Completely agreed... I'll hold it against them if they do it again. Would've sent my burger back for the right cheese but was too hungry and it looked too good...

ak934 wrote:Completely agreed... I'll hold it against them if they do it again. Would've sent my burger back for the right cheese but was too hungry and it looked too good...

That's what happened to me. I told myself I'd only hold it against them if they did it again. Then they did it again. Still, something inside me said to give 'em another shot. Something about the place kept drawing me in. After 4-5 failed tries though, I gave up.

Chef/partner Stephen Dunne was in a bike accident on Friday night. He is recovering and expects to be released from the hospital in a few days.

Send good thoughts his way!

Stopped in for dinner last night. This was my second visit, first being a a year or two back for lunch.

I went with the burger special (added cheddar and fried egg), though really wish I had gone with something else (Croque Madame perhaps). All I could taste in the burger was worcestershire, rosemary and salt. The fact it was Kobe was totally lost on me. In fact it was hard to tell if it was cooked to the mid-rare I ordered as the whole patty was dark from worcestershire. Such a shame as the tempura green beans were fantastic once again and the fries quite good as well.

Guess I am more of a KISS type burger person and think salt/pepper are plenty enough seasoning. The burger I had last night would be a good burger for people who hate the taste of beef.

Jamie

Maybe because it's not "Kobe"?

At best, it's Kobe bred w/Angus i.e. "Wagyu" or as some prefer, "Wangus". When any/all restaurants advertise it in this manner, it says one of two things to me, neither nice and best left unsaid.

Kobe sliders anyone? NOT.

Jazzfood wrote:Maybe because it's not "Kobe"?

At best, it's Kobe bred w/Angus i.e. "Wagyu" or as some prefer, "Wangus". When any/all restaurants advertise it in this manner, it says one of two things to me, neither nice and best left unsaid.

Kobe sliders anyone? NOT.

How about "the fact it was ground beef was lost on me"?

Jamieson22 wrote:All I could taste in the burger was worcestershire, rosemary and salt. The fact it was Kobe was totally lost on me. In fact it was hard to tell if it was cooked to the mid-rare I ordered as the whole patty was dark from worcestershire.

That's really odd, and not at all what I experienced there the past few times I've gone...but it's been a couple of months. Hopefully (though unfortunately for you) this was a one-off occurrence, as it would suck if their once-beefy patties were gunked up with a bunch of heavy-handed seasonings as a part of some new recipe.

I do believe we're having lunch there on Saturday (my sister will be in town from NYC and insisted that we take her there for burgers), so I'll be able to try it out & report back.

Jazzfood wrote:Maybe because it's not "Kobe"?

At best, it's Kobe bred w/Angus i.e. "Wagyu" or as some prefer, "Wangus". When any/all restaurants advertise it in this manner, it says one of two things to me, neither nice and best left unsaid.

Kobe sliders anyone? NOT.

I'd thought that Kobe was the region of Japan that made the breed, Wagyu, famous?

As you say, though, nearly all American-raised Wagyu beef is really a Wagyu-Angus hybrid. Australia and Japan both raise full-blooded Wagyu, though, and you can find meat from both countries here. It's just prohibitively expensive to get the real thing when 99.9% of your consumers don't know that the american wagyu is a wagyu-angus cross.

American Kobe style beef is not Kobe and to market it as such is false.

Jazzfood wrote:American Kobe style beef is not Kobe and to market it as such is false.

If you ask your sister for a Kleenex and she passes you a Puffs do you yell at her?

Paramount Room's menu says "Wagu Kobe Beef burger".........

Not 100% accurate, but by not all that egregious in the wide wierd world of menu writing.

If someone were to give me something similar to what I needed, I'd be thankful for it.

If someone sells me something different than what I think I'm getting, I'd be angry.

Just rode by 10 mins ago. The blue neon sign in the window advertises "Kobe burger".

Jazzfood wrote:If someone sells me something different than what I think I'm getting, I'd be angry.

Thanks be to the ghost of the great Carol Channing they didn't call domestic mushrooms wild.

"This is laughably sanctimonious."
Santander

It's actually called truth in advertising.

Jazzfood wrote:It's actually called truth in advertising.

In protest of Paramount Rooms sins I am going to have a burger there, but only enjoy it 85% as much is usual.

Enjoy,
Gary 'who if he orders a draft beer and does not feel a breeze is going to throw a snit fit' Wiviott

I think Jazzfood has a completely valid point. Kobe is a trademarked name and only to be used for beef that meets specified criteria. Most people happily respect other control appellations, I don't see why this one should be so different.

If McDonalds were advertising a Kobe burger topped with Roquefort cheese and Iberico ham, served with a Super-Sized Champagne and it was really just a "beef" puck with a sheet of processed blue-ish cheese, square ham and a glass of grape juice, I think we'd all agree they were co-opting terms that they shouldn't.

-Dan

* The mish-mash of trademarked names, AOC designation, PDOs, etc. does make this messy. The EU does appear to have a database for their name protection system.

you guys, 2 pages and no address?

415 North Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60610
(312) 829-6300

saw it randomly the other day and thought, "that sounds familiar for some reason..."

I'm not so much stuck on the name, but the dryness and the weirdness of the seasoning on this burger. I got it one time about right, so I kept trying it. I've tried it about four times now (because I want it to be awesome) , hoping that the meat would be good. I've tried it with the sauce, without the sauce, with an egg, without an egg, with cheese ,without cheese etc. It has a strange herby taste I can't get past anymore. I've given up on the burger.

Boy, it's a good thing they're not trying to serve BBQ

jesteinf wrote:Boy, it's a good thing they're not trying to serve BBQ

Just for the hell of it I googled ~kobe burger chicago~

jesteinf wrote:Boy, it's a good thing they're not trying to serve BBQ

Interesting how important a name or description becomes when it gets to BBQ, though, isn't it?

ucjames wrote:Interesting how important a name or description becomes when it gets to BBQ, though, isn't it?

Boy you caught me, really put me in my place, ouch.

Upthread I agreed it was not accurate. My point was, at least until you stung me worse than Tammy Tishburg breaking up with me in 12th grade, was that it's not all that egregious in the wide weird world of menu writing.

Going to lick my wounds now,
Gary

I apologize for hijacking this thread, but I was hoping we could change subjects to, oh, I dunno, the food at Paramount Room.

nicinchic, did your dry & over-herbed burger experience take place recently, or a while back? Out of curiosity, how did you ask for it to be cooked?

Khaopaat wrote:I apologize for hijacking this thread, but I was hoping we could change subjects to, oh, I dunno, the food at Paramount Room.

I agree,

the croque madame, and the mussels were 2 of the better things I have eatne out this year.

not to mention the $5 PBR's and tequila shots made my afternoon there a blast. I gotta get back for a return visit. The brunch menu also looked good.

nicinchic wrote:I'm not so much stuck on the name, but the dryness and the weirdness of the seasoning on this burger. I got it one time about right, so I kept trying it. I've tried it about four times now (because I want it to be awesome) , hoping that the meat would be good. I've tried it with the sauce, without the sauce, with an egg, without an egg, with cheese ,without cheese etc. It has a strange herby taste I can't get past anymore. I've given up on the burger.

It does have a strange herby tasty that stops me from ordering the burger, although I like almost everything else on the menu. Anyone know what this is flavor is?

Jed wrote:It does have a strange herby tasty that stops me from ordering the burger, although I like almost everything else on the menu. Anyone know what this is flavor is?

Rosemary, which seems to be surprisingly polarizing.

G Wiv wrote:

Jed wrote:It does have a strange herby tasty that stops me from ordering the burger, although I like almost everything else on the menu. Anyone know what this is flavor is?

Rosemary, which seems to be surprisingly polarizing.

Eh - I think rosemary + ground beef is surprising polarizing.

Edited to add:

I always assumed that the burgers were last night's tartare, but ground up, because the seasoning is similar. (Why else would you season a burger with rosemary?) Has anyone confirmed that?

aschie30 wrote:

G Wiv wrote:

Jed wrote:It does have a strange herby tasty that stops me from ordering the burger, although I like almost everything else on the menu. Anyone know what this is flavor is?

Rosemary, which seems to be surprisingly polarizing.

Eh - I think rosemary + ground beef is surprising polarizing.

rosemary + ground beef + overcooking + limp fries + greasy tempura green beans + chalky mashed potatoes + rusting lettuce + poorly breaded chicken + ...

aschie30 wrote:Eh - I think rosemary + ground beef is surprising polarizing.

Yes, exactly, thanks. I was, of course, referring to the burger of questionable provenance at Paramount Room.

Khaopaat- Yes recently. There isn't much on the menu that excites me much anymore (except crab scramble for brunch) , and I can't eat the chicken every time. Med to med rare. It's mostly the herby, I can't get past. Rosemary is for chicken and potatoes as far as I'm concerned. Just some salt and pepper please.

G Wiv wrote:

aschie30 wrote:Eh - I think rosemary + ground beef is surprising polarizing.

burger of questionable provenance

Perhaps the burger de Provence?