Yes, that’s a picture of me eating fries at a restaurant at lunch yesterday.
Can you believe it? I’m actually enjoying the experience and not at all worried that I will be feeling rather sick or in desperate need of a nap later.
Here’s how it went down ….
My kids have been bugging me lately to go to this new burger joint that was recently voted #1 in our metro area.
It’s called Burger Monger and the slogan is “It will only take one bite to make YOU a Burger Monger too!”
Yawn.
I’ve heard that one before.
I’ve tried Five Guys (barf) and Jakes’ Hamburgers (I had to take a 2 hour nap afterward). I even tried this upscale restaurant called Grill One Sixteen that has Angus burgers for only $5 each for Sunday lunch.
Every. Single. One. Makes me ill or desperately tired as my digestion grinds temporarily to a halt as it tries to figure out how to deal with what I just ate.
Even Evos, the so called healthy fast food, leaves much to be desired.
I’m just a sensitive gal, what can I say?
Ok, I’ll admit it. I’m just a Food Snob who is used to feeling pretty darn good most of the time and any food that isn’t absolutely whole, awesome, and additive free makes me feel lousy in short order.
How does the general public get through the day, I often wonder? If I felt all the time like I do after eating at a typical restaurant, what would I do to function on a daily basis?
I know!
Coffee, sugar, and caffeinated soda.
That’s how most folks do it, right?
Oh yeah. Almost forgot.
Those nasty 5 hour energy shots.
And, plenty of over the counter painkillers for the almost daily headaches, backaches, and joint pain.
So as you can imagine, I was in NO HURRY to try out Burger Monger. But, kids have a way of getting to you, don’t they? After a couple weeks of raving about this place, I said, “Ok, let’s go for lunch on Monday.”
Yesterday happened to be the first day of Winter Break so we all went to Burger Monger to celebrate.
Soooo, I’m sitting there in the booth with my arms folded in resignation about the negative eating experience that is about to be thrust upon me.
Sigh.
Sometimes we must suffer for the ones we love.
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I spy a flyer that describes Burger Monger’s food philosophy.
I am not going to blog about this, I tell myself, as I grudgingly get out of my seat and go and pick one up to look at.
I open it and see that they use Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream for their milkshakes.
Not bad, I think to myself. Better than the mystery mix that most restaurants use. Haagen-Dazs is definitely one of the best quality commercial ice creams available.
I also read that their buns are fresh baked and preservative free and the cheeses are gourmet, real milk cheeses.
Next, I start to read about the meat they use for making burgers.
It’s called Akaushi Kobe Beef and it’s a breed of Japanese cattle that produce meat that rates several levels above USDA prime.
Yawn.
“Akaushi Beef contains a higher concentration of monounsaturated fat relative to saturated fat, which the American Heart Association says can lead to lower cholesterol, the prevention of coronary heart disease, and weight loss.”
Double yawn. More of the lipid hypothesis baloney. When will people actually wake up about saturated fat, I think to myself? As many people with low cholesterol have heart attacks as those with high cholesterol. Total cholesterol means nothing with regard to heart disease!
The flyer went on to say that the taste of Akaushi Kobe Beef is rich, buttery, and unbeatable.
Ok, that’s sounds good. I was definitely interested in how it would taste compared with conventional and grassfed beef.
Flyer back on the table. Arms folded again.
I notice one of the servers walking by me with a plate of fries.
“Don’t ask about the fries” I say to myself. “You know they’re fried in rancid vegetable oils cleverly promoted as “transfat free”, so why bother?”
The server looked over and smiled.
I smiled back. “Could I ask you a question? What oil do you fry your french fries in?” I asked quietly.
“Kobe beef fat” she deadpans.
I almost fall on the floor.
“Beef fat?” I ask incredulously.
“Yes, that’s right. Kobe beef fat.” she says again.
I sit in stunned silence taking this in for a few moments trying to figure out if what I heard is actually true. A restaurant actually frying its french fries in a healthy oil?
Hell has obviously frozen over.
Just then, the owner whose name is Jake walks by and I say hello.
I mention the fact that I am so pleased that they fry their french fries in beef fat because this is so healthy and traditional and how I do it at home.
Jake says that beef fat is the best fat to fry french fries in and he is going to do it this way regardless because it’s the right way to cook them.
I shake his hand and congratulate him on sticking to his guns. I mention that I’m a food blogger and that I will be writing a post about his restaurant (what did I just say?).
Jake is obviously very passionate about what he does and mentions that they will be opening their second location in New Tampa soon.
I’m thinking to myself, now here’s a restaurant that needs to get franchised!
As my family is eating, I casually mention that I talked to the owner Jake and that the fries are cooked in beef fat.
“So that’s why we can only eat a few and be full” exclaims my 9 year old.
Don’t you just love it when your kids demonstrate that they get it?
Jake the owner drops by at the end of the meal and asks if it would be ok to give us dessert on the house.
