They say you can't come to the United States and not eat a burger! I have been here for a week and haven't had a burger yet... so "Smash" is where I'm having lunch next, a place recommended by Google. It's a warm, big, beautifully decorated and welcoming space. Smash is not a fast food joint nor a diner but a real burger place you can stop by for a meal with friends.
A long rectangular space filled with high wooden tables with an open kitchen occupying the end of this long gallery of a room. You'll notice the word "Smash" written here and there, while the ingredients are printed on metallic boards on the wall. Fresh and authentic ingredients, certified Angus beef...
A place founded in 2007 all over the United States and across five other countries, this is a promising company according to Forbes. But after my experience here I found the burgers to be substandard; they are badly presented and too greasy.
We ordered three burgers:
- Mini white fries cooked with their peel, soft and salty ready to be enjoyed with ketchup. The fries are thin and different than the average ones around town. Even though there's nothing exceptional about them, they're good enough for a start.
- The truffle burger is way too 'truffled'. The burger itself, served on a metallic plate, is unappetizing, ungenerous and lacking in presentation. Mushrooms, mayonnaise, the same kind of meat Shake Shack uses, served in a yellow chewy bun. Not impressed is the verdict. I'm not sure who opened first - Smash or Shake Shack; if Smash it's a badly executed copy.
- The chicken burger is too salty! A very big and thin grilled chicken patty served inside the same chewy yellow bun with crispy onions, a fried egg, bacon and barbecue sauce. Too fatty and too salty... I've had better.
- The New Yorker burger, the famous one as they call it, is way below average. A dry bun, a dry patty, a load of greens, buttery and too fatty. I love fatty burgers when fat ads value not when everything is greasy and slippery with dry ingredients.
Not recommended! The place looks nice, but that's it.
