Hawskmoor
lunchtime big guy
The Hawskmoor Notorious B.E.E.F. is a limited offering at Flatiron steakhouse, Hawksmoor. Some say just lunch, others say it’s sometimes at the bar. But to be certain, I popped in for lunch and felt like I was the only one without a fleece vest and an understanding of what a “hedge fund” “is.” This is a sort of no-brainer corporate card lunch spot, especially with their Express Lunch ™ offering, which includes this twist on the Big Mac. It’s priced out by course, so if you just got this burger (with fries!) it runs you $25, add a dessert or an app for a $40 lunch or get all three courses for $55. As far as a long lunch in this neighborhood runs you, not too bad!
I started with a crispy yogurt-washed (!!!) Vesper. Fancy lunch before crying my eyes out at Ragtime deserves only the best. Also just to level with folks: yes I am lactose intolerant, yes I get all of my burgers without cheese, yes I will still get a creamy bev or dairy full dessert. I don’t understand what’s so confusing about that.
My B.E.E.F. arrived on a heavily seeded bun with two dry aged patties, thin but not smashed, topped with homemade b+b pickles, shredded lettuce, raw white onion and Hawskmoor’s special sauce, and the cheese they’d add on here is “New School American Cheese.
The two patties were thin but not smashed and had a lot great Maillardy (new adjective just dropped) bits while staying pink and juicy. The sauce was pretty standard and really loaded on here, bordering on gloopy. I appreciated that there were pickles and onions nestled into the center of the burger. I’ve never had a Big Mac and was curious how I’d feel about the bready middle, but the concentration of crunch helped to avoid the mush. The external buns were also a great balance of sturdy and pillowy, standing up to the slight mess.
That being said, getting through this burger was a bit of a slog, albeit a delicious one. It’s definitely designed for a long lunch where you talk a little shit and then go back to the office with a slight buzz, NOT a speedy meal when it is 55% humidity and you are t-minus two hours from seeing Joshua Henry nail Wheels of a Dream. But that’s a me issue for sure.
I’m ranking the Notorious etc etc at Hawksmoor at 28 between Cafeteria and Mother’s Ruin, which happens to be another Golden Arches twin!