NYC Tastes

I absolutely love what's happening in the West Village lately.  All of my favorite restaurants from the far reaches of the city are migrating into one small area over there.  Bob White has expanded west onto 7th Avenue South, Tacombi has moved down from Madison onto a busy corner of Bleeker and just a few blocks east of that is the new JG Melon's; one of my favorite burger places from the UES. There's nothing particularly fancy about this burger which is one of the reasons it's so good; fluffy lightly toasted bun, American cheese and a juicy patty that's always cooked a perfect medium rare the entire way through with just a bit of crisp salty char on the outside. There's no crazy toppings like foie gras or peanut butter...you could add on some crispy strips of bacon if you prefer but I think the original is best.   Round, crinkly Cottage Fries to round out the experience; comfort food at it's finest and always a solid m...

I heard about this UES institution my first year of living in New York. Mr. T’s friend just raved about the burger and we immediately put it on our list of things to do…Well folks, ten years later we can finally cross it off the list. Walking into JG Melon I was surprised at how similar the set up and décor is to PJ Clark’s. The two are almost identical, the only difference being the insane amount of melon pictures all over JG. The bar was packed but we were able to get a table in the back and ordered up some grub- burgers of course. My standard cheeseburger with American cheese was pretty close to perfect. The meat had a nice crispy char on the outside, the bun was perfectly squishy and the inside was cooked the exact shade of red I like. I enoy the staples of dill pickle and raw onion- what else do you need? However I do enjoy a little bit more salt on the char but this was a standout burger none the less. Mr. T’s Bacon Cheeseburger was great as well. Just like m...