Venue: Five Leaves
Location: 18 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, NY
Date of Visit: Thursday, December 15, 2011
Burger: Five Leaves Burger
Price Range: $$$$$
Mike: For our final burger run of the year, we were all set to sample the offerings of a little ‘café & bar’ in Greenpoint called Five Leaves. Having never heard of this place, I felt obligated to check them out online, peruse their menu, and get an idea of what I was in for. The Five Leaves Burger was, by far, the most exotic burger we’ve tried thus far at The Burgerler. After some digging, I found that this establishment was conceived by the late Heath Ledger; which might explain the nautical décor and Aussie flare of the menu. Unfortunately, the restaurant wasn’t realized until after his death; the funding provided by the Ledger estate.
The menu described the Five Leaves Burger as a grass-fed beef patty with a fried pineapple ring, house pickled beets, organic sunny-up egg, and harissa mayo with the choice of salad or fries. However, this burger also came with red onion, tomato, and Boston Bibb served up on a sourdough roll. In anticipation of excess juice from the laundry list of toppings, I decided to go against the ‘usual’ and ordered this one medium with a side of fries. I was in awe when our server presented the plate before me; it was beautiful thing. I had never had the opportunity of trying a burger topped with a fried egg prior to this one. Come to think of it, I had never had a burger with beets or pineapple on it either, let alone the combination of all three. So, I was both eagerly intrigued and, admittedly, a little hesitant. As I proceeded to pile on the lettuce, tomato, and onion, I noticed how thickly sliced each of the toppings were, especially the beets. As I topped this behemoth off with the bun, I realized there was a problem; this sandwich was stacked way too high. To compound the issue, I made the mistake of cutting the thing in two, which reduced the height-to-width ratio in half, making this sandwich nearly impossible to eat.
The meat was aptly sized and cooked as ordered, but it possessed only a modest amount of flavor. Though, the array of flavors produced by the toppings may have been responsible for overshadowing the taste of the meat. The sweetness of the pineapple was fantastic when paired with the savory meat and egg. The sourdough roll was an excellent choice for this burger in that it added a bit of tanginess while its hard crust offered texture and allowed it to hold up to the runniness of the egg yolk and other juices. The harissa mayo was not overdone, which is a good thing; though, it could have had a bit more kick to punctuate the overall flavor profile of the burger. My only real complaint had to do with the beet. Its flavor was out of place and, as mentioned before, it was sliced way to thick, causing the top of the bun to teeter, which led to some topping ejection; this is when toppings slide out of the bun while taking a bite. The fries, alone, were outstanding; but when combined with this burger, they were exquisite. They were lightly salted, possessed the perfect proportion of crispy exterior to tender interior, and were excellent for soaking up the excess yolk left on the plate from the burger.
All things considered, I really enjoyed this burger. Sure, it was a little challenging to eat, I had issue with the beet, and the meat could have used more seasoning; but the merits of the Five Leaves Burger were undeniable and surely outweighed the meager pitfalls. I tend to agree with Jeff in that if I were to try this one again, I would ditch the beet and opt for bacon. I think bacon would provide the necessary flavor that the beef lacked, further accentuating the sweetness of the pineapple, while incorporating additional texture to contrast the creaminess of the egg yolk.
Kenneth: During this burger adventure, I experienced new toppings I never thought would be placed on a burger. Who would have thought an organic sunny side up egg, a fried pineapple ring, with pickled beets over a grass fed beef patty could create such a good combination? Five Leaves! I felt like a little kid on Christmas waiting for this new burger to arrive; and when it did, the burger arrived opened faced with the fried egg looking at you with lettuce, tomato, and red onions on the side if you need them. I could hardly hold back my excitement.
I ordered the meat medium well; and when it arrived, it was perfectly cooked so I decided to add the lettuce and tomato to my burger. I skipped on the ketchup this time around, but it did have a harissa mayo which paired well with the sweet pineapple ring and sour beet. The exotic toppings created a wonderful mixture of both texture and flavor; and the fried egg was a unique experience. The burger to bun ratio was a bit hard to determine, but the sourdough bun held up perfectly with all the toppings. This enjoyable first time of having a burger with a fried egg leads me to want to try many more burgers with them. I love beets and for me it was a great touch.
The Five Leaves Burger comes with the option of either french fries or salad, and I chose the fries. I can’t say french fries are my favorite thing, but Five Leaves did a great job! They arrived lightly salted with the prefect amount of crisp to potato surface area. I have to end with my foolishness, cutting the burger in half. Just don’t do it. Experience it with a full bun, otherwise everything slips and slides.
Overall Rating 7.9
Jeff: I finally arrived at Five Leaves on a rainy evening and was all set to broaden my horizons with their Five Leaves burger. You see, I don’t really care for beets. They’re ok if shredded on a salad, but they definitely shouldn’t be in the majority. The Five Leaves burger says the beets are pickled. I like pickles so maybe this will work. The other item in question is the pineapple ring. Come on now, pineapple? Are we in California or Hawaii all of the sudden? Don’t get me wrong, pineapple and Canadian bacon on pizza is delicious. A honey glazed ham with cloves and pineapple is delicious. Pineapple and beets on a burger? We’ll have to see. What made this so interesting was the inclusion of a fried egg. I haven’t had a fried egg on a burger since I lived in Portland, so this was definitely new territory with the beet and pineapple.
I ordered the burger medium, as I wasn’t sure how, if prepared medium rare, the added juice from the beets and yolk of the egg would affect the bun. The burger arrived and it definitely looked good. The sunny side up egg was positioned perfectly on top of the burger. Oh, is that butter bib lettuce I see? Yes, and that’s a plus. Also nice to notice was that the harissa mayo was not overly done. Oh my, the beet on my burger was sliced pretty thick. Well, if that’s how it’s served that’s how I’ll take it. I placed three rings of onion, one tomato slice on top, poked a couple of holes through the yolk of the egg and commenced.
The first thing I noticed was the sour dough bun. It’s nice, very nice actually. As my bite continued and concluded I didn’t taste anything extraordinary. Second bite, nothing. What happened to the harissa mayo? The beet and tomato were squeezed towards the rear of the burger along with the pineapple. After re-composing my burger I was finally able to get everything in one bite. Hmmm, ok. Let’s do this again after I eat a fry. Wow! The fries are really good. They’re light, crispy and have a very good texture inside and out. Back to the burger, the fourth bite, again, had everything in it but the only thing that stood out was the pineapple. This was not the sweet and savory blend that I thought I might experience. I removed the beet. It wasn’t pickled or at least didn’t have the pickled flavor that, say pickled onions can have. It just tasted like a regular beet, meh. The meat itself was prepared all right; it was juicy, but could’ve used some pepper or salt to contrast against the sweet of the pineapple. Yeah, that’s it. With the pineapple so sweet, I feel like this burger really needs something to counter it in order to balance the flavors. Some good, thick cut bacon would’ve done the trick. Everything else was good. The tomato was flavorful, the lettuce was good, the bun, the thin cut onions, the mayo; everything else was spot on. I’ll probably return and try it again minus the beet and with the addition of bacon, if available. This burger just needed more oomph in order for it to really stand out with the ingredients that it presents itself with, especially on a damp rainy night.
Overall Rating: 6.4
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