The best burger is in Las Vegas, says this burger ‘expert’

The thing I love most about traveling is eating. I was in Las Vegas last month, and decided to adhere to the advice of their infamous slogan: “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”. And so, I ate with reckless abandon.

Okay, that’s not what people picture happening when they picture sin city, but that’s what I did.

Big buffet-style breakfasts with fluffy pancakes and lots of syrup, huge steaks with white beers at lunch, and brilliant Mexican cuisine that made me scream out for thirds and fourths – at least metaphorically, since I didn’t want to actually pay for thirds and fourths.

But the winner for me was Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen, which was a place we went to late on the first night in town because we missed dinner and it was the only place open.

It looked like an over-decorated North American sports bar. And yes, I know North American sports bars are, by definition, over decorated. But this was even more overdone.

Upon sitting, we realised they were only serving a late night menu that consisted only of about six choices. I wasn’t overly optimistic.

I spotted a mac and cheese burger, which had apparently won awards in New York, but I chose it mostly because I didn’t want the other five selections. And this led to a moment I’ve been thinking about ever since.

The burger came, garlic buttered bun gleaming in the light, the burger smothered in creamy macaroni and cheese. Thick slices of grilled bacon were tantalisingly visible under the bun.

When I bit into the burger – mac and cheese sliding off the sides, as I laboured to get my mouth around everything – it didn’t disappoint. There was some kind of sauce, tomatoes, and all of it came together to make Guy Fieri’s Mac and Cheese Burger the best burger I’d ever had.

And I’m a guy that’s had a lot of burgers.

The Mac And Cheese Burger at Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen. Photo: Jason Godfrey

Remember Johnny Depp’s character in Once Upon A Time In Mexico? He goes around ordering the traditional Mexican Puerco Pibil because that’s a thing he does. He wants to taste the dish everywhere. Well, that’s just like me and burgers. Save for the fact that Depp’s character kills the chefs who make a good Puerco Pibil just to “restore the balance” … I don’t tend towards hurting anyone, especially people who cook good food.

But I’m not a big take-photos-of-my-meals kind of guy. In fact, I’m anti-take-photos-of-my-meals, because I don’t understand it. You take photos of the good times in life to remember how you felt. You don’t take photos of food to reminisce, well, that burger made me understand why people take pictures of food.

But when the mac and cheese burger arrived, I immediately took a picture of it. And in the weeks that have passed since that moment, I have found myself gazing longingly at that photo, remembering the fleeting moment I had with those pieces of grilled beef smothered in cheese and pasta.

And when looking at these photos, I actually am hit with pangs of sadness and remorse, because the burger is gone. And I live in Hong Kong, and the mac and cheese burger is so far away.

Well, I decided to do what any love lost sap would do when separated from their love.

I’ve decided to make my own.

Okay, I know that’s not really what you do in relationships, that would be sort of creepy and desperate, but it’s a burger. A mac and cheese burger. I can make that.

Or so I thought.

Maybe the problem was I’d never made macaroni and cheese before; or maybe it was that my grill wasn’t oiled enough and the beef patties broke apart when I tried to scrape them off; or possibly, it was because, instead of my buns being lightly buttered and gently toasted, they were stale and burnt over an open fire.

Whatever it was, my mac and cheese burger did not resemble my burger love in Las Vegas.

Or maybe it’s just because I’m not the best cook in the world. My friend constantly bags on me over my “famous” bbq chicken, burnt on the outside, raw and rich with salmonella on the inside.

In any case, the first attempt didn’t go so well.

But it’s a mac and cheese burger, I can make another attempt, and another, because this mac and cheese burger is my white whale. It is my Frankenstein. I will work obsessively on until it lives! Or at least until I can eat it without making a face like it hurts.

Then, maybe, I can stop staring at that photo of a burger on my phone, and then perhaps my balance will be restored.

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Catch Jason Godfrey on The LINK on Life Inspired (Astro B.yond Ch 728).

Source : Star2.com