18 Burgers, Matawan

That's