Best Gourmet Burger in Metro Detroit?

When deciding where to meet some friends who I had not seen in quite a while we were going back and forth on where we should go. There were very few points we put into deciding. We wanted a decently fast experience, at least from the restaurant side, not too expensive, and it had to be good food. When we thought about it, a name shined brighter than the rest to us, we decided to go with Redcoat Tavern in Royal Oak right off Woodward avenue in metro Detroit. Not sure they hit all these items but lets get into it.

They had a burger with the award of best gourmet burger in metro Detroit, but before you get caught up in the hype, a tangent is needed on this award. I have questions, let's start by saying you will read my review of the burger later in this but for now sit down for a moment and let me take you through a story. After our dinner, one of my friends and I were craving a nice pint of Guinness and decided that Duggan's Pub across the street would more than satisfy this craving. When sitting at the bar we noticed they too had a best burger award in metro Detroit. Are they handing these awards out like bread during a depression? Somebody has to ask this, not sure I am the one to ask but somebody had to get this ball rolling.

We started off our meal at Redcoat with drinks and i went with Jameson on the rocks, which held throughout the meal. Our eyes being the same size as our stomachs at that point and not knowing the size of the burger we were about to have, even though it clearly states it on the menu, we decided to start with some teasers. The buffalo wings and steak bites were the final decision and we could not have been more excited as the waiter walked away from our table post order placement. When they started arriving we were overloaded as they arrived all at the same time, the burgers, fries, onion rings, and teasers. The buffalo wings had a thicker sauce that had a healthy amount of vinegar, nice touch of butter, and good cayenne spice. It was a well thought out sauce embodying what makes this the unofficial sauce of the US of A. A marvelous version that I throughly enjoyed and would recommend to anyone. The steak bites can be best described as having a healthy dose of black pepper. The sauce was full of it and this is not a bad thing but instead was a healthy reminder of how somethings that are on all tables across America can be used to bring a dish to another level. The steak was well cooked but every bite was truly consumed with the sauce. Adding in the slices of cut bread to the appetizer was a notable addition that allowed the sauce to almost take another form, there was no meat in those bites to add flavor but instead we got to enjoy the sauce just as the chef that created the sauce had intended.

The burger we all ordered was the brasserie burger that had won the award (I mean how could we not?), which was a massive burger that brought me back to the days when a half pound burger was not a big deal. The well cooked and well seasoned patty was placed atop a brioche bun and then topped with thick (thats thick with two c’s) bacon, caramelized onions, swiss cheese, tomato, watercress (fancy salad), dijon mustard, and mayonnaise. The bacon on this burger was one of the first components that shined through, setting the stage for the burger. As mentioned it was thick but also crispy and lended another depth of flavor but also a texture difference in the burger. The onions and watercress added a nice back and forth with a touch of spice from the watercress and a crunch from the fresh lettuce but the sweetness of the onions with the softness since they had been cooked down gave depth. The tomato was an unsung hero, adding freshness into every bite but in a way that didn't leave me feeling as though I had eaten a tomato sandwich. Swiss cheese was added I’m sure to add some complexity and make it a little fancy, but at the end of the day its cheese on a burger, this was only going to make it better. The dijon mustard cut through the creaminess of the mayonnaise with a little acidity and gave balance. This burger had its flavor profile thought out very well with every component having something to balance against it with, giving it an overall great flavor. There was no star that stole the show (even though the bacon was close), but instead every part played its role and played it well.

The fries are the fries to parallel the great Mike Tomlin’s famous saying. Nothing extraordinary about the fries, but that not a bad thing, they were golden, crispy, and overall good. Onion rings are done one of three ways, poorly (loose batter, no crunch, onion flavor lacking), good (standard that most have come to know), and very well (well seasoned batter, onion that has crunch, and the onion doesn't come out on the first bite). Very few onion rings are done very well but this place made a ring that had the onion stay in place until the last bite, well seasoned batter, and was an enjoyable experience.

Menu Description of food ordered:

Blackened Tenderloin Tips *

tips of beef, skillet-blackened in Cajun spices, flamed in Bourbon, finished in Cajun cream sauce $15

Roadhouse Buffalo Wings with celery and bleu cheese $16

THE BRASSERIE BURGER

Named Metro-Detroit’s #1 Gourmet burger by the Detroit Free Press. Half pound ground beef patty, bacon, caramelized onions, Swiss cheese, tomato, watercress, Dijon mustard-mayonnaise, toasted brioche bun $20

Thin-cut French Fries $6

Hand-Battered Onion Rings $8

Rating:

Ambiance and Service: 5.8/10

Waitstaff: 8.2/10

Food: 9.3/10

Drinks: 6.8/10

Overall: 7.5/10

Recommendation on this place is high, go in knowing that you will wait upwards of an hour. They do not take reservations and everyone must be there in the party. Our 45-50 minute wait was well worth it, though I'm not sure the next time we would wait around without a drink. The food was good, everything well thought out. A little on the expensive side so make this destination a treat, a place to visit for an accomplishment in your life.

Best Gourmet Burger in Metro Detroit?

Jets Pizza

A Submarine around the world