meesterschap, etc.

I'm spending a week in Berlin starting tomorrow, but today Amsterdam might as well have been begging me to stay. The weather was gorgeous, 72, sunny, and breezy. To better enjoy the bountiful bounty, we went for a big-ass walk through the Jordaan to take care of some pre-Berlin errands (batteries, strings) and to hunt for some secondhand cabinet fixtures (the kitchen is undergoing a no-budget makeover).

Since we were in the hood, right across the street actually, we stopped at Burgermeester (pictured above). Mara had been before, and had liked it (with caveats) but this was my first time.

Because we were keeping it light, we stuck to the Mini Trio, which are basically sliders. Our personal selection featured (left to right): the Meester Biefburger (with grilled zucchini and eggplant plus a surprisingly appropriate tarragon mayo), the Spaanse Lamburger (lamb from Texel plus chorizo and jalapenos), and the Tonijnburger (tuna plus a not-so-discernable fennel salad and a chervil mayo). They were all good, the lamb was extra good, I could have had two more of them.

A couple things must be said. There is almost nothing about this place that has anything to do with my favorite American burgers. No beer. Sure, I've had burgers without beer before, but it's not my preference. No fries? Come on, that's just perverse. I'm not even the biggest fry fan in the world (I'm an onion ring man), but I was tinily annoyed at the near-iconoclasm of this gesture. No specifying how well you'd like your burger cooked? At this point your competition is Burger King.

The good news is, Burgermeester is a good bit better than Burger King. And yes, I'll probably go back, but only because my expectations are now properly set: this is a European burger, and though it's well-crafted, it truly only satisfies about half of my burger craving.