Photo: Adega's Bleu's burger. Credit: J. Deseo/SSP.
REVIEW — I’m all about maintaining balance and harmony in the universe. It’s a philosophic thang — for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction, resulting in no net change. Nothing really gained, yet nothing really lost.
This pearl of wisdom (actually, the third law of motion) applies to lots of things: cold fusion, geopolitics, and even hamburgers. As this is a restaurant review and not a treatise on nuclear power or nation building, I’ll stick with the burgers.
To maintain universal balance and harmony through a hamburger, one must meet the robust, sometimes savage flavors of charred flesh with the cool, soothing balm of cheese and mayonnaise. Crisp lettuce, tomatoes and onion must counter the soft crumble of ground beef. And all of that has to work with a side of fries.
Unfortunately, the $9 Bleu’s burger at Adega Wine Cellars throws all of that into a state of chaos. Here’s how:
The patty is advertised as a half-pound of ground beef marinated in a cabernet-wine reduction, then stuffed with bleu cheese and grilled to order. It sounds bold and ballsy enough, but when cooked to medium, the meat is surprisingly dry and bland. (Beef will do that if it’s marinated for too long.)
There’s also an occasional hint of thyme, which comes across as strident in an otherwise mellow burger. (Whether that’s a result of seasoning or the cabernet soak is unclear.) And the bleu cheese isn’t dispersed evenly within the patty. That means awkward silence in one half of the burger and a loud, pungent riot in the other.
The patty is topped with different fixings — lettuce, tomato, surprisingly cold yet crisp bacon, and squishy, lackluster caramelized onions. None of these add anything to the burger besides a strange pink hue. Chipotle-mustard mayonnaise is drizzled on probably for good luck, as it doesn’t lend any flavor.
Even the bun is off balance. On this occasion, the roll is split unevenly, with the top half being thicker than the bottom. And that spells disaster: With too little bread on the bottom, the sandwich falls apart under its own weight into one sloppy mess.
While Adega’s kitchen succeeds with other dishes (sweet potato fries, anyone?), it really could use a lesson in the third law of burger dynamics.
Adega Wine Cellars, 8519 Fenton St, Silver Spring, (301) 608-2200.
Update: Newton’s third law of motion deals with actions and reactions. The third law of thermodynamics (cited previously and erroneously) has to do with entropy and absolute zero. — JD (Aug 5, 2009)
Update #2: It’s spelled “caramelized”. — JD (Aug 5, 209)
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I just wanted to point out that I think you were referring to the third law of motion, or Newton’s third law, that states every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The third law of thermodynamics deals with entropy and the impossibility of reaching absolute zero temperature. Otherwise, thanks for the warning about that burger.
Editor’s note: And that’s why I’m not a scientist (anymore). Will fix the article. Thanks! — JD (Aug 5, 2009)
My general policy is to eat burgers upside down. That would have solved one of your problems, at least.
I’m loving this series of articles, Penguin! Too often I get the burger craving and wonder to Adega, tempted to try theirs. But then I breakdown and stick with the turkey reuben and eggplant fries. I think that’s what I’ll continue to do.
Should have gone w/the cabernet burger on the foccacia bread, it’s a winner I tell ya!
I second that – I like the cabernet burger too. With sweet potato fries.
I don’t do blue cheese, so I haven’t had this one. But, for burger meat at Adega, I’ve found the sliders (”Mini Burgers”) to be good.
You are right, The carmelized [sic] onions at Adega aren’t.
Editor’s note: Spell check has failed me again! — JD (Aug 5, 2009)
their burger was adequate when i tried it a few weeks back, though you are right to say that the sweet potato fries are AMAZING!
i will say that you should do a burger review for Rays…INCREDIBLE burgers, modest/cheap prices for the quality of burger..i think it was like $8…soooo big and sooo juicy. after your first bite, the juices just flow out of the burger with each following bite of the deliciousness!
Elitist burger reviews – so not Silver Spring. Quit trying to be Bethesda.
Just go to the Quarry House or the Tastee Diner for a real burger.
Tastee Diner? For a real burger? Not from my experience. Quarry House and Ray’s. And maybe Fuddruckers. Oh – and my favorite: the bacon blue cheese burger at Eggspectation.
There is nothing elitist about reviewing local restaurants.
I don’t eat the burgers at Adega, but that is one of my favorite local restaurants. The portabello mushroom sandwich and eggplant fries go great with any of Walter’s (the owner) featured wines. Thank goodness for Adega: a restaurant for grown-ups only one minute away from the various “Moe’s Family Feedbags” of Ellsworth.
I wasn’t planning on reading the burger series, being veg… But then I saw you were talking about Adega so I figured I’d read on anyway… Obviously I have no experience with their burgers, but I will agree with Springvale Roader in that their Portobello sandwich is awesome. Also, the half-and-half eggplant/sweet potato fries is a brilliant addition to any meal. They’re quite friendly there too, I generally just go there to buy my beer & wine because even though they don’t have a vast selection, what they do have is good, and as I said, they’re all very friendly.
Though I haven’t heard them bellowing our order numbers lately, which seemed kind of a signature…
Hey brh,
Dama Cafe, the recently opened Ethiopian place on Roeder Road (next to the liquor store’s parking lot) has something called a “Vegetarian Steak” sandwich. I haven’t tried it yet, but it sounds intriguing, no?
SR
“Though I haven’t heard them bellowing our order numbers lately, which seemed kind of a signature…”
Right, I was disappointed in a visit last month to find that they switched to those buzzer things to notify you that your food is ready that places like Macaroni Grill and their kind have. No more bellowing, which is a shame because I kind liked that, though I’m sure the guy who did the yelling is happy.
Parkway makes a great burger, too.
@Springvale Roader, that does sound intriguing… As good of an excuse as any to check out some new eats!
@JG, Ahhh… It’s been a while since I’ve eaten there so didn’t realize they switched to buzzers… Just had noticed when I was buying booze recently how much… quieter… it was.
Editor’s note: This comment has been deleted. — JD (Aug 12, 2009)
So, um, late on this response, but I’ll have at it anyhow..
I agree with the readers who suggest our Napa… it truly is a signature burger; and with new menu additions coming soon, we should have one or two more variants to try out.
As for the calling out of numbers for those who mentioned it… some nights, it is a mixture of both, but it is true, the pagers are the wave of the future.. not all of our kitchen staff has drama degrees, as it turns out. ;)
Cheers!
- Jarrod
(one of the past and present number-caller guys at Adega)
Editor’s note: Jarrod is an employee of Adega Wine Cellars. — JD (Nov 20, 2009)
Not sure why we’re commenting on a stale post, but what the heck.
I have to admit that Adega has always frustrated me – I just can’t make sense of its identity crisis. Is it a wine bar? Is it a wine store? Or is it a fast-food joint? It seems to try at all 3 but not really succeed at any. Probably it comes closest to a fast-food joint which is a shame because DTSS could use a nice wine bar (think a less crowded version of Cork on 14th St NW, or Mrs K’s wine cellar). If it’s going to try to be a wine bar then for the love of god make it feel like one – right now the inside feels more like a Potbelly’s or a Subway than a cozy wine bar! It needs to get a lot more rustic inside and it needs to ditch the fast-food counter look and crappy lighting.
Now the wine and food offerings at Adega aren’t horrible, although they could do with some improvement, but the ambience is epically wrong. Believe me, if you went all rustic on its happy ass you’d have people coming out the yin yang.
A nice lternative to the burger is the paper thin sliced roast beef sandwich (with horseradish). One of the best I’ve had anywhere! Totally agree with the comments on the aesthetics of the place. Seems alot like a Potbelly to me…