Aarti and I ended up here on a Sunday afternoon because the wait at the new West Village outpost of Jack's Wife Freda next door was out of control. The place was so crowded that people were literally standing on top of one another that it was border line claustrophobic in there. Plus given that it was almost 1pm, we decided that we couldn't wait another hour for food and conveniently headed to Market Table which was right next door.
Market Table is one of those places that's always on my list but just never quite makes the cut for me. But I was staving and impatient because I was dying to tell Aarti all my stories from the previous night out, so we decided to check it out. While Market Table was also quite crowded they were able to seat us right away at a very small high top table behind the hostess. As we were getting seated I saw one of the waitresses bring out a burger and even though I wasn't hung over from the night before I did drink quite a few glasses of wine that a thick juicy burger sounded amazing.
I did glance at the menu quickly before deciding on the burger. The menu had an entire section dedicated to vegetables so for any vegetarians or people who just want a slightly healthier brunch, this place is be a good bet. They also had a whole section where you could make your own brunch dish, which is what Aarti did - she did half an avocado ($4), toast ($3) and an egg ($3). Meanwhile I stuck with my original order of a cheeseburger ($17) medium rare because it just seemed like the right thing to do. When the burger came out, it looked good - it was covered in caramelized onions, shredded cheddar cheese and served with fries. When I cut the burger in half, I noticed that it wasn't quite as medium rare as I would have liked since it didn't have that super pink inside to it. But I was so hungry that when the waitress asked if everyone was ok, I just said yes and ate it anyways. While I do love a good serving of onions on my burger, there was just too much here. It made the whole thing very difficult to eat - super slippery and messy. As soon as I took my first bite, almost all the onions came out between the buns. I just couldn't bother dealing with trying to re-construct my meal so I didn't bother eating them at all. My other issue with the burger was that I wasn't a huge fan of the bun. It wasn't some soft brioche type bun that you usually see with burgers these days instead it was kind of dry and blah. It did hold up all the juices which was much appreciated but I wasn't a fan of the bread itself. Lastly, I wasn't a fan of the shredded cheese on it. When I think cheeseburger, I envision a thick gooey slice of cheese that just sticks to the meat all over. But because this was shredded, it was really hard to get a sense of that oozy factor and for a cheddar cheese it wasn't very sharp. The burger also came with fries that I thought were a bit overcooked and dry.
So yeah - I wasn't a huge fan of the burger and part of it was my fault for not saying anything when the waitress asked me if it was ok. But I generally never send food back unless it's really awful or has a hair in it or something like that. Given all the other great brunch places in the West Village, I wouldn't come back here again but for some reason I want to give it another shot based on all the positive Yelp reviews, so maybe a dinner here might change my mind. Otherwise, I'd say just get up early and go to Jack's Wife Freda for brunch instead. Total bill: $40 for 2 with tax, tip and juice
Photo Credit: Yelp
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