RARE: A bit too well done.

Corner of East 37th St. and Lexington Avenue

Overall: A much-needed Murray Hill burger joint, with a solid burger, but a bit too pricey and a bit over hyped.  The sides are more than adequate (perhaps a bad sign—the burger should always take center stage), and overall it is a pleasant experience.  The ambiance is a little higher-class than your neighborhood greasy spoon- wear a nice shirt or one with a sheep suspended by a ribbon.  The quality of the ingredients is above average, I’d say, and, if you are tired of the standard beef burger (though I wouldn’t understand HOW that can happen), you won’t be let down with the variety of the menu (any meat that you can imagine being shaped into a patty has been at Rare).  A good place for a date, but don’t come here with your Hell’s Angels buddies.

“Hi, I’m….”: “Melissa, and this is Rachel, Sarah, Allison, and her boyfriend Craig.”

It’s Murray Hill, after all.  There is a West Village location, but this is the original.  Granted, the burgerboy used to live two blocks away, so I am a bit partial to this location, but I am in no way endorsing Murray Hill.

It’s convenient to any part of the city, ok?

I’m Here, What do I see? : Depending on the time of day, the scene can vary.  Either you’re affronted by a crew of Murray Hill guys who all just left their desks at Lehman, or you enter a calm, civilized bar scene, with dark wood and soft lighting.  Murray Hill girls flock to this place, in the hopes of finding that cute I-Banker with the bottomless pockets (and with no beer on tap and $8 cocktails, who can blame them?).  Just kidding…

But not really.  Girls in this place are always dressed to the nines, which, in certain respects, does make this less of a burger joint and more of a, dare I say, restaurant.  But, no matter, ambiance does not a good burger make.

The Good Stuff: I used to be a Rare regular.  It is not false that I was there three times in the span of seven days.  However, it is arguable that I was there for the convenience and not the amazing quality of the burger.  Yes, I do realize that my thoughts are all over the place.  I guess my review is all over the place.  I don’t think the burger is THAT good.  That’s right, I said it.  I think it’s overrated.  I think frankienoon might disagree, but this is my review, damnit.  The burger is too fatty.  It has a good amount of sirloin (this is all about the “classic” burger, by the way, no fancy-pants pesto burgers for this guy), which, while high in flavor, makes things a bit too messy for me.  Remember hand-feel?  This burger does not do it for me.  Good but not great.  For a place that only has variants of one item on the menu, I want that one item to shine, and Rare just doesn’t do it.

I guess one of my problems is that the bun has a “story” (as does the pickle, the bacon, the cheese… the menu has turned into a bit of a gourmet sellout), but I think it’s overwhelming.  I’d rather spend my nine bucks 38 blocks uptown at Melon’s.  Rare just tries a bit too hard, I think.  Let’s get back to basics—a good char layer, a little less fat, no side stories.  Lastly, a pet peeve: the burger arrives with a doneness pick in the patty.  What is this, Ruby Tuesday’s?

That might sum it up for me.

Rating (out of 7 cows): 3.5/7

– burgerboy. 5/25/07