a guy wearing boat shoes and argile socks. I swear his woman’s name was Muffy. Anyway, on to the burger.

The wife found a place in Mo-Town that had a foie gras burger. It was a “classier” joint so she figured, “Hey I can get a nice meal (a.k.a some poached fish) and you can try a foie gras burger”.  I have to admit it was a good plan.  We are huge fans (obviously) of the Food Network and foie gras was one of those items that we never quite knew what it was but it always seemed to class up a dish. Like the elusive black truffle, I was going to get my chance to find out what this was all about.

Before we go into the review here is a quick definition of foie gras. Basically, it is the liver of a duck or goose that has been massaged, wined, dined and fed bacon as a continual diet. This is all a part of the “fattening up” process the duck is catered to so, in the end, his liver will be rich and delicious. If you even say ewww think about how your favorite food is prepared. It’s equally as gross so shut it.

This is a French delicacy thing that I don’t get, but to be honest, it’s damn tasty so fine. If I’ll eat the American cuisine of beef jerky, then I’ll eat duck liver.

It was my wife’s hmm hmmth birthday and she wanted to have a hang at the Morris Tap and Grill. I have never been there but she went with her girlfriends along with my compadre Rudy. They all had high remarks for the place and insisted a few times that I go. They raved about the bar scene and the veggie burger (patty). I wasn’t down for the veggie burger but the place sounded good. I grew up in Randolph and the last thing I knew of the MTG building was when it was a sneaker store turned into Denny’s.

I pulled up at Friday at 6:30 and pulled right out. The place was packed and no parking was available. Luckily my madre lived a block down the road and offered to drive me over. Perfect! The wife could get plastered (success!!) and I would only have to deal with one car.

I was afraid going in that it was going to be a tight squeeze in the bar due to the lack of parking. To my surprise, my wife had a commandeered a section of the bar with roughly 15 friends and had broken out a small break dancing contest. Just a backspin or robot, nothing fancy. It’s not like I could have pulled a windmill off or busted out the worm.

So it was dinnertime and I was hungry. The beer menu was overwhelming so I stuck with a Ying draft to start. I combed through the food menu and saw that I had two options. The MTG and the MTG Baconator which is where our story (review) begins… cue dream sequence music.

Sometimes in life, ambition grabs a man like a whiskey-breathed, razor-stubbled uncle. This review is one of those occasions, sans the years of psychotherapy. Apparently, Bacardi makes me think that I can not only judge the godliness of a burger, but also write about said burger. Well, in living up to my rum-laden promises, I visited Zylo Restaurant in the W Hotel in Hoboken for some meaty goodness (and also had a burger while I was at it).

As a note of fairness and full disclosure, I have been to Zylo a compulsive amount of times. Perhaps an SSRI and benzodiazepine cocktail would allow me to stop visiting the same place over and over, but if you had the food, you’d understand (and if you had my hippocampus, you’d understand even more).

It’ the holiday, I’m off from work and it’s a great chance to catch up with “The Beard”. Who’s the beard? He’s the architect behind some of the great backend functionality of BurgerMayhem as well as a good friend that lives way to far away so hangs are far and few between. My time off gave me the chance to take a trip and catch up over beers and burgers. We met half way in Woodbridge where he found The J.J. Bitting Brewing Company. This is a restaurant that served burgers and there own brewed beer…PERFECT!

It was time for the Annual “Bros before Hoe’s Holiday Extravaganza”. This is where all the guys get together to watch a football game and enjoy beverages for the holidays.  It’s my job to coordinate so I chose the Corner Pub in Flanders NJ. The Corner Pub is an Irish pub that’s a good localation to watch games and is relatively easy to get to for most of the guys. The place is one large room and though it has table seating everything seems to gravitate around the bar and TV’s. The place is loaded with TV’s. We were there for the Giants/Cowboys Sunday night game but they have they have the capacity to run with all the 1 o’clock and 4 o’clock games. It’s intense and well worth it if you’ve got bets on the table.

A few of us got there early so we grabbed available seats at the bar, ordered a beer and perused the menu. They only had two selections so I went I went with the house burger appropriately named “The Corner” burger. Here’s were it begins to fail.

I haven’t written a review in two weeks thanks to a bullshit cold and a crazy schedule. I was desperate to go out and just as I was on the brink of going out by myself (table for 1) my buddy Mark was up for a night out. Burgers and the JETS vs. Pats was the deal. Prior to the end of the night I had high hopes for a win from my team but as you know by now they lost.  In true JETS fashion as any long time fan will tell you the stunk it up. Thanks dirty Sanchez!

I suggested we check out the Lockwood Tavern at seven p.m. We both live in the area so it would be easy to meat up after the Bears game and before the 8:15 kick off. Nothing fancy and we could always go to a local sports bar for kick off if the Lockwood sucked for Fooozball. It really didn’t matter since fantasy football, battlefield and local drama would probably take up our time right to kick off.

We met up and went in. grabbed a couple of seats at the bar and combed the menu for their burger list. We found their ONE burger so I guess the choice was easy.