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Lion burger off the menu

Why does my burger taste suspiciously like cat… and what’s that roaring noise from the kitchen?

Lion burger off the menu

Local eatery drops the exotic dish in the wake of some complaints

Albany Times Union

COLONIE — The King of the Beasts is off the menu after a local restaurant attracted unwelcome attention from an international animal conservation group.

Dave Kahn, owner of Dave’s Pizza & Burgers on Fuller Road, said Wednesday that he was discontinuing a $20 burger made from African lion meat.

The move came only about an hour after the Washington, D.C.-based International Fund for Animal Welfare put out a statement calling Kahn’s lion burger an ill-advised “PR stunt” in light of the declining lion population. He had dropped the price from the original $75.

“It’s really not worth it. I didn’t know people would be so upset,” said Khan, who opened his restaurant about six weeks ago. “We’re not out to hurt anyone. We don’t want them to get so mad (that) they’re calling us upset.”

He had bought a “few pounds” of lion meet from a Nevada supplier before he opened, has sold it all in the form of about 10 burgers, and will not be reordering.

That decision was welcomed by Jeffrey Flocken, office director for the conservation group, which has been part of efforts that have led eight restaurants in states including Kansas, Virginia, Illinois and Arizona, as well as Washington, D.C., to drop lion meat from their offerings since 2009.

“It is encouraging that pressure and ethics led to this decision,” said Flocken, whose organization also has offices in Kenya and South Africa.

While it is legal to sell and consume lion meat, that could change if the U.S. government decides to add lions to the U.S. endangered species list. That review is currently under way by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Flocken said there about 30,000 lions worldwide, a decline of 50 percent over last three decades.

“We hope that this message is clear: There is no public appetite for lion meat,” he said. He said there is no evidence that lions are being “farmed” in the U.S. for meat, and said it is likely that much of what is being sold as lion meat comes from other exotic, endangered big cats that are being disposed of by their private owners.

The statement from the International Fund for Animal Welfare quoted Khan as saying, “Lions are killing machines and ruthless and have no compassion for weak.” Khan said the quote was accurate and had appeared on his Facebook page, which had been taken down as of Wednesday afternoon. Khan said he regretted his word choice and the upset it caused.

His other exotic-meat burgers, including rattlesnake, python, camel, kangaroo, rabbit, llama and crocodile, have sold so well they have eclipsed almost all the other fare on his menu.

“I ask everyone if they want pizza – our pizza is really good — and they say, ‘We don’t come here for pizza. We want your burgers.'”

Russ McCurdy, a representative for Exotic Meats USA in Reno, Nev., said his company has not sold lion meat in more than two years since the ranch that supplied it went out of business. The company also no longer sells bear meat.

Noting that the only game meat from a carnivorous animal that is regularly consumed is alligator, McCurdy said, “Raising lions and bears is just too difficult. … There isn’t enough demand to make it worthwhile.”

Aberdeen Angus Beef

Here is a man with big ears talking about Aberdeen Angus cattle.

A Thoroughbred Burger: Silks Restaurant at Bulle Rock, HDG

I had lunch at Silks Restaurant at Bulle Rock golf course with Mom and Dad… and, of course, I ordered the burger.

The Bulle Rock Burger is a 1/2 lb Angus beef patty served on a Kaiser roll with lettuce, tomato, onion and cheddar cheese.

The golf course is located outside of Havre de Grace, Maryland and it is named after Bulle Rock – the first Thoroughbred horse in the American colonies. There are lots of fancy houses near the golf course in roads that are named after famous horses.

Mom was with us, so she made Dad order a salad (ha, ha!). He had a Caesar salad which I think is disgusting because of the anchovies they put in Caesar salad dressing. Mom had Ahi tuna which was “pan seared” meaning it was still pink in the middle.

Ahi tuna is the cause of many, many arguments in our house. Mom insists that “ahi” is a legal word in Scrabble and Words With Friends, but Dad insists that “Ahi” is a proper noun and it cannot be played. This is an argument that becomes boring after the 100th or 200th time. Parents!