Being a food blogger definitely has its perks. Scoring free dessert is one of them.
Dessert was strawberry buttercake with 2 scoops of Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream on top.
The buttercake turned out to be Entenmann’s. I looked up the ingredients. It’s says it’s made from all butter. Love the butter, but I’m sure there were some preservatives in there though. The ice cream was, of course, sensational.
All in all, Burger Monger was the best burger experience I’ve ever had eating out. Not perfect for sure, but moving very strongly and purposefully in the right direction.
Maybe there’s hope for the American restaurant after all.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Wow I can’t wait to try it when I go to visit my mom in a few months!!
I had to post this.
I love BurgerMonger! It makes me feel even better about it that you love it as well. And you went on the right day for the $5 burgers on Mondays!
I love to hear about restaurants that are getting it right! There is a great burger joint in Lawrence, KS where my son goes to school called Local Burger and they use only local meats (within 100 miles), coconut oil to fry their fries etc. I give my son gift cards so I know at least some of his meals are healthy!
Our local fish and chip shop has changed hands and now fries the chips in palm oil. Is this any good? I think I read recently you stating that frying anything in any vegetable oil is carcinogenic. I had changed to frying our occasional fried dough in coconut oil,but now I am not sure if this is ok….?
coconut oil, beef lard or tallow, and palm shortening are all great for frying, right sarah? i use the palm shortening because it is only $30 a gal. @ http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/organic_palm_shortening.htm and i think i read it doesn’t smoke till 450 degrees, which is great for frying.
you can also buy the beef tallow there. however, when i cook grassfed beef in a skillet, i keep all the left over fat in a pint glass jar, and freeze it. that way i don’t have to strain it to get the little pieces of meat out of it that will cause it to spoil after a few days in the frig. you don’t even have to thaw it to use it either. just take a sharp knife, and cut out a chunk or two. it comes out easily. sarah, am i doing o.k. by doing that? i use this fat to fry in a lot too.
i have also read that grapeseed oil is one that can be used for high heat without it becoming carcinogenic, but use nutiva coconut oil for frying our homemade “refried”bean ezekiel tortillas. Have never heard of palm oil, would be interested to hear from Sarah because I am paying $58 a gal for the coconut oil.
Palm oil is ok for frying but not as good as tallow or coconut oil as it is higher in monounsaturated fats.
but doesnt coconut oil leave your food tasting …coconutty?
I wish I had known this last week. We just returned Sunday from a family vacation in Florida. We made our own food most of the time for this very reason.
Awesome! I loved what your kids said. Will have to check it out the next time we’re in FL.
I am from Boston and was in Tampa this past weekend. I thought about you!Would have loved to meet you……. If I knew about this place sooner, I would have liked to try it. But I will tell my friends who live there about it. Thanks for all the time and efforet you put into this website!! I really enjoy it! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
I hope folks reading this blog who are in Tampa for the holidays stop by BurgerMonger. Tell them the Healthy Home Economist sent you and maybe I will score another free dessert next time I go! LOL (just kidding)
i love kobe beef!! Too bad there isn’t one around here.
I think I’ll quiz In and Out Burger here out West. At least when I eat there 2-3 times a year, I know the potatoes are fresh, never frozen, we can watch them cutting them up, but have no idea what kind of fat they are fried in. The beef is never frozen patties, always fresh ground beef however it’s probably not grass fed, but at least it’s fresh. I will just have to ask unless anyone reading this is from California or Arizona and already knows. All I know is that when you are held captive by the interstate with no ice chest full of good food, In and Out beats the heck outta McDonald’s, Burger King or Taco Bell!
Mikki, In’n’out uses vegetable oil. 🙁
If I eat fries cooked in vegetable oil, I am soooooo tired for HOURS afterward. Rancid vegetable oils are nearly impossible for the body to deal with digestively.
Thanks. I was afraid of that! I could skip the fries and go for the Low Carb Burger which is not on the menu, but they”ll make you one without a bun, wrapped in lettuce. Better than Mickey D’s or Jack.
Last I knew (Oct. 2010), they pretty much universally used cottonseed oil to cook the fries. They only season the burgers on the grill with conventional salt and pepper. We eat there a bit too frequently right now, but we can order our food just how we want it. I stay away from the ketchup and other sauce and go for the salt and pepper on a protien style burger with tomatoes and pickles. For this particular season, its been extra handy having them as a not perfect, but not horrible option for a meal I don’t have to prepare! Hope this helps!
Hi Mikki, Unfortunately In N Out burger uses vegetable oil (as in canola and cottonseed–if you can call the latter a veggie oil!) to fry their fries. I have a hard time eating at In N Out, although I still do from time to time. They use “american” cheese and the buns are glycemic explosions waiting to happen. The special sauce is mayo and ketchup–probably soybean oil and genetically modified corn syrup ketchup. In N Out is definitely a step up from McD’s, but it’s also still pretty much junk, albeit fresh junk. 🙂