Best Cheeseburger on the Island?

[Mossman]

Mossman - yes - you have a point But I do like my ground beef cooked - too many unknowns in there ! I do routinely have steak tartare and beef carpachio though - different cuts of meat - but the ground stuff I prefer medium to medium well!

It's risky, no doubt. Especially in Mexico. But so is eating oysters. So is diving

There is a way to eliminate the e. coli risk: grind your own beef. E. coli only inhabits the surface of beef, which is why steaks are safe cooked rare because the outside gets seared. Problem with ground beef is that all the surface bacteria gets blended in with the rest of the beef and then propagates if the beef is left at room temperature. "Fancy" restaurants, in the States at least, will grind their own beef using prime cuts, searing or trimming the outside so it's bacteria-free, then grill the burger to a perfect medium rare and charge $15 or so for the pleasure. Maybe someone like Le Chef will give that a try in Cozumel some day.

As for my burger reviews:

Cozumel Palace: Nothing special. Just a pre-made frozen hamburger patty. Only served at the pool restaurant or via room service. They always have self-serve guacamole out for people wanting chips and salsa, a dollop of that helps.

Occidental Grand - Royal Club Restaurant: Ate a burger there after almost every diving day on my last trip since the menu was rather limited. Burger meat tasted funny, was probably horse. But with cheese and condiments, lots of onion, it went down OK with red wine. Excellent fries, however.

On one of my first trips to the island, I stayed at the Fiesta Inn (now Hotel Cozumel) and their lunch was served by the pool. Burgers were just premade frozen patties, but they were cooked on a small grill and were very tasty. Besides breakfast, the burgers were the only edible food there.

I look forward to reporting on the Secrets burger in June.

 

[Christi]

It's risky, no doubt. Especially in Mexico. But so is eating oysters. So is diving

There is a way to eliminate the e. coli risk: grind your own beef. E. coli only inhabits the surface of beef, which is why steaks are safe cooked rare because the outside gets seared. Problem with ground beef is that all the surface bacteria gets blended in with the rest of the beef and then propagates if the beef is left at room temperature. "Fancy" restaurants, in the States at least, will grind their own beef using prime cuts, searing or trimming the outside so it's bacteria-free, then grill the burger to a perfect medium rare and charge $15 or so for the pleasure. Maybe someone like Le Chef will give that a try in Cozumel some day.

As for my burger reviews:

Cozumel Palace: Nothing special. Just a pre-made frozen hamburger patty. Only served at the pool restaurant or via room service. They always have self-serve guacamole out for people wanting chips and salsa, a dollop of that helps.

Occidental Grand - Royal Club Restaurant: Ate a burger there after almost every diving day on my last trip since the menu was rather limited. Burger meat tasted funny, was probably horse. But with cheese and condiments, lots of onion, it went down OK with red wine. Excellent fries, however.

On one of my first trips to the island, I stayed at the Fiesta Inn (now Hotel Cozumel) and their lunch was served by the pool. Burgers were just premade frozen patties, but they were cooked on a small grill and were very tasty. Besides breakfast, the burgers were the only edible food there.

I look forward to reporting on the Secrets burger in June.

I actually have the guys at Mega grind steaks and chicken for me so that I know I am getting 100% chicken breast and 100% sirloin or tenderloin when I want to make burgers at home - but I am still cooking it well - since I am not grinding it myself

I bet Le Chef has a good burger - but I've never tried it - too many other great things there to have

 

[Mossman]

I actually have the guys at Mega grind steaks and chicken for me so that I know I am getting 100% chicken breast and 100% sirloin or tenderloin when I want to make burgers at home - but I am still cooking it well - since I am not grinding it myself

I bet Le Chef has a good burger - but I've never tried it - too many other great things there to have

You're right about Mega. They're not searing the outside or trimming it enough. But medium-well should be enough. Well, well that's just too much. An insult to beef, and I'm surprised a Texan like you would insult beef like that! A tiny bit of pink won't hurt, leaves some flavor in so you know it's still beef, and leaves some juice so you don't have to overload on the condiments.

Now if Le Chef would make a lobster-bacon burger, I'd try that in a heartbeat. Medium, please. (Even I won't ask for medium rare in Cozumel, that's asking for trouble!)

