Tuesday, December 21, 2010

When doughnuts and burgers collide (PYT Philly)

Chocolate covered bacon double cheeseburger (PYT)

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting PYT Philly for Serious Eats (which is very serious business). Long story short, it's an awesome lounge/burger joint that serves up a fantastically good plain cheeseburger. In any case, you know the drill, if you want to read an actual review of their normal burgers from a non-demented perspective, hop on over to AHT to read my post there. But if your preferred method of death is slow and delicious, by means of clogged arteries, feel free to stick around here, since I wanted to talk a little bit more about their Krispy Kreme and pretzel cheesesteak burgers.

After multiple encounters with burgers with doughnuts as buns (see here and here), I would consider myself some sort of pseudo-expert on the subject matter, especially since I'm probably one of the few people idiotic enough to eat them repeatedly (and actually write about it). Now how was PYT's take on the Luther Burger?

Chocolate covered bacon

Overwhelming would be an understatement. They start with a plain glazed Krispy Kreme donut (the traditionalist bun of choice for doughnut burger enthusiasts EVERYWHERE), but that's where the formula starts getting fucked up. Instead of a single patty, they double the amount of pain/pleasure by double-stacking twin 4-ounce patties all up in there. Then they finish off this abomination with a generously thick slice of melted cheese and some bacon (Luther burger requirements = met). But wait... you see that brown goop in the middle? That's melted chocolate. Why is there melted chocolate? Because the brain trust at PYT made an executive decision to use chocolate covered bacon. Looking at all the components that go into the burger, my mind is thinking... donuts are awesome, burger patties are awesome (x2 no less!), cheese is awesome, and chocolate covered bacon is awesome. The sum of parts must be even greater than... *counts the number of times I said awesome* 5x awesome.

Then I took a bite... and my brain shutdown. It's not that it tasted bad or anything, but unless your body runs on pure sugar and fat (like a fighter jet running on 100% trans-fats or... something bad?), then more than 2 or 3 bites will probably make you want to throw in the towel. In my opinion, it was definitely a worthwhile experiment, but not something I'd order seriously... repeatedly. Okay, maybe twice.

Cheesesteak pretzel cheeseburger (PYT)

They also do one of these thingers. Which is basically the child of a pretzel and a cheesesteak, who gets put up for adoption, and then gets adopted by a family of burgers. Awkward turtle. It's everything you'd expect, a soft, yet thick and chewy pretzel housing a thick and juicy burger patty, chopped steak, and a delicately blend of cheese wiz and cheddar. I liked it more than enough, and I'd probably give it another go when I next visit PYT. I said it might be too much sandwich for some in my AHT review... but really, it's just right amount if you're a fat ass like myself. No shame.

Classic cheeseburger (PYT)

I won't bother saying much about this, since I already sang it's praises to no end on Serious Eats, but yeah... it's basically the shit. One of the top burgers I've ever had in my life. That's a lot of burgers.

6 comments:

Don said...

I have to say that chocolate in a burger sounds just wrong. Make a great savory burger and finish with a great donut, but don't try and eat them at the same time!!

Barrett said...

Didn't paula deen do this once?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv8yEMRDe_w

Nicholas said...

Don - sounds wrong... because it is wrong.

Barrett - nah, she bitched out. Fried egg can't compete with double patties AND chocolate covered bacon.

Littlest Stephy said...

I always tell people to take advantage of this place during restaurant week. They have really interesting but just slightly above average burgers. Although super fatty-licious I still feel you get less then you pay for if you go there normally.

That Pretzel-cheesesteak-burger...it is all kinds of amazingly mixed up! I am still trying to wrap my brain around that Krispy Kreme chocolate bacon abomination.

Nicholas said...

The Littlest Stephy - nah, not just restaurant week! It's not that expensive normally anyway. But you really just thought they were slightly above average? Their classic cheeseburger ranks close to Shake Shack for me, and I think pretty highly of theirs...

Sue said...

Luther burger... D:

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