I think I didn't answer the TOD on hamburgers. When was it? Yesterday? Earlier in the week?
For me, there are "bests of their kind" for many different types of hamburgers, but I will pay tribute to one of my favorites for life: the No. 11 (32) at Hamburger Hamlet. I think the 11 was the quarter-pound version and the 32 was the half-pound which I nearly always had. It not only was one of the best burgers ever, I discovered both it and the Hamburger Hamlet itself on my very first day of my first visit to L.A. in July 1971.
The extraordinary quality of their beef and the perfect proportion of the ingredients were genius. This was a cheeseburger with bacon and chopped onions and Russian dressing, and I always ordered mine medium rare for maximum flavor and juiciness.
EDIT: The menu I’m looking at doesn’t include onions in its description. Did I add those myself from the relish tray?
Back then I didn't really know from Russian dressing, and I thought it was Thousand, misnamed. Well, Thousand would be just as good, and it just happens that I bought both kinds in the Ken's Steak House brand last week. So I'm ready, baby. Bring it on. BK said his chopped onions were less than satisfying, and I do generally use slices for my burgers and put the chopped on hot dogs. There's supposed to be a way to chop them for burgers that's more satisfying texture-wise than simply laying a slice on it, but I need to work on that.
So, getting back to my No. 11 being the best of its kind, what "kind" exactly is that? Back then I thought of it as my first "gourmet" burger. That's probably a meaningless descriptor now, so, maybe something like "Best in a Very Nice Sit-Down but Informal Jernt Specializing in Quality Hamburgers"? Ah yes, that rolls right off the tongue.
