#oinkster

Burger Week 2018. Burger No. 7.

For the final burger of Burger Week 2018, the folks at The Oinkster brought back a fan favorite from 2013—the McRibster. As one might guess, this is an upscaled version of a similarly named sandwich from a fast food chain you've probably heard of. I'd never had it before, so I was really eager to sink my teeth into this one.

Overall Appearance: 5 Points (of 5)

I'm not a fan of the McRibster's namesake, but I am a big fan of the Oinkster’s McRibster. Once unwrapped from its paper envelope, this particular burger (if once can rightly call it a burger) looked mighty enticing.

Bun: 8 Points (of 10)

The McRibster is served on a French roll. I'm not certain why this particular bread was selected, but it worked for the sandwich. The bun did what it was supposed to do: keep all the other ingredients together and get out of the way.

Meat: 27 Points (of 30)

The patty on the McRibster wasn't a patty at all. Rather, it was a short rack of boneless baby back ribs. They were tender and juicy and quite flavorful.

Cheese: 0 Points (of 15)

There's no cheese on the McRibster. Nothing to see here.

Vegetables: 12 Points (of 15)

The meat was the main attraction of the McRibster, but the sandwich's few pickles, as minimal as they were, added a nice tanginess and texture to each bite. The McRibster was also garnished with a smattering of onions, which gave it a little extra zing.

Sauces: 8 Points (of 10)

The McRibster was slathered in barbecue (or BBQ if you prefer) sauce, a most appropriate saucing for this sandwich that really added to the overall experience.

Messiness: 3 Points (of 5)

I had high hopes for a wonderfully messy burger, but it was startlingly non-messy. I suspect the relatively solid bun was the main culprit.

Burgerness: 6 Points (of 10)

Okay, so the McRibster was more of a pork rib sandwich than a true burger. And while it was a very delicious sandwich and very much worth eating, I felt I had to knock down its burgerness a few points for not actually being, you know, a burger. Other than that, it was fantastic.

This burger had no cheese. Without that category the McRibster earned a raw score of 69. Might impressive on its own. However, as we do here fairness here on Tom’s Burger Blog, we factored out that category, and the McRibster earned an adjusted Burger Score of 81.

Burger Score: 81

Burger Week 2018. Burger No. 6.

Los Angeles burger joint The Oinkster has a habit of re-creating big-chain burgers and making them better. One of the earliest burgers to get this treatment (back in 2012!) was the Sourdough Jack from Jack in the Box. Chef Andre Guerrero and the team at the The Oinkster flipped this into the Sourdough Josh, a burger I was fortunate enough to enjoy when it first appeared—and also fortunate enough to enjoy again as a limited release as part of Burger Week 2018. This was the burger I was most looking forward to. Let's see how it stacked up!

Overall Appearance: 5 Points (of 5)

The Sourdough Josh is a damn fine looking burger.

Bun: 7 Points (of 10)

Two slices of sourdough bread lovingly embrace the rest of the ingredients, making this burger look more like patty melt than a traditional bun-clad burger. I like patty melts, so this burger played to the right crowd here. I would have rated this higher, but mine fell apart with the juiciness fo the meat and, especially, the tomato.

Meat: 25 Points (of 30)

The pairing of Nebraksa Angus beef and bacon (two slices!) is always a winning combination. That's no exception here. The patty was cooked perfectly and the bacon was pleasantly crispy and flavorful.

Cheese: 13 Points (of 15)

American Cheese is, in most cases, the ideal cheese for a classic burger. And while the Sourdough Josh isn't a classic burger per se, the white American cheese definitely worked perfectly for it.

Vegetables: 11 Points (of 15)

The only vegetables that accompanied the Sourdough Josh were twin thick slices of fresh tomato that sat on top of the patty and bacon slices. This proved to be somewhat detrimental as we will discover in a moment.

Sauces: 8 Points (of 10)

The Sourdough Josh came with two sauces, ketchup and a generous portion of onion mayo. I didn't really notice the ketchup, but working in concert with the onion mayo, they provided the burger an intense tanginess.

Messiness: 3 Points (of 5)

The Sourdough Josh was a little too messy. Halfway through consumption, the top piece of bread had soaked so much moisture from the tomatoes that it disintegrated. Maybe if the bread was toasted a little more it could have stood up to the intensity of the tomatoes and juiciness of the meat. But maybe that's part of the fun.

