Cozy Royale
In my very first poll, Cozy Royale far and away won for my next burger to try, so I thought it’d be a great option to celebrate passing 100 subscribers. I can’t believe I have one hundred lil divas and counting - grateful for you all!
This spot is nestled on a corner in what I believe is actually appropriate to refer to as East Williamsburg, just five blocks from my very first apartment off the Graham L stop. Outfitted in dark wood, dim lights, and touches of rich shades of green and crystal, the interior lives up to its moniker.
My friends Viv and Amy accompanied me to this milestone meal with bells on. I’ve been working on sharing things I’m excited about, inspired by Brené Brown’s writing on embracing imperfection and practicing courage. In her book The Gifts of Imperfection, she speaks about downplaying or even withholding news of upcoming projects and events in case they don’t pan out or go well:
It’s only been in the last few years that I’ve learned that playing down the exciting stuff doesn’t take the pain away when it doesn’t happen. It does, however, minimize the joy when it does happen. It also creates a lot of isolation.
You can’t celebrate if people don’t know that there’s something to celebrate! I’ve already begun to plant the seeds of my desire for a hamburger-shaped cake at my next milestone.
Cozy Royale was opened by the co-owners of The Meat Hook, a butcher shop just down the road that specializes in whole animal butchery and works closely with New York State farmers to keep things local and fresh. With that kind of supply, it's no wonder that this was one of my most recommended burgers.
Amy and I opted for the classic cheeseburger (you know the drill for me) which comes with Royale sauce, white onion, and pickles. The menu says it’s served on a sesame seed bun, but it seems like they’ve changed over to a brioche situation.
Viv opted for the dry-aged cheeseburger, which has a limited inventory of ten a day. This specialty burger has two smashed dry-aged patties, raclette, arugula, bacon jam, Calabrian aioli, and pickled red onion. They still had a few left, but with the cheese being a pretty central part of what makes this burger special, I opted for the classic.
It’s worth noting that both burgers are $22 and come with fries, just below the average price of the burgers I’ve already ranked.
Once our burgers arrived, we all sat in silence chowing down, finally coming up for air to look at each other and say, “This is like….really good.”
Obviously the patty was a perfect blend, just fatty enough for a rich taste but not so heavy that it felt like an endeavor to get through. While it had the same toppings of the Ingas burger, the Cozy burger had much more generous cuts of white onion and pickles, making for a bigger crunch and overall better bite. The sauce and medium cook temp made for some heavy drippings, but the bun was toasted and thick enough to handle it. While my plate filled with juice after each bite, my hands stayed dry.
I paired my burger with a martini, but was inspired by Viv who ordered and then more or less chugged a fountain Coke. I can confidently say that they have one of the crispiest Cokes I’ve had in a very long time and encourage you to follow my lead and set up a beverage trifecta of ‘tini, Coke and water to pair with your burger, which as you can see I absolutely hated
I’m going to nestle Cozy Royale in between Union Square Cafe and Ingas, making it my number 4 burger in New York. I really wish they didn’t scrap the gavel emoji because this feels like the perfect opportunity to use it, but I’ll just ask you to picture it in your mind's eye.