Monday, August 30, 2010

Whistling Willie's American Grill

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My friend Derek and I went hiking up Breakneck Ridge last weekend. I sprained my ankle a bit, but aside from that we had a great time (don’t worry, it's a pretty minor sprain, and I’m elevating and icing it as we speak!).

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me at the top of the first overlook

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Our favorite route is to get off the train at the Breakneck Ridge hikers-only stop, and then end the day by hiking down into the cute little town of Cold Spring for an ice cream cone before catching the train back to the city.

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Cold Spring, NY

This time, I wanted to see if I could find a veggie burger to review while we were there. So after several hours of hiking, we trekked into Whistling Willie’s for some ice water and… their “made in house” veggie burger!

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The menu stated that the patty was made from “a variety of fresh vegetables” and the bartender who served us checked with the kitchen and reported back to me that it was vegan.

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The toppings that came with said burger were somewhat disappointing – just once slice of tomato, but at least the lettuce wasn’t iceberg. The bun was plain but very soft. It seemed larger than a normal hamburger bun, but it fit the patty (also rather wide) perfectly.

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When I bit into it, the first thing I tasted was zucchini… that’s a new one for me, even after all the veggie burgers I have tried! As I took a few more bites, I could also see and taste broccoli, carrots, yellow squash, onions, peppers, and potatos. I think there were some mushrooms too, but luckily they were overshadowed by the other delicious vegetables, which all tasted as if they had been grilled and then mashed together to form the patty.

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It was like vegetable stew in burger form. I mean that in a good way – it tasted great! Crispy on the outside from being fried, but soft on the inside (falling apart a bit) and full of flavorful vegetables. A very unique idea for a veggie burger – I had not expected such creativity from this bar/restaurant! The sweet potato fries were delicious as well. The toppings and bun could have been better, but overall it was still a very pleasant surprise – and a great meal for a hungry hiker.

Cost: $10.95
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Burger patty: 4      Bun: 2      Toppings: 1

Whistling Willie’s American Grill
184 Main Street
Cold Spring, NY 10516
845.265.2012

YumVeggieBurger review #21

2 comments:

  1. That really is a veggie burger! How do you get to Cold Springs?! It looks beautiful!

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  2. You can just take the metro north train from Grand Central - it's about an hour and a half north of the city (or, if you have a car, probably even faster!). It's really nice, I'd definitely recommend it - especially in a few weeks when the leaves start to turn!

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