Burgerness: 8 Points (of 10)

The Sourdough Josh is one tangy burger, but I really liked it. It delivered on the expectations I had from my earlier experience eating it six years ago. Now that's saying something. I look forward to when this burger makes a return to The Oinskter in the future.

Burger Score: 80

Burger Week 2018. Burger No. 5.

It’s safe to say that this burger, an original creation by Oinkster head chef Andre Gurrero, was the strangest burger on the docket for The Oinkster’s Burger Week 2018. The name was even strange—so strange, in fact, it was the only burger this week The Oinkster deemed necessary to brand with a sub-title: “The Thrilla From Manilla.” If you had no idea what lumpia was, this sub-title sort of let you know that you were in for a Filipino experience.

Overall Appearance: 3 Points (of 5)

I really didn’t know what to think about the Thrilla from Manilla. I’m not the most ardent consumer of Filipino food, so I was rather surprised that this burger didn’t immediately turn me off.

Bun: 7 Points (of 10)

The Lumpia was served on a pan de sal roll (a traditional Filipino bun), which was a completely appropriate choice for this burger (and one I’ve used in my own burger-making adventures). It was perhaps a little on the stiff side, but overall, no complaints.

Meat: 22 Points (of 30)

One of my biggest challenges with this burger was that the patty isn’t beef—it’s pork. I’ve sort of had an unwritten rule that I’d only write up beef burgers on these pages, but I couldn’t not write this up since it was part of Burger Week. Now the door is open and all meat-types are are fair game. The patty was decent enough, a little dry perhaps, but quite flavorful. But the Lumpia also had a chunk of pork belly that draped over the pork patty which really added a depth of flavor to the whole.

Cheese: 0 Points (of 15)

The Thrilla from Manilla ain’t down with the cheese. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Vegetables: 12 Points (of 15)

The Lumpia Burger was a little hard to grade in the vegetable category. First of all, there’s the mushrooms, which are wrapped in lumpia, a thin, crepe-like pastry (think about what egg rolls are wrapped in). It’s also the burger’s titular ingredient. I’m not the biggest fan of mushrooms, but wrapped inside the deep-fried lumpia, I didn’t even know they were there. And the lumpia added a nice crunch to the whole experience. Secondly, the Lumpia also came with a (quite tasty) green papaya relish, which, in this case, was more vegetables than sauce.

Sauces: 5 Points (of 10)

In addition to the green papaya relish (which, again, was more vegetable than sauce), the Lumpia was graced with a sweet Thai sauce. This stuff was a little too sweet for my taste and really sticky.

Messiness: 4 Points (of 5)

The main reason this burger gets a high score for messiness is the stickiness of the sweet Thai sauce. Itreally should have been served with a handi-wipe.

Burgerness: 6 Points (of 10)

This burger was a little weird and definitely not something I would have ever ordered, but I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did. I don’t know I’d ever order it again, but I’m glad I tried it. It jut goes to show you—sometimes you have to trust the chef.

This burger had no cheese. Without that category The Thrilla earned a raw score of 59. But, as we do here fairness here on Tom’s Burger Blog, we factored out that category, and the Lumpia earned an adjusted Burger Score of 69.

Burger Score: 69

Burger Week 2018. Burger No. 4.

On the fourth day of Burger Week at the The Oinkster things got real heavy with the Pantera Burger. The Pantera, named for the metal band, comes to The Oinkster by way of Grill ‘Em All, another Los Angeles burger joint (and food truck) that serves up the most metal burgers in town (and most likely the world).

Overall Appearance: 5 Points (of 5)

The Pantera was impressive in its massiveness. It’s so big, it barely fits in this picture.

Bun: 7 Points (of 10)

The Pantera is served with a brioche bun. Nothing too fancy, but a good choice—this is a burger that needs a dense bun.

Meat: 26 Points (of 30)

The meat category was where the Pantera shines. It had not one, not two, but three different meats! First, as the headlining act, was a thick Nebraska Angus patty. But opening for the patty was a serious amount of pulled pork which in turn was not to be outdone by the twin strips of bacon resting on top. There was certainly no subtlety with The Pantera.

Cheese: 14 Points (of 15)

Not just any cheese will do for a burger of this nature. So things were amped up with a hearty helping of mac & cheese. And of course that mac & cheese was deep-fried. Enough said.

Vegetables: 0 Points (of 15)

The Pantera laughed at the notion of vegetables.

Sauces: 7 Points (of 10)

The Pantera’s thin spread of garlic aioli added a subtle bit of flavor to this meat-heavy ensemble.