I ordered my burger “medium well” which is exactly how I want my burgers. I am glad that it came with cheddar cheese, because only having American cheese gets a bit boring. THERE WAS NO MAYONNAISE ON THIS BURGER WHICH IS EXACTLY HOW THINGS SHOULD BE IN AMERICA. The burger patty is made from Angus beef. Angus beef is beef that comes from cows which are at least 51% Aberdeen Angus. I do not know how you can really tell the difference once it has been ground up into hamburger meat. But it tasted good.

Dear Aberdeen Angus Cows, Thank you for the ground meat. Your sacrifice made delicious burgers. Yours sincerely, Ethan.

I award this burger a score of 7.5 out of 10. The patty was cooked just right and it had plenty of juices trapped inside. It could have scored higher (8 or 8.5) if the toppings had been better. You can see from the photo that the burger really needed a second slice of cheese (or three… or four…) and the lettuce did not cover the bun. An option to add bacon would have been nice.

Mom and Dad are thinking about hiring Bulle Rock for the reception dinner after my bar mitzvah in 2014. I think it might be a nice idea to have burger sliders as one of the appetizers. Of course those will have to be plain hamburgers – not cheeseburgers and definitely not bacon cheeseburgers (ha, ha!). I really want to have something involving burgers included in my bar mitzvah.

If you are in the Harford County area I would recommend visiting the Silks Restaurant because it has great views over the golf course and you can see the Chesapeake Bay in the distance. The view might add another point to the burger’s score 🙂

A great “wayback” burger… and a whole bunch of swag!

I visited the new Jake’s Wayback Burgers in Bel Air, MD for lunch with Mom and Dad.

I have been to the Jake’s in Elkton, but the Bel Air location is new. Elkton is closer to where I go to school, but Bel Air is closer to where I live. It’s all Maryland – it’s all good!

I ordered the Jake Burger which has 2 “hand pattied, never frozen” burger patties. I customized my burger with American cheese (other options include bacon, chili, and extra cheese) and my old favorites lettuce & tomato (other options include onions, pickles, jalapenos, etc.). A side order of French fries and a strawberry milkshake completed my order.

Mom had her burger with A1 sauce. That’s her thing. I was surprised that she did not have mushrooms on her burger. Maybe next time, Mom. (Hint! Hint! We need to go again!)

Dad had his burger (yeah… Mom let him have a burger… but it was a little kids Junior size burger!) with grilled onions and mustard. And he wonders why his breath smells? Ugh!

One of the BEST parts of the visit was the amount of swag that they gave me in the store. They had free bumper stickers, pens, key fobs, and lanyards. I got the whole lot! I could decorate my bedroom with Jake’s Wayback swag!

Jake’s makes a good burger. My burger was cooked to a nice medium-well without much pink. The fries were nice and crisp. The strawberry milkshake was… er… milky… and… um… shaky, I guess. (Hey! This is a burger review! If you want a milkshake review then you start your own blog, buddy!) I award this an 8 out of 10. The restaurant is in a good location and if you live in Harford County you should definitely go and visit.

 

Bacon Cheeseburger Sliders (Yum!) and the Bermuda Triangle

I went to Bill Bateman’s in Havre de Grace yesterday and ordered their bacon cheeseburger sliders.

I do not have a photo because… Bill Bateman’s is the Bermuda Triangle of cameras!

Every time I go to Bill Bateman’s my camera battery dies, or my phone battery dies, or (like last night) I forget to take my iPod.

I started this food blog in April 2012 and I have been to Bateman’s four times since then. But do I have a photograph to prove I’ve eaten one of their burgers? No sir!

Once I managed to take a photo of some onion rings before my camera battery died, but that’s no use.

It’s the curse of Bateman’s Bermuda Burger Triangle!

The sliders were pretty good. An order comes with 3 sliders. The burger patties are made from fresh beef and are really juicy. They were topped with American cheese and bacon. Can I prove this without a photo? Nope! You’re just going to have to believe me 🙂

I award these burgers a score of 6.5 out of 10. If the bacon had been a bit more crispy I would have awarded a score of 7.

Nate Sirkis from school offered to take a photo with his phone, but I had already eaten 2 of the sliders (BURP!) and it was just too late.

The curse strikes again!

The $500 hamburger

The Oliverio Restaurant at Avalon Hotel in Beverly Hills, California already serves a $22 cheeseburger with a 10 oz Angus beef patty and “truffle cheese” (whatever that is).

But now it is selling a “Hamburger al Tarftufo” for FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS!

It is a 12 oz Kobe beef patty with truffle cheese (whatever that is) and a 2 oz white truffle.

What kind of people spend $500 on a burger? People from California, that’s who!

McDonalds Around the World (Part 2)

Here are 3 more crazy things I found out about McDonalds around the world.

1. Weddings in Hong Kong.
2. Poutine in Canada.
3. Spam Platter in Hawaii.

Hong Kong

This is one of the weirdest things I have seen. You can get married at McDonalds in Hong Kong.

Because nothing says “I love you” like a Happy Meal and a plastic toy.

Hey! Would you like to supersize that diamond ring?

And forget champagne, because these guests are drinking chocolate milkshakes!

Canada

In Canada they have this strange thing called “poutine” which is a French-Canadian delicacy. Basically, you take a pile of French fries and smother them with gravy and cheese curds. Food like this explains why nobody wants to invade Canada.

Guess what? McDonalds in Canada serves poutine. Thankfully they only sell it in Quebec.

So it sucks to be you if you live in Ontario but you still want soggy French fries.

Hawaii

At the 75 McDonalds in Hawaii you can get the Spam Platter – two slices of Spam nestled between white rice and scrambled eggs.

OK. This just turned into a Monty Python sketch.

Bull on the Beach? In BAMD not OCMD :)

I went to Bull on the Beach in Churchville, Maryland with Mom & Dad. It is nice and close to the baseball field where my team practices. It was the team’s last practice of the year. Our season goes on for longer than the MLB – we don’t finish until November!

I ordered the Bull Burger with lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese and a pot of BBQ sauce on the side. I had fries, but I was able to steal some of Mom’s onion rings!

The photo is not great because it is Dad’s phone camera. Sorry about that. He needs to get a better phone. (STOP STEALING MINE!)

The burger was OK. It was booked over a flame grill and had a nice smokey taste. The burger patty was definitely cooked from frozen, not fresh (Mom & Dad sampled a pinch & they agreed it was a frozen patty). But I think the flame grilled taste helped boost the burger from “blah!” to “yeah!”

You can see in the photo that they also gave me a tub of mayonnaise on the side. Do I look French? Do I sound Canadian? This is Harford County, Maryland! I am surprised there is not a law in the county banning mayonnaise. I might write to the county council and ask them to do it.

I award this burger a score of 6.5 out of 10. It was better than average because of the nice flame grilled taste. If they wanted these burgers to be even better then they would use fresh meat instead of frozen patties. That could easily make them score 7 or 8 out of 10.

Bull on the Beach has its main locations in Ocean City, Maryland. I like Ocean City because it is Maryland’s beach town. When you visit “OCMD” you have to cross the bridges over to the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay which is miles & miles of flat farmland. Then you come to the coastal wetland and sand dunes and the big Atlantic Ocean beaches.

My Dad says that during the winter there are only 5,000 people living in Ocean City, but during the summer it becomes the second largest city in Maryland with over 300,000 people. That’s a lot of people!

Harvard students launch WORLD’S FIRST BURGER IN SPACE

Students from Harvard University launch a hamburger into space.

The launch took place in Sturbridge, MA and reached a max altitude of 30000m. A 600g weather balloon filled with helium was attached to a GoPro Hero, HTC Rezound phone (GPS) and a Hamburger.