The Best Veggie Burger I’ve Ever Eaten – Superiority Burger, New York

I recently wrote about my experience of the much-hyped Impossible Burger. You can read the whole review and see the photos here, but in short, I thought it was pretty lousy. A disappointment of the highest order. For months, all I’d heard about was that the Impossible Burger was going to be the veggie burger to convert even the strictest of carnivores and about how it tasted just like a real burger. It didn’t. Just a few days later; however, I bit into a humble little veggie burger in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it-spot in New York City’s east village that completely blew me away.

There’s a couple of tables inside Superiority Burger, but you’ll be lucky to ever see them empty. They’re pretty tightly packed together too and you need to actually fold them up to sit on the seats at the other side. This place is seriously small, but there’s some room to stand if you can’t nab one of the tables or don’t fancy eating your burger with the people next to you.

The menu is small. There’s a couple of burgers, a couple of sandwiches and a couple of salads. The most expensive thing on the menu is $9 and everything is vegetarian. If you’re vegan, it’s no problem – just mention it to the staff and they’ll adjust your order.

I went for the Superiority Burger and the burnt broccoli salad on the side – there’s no fries here. The burger is topped with muenster cheese, iceberg lettuce, tomato and pickles. I love the aesthetics and the presentation. The burger comes wrapped in paper, the sides in paper trays and it’s served with a couple of wet wipes for your hand and that’s it. It’s fast food, but good food.

The burger looks like the part and every bit as appealing as a meaty cheeseburger. The smells that hit me as soon as I unwrapped it had my mouth watering.

Unlike the Impossible Burger, which tries so hard to look like a beef burger, this patty embraces what it is – a damn good vegetable burger made from grains and beans. It tastes like – shock – REAL food! The texture is spot on and the moreish, nutty, umami taste  left me wanting more. The toppings here actually really enhance the flavours of the patty, as opposed to being put there to cover up something bland – something that I felt the Impossible Burger was guilty of. The burger sauce was delicious, the sharpness of the pickles and how it cut through the lovely bubbly cheese – it was perfect. That little bit of mustard underneath the patty too. Spot on.

As you can probably tell, the burger is fairly small. My only regret was that I didn’t order two. Or three.

I walked out of Superiority Burger feeling good and feeling genuinely excited, which doesn’t happen often with veggie burgers. It’s not only easily one of the best veggie burgers I’ve ever eaten but one of my favourite burgers of all time, full stop. It’s cheap, packed full of delicious ingredients and has guaranteed a return visit from me the next time I’m back in New York. It’s also a lesson that we don’t need bleeding faux-meat, silicone valley patties to enjoy a good veggie burger. The best veggie burger is already here and there’s nothing impossible about it.

Price: $6. Sides extra.

THE JUICY BITS

+ The best veggie burger you’ll ever eat.
+ Cheap. Buy two or three.
+ Made with real ingredients.
+ Toppings actually enhance the flavour of the patty rather than hide it.

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Superiority Burger
430 East 9th Street
New York City
NY
10009
Tel: 212-256-1192
Website: www.superiorityburger.com

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