Something just didn’t sit right with me after my Benjamin Burger Challenge experience last week, and it wasn’t the Benjamin Burger. It was more the gimmicky nature of the so-called “challenge” and all the factors that tilted the playing field to the Benjamin’s advantage, i.e. the other burgers had significant travel time, the Benjamin knew they were preparing their burger specifically for the “challenge” (leading you to wonder how the hell they overcooked the Feedbag’s burger), the idea that it was all organized by the Benjamin PR team (should mention here that two of the three delivery burgers weren’t close to medium-rare), and the question of whether pitting a steakhouse burger against high-end diner/fast-food burgers is fair.  But then again if I had ignored the pleas of the Benjamin PR folks altogether, I may not have discovered what turned out to be a very well-conceived, well-constructed and well-crafted burger. I also discovered something even more critical — the only way to truly compare burgers is to do so in a side-by-side tasting format. There are just too many variables to do it any other way. The real takeaway though was that the Benjamin Burger is a really damn good burger. But I couldn’t stop there. I needed to find out for myself if it’s consistently good and how it stacks up against another steakhouse burger. I needed a challenger.

I had been hearing for quite some time that the Michael Jordan Steakhouse burger is a force to be reckoned with among steakhouse burgers. For whatever reason though, the MJ burger, like several other NYC burgers including the Molly’s Pub burger,  has flown way under the radar on the NYC burger scene. It made for an ideal contender, especially since Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse is located in Grand Central Station just a block or so away from the Benjamin Steakhouse. I called up each of the steakhouses and placed an order for a medium-rare burger. I jumped in a cab and less than 30 minutes later, I was back at my office with both burgers. I have to say that the folks at the Benjamin did seem quite  surprised to see me picking up a burger just a day after I had been there for the “challenge.” I told them I had a bit more investigative research to do.  The goal — to find out who has the ’Best Underrated Midtown Steakhouse Burger Near Grand Central’:

THE TALE OF THE TAPE

Burger Blend

The Benjamin: 100% USDA Prime Beef — New York Strip, Rib Eye, Filet

Michael Jordan’s: Approx. 10% USDA Prime Beef — Chuck and Top Round (80-20 blend, choice grade) + trimmed prime scraps from leftover prime Strip Loin cuttings

Meat Purveyor

The Benjamin: Strassburger Meats (Carlstadt, NJ)

Michael Jordan’s: West Conn Meat (Bronx, NY) for ground beef / Buckhead Beef (Atlanta, GA) for prime meat

Preparation/Seasoning

The Benjamin: Dry-aged for 28 days in dry-aging box / Seasoned only w/ kosher salt

Michael Jordan’s: Not dry-aged / Seasoned w/ kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

Cost

The Benjamin: 1/2lb burger w/ fries = $15.95 **Also Includes Choice of “Silent Options”: jalapenos mixed into the meat, sautéed mushrooms, sautéed onions, onion rings, bacon, thinly-sliced Canadian bacon, diced peppers (mixed with the meat), sautéed peppers, cheese, minced bacon (mixed with the meat)

Michael Jordan’s: 1/2lb burger w/ fries = $15.00 and 3/4lb burger w/ fries = $17.00

THE TASTING

I again enlisted my friend Mark’s assistance to help in judging the two burgers. Now, each of the burgers had about equal travel time and though not ideal, it made for a fairly level playing field. We halved the burgers and began tasting and comparing. The first thing I noticed was that the Jordan’s burger had a lot more seasoning in the meat than the Benjamin burger. If it’s just kosher salt and fresh ground pepper they season with, then there was certainly quite a bit of it, though not necessarily a negative. You could even see the seasoning encrusted in the cheese atop the burger. Check out the seasoning on the center of the burger in this pic.

The second thing that was apparent was the Benjamin burger was cooked a perfect medium rare (though before cutting I have to say it didn’t look so pretty). The Jordan’s burger on the other hand was a tad overcooked and came in at closer to a medium than medium rare. You can see the difference in the pic below.

After a couple of bites of each, it was way too difficult for me to determine which was the better burger. They both had unreal flavor and perfect burger-bun ratios. The Jordan’s egg-kaiser bun was slightly sweet with a challah-like flavor while the Benjamin bun was a fairly standard old-school sesame seed. Mark and I both agreed that the Jordan’s burger had the better bun. After a couple more back-to-back bites of each burger, I could tell that Mark had already made his decision. I was still struggling. Even though it was cooked a bit past my liking, this Jordan’s burger was a flavor-bomb that was proving to be one helluva juicy and delicious burger. It had a nice external char and intense flavor. Like the first Benjamin burger we tried, this Benjamin was just as tender and loaded with a distinctive flavor of dry aging. Again the wonderful taste of this exquisitely-crafted, high-quality grind left me repeating aloud, ”damn, this is a good burger.” It was even better prepared than the one the day before that had the home-field advantage.

THE VERDICT

After about my 7th bite of each burger, I finally looked over at Mark and said “Benjamin” and he nodded. But damn was it close. We both thought that if the Jordan’s burger had been cooked properly and as perfectly as the Benjamin’s, it may have been a dead heat. I still think the Benjamin would have eeked it out on account of the flavor of the meat, but it would have been very close. One takeaway is that the Jordan burger had almost as much delicious tender, juicy and rich flavor, despite no dry-aging of the meat. Next up for the Benjamin — Wolfgang’s Burger.

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