The Judge Has Ruled...Deliciousness!

Greetings my Dear Readers!

This past week, I somehow managed to be called to report for jury duty for the second year in a row. Not only was I called, but I was selected to be on a jury again.

Despite this, I was not disappointed for the fact that now I had the ability to wander the downtown streets, while everything was open, in order to have sandwiches for you all to read about.

One of my favorite places to wander into downtown near the courthouses is Grand Central Market. Knowing that I may only be downtown for a day or two, I took my time selecting a place to eat among all of the attractive vendors.

The tacos in this places are amazing. But let's not discuss that here.

I stopped by a newly opened stall called La Mamma's Burgers which looked exactly like an old lunchroom counter, completer with swirling stools.

The burgers here are straightforward options of beef or turkey, but are fully customize-able with different cheeses, sauces and vegetables.

I went for a basic turkey burger with pepper jack cheese, lettuce, onions, pickles and jalapenos.

Oh, and garlic fries. With huge chunks of garlic. Those were damn good.

The burger patty was delicious. Cooked to medium, full of flavor, and maybe just a bit greasy.

The vegetables were also fresh and crispy, adding a needed crunch to the sandwich. The main problem here was the bun. With the grease of the burger, it was not able to fully stay together through until the end.

But as always with a great lunch counter, the waitstaff and cooks were entertaining, and fun to talk with on my break from jury duty. It was nice to sit down and not have to hear testimony for five minutes.

Definitely give it a shot when you're downtown during the week.

So, one week down of my jury duty blogs, and one more entry to go on my week downtown for jury duty.  Then I will begin a series of blogs detailing sandwich shops in Burbank that I've started with Bryan Mahoney of The Burbank Leader. Make sure you follow him on Twitter (@818NewGuy) as well as myself (@danger_sandwich).

Until next week...


Turkey Burger w/ Cheese
3 1/2 Stars
La Mamma Burgers
Grand Central Market
317 South Broadway,
Los Angeles, CA

It's Delicious! It's DELICIOUS!

Welcome back again dear Readers!

Boy, do I have a surprise for you this week.

Since I've started this blog, I have been reviewing the work of others sandwichmakers, but I have yet to put my own stamp on this human institution.

So, his week I have taken on a challenge in creating my own sandwich, a custom made turkey burger at the Counter in Studio City.

The Counter has been a hugely popular burger joint since it opened a year ago. The menu offers a few pre-planned burgers but the main draw is checklist of ingredients to create your own.

Every time I go to The Counter, I take forever to order. What sauce will a pick? Which 4 add-on ingredients do i want? Cheese? Too many options.

For my creation this time, I chose the 1/3lb turkey burger on a multigrain bun with feta cheese, sweet bbq sauce, greens, jalapenos, pickles, and cranberries.

Thoughts?

First of all, the burgers that I have eaten over the past year at The Counter have been juicy, savory, and cooked to perfection. If I get beef, the middle is just slightly pink, and this turkey is cooked fully through without losing its deliciousness.

The multigrain bun was soft and fluffy and the feta cheese had its usual pungent flavor but was an evenly matched participant in this sandwich.

With all of the strong and savory flavors I added the cranberries and sweet bbq sauce to provide some flavor contrast. The cranberries were dried, chewy and full of flavor. They were a definite standout on the sandwich. The BBQ sauce added a nice slightly sweet and tangy flavor that permeated the sandwich.

It was one of the best burgers I've had yet at The Counter, and will even name it TDS Special.

Did you just get chills too?

But in fairness to the blog, I don't think I can rate my own sandwich. I think it was pretty awesome, but it is a bit unfair for me to rate my own creation.

So why don't you all rate it for me?

One final note: This past weekend for the "Big Game", I invited a few people over for a party. Food was plentiful, but one standout was created by reader Charlene. She brought a stuffed sub: sausage, ground turkey, cheese and onions, stuffed into a long roll and baked. Wow. It was such a hit at the party that people ate the leftover stuffing with tortilla chips.

If you're interested in trying this delicious sandwich, you can find the recipe in the The I Heart Trader Joe's Party Cookbook available at all Urban Outfitters.

Until next week Readers!


The Counter
12117 Ventura Blvd
Studio City, CA 91604