In June, I just may leave my AI enclave to try one of your listed burgers. Buccanos is too far, but La Cocay sounds good. I'll do the manchego cheese, much cheaper than the alternatives. I haven't been to La Cocay since the year they opened. Had snook then. Best (and only) snook I've ever had.

 

[DjDiverDan]

I've been eating raw beef all my life. My very German family had a tradition of having Beef Tartare every Christmas Eve. We would get VERY fresh Beef Tenderloin from a local Butcher Shop (never out of the bin at the Grocery Store) and grind it at home, with an old hand-cranked meat grinder. The meat grinder was very well sterilized before each use -taken completely apart, all the pieces soaked a few minutes in hot water with some bleach added, rinsed off in boiling water for at least three minutes, then directly into the freezer to cool it down - you do NOT want to grind meat in a hot grinder. Chill the meat well in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes to firm it up, Grind the meat, add a raw egg, worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, a bit of brandy and mix well. Serve on Rye Toast points with finely chopped shallots and capers and, if you like, an anchovy filet. Delicious! Anything we didn't eat immediately we we cook before eating, though you really need to add some fat before cooking ground filet - it's just too lean and will dry out very quickly. Anyway, I've always liked my beef on the rare side. Though I do agree that it's probably too risky to eat medium rare burgers in Mexico, I'll continue to eat them that way in the States, but only at home or in restaurants I trust. If you really want a well-done burger, there IS a way to keep them juicy while still cooking them all the way through. If you tear up some fresh bread, soak it in some milk, wring out the excess milk, and mix it with the ground beef, even a well-done burger will still be juicy. While cooking pure ground beef to well-done will inevitably lead to a dry burger, the starch and milk fats and proteins from the milk-soaked bread will help the beef hold on to the juices which are otherwise lost in the cooking.

 

[dflaher]

Amazing, DJDiverDan. You have certainly taken beef cooking to a new level. That tartare sounds fantastic.

 

[judydivescoz]

We had great burgers and fries at Pie de Carbon or something close to that. It's on the corner of 5 and 5.

 

[etexdiver]

Ah, a thread I can sink my teeth into. Thanks for starting this thread up, dflaher! We have only tried burgers at 3 places in Coz because we always stick with the local cuisine. Rock-n-Java was good. My wife liked Blue Angel, I didn't really care for it, but that's just my opinion. Of course we tried the McDonalds a few years ago, because nothing else was open late (during the big flu scare, whenever). We'll never make that mistake again. I believe we'll have to try one of these places suggested. Does Kelly's have decent burgers? I thought they were kind of an American styled restaurante.

 

[Mossman]

Local cuisine? Bah humbug. We're too globalized for that nowadays. Going to a tiny Mexican fishing village, sure eat local. But Cozumel was uninhabited until the last century. Mayans ate caterpillars and human sacrifices. When I go to Texas and want "local" food, I'll eat Mexican food. There are far more Mexicans in Texas (and California) than in Cozumel. All you have to do to make a cheeseburger "local" is order an "hamburguesa con queso". Eating a cheeseburger in Cozumel is just as natural as eating a taco in Texas.

 

[Christi]

Scratch French Quarter off the list for a great hamburger - appears the rumor was true It was as dark as it could be tonight at 9pm - and Renee, the owner of Del Sur said it has been closed with no activity for a few days now So sorry and sad that Dave didn't make it

 

[BTravlin]

I've had the Cheeseburger at Bob's, back behind the Plaza, and it was delicious. However, I came home with a rather bad stomach bug, which I attribute to eating that delicious medium-rare burger. A course of Cipro cleared it up, but it was a miserable trip home, with several rushed trips down the airplane aisle racing to the bathroom (and hoping desparately that it wasn't occupied). I no longer eat burgers in Mexico - a burger that's well-done just isn't worth it, and a medium-rare burger in Mexico is too great a risk.

Don't always blame the last place you ate for the stomach bug that bites you. Some bugs can hit within hours after eating the contaminated food while others take days to multiply to the point of making you sick. See this list for common contaminated food ailments and how long they usually take to manifest themselves.

Mayo Clinic: Food Poisoning Causes

It would be a shame to cross a favorite eatery off the list or blame an innocent restaurant when that may not be the case.