Patty Melt Obession Part 3: Hardee's Southwest Patty Melt Review

Over the last several weeks I've expressed on this blog my recent obsession with the patty melt sandwich.  Truthfully it's probably only slightly more healthy than the obsession some of my more romantically challenged male readers (sorry mom's basement dwellers) might have with Kate Upton, a Southwest Patty Melt "enthusiast in her own right.  On a more serious note I wanted to try the Hardee's Southwest Patty Melt because it not only fits my patty melt meme as of late, but it's also 1. a new-ish fast food offering 2. a Hardee's offering of which I'm mostly a fan and 3. the combo came with a free Oreo icecream sandwich.  How would this stack up compared to other melts I've had as of late?

The Hardee's Southwest Patty Melt might be a new sandwich to the Hardee's lineup, but there are definitely some derivative elements here beyond what constitutes the normal patty melt toppings.  The bread is Hardee's famous toasted sourdough that has accompanied their Frisco Burger for so many years.  The additions that make it different than the standard patty melt are the pepper-jack cheese substituting for swiss, jalapeno slices, and "Southwest sauce".  I've seen all those elements on other burgers and sandwiches before with mixed results so I was a little worried how they would work here.  Surprisingly, I think the answer is those elements work quite well.  The jalapenos, sauce, and cheese definitely added some kick, but I was a little amazed at how mild the flavor actually was.  Granted, I'm not someone who is that sensitive to heat but I definitely expected more heat from a sandwich with sliced jalapenos.  The 1/4 lb patty size was adequate and juicy compared to other "large chain" fast food burgers.  I think the sourdough "bun" with it's toasted yet soft texture made this better than if it was just served on a regular bun.  However, I think there were some drawbacks here as well.  Between the cheese and sauce I found the overall texture far too creamy. With the jalapeno slices it almost tasted like bland ballpark nachos.  Also, the Hardee's website makes no mention of it, but I could have swore my patty melt had mayo on it which I found to be serious overkill.  Also there were supposed to be grilled onions here, but they were somewhat hard to find.

Taste 6.5/10 I'm giving this an above average score because even when Hardee's has somewhat of a miss their burgers are still better than what BK, Mickey D's and Wendy's are putting out.  Real solution though is just to go to Culver's if one is nearby.
Value 6.5/10 I'm giving a similar slightly above average score here because I did get a free icecream sandwich with my combo, and it was quite a filling meal.

Additional Note: While I appreciate Hardee's offering free icecream with this combo it's pretty hard to get it back to your house or office without it turning into something messier than Curtis Painter's future career prospects.  Hardee's at least tried by putting it in a separate bag from my hot food, but in the end it was a ride on the failboat.

Union Jack Pub Review: Patty Melt Obession Part II

As I mentioned in a previous post I've been on a real quest for good patty melts as of late, and when a buddy and I were recently in Broadripple to watch future IU point guard Yogi Ferrel in the Sectional Final we decided to stop in to the Union Jack for a pint or two and some eats.  The Union Jack is somewhat famous for their deep dish bar pizza, and it's surely something that is on the list for me to try down the road.  However, on this night the patty melt was what I craved.

The bartender took our order and our food came out promptly which is always nice especially when you're on a schedule to see an event later in the evening like we were.  As soon as my melt arrived I knew I was in for a better experience than the one I had at Red Robin.  The bread this time was still toasted but still soft enough that the texture was palatable.  On this version of the patty melt the thousand island was included on the sandwich which is the way I prefer, and the choice of onion was red onion grilled thoroughly and cut into strips.  The patty itself was more than an adequate size and rather juicy even though it was still cooked all the way through. (Can't someone besides The Local actually cook a burger to medium or mid-rare?)  The fries were nothing special, but they were very crispy and had nice flavor.  No complaints.  I would have absolutely no problem ordering this again. 

Taste 8/10 Very solid effort here. Beats Red Robin by a mile. Compared to other pubs and bars the Union Jack's food is definitely near the top.
Value 6/10 The price for the food is exactly what I would expect to pay at such an establishment.  The above average food gets it 1 extra above average point on the value meter.  Watch out for the beers though. I was suprised to see that a Smithwicks draft was about $6.  Ouch.

Red Robin Review: Patty Melt Obession Part I

Everyone who is into food or at least those who are pregnant get cravings for things sometimes.  And since according to basic anatomy and physiology I fall into the former camp I've had an obession lately with the basic diner staple of the patty melt.  The patty melt usually has a little bit of everything that anyone as an American would enjoy (What about you tofu and beansprout people? You're at the wrong blog.). Red meat ground and shaped into an ample hamburger patty, melted cheese, onions grilled to bring out their natural sweetness, and dear Lord yes all of this is on YEAH TOAST!  I get it as a go to when I'm trying a burger joint for the first time.  It shouldn't be too hard to do correctly.  And I've had success getting it before at Britton Tavern and The Stacked Pickle.  My next quest to find out if Red Robin could be as successful.

The first thing I want to say about Red Robin is that if you are under 21 or have children with you Red Robin might be the most annoying restaurant in the known universe at which to dine.  When The Girlfriend and I walked in I almost turned around and walked out due to all of the screaming kids, general busyness, and crazy crap on the walls.  Think Uncle Moe's Family feedbag for you Simpsonites out there.  Luckily because we were both 21 we were seated on the bar side (Who is going to this place to drink??) and promptly ordered our meals.

My patty melt with fries came to the table in the expected amount of time and at first everything about it looked normal, but biting in immediately made me aware of two problems.  First of all when I ordered they asked me if I wanted "some pink" or "no pink" in my burger.  Despite the fact that a restaurant that prides itself on burgers can't for some reason understand the concept of well, medium well, medium, medium rare, and rare I ordered mine with "some pink".  You can alreadly probably guess that my patty melt came out with less pink in it than Chuck Norris' wardrobe.  I know I've said this before, but if you can't cook burgers to the right temperature then just don't freakin' ask.  It's insulting to your guests.  The second thing I noticed was that the bread was way over toasted.  It was so crunchy in fact it was a little hard to eat without the feeling that you were tearing the roof of your mouth apart.  All that being said the flavor of the meat, cheese, onions, and house made Thousand Island was good.  The bread was so offputting though it was hard to focus on much else. Also, I would be remiss without saying that I normally detest fries of the fat "steak fry" variety, but Red Robin has these down to a science.  They were crispy, light, and delicious.  Probably the only place where I would say I've ever enjoyed them.

Taste 5/10 Lagging far behind previous other patty melt entries on this blog.  I'm still yet to see why people say they love Red Robin so much. 

Value 4/10 The price was average here and pretty much exactly what you'd expect.  Execution issues with the food hurt the value score.