Messiness: 5 Points (of 5)

With as much meat as the Pantera had, it couldn’t not be perfectly messy.

Burgerness: 9 Points (of 10)

The Pantera was a serious comfort food burger that turns it up to 11. It’s not the burger for everyone, but

This burger had no vegetables. Without that category The Pantera earned a (still impressive) raw score of 73. But, as we do here fairness here on Tom’s Burger Blog, we factored out that category, and the Panterra earned an adjusted Burger Score of 86.

Burger Score: 86

Burger Week 2018. Burger No. 3.

Burger Week at the The Oinkster continues! On day three, The Oinkster treated us to Bet It All On Black, a burger inspired by and a tribute to the Fox animated series Bob’s Burgers.

As you might guess, this was an all-black burger, but it was also promised to be loaded up with plenty of garlicky goodness.

Overall Appearance: 5 Points (of 5)

The Bet It All On Black is a might interesting and cool-looking burger. Full points.

Bun: 9 Points (of 10)

As expected, the bun was black—and not just on the outside. It was a deep, rich ebony all throughout and had the added advantage of being toasted with a black garlic butter. It was a very dense bun quite unlike the soft buns that accompanied the previous two Burger Week burgers. It received a few bonus points for being unusual.

Meat: 12 Points (of 30)

This patty let me down. When I took my first bite, I found that the burger was still cold in the center. Medium rare is one thing, but this meat was downright chilly—as in just out of the refrigerator and not enough time on the griddle. I know it’s probably hard to make so many burgers for many hundreds of people all day long, but the frosty temperature of this patty really brought down my enjoyment of the whole thing.

Cheese: 8 Points (of 15)

The Bet It All On Black is topped with a properly thematic black garlic cream cheese. It was a tasty topping, to be sure, but there wasn’t enough of it. Plus, it didn’t have quite enough garlic bite to overcome some of the other flavors that came with the burger.

Vegetables: 6 Points (of 15)

The Oinkster kept things simple in the vegetable category—a small sprinkling of baby mixed greens between the bottom bun and the burger along with a massive slice of onion resting on top of the patty. The greens were fine. The onion, however, was so thick that it dominated the taste of the whole burger, overwhelming what should have otherwise been a tasty garlic bomb.

Sauces: 7 Points (of 10)

The Bet It All On Black was accompanied by a thin spread garlic aioli, the flavor of which was all but lost between the cold patty and the thick onion slice.

Messiness: 3 Points (of 5)

So far this was the least messy burger of Burger Week. The dense bun kept it all together a little too well, but the biggest culprit here was the cold patty. It just wasn’t cooked enough to allow for the juices to make a nice messy eating experience.

Burgerness: 6 Points (of 10)

I had my Bet It All On Black at lunch. I went back for dinner with my daughter so she could get her Burger Week experience (and all-important wristband). I had a bite of hers and it was cooked much better, so it tasted much better as a result. Again, when you’re cooking so many burgers for so many people, there are bound to be a few that don’t pass muster. But I can only rate the burger as it was served to me, not as it’s intended. And mine could have been much better, especially for a burger that cost $12.

Burger Score: 55

Burger Week 2018. Burger No. 2.

Burger Week at the The Oinkster continues! On day two, the folks behind the grill served up The Maron, a former limited edition burger from back in 2016. it’s named for Marc Maron, the comedian and host of WTF with Marc Maron, who lives in the area.

It’s a bit of an unusual burger (as are many that are served up during Burger Week), but I was really looking forward to this one. I’d had it in its original incarnation back in May 2016 and remember enjoying it.

Overall Appearance: 3 Points (of 5)

I was a little disappointed in how The Maron looked when it arrived at the table. As you can see, it looked a little bit of a smushed mess.

Bun: 5 Points (of 10)

There wasn’t much going on with this bun. It was a standard enriched white bun that didn’t really bring anything to the burger. The best I can say about it is that it did its job and stayed out of the way of the rest of the ingredients.

Meat: 23 Points (of 30)

It was hard to judge this ingredient on its own merits because of the cheese, which we’ll get to in just a moment. But overall, the single patty was well-cooked with a nice bit of charring on the edges and good flavor.

Cheese: 13 Points (of 15)

When it came to cheesing, The Oinkster took a different approach with The Maron. Instead of lying on top of the patty, the chorizo-infused queso fundido was stuffed inside the patty then cooked so it got all melty on the inside. The queso fundido was quite delicious, but here’s wan’t enough of it—or at least it wasn’t evenly distributed throughout the patty. Some bites were wonderfully cheese-filled while others were woefully cheese-free. Despite this, it gave this burger a certain sense of delight.

Vegetables: 13 Points (of 15)

The Maron has a lot going on with its vegetables. It was served with some standard shredded lettuce, but the star of the show was the escabeche, the Oinkster’s take on a classic Mexican pickled condiment made from jalapeños, spicy carrots, and onions. The escabeche, which sat between the burger and the bottom bun, was joined by a nice amount green chili relish (from New Mexico, Maron’s home state), which sat between the burger and the top bun.

Sauces: 8 Points (of 10)

The Maron was dressed up with a chipotle aioli that lent the burger a nice, smoky flavor.

Messiness: 4 Points (of 5)

The Maron was appropriately messy. When I first saw it I was concerned it would fall apart too easily (mainly because of the wimpiness of the bun), but it surprised me.

Burgerness: 6 Points (of 10)

The Maron was an interesting burger. It used some unconventional ingredients that resulted in some delicious flavor combinations. Overall, it suffered from its initial appearance and weak bun. It seemed slightly different from what I remember having during its original run, but I’ve had many burgers in the many months since then, so I my memory could be a little off. I will, however, happily order The Maron again if it should return to The Oinskter’s menu.

Burger Score: 75

Burger Week 2018. Burger No. 1.

The Oinkster has been serving up burgers in Eagle Rock, California for more than a decade. For the last eight of those years they've hosted Burger Week, a little event that draws people from across Los Angeles to stand in line for hours to get their hands on a variety of tasty, special, and at times unusual burgers—each offered for a single day only.

Burger Week 2018 is a walk down nostalgia lane. The Oinkster has brought back seven of its most popular Burger Week offerings of the past eight years, kicking things off with the Big Max, an upscale version of a somewhat similarly named burger from an international burger chain.

Overall Appearance: 4 Points (of 5)

Like most (if not all) of The Oinkster's burgers, the Big Max arrived at the table snugly wrapped up in carefully folded paper. After unwrapping, the burger was a little lopsided. I suspect serving the same burger to hundreds of people for hours on end can lead to a hasty assembling process, so I wasn't too worried about it. The Big Max still looked worthy of eating.

Bun: 6 Points (of 10)

I wasn't wild about this bun. The main problem was three pieces of bread—one on top, one on the bottom, and one in the middle—and that's just one piece too many. The meat, which should be the centerpiece of any burger, was overshadowed by the volume of bread.

Meat: 23 Points (of 30)

The twin Nebraska Angus patties were cooked well and tasted good, although they were on the thinner side and mine were the result of an overly zealous salter. The thinness of the Big Max's patties was almost certainly a function of the form, but (as mentioned above) the meat did get lost among the prodigious amount of bun with more than a few mouthfuls.

Cheese: 11 Points (of 15)

For a burger like the Big Max, using anything but American cheese would be a crime. The fine folks at The Oinkster know this, so that's how it arrived—two nicely melted slices, one on the top patty and one on the top of the bottom patty, kept the Big Max appropriately gooey.

Vegetables: 10 Points (of 15)

The classic pairing of pickles, onions, and shredded lettuce played well together in the veggie section. The good amount of lettuce was placed (properly) on top of the bottom bun was accompanied by a small amount of lettuce on top of the middle bun, thus saving the Big Max from falling completely apart (something that would have easily happened with leaf lettuce). And while the onions seemed to get lost in the sauce, the pickles, in particular, added a nice crunch.

Sauces: 7 Points (of 10)

On a burger like this, 1000 Island dressing is almost a legal requirement, and that's what was present here. But, as I've said before, it's not my favorite sauce, and on the Big Max it was generously smeared on the top and middle buns. For my taste there was too much of the stuff, and its sweetness overwhelmed what could have been a nice melding of flavors. I wanted to give this a 6, but I added an extra point for staying true to the original model.

Messiness: 4 Points (of 5)

A good messy burger. I did have some concerns that with the middle piece of dressing-slicked bread this burger would fall apart, but in the matrix of messiness, the Big Max delivered an enjoyable eating experience.

Burgerness: 8 Points (of 10)

As I was eating, I overheard a nearby patron proclaim: "Strong first burger!" If  you wanted a standard, tried-and-true burger, then the Big Max was indeed that burger. And while it satisfied a certain burger craving, I know The Oinkster can deliver a more transcendent burger experience—one that I hope to attain at least once during Burger Week 2018.

Burger Score: 73