Random Food of the Day: Bulgogi Burger from NY Hot Dog and Coffee

Bulgogi Burger from NY Hot Dog and Coffee, 245 Bleeker Street, New York, NY 10014

NY Hot Dog and Coffee is a fast food restaurant that serves made to order burgers, hot dogs and ssams (think tacos).  However, this place does not simply serve your run of the mill fast food. The restaurant itself was developed by a Korean hot dog fanatic who came up with idea of melding popular Korean flavors with American fast food staples. As a huge fan of Korean Barbecue and as one who will often crave a good hot dog or burger from time to time I was eager to give this place a shot. Note that I will stop into this restaurant randomly to provide reviews of its various fast food wares. On this day the restaurant was giving away a bulgogi burger (usually sold at 6.49) to the first 100 people at its door.

The NY Hot Dog and Coffee Bulgogi burger tasted like it has the potential to be something special but falls short in execution. The burger tasted slightly overcooked and the bulgogi flavoring that usually comes with marinating the meat tasted like it was slightly burned into the meat. My companion received a better cooked burger that tasted like like it absorbed the bulgogi sauce better than mine. That burger still fell short in overall taste. The flavor was too timid to be bulgogi. Biting into the burger you can barely taste the bulgogi which in my belief was because the burger meat was likely not marinated as long as it traditionally at a Korean BBQ spot . The burger itself is topped with cabbage, a pickle and surrounded by a plain sesame bun. The burger’s size was sufficient to consume for a quick meal and be satiated.  Nevertheless, the burger falls short in flavor and borders on bland.

I do plan on visiting this location again to sample its other selections including its signature hot dogs and kimchi topped offerings. Perhaps they will fare better in taste.