#59 - The Burger at ARC

Unaware of the massive size of this burger, I strolled into ARC expecting something good, maybe regular sized, a nice lunch portion. Instead, I was greeted by a $20 behemoth of a burger with a 16oz. patty of pork, beef, and rendered duck fat. On top of the massive patty, there is a yellow tomato layered at least 4 or 5 times. There's a red chili and pickled red onion layer next and then lots of lettuce. All of this sandwiched between a perfect OC Baking Co. bun that holds it all together perfectly, despite the juiciness and heft of the toppings.

I took two bites with the tomato in place to try the burger as it was intended to be consumed by the chef, but I was just overwhelmed by tomato which I do not care for, so I removed them for the rest of the burger, which also had the pleasant effect of reducing the size of the burger considerably, allowing it to almost fit in my mouth at this point.

After getting a few more bites under my belt, I had to resort to building each bite back up by adding some peppers, lettuce, and onion back on as it all seemed to squirt out the backside, no matter how it was held. On the bright side, each bite was immensely flavorful and well balanced.

As I have had a couple days to fully digest the massive burger, as much as I enjoyed it while I was eating it, I did have to stop without finishing it and thinking back, it wasn't just due to the size, but mostly due to to the overwhelming amount of pork mixed into the patty. Now, I'm all for bacon lardons on burgers (see: Umami Burger) and I love me a bacon cheeseburger, however, the amount of pork, in such a chunky form, in the burger eventually gets to you. Combined with the fact that they cook every item in the restaurant in a massive wood fired oven, which already lends itself to a smoky flavor, the heaviness of the pork just weighs each bite down.

While I would probably recommend this to someone in the market for a gigantic, tasty burger, I'm not sure I'd go back to it. It's just too heavy and rich to be eaten in one setting. The pork overwhelms the patty and also helps hasten the patty's mission to fall apart in giant chunks as you get further into the burger. Impressive. Tasty. But there was just something...something that would steer me to order a different item the next time I go back, despite my immense love of burgers.