Four beer samples from Mad Fox Brewing Co.
Finally after much fanfare, we have begun our quest to find the best burger in the DMV, and after making our first stop on our burger tour one thing became apparent, there’s some stiff competition out there for the best burger in the DMV. After much debate, Jenny and I decided on beginning our burger tour at the Mad Fox Brewing Company in Falls Church Va. We chose this location because it was rumored they know how to make a serious burger, and they had some solid brews on tap, always important when enjoying a burger.
In an effort to get the most out of our burger buying experience, we decided to sample two burgers. The first was a plain burger. That’s right just like the ones you had at summer camp. All we wanted was a beef patty and a bun, cooked medium rare of course. The idea is a plain burger gives us a chance to judge the quality of the meat the restaurant is using, and we can get a peek and the chefs skill in the kitchen. Creating a plain burger that is still tasty is not an easy task, but if you want to climb to the top of our burger Mt. Rushmore you have to be able to pass this test. This is a theme we will continue with all places we visit.
Medium rare.
For our plain Mad Fox burger, we received an 8 oz ground beef patty on a fresh made roll. The burger was cooked medium rare. For cooking, the plain burger was just about perfect. There was a solid char on the outside, giving the burger a nice seal that held in all the juices. In the middle the patty was pink, and warm. Quite honestly it was perfectly cooked. The patty was juicy and it had a good flavor to it. Perhaps the hidden star of this burger was the bun. Mad Fox Brewing Company has fresh made buns that are cooked in house, and you can certainly tell the difference. The bun was soft, very light, and full of flavor. It had a great yeast flavor that jumped out at you, and then it finished with a slight hint of honey. Very nice if I do say so myself. If there was a knock on this plain burger it was the meat could have used a pinch of salt. The quality of the beef was good, and thanks to proper cooking, we were able to enjoy the flavor of the beef. However, a pinch of salt would have given the beef a need bump in flavor that would have taken it to the next level. All in all, it was a good burger that I would recommend.
For the second burger we like to expand a little bit and explore the restaurants creativity. Although Mad Fox is better known for their beers, they do have an impressive burger menu, and we decided to sample their ‘Texas Burger.’ A lot of places have their own version of a Texas Burger, and Mad Fox Brewing Co. put out a solid effort.
Look at that onion ring!
The Texas burger included: Fresh ground 8 oz patty served on a house-baked bun, topped with BBQ sauce, Tillamook cheddar, ham, a jumbo onion ring, lettuce and tomato. In theory all these ingredients should make for a great burger. However, sometimes things simply don’t workout as well as one would hope. The first knock against this burger game when we cut it open and realized that the burger we ordered as medium rare came back as medium, a major no-no when making a burger. Once a burgers ‘doneness’ enters the medium to medium well territory all the juices and flavors are zapped from the patty, and you’re left with a dry and flavorless hockey puck. Luckily the Texas Burger and Mad Fox Brewing Company comes with more than a plain patty. Perhaps the highlight of this burger was the crispy onion ring that topped the patty. The jumbo onion ring was nearly as thick as the bun, and it had a great taste thanks to a good batter. Other toppings included a slice of ham that quite frankly did not bring much to the party, and apart from reading about it on the menu, I would have forgotten it was actually there. The Tilamook cheddar was good, but I could have gone for a bit more as it’s flavor was lost in a see of BBQ sauce. To be honest the BBQ used on this burger was overpowering. All you could taste was a sweet BBQ sauce that I assume was made in house. Normally I am all for a tangy BBQ sauce, but unfortunately the sauce had more of a pizza sauce taste that just left me wanting to rinse my mouth out.
Overall, the Texas Burger was the lesser of the two burgers by far. I’m not sure if the cook allowed his attention to lapse in the preparation of the patty, knowing that he had other toppings to cover up for an overcooked patty, or if we just got the wrong burger. However, if you’re relying on the toppings to make the burger, then you better make sure the toppings are super, and these were not. On the other hand the plain burger we had was very good. It was well cooked, and had solid flavor. In the end the plain burger carried the meal, and allowed us to give Mad Fox Brewing Company a solid review.
Burger Scores-
Plain Burger: 7
Texas Burger: 6.5
On a side note, if you do stop in to Mad Fox Brewing Company do yourself a favor and order the Virginia Pork Belly, it will be a tasting experience you will not soon forget.
