R. F. O'Sullivan's
I had both R. F. O’Sullivan and Sons and Mr. Bartley’s Burger Cottage on my list of Boston burger places to try. I got stuck in traffic en route to a show at the Middle East. Bartley’s closes early, so I decided that O’Sullivan’s was the spot for me. R. F. O’Sullivan’s looks like a standard Irish pub and is located in a quiet Boston neighborhood.
I saddled up to the bar and ordered a half-liter of Harpoon UFO Hefeweizen while I perused the menu and settled on my burger options. O’Sullivan’s has quite an extensive list of burger variations from burgers stuffed with bleu cheese to one topped with a whole sausage along with mozzarella cheese to mushroom Swiss burgers. I decided to go with the a Swiss bacon burger along with a 1/2 order of fries and 1/2 order of onion rings.
The Burger Platter
The grill at O’Sullivan’s is open and in plain view of most of the bar so I was able to watch the grilling process. These are half-pound burgers made from fresh ground sirloin and start as a massive block of beef that is about the size of a baseball rather than the standard flattened patty. Definitely no smashburgers here. I wasn’t sure how this was going to end, I’m generally an enemy of the meatball burger. The mound was spread out a bit during grilling, but still quite massively thick. When it was all assembled, the burger was quite hard to fit into my mouth.
Half as Massive
The beef had a nice char from the grill with a slight smokiness from occasional grease flare-ups. The bun was a sesame seed bun that was placed on the grill for a good toasting. In spite of its thickness, the burger was cooked in the center and it was medium rare, as ordered. The plain iceberg lettuce was tucked under the patty and ended up being decimated by juiciness from the beef. I probably should have just cast it off to the side. Tomato and onion rode on the top along with the bacon and cheese. While a little sloppy and unwieldy (you can see how I had to compress the bun during eating in the photo), the smoky char from the burger and slightly salty smokiness from the bacon made for an excellent combination. Really one of the better burgers I’d ever had, especially for the thickness.
I was a little afraid of the fries when they were delivered because these massive hunks are definitely potato wedges, we’re not even talking semantic arguments here. These were made from whole potatoes cut into quarters and tossed into hot oil. The prospect of all that mealy potato starch had me afraid, but the wedges were cooked quite crispy and were as good as such large wedges can be. I did make the mistake of not getting a whole order of onion rings, though. O’Sullivan’s takes their rings seriously and the thick hand-cut slices of onion are coated in a breading that makes them just a little crisp and not too salty, not too sweet.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this thick brick of a burger, but walked away quite impressed. Really top notch. The show was sold out by the time I arrived, but the burger was actually worth it. And I did managed to scrounge up a spare ticket before it was too late.
The Fifth Dimension
Verdict: R. F. O’Sullivan and Sons are taking burgers to the Fifth Dimension.
Tags: beer, boston, hamburgers
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