This week, we review 38 Degrees Alehouse & Grill, Monrovia’s newest Craft beer and gastropub style establishment.
Setting (1-10) 6
38 Degrees is a pretty new establishment so overall the setting was aesthetically good. Bare brick wall. Classic long tables make the eating space warm and inviting. Just the type of environment that is conducive to stuffing a delicious burger in your face. However,(a BIG however here) the setting section of our review includes more than just eating environment. This is the whole experience, which is where 38 Degrees lost a few points. We show up a bit early on a Saturday night. We were politely greeted by the hostess and she asked how many were in our party. There are plenty of open spots on the long table they have in the dining area. Sweet! We’ll be chowing down on a tasty burger in no time. 15 minutes later, they squeeze us into a spot at the bar. The 38 degree staff was fine, letting us know it will only be a few more minutes, but I HATE waiting in a place where there are open seats everywhere. It’s a pet peeve. I know how the restaurant business works (reservations and all that crap) but there is just something about waiting in front of open tables that rubs me the wrong way. OK. Rant complete. On to the burger
Presentation (1- 10) 9
38 Degrees has a nice selection of food and an eclectic selection of burgers. They have a Duck (Daffy), Venison (Bambi) and Rabbit (Bugsy) burgers, an Argentinian inspired number that more resembles a steak sandwich, but I’ll let that pass and your classic cheeseburgers. I chose the Backyard cheeseburger. When they brought this monster out, I was impressed by the height. This thing looked like the leaning tower of…cheese, beef and bacon. It comes with hand cut fries (handmade on site with some garlic aioli for dipping. It took me a second to strategize how I was going to attack this thing. Do I cut it in half? Smash it down and eat it whole? Or, the more unorthodox method of closing your eyes opening your mouth and bite what you can. You could get all bun, or maybe some beef if you’re lucky. I choose smashing. It worked well.
Taste (1 – 80) 70
All I can say about this burger that it was damn good. Not to mention the great craft beers I had to wash it down. I agreed with MJ when he said “We’ll be hard pressed to find a better burger then this…in Monrovia at least.” Prophetic words sir. This burger was delicious. I got mine cooked medium. It was juicy with a nice pink color in the center. The condiments were fresh. The grilled onions and smoked bacon were perfectly proportioned to the burger. I don’t know about you, but when I order a burger with grilled onions and bacon, I want every bite to have those added tastes complimenting the burger. The fries were crisp and not soggy. The garlic aioli was not bad either. I gave it a 70 because it was good, but it’s not the perfect burger. When I eat the 80 point burger, I will know. I will shoot off the chair in slow taste convulsions, while my eyes roll back into my head. I imagine I may lose consciousness for a bit. I remembered the entire night…so 70 it is.
The El
Camucho Burger at 38 Degrees Ale House & Grill - mj's review
Setting – 7
of
10
Presentation – 8 of 10
Burger – 70 of 80
Total Score – 85
I searched
for a good quote on hamburgers to imbue this review with a sense of gray
matter, (I thought that might make it matter, nyuk-nyuk,) but alas cow meat
wisdom is as elusive as the pursuit of hamburger perfection. For me a
hamburger is home. French sauces and sushi, shawerma , tandoori and paella
are exotic locales worth visiting and long on wonderment, but a hamburger is
free of all the apprehensive complexity and careful consideration of the
strange, new and foreign. Hamburgers are relaxing. Hamburgers are
home. That said the El Chamuco hamburger at 38 Degrees Ale House in
Monrovia flips the comfort of home on its bovine ear by adding some gourmet and
some bite.
My choice on
this burger excursion was the aforementioned El Chamuco. It is made with
Angus Chuck and adorned with poblano pepper rajas, pepper jack cheese, jalapeno
pork chorizo, habanero-orange reduction, avodaco, cilantro and chipotle
aioli. If the burger is home, the El Chamuco is arriving home to find Ty
Pennington out front with a camera crew. Yes, the hamburger was there but
it was fixed up in a way I had never imagined. It was spicy and hot in a
way that made my mouth happy. It was extremely flavorful without being
garish. 38 Degrees Ale House’s thing is finely stylized. They do typical gastropub fare with flavorful, off the beaten path adornments that allow the sports pub to seem, no, to be, fancy and interesting. It's not the type of bar one goes into to get drunk. The prices ensure that. Their portions are restrained to include their beer pours. (Still, the mostly stronger beers are as exotic and as tasty as a set of beers get in Monrovia.)
I had the Faction Defcon II Belgian Tribel, (brewed with Belgian 2-row and German Munich malt and saaz hops, don't you know.) San Francisco's Faction Brewing knows the way to Monrovia. (See what I did there? Sorry.) Shit was good.
We had a hard time getting a seat at 39 Degrees Ale House, which is hard not to mention. The hosts were friendly but we ended up spending 10 minutes standing smack dab in the middle of their entrance, (on purpose.) I was annoyed they let us wait inside as three customers vacated the bar in favor of a table but then a short time later sat people at the table we were standing next to, (that was out of the way,) when more of the dining room was empty than full. The bartender later told me they were packed full with reservations about to begin. For the record when we left they were nearly full but not full by what I am sure were about 20 empty seats. The people leaving the bar to go to a table decided to taste a couple of more beers before making their move, which started the chain of events.
Once we sat at the bar everything was pretty good. The El Chamuco is as complex as a burger can get without going over the edge into frou-frou. I worked hard to keep the avocados inside with the creamy poblanos but my diligence paid off. The overall affect of the burger is to create a new unique flavor from all the parts inside. I ordered medium because I don't trust even the best restaurants to serve me raw beef but they served it basically seared. I pressed ahead boldly on a hunch and my intuition rewarded me. The new flavor, El Chamuco, was rich and fresh with a warm taste of pepper perfection.
I don't want a burger like the El Chamuco every day or even every week, but every so often is another story entirely. So good. I'll recommend this one. If you want to test me, go try this burger. Then you'll trust me. Here's a picture with the requisite fries.
