The simplistic interior helped build the feel of authenticity at this burger joint, with the menu chalked up on a board above the counter and a diner-esque feel to the furnishings. The menu looked busier than it actually was on the chalkboard, with only five beef burgers to choose from, with an additional pork, salmon, veggie and turkey choice too.
The signature burgers sounded interesting, but I opted for the house burger, 'Six Buck Chuck', with American cheese (so actually Seven Buck Chuck given it's a $1 topping): a custom blend patty of 30-day aged naturally raised Local Harvest beef chuck and brisket surrounded by lettuce, pickles, onions, tomatoes, American cheese and AP sauce served on a buttered, toasted house-made bun.
I was under the impression from my brief research in to this place that a dirty burger would land before me, but I was pleasantly surprised when collecting my 'Six Buck Chuck' to stumble upon a fine-crafted well-layered burger. This was an impressive site -- just hoped it tasted as good as it looked.
And it did. This was an extraordinarily fresh-tasting burger from bun to salad to meat. The bun was lightly toasted and perfectly sized from a proportion perspective. I find toasted buns can occasionally throw off the overall taste too due to the contrasting textures, but it worked well with this burger as the freshness still shone through.
The American cheese was a necessity for the burger as the AP sauce, whilst deliciously flavoursome, was frankly lacking in volume. In-fact, for the extra $1, I would have also expected a little more cheese; a little thin-layered as evident by the dissection. This was a huge shame as the dissection was otherwise perfect between the bun, salad and patty.
Let's talk about that patty - oh, man! This custom blend 30-day aged chuck and brisket combo was a wonder with juice oozing out of every bite. I would not say this was the most premium of tasting meats I have ever encountered, but the fat to meat ratio was truly wonderful. I would be intrigued to encounter this patty in a dirty burger as I imagine the flavour explosion would be masterful.
Burger Tap & Shake was definitely one of my favourite burger joints in Washington. The ingredients were incredibly fresh and the patty erupted with flavour. My only drawback came with the lack of sauce and cheese, evident by the dissection shot. Turn up the volume of sauce and cheese and this would have been burger heaven.
Patty Master Musings:
- This was such a great looking burger - made better by not knowing what to expect. I'm glad looks weren't deceiving too.
- Value for money is the one in this restaurant too. Cheapest I had in DC, with the exception of Shake Shack.
- The fries were okay, but the onion rings were unreal. Big, fresh and so tasty.
- Did I Dip It? Nope. Despite the lack of AP sauce and cheese, the juices from the patty drove enough flavour to keep me satisfied.
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