Cook’s Critique: Old Burdick’s

By Flannery Cook
Western Herald

Old Burdick’s Bar and Grille is located in the Radisson Plaza. The glossy pine and the soft lighting make Burdick’s seem like an upscale restaurant, yet the giant TVs and basketball-covered menus make the eatery seem more like a sports bar.

Also the menus and table felt sticky, which is always gross. The giant televisions seemed really out of place with the rest of the décor and the ’90s top 40 pulsing out of the speakers was really obtrusive to our conversation. However, the service was excellent because our server was attentive but didn’t smother us.

Burdick’s has an Irish-themed menu separate from their normal menu during March in honor of Saint Patrick’s Day. Our Irish appetizer was a fried egg on top of a potato patty in the middle of a glistening ring of cabbage. The tender buttery cabbage with bacon and onions tasted sweet, salty and had crisp and chewy textures. Inside the crunchy potato patty was a creamy and savory mash with chopped red peppers and green onions. The fried egg was crispy and cheesy, unfortunately the yoke was overcooked.

We ordered the Salmon dinner and Guinness braised short ribs for our entrées. The salmon was perfectly cooked so that it was not dry and was uniquely presented on a pedestal of mashed potatoes and smothered in a surprising, sweet garlicky marinara. My Guinness braised short ribs arrived off the bone in stew form. The gravy was thick and meaty, but not greasy. The beef, potatoes, carrots and celery were tender but not mushy.

My Metropolitan cocktail was refreshing and fancy, once I removed the garish lemon wedge with the gigantic seeds, one of which fell into my beverage. A Metropolitan has the same ingredients as a Cosmopolitan, but Burdick’s uses white cranberry juice instead of regular red.

For desert, my Bailey’s cheesecake was rich and creamy with a chocolate fudge crust. I would have liked a more obvious presence of Irish cream flavor; otherwise it’s just exceptional cheesecake.
All in all, Old Burdick’s is a classy, slightly loud sports bar with good service and excellent food.

Flannery Cook, the Weekend Scene restaurant critic, has an associates degree in culinary arts from GRCC. She is a senior majoring in practical writing and can be reached via e-mail at flannery.t.cook@wmich.edu.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Mar 25 2009. Filed under Weekend Scene. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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