Black Cat in Silver Lake: Bad Burger and Bad Wine List with Awesome Service by Beautiful Waiters

I always read Best of lists with some suspicion as to any ulterior motives the author or publication/blog may have. And when I see duds like Apple Pan on a best LA burgers list, I get seriously skeptical. But I craved a burger so it was high time for a burger club venture. So we went to Black Cat in Silver Lake amid hipster-ville (the lengths we would go to for a good burger). Let's just say my dinner companion pretended not to know me by the end of dinner because I had sent back like five wines. But I digress. The burger was hopelessly below average. Big thumbs down. If I were to deconstruct it, I'd say the patty was probably the biggest culprit. It was over-salted and overcooked, even for a medium the chef insisted on cooking it at (our server promptly told us chef only cooks it three ways -- well done, medium and rare but not medium rare -- wha?). It didn't have enough fat in it so it was dense and not soft enough. Now let's get to the bun. Oh, the bun. It looked like something out of a cheap diner and I was not impressed, even before my first bite. It wasn't warm or fresh-looking. Not surprisingly, it was dense and flavorless when I bit into it with the patty. The works were unremarkable and included Gruyere cheese, lettuce, pickles, tomato and onions. The only addition that worked was the pickle, which tasted home-made and not too tangy and over-pickled like many of the commercials ones.

There was one thing that was good: the baby artichoke salad, albeit its minuscule portion. It came with Parmesan cheese in a simple olive oil and lemon sauce that was very refreshing. I'd definitely have this salad again.

There was something wrong with the red wine list. I tried two Pinot Noir's and at least three different kinds of reds that all tasted horrible (hence the companion being embarrassed). So I settled for an IPA to pair with my burger, which was ok. For a gastropub that comes from the same peeps who brought us Village Idiot, which I really liked, I was disappointed and saddened.

Dessert was average. We had the mandarin orange sorbet and it didn't have the flavor punch that I've experienced in The Strand House, which I loved.

Service was very attentive and all the servers looked like models. Ambiance was great -- it had a bit of a New York vibe. But service, eye candy and ambiance alone do not a good gastropub make. It needs to work more on perfecting the food and wine list before touting itself as a serious gastropub.