If Plan B Fails, Order the Wings

Venue: Plan B

Location: 626 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn, NY

Date of Visit: Tuesday, Aug 14, 2012

Burger: Plan B Burger

Average Score: 6.2
Price Range: $$$$$

Mike: This week, we ventured into Brooklyn's Prospect Heights to sample the offerings at Plan B.  Plan B is a “sports bar and grill,” so their menu is full of fan favorites like buffalo wings, nachos, potstickers, and a whole slew of sandwiches.  I had also heard that they serve up a pretty good burger as well; so that’s what we were there for, The Plan B Burger.

            The Plan B Burger is an “inside-out” burger stuffed with the choice of American, Cheddar, Swiss, or crumbled blue cheese with lettuce, tomato, and red onion atop a sesame seed bun.  Self-proclaimed “famous,” as stated on the menu, The Plan B Burger is basically their version of a Juicy Lucy.  At any rate, I ordered mine medium with crumbled blue cheese.  We were given the option of a variety of different fries, or to substitute a house salad for fries; I went for the latter.  When the burger came out, it wasn’t all that much to look at.  The burger patty look a bit on the small side, especially for a stuffed one; but it did come served on a shiny aluminum skillet and the salad improved the overall presentation by adding a bit of color. 

The flavor from the blue cheese completely consumed my first bite.  I’m a big fan of blue cheese, but I was searching for more flavors from the meat.  I attempted a bite without the cheese and found out why it was so difficult; the meat just didn’t have a lot of flavor to begin with.  So, ultimately, I was happy with my choice of cheese.  The bun was nothing special, like they weren’t even trying.  The only thing going for it was the sesame seeds, which says a lot, or a little depending on how you look at it.  The bun wasn’t even toasted.  At least that would have added a bit of flavor, and texture, to the tasteless lump of bread.  Since this was a Juicy Lucy, I mean “inside-out” burger, I was afraid the grease would just destroy the bottom have of that poor bun.  Luckily, the chef had the forethought to layer the lettuce, tomato, and onion beneath the patty, creating a barrier to avoid such a catastrophe.  Kudos! 

Overall, the Plan B Burger didn’t impress me in the slightest.  The meat was under-seasoned and the bun was simply uninspired.  The blue cheese saved this burger from a complete washout, but I was still hungry after finishing.  Bacon would have been excellent on this burger, especially combined with the blue cheese; but in reality, it would just have been a band-aid on damaged goods.

Overall Rating: 6.2   

Kenny: Walking into Plan B felt like walking into any other sports bar. It featured a long bar with a cute bartender and lots of televisions playing Sportscenter.  We decided to sit at a table next to a window near the bar because the place was empty when we arrived.  Soon after settling in and ordering our first round of happy hour beers, the bar was flooded with older bros who proceeded to order large mounds of wings and beer.   The bartender came back and I ordered my Plan B burger medium stuffed with American cheese.    The Plan B Burger is a reincarnation of the original Juicy Lucy from South Minneapolis, where the  community debates which of two burger joints created it, and which has the best.  I first heard about this debate on Man vs Food; I then had to try and create one for myself, but the Plan B Burger was first I had ever paid for.

              I was almost through my first beer when the burger arrived.  Whoa, this is a unique presentation for a burger and fries, a mini cast iron skillet.  The burger looks like a meat disk that fit perfectly between the sesame seed bun, which was not toasted.   After removing the top bun to add a touch of ketchup, I noticed the lettuce, slice of tomato, and onion were under the patty.  This placement saved my bottom bun from becoming a red mess all over my hand.  The meat's main flavor was its’ char, then the cheese followed closely behind, and lastly the bun.  I wished the patty had just a little more seasoning; otherwise, the meat was juicy and cooked perfectly.   For a double patty burger, it was smaller than I had imagined.

          Overall, I enjoyed the burger and the bun was quite fresh.  Aesthetically, the burger looked perfect but after finishing my last bite, all I wanted was more meat.  

Overall Rating 7.1

Jeff: The idea of a burger being stuffed with cheese brought up similar thoughts I had when Dominos started making cheese stuffed crust pizza.  Why? What’s the point? Isn’t there enough already?
         I ordered my burger medium with pepper jack cheese hoping the cheese would provide a little spice and seasoning that is oh so often missing from burgers these days. I was wrong. My burger arrived and it was not a feast for the eyes. It was small. So much so that I thought maybe it’s narrow diameter would be made up by its thickness; it wasn’t. I commented on this and one of my burger cohorts stated that it was close to that of a double cheeseburger. Ahhhh, and there in lies the problem. At least with a double cheeseburger from a national fast food chain you can taste the cheese. I tasted nothing of the pepper jack that was supposedly stuffed in my burger. There was no pepper and no jack. I saw remnants of cheese when I bit into it, but nothing else. The bun was bland and there was nothing distinguishing the cheese from the beef. The cheese wasn’t even visibly discernable throughout the whole patty. The patty tasted like ground beef, it was juicy but definitely not noteworthy. Would a dash of salt and pepper kill the grill man? Just a couple of dashes are all I seek. For some reason I was expecting the patty to look more home made, especially in such a neighborhood bar type environment that Plan B is. Perfection in its imperfection of irregular roundness would have been nice. This patty looked like it was pressed out of a mold. There were no signs of cheese within the burger. It was all concealed, the cheese, the flavor, and the joy of what could have been. 

          They say one should always have a plan b in store for when things don’t work out. Mine was an order of hot wings.

Overall Rating 5.3