Josh and I both got out of work early on this rainy summer Friday. Our original plan was to meet up with his coworkers at The Frying Pan but the weather refused to cooperate. We headed instead to Lansdowne Road, a bar that we’ve been to several times but mostly for drinks. They have a lot of good beers on tap, including my personal favorite, Magic Hat #9. Since my office is further away, I arrived later than everyone else. Josh had already started on an order of buffalo wings by the time I got there.
Tomato-y tasting buffalo wings
Buffalo wings are one of the few things that I’ve eaten at Lansdowne Road before but for some reason I thought they were very different this time. The sauce was sweeter and more tomato-y than I remembered. It also tasted like the spice came from a garlic chili sauce rather than from a vinegary hot sauce. Though the wings were hot and meaty, I really didn’t enjoy this version of buffalo sauce.
Also different than what I remembered was the burger, which I ordered medium rare with swiss cheese.
Burger with swiss cheese
The burger was cooked medium rare to order but it was ground very finely so that it had a mushy texture, and oddly, it was very sweet. It tasted like they mixed some spices and seasoning with the meat that detracted from the beefy flavor. I’m sad to say that I did not enjoy this burger very much. It really just didn’t taste like a burger to me.
Autopsy shot
Josh didn’t fare much better with his French dip, also with swiss cheese. The roast beef was sliced very thin and way too dry. Dipping it into the au jus helped a little, but even the flavor of that was off. Basically the only thing I really enjoyed from both of our plates was the French fries.
French dip with swiss cheese
Overall I was really disappointed with the food at Lansdowne Road. It was just strange because I’ve definitely eaten there before but didn’t remember the food being bad. Maybe I was just drunk at the time? I do remember having a burger on a previous visit, as well as sharing the Tailgate starter that included sliders, wings, and fries. Nevertheless, I’ll still come back here because of the beer selection, and because they have pool and darts in the back room. The atmosphere is relaxed and there are plenty of seats and big TV screens, which are very important to me. Next time though I’ll stick with the basic fried appetizers – chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, fries, etc. I still think it’s a great place to have a good beer, watch a game, and just hang out with your friends.
Lansdowne Road
599 10th Ave. between 43rd and 44th St.
New York, NY
Tags: Bars, Burgers, Midtown West, Sandwiches