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'Vegetarians are people, too' at Good Stuff Eatery
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If there's one thing I've noticed in my two years of vegetarianism it's that restaurants are pretty good at accommodating people with various dietary considerations -- for example, I had a cheese and grilled vegetable "pizza" at a steakhouse a few months ago. However, if there's one place where restaurants fail, even the vegetarian ones, it's the portobello mushroom burger. Before last week, I'd had exactly two, and, to put it plainly, both were terrible. Portobello mushrooms tend to let out a lot of moisture, and as is the case with most portobello burgers, the bun gets completely soaked through a third of the way through eating it and the whole thing falls apart. Portobello burgers are just not good enough, and those who choose to eat them deserve better.
So, as someone with a natural skepticism towards portobello burgers I have to admit the best veggie burger (period) I've ever had is, without a doubt, Good Stuff Eatery's "Vegetarians Are People Too 'Shroom Burger."
Good Stuff is the still slightly new Capitol Hill burger joint owned by Catherine Mendelsohn, mother of Top Chef Chicago alum Spike Mendelsohn, co-owner, who also lends his name and his considerable skills in the kitchen. Since their 2008 opening, Good Stuff has gone on to win the South Beach Food & Wine Festival's annual Burger Bash, beating out entries by such names as Bobby Flay, and fellow Iron Chef (and personal favorite) Masaharu Morimoto. The burger Spike submitted, of course, was a beef burger, but I had high hopes for the 'shroom, and looking at the description, you'll know why: "Organic portobello tops stuffed with muenster & cheddar, flash fried [a quick fry at high heat] with panko crumbs, ruby tomato, lettuce, with Good Stuff sauce." Catherine says that the burger was inspired by a burger served at Kangaroo Pub, an Australian restaurant in Seville, Spain, which she encountered in 1992. She says, "It was only stuffed with one cheese and fried in bread crumbs but I added the other cheese and dusted it with the panko bread crumbs and flash fried it."
Sounds good, right? Tastes even better.
I started with a "snack"-sized order of Good Stuff's Village Fries, which are handcut and sprinkled with fresh thyme, rosemary, and cracked pepper. While the herbs were a refreshing change of pace, my fries were a bit overdone and a little salty, and, overall, nothing special. It's a good thing I saved the burger for last.
The fried mushroom was cooked perfectly: meaty with a nice bite, and despite the amount of moisture the portobellos created, the thick panko crust remained crunchy throughout the duration of my meal. Frying the cheese with mushrooms made the cheese extremely gooey, and felt like a decadent treat. And even though it wasn't listed on the menu, the burger came with the crunchiest pickles I've ever had on a sandwich, adding some acidity and some complexity.
Overall, this burger was excellent, but not without some exceptions: the toppings. My burger was served with only a few insubstantial pieces of lettuce and the tomato didn't add anything. The thin bun, which had been toasted, was completely smashed by the time I unwrapped it, and the "Good Stuff sauce" reminded me too much of the "special" sauce at McDonald's for me to review it one way or the other. The portobello itself, however, makes up for the rest of the sandwich's shortcomings.
Bottom line: The price is a little steep -- my whole meal came out to a little more than $10 -- but for the best portobello mushroom burger you're ever going to have, it's more than worth it.
Good Stuff Eatery is located at 303 Pennsylvania Ave SE, near the Capitol South and Eastern Market stops on the Blue and Orange lines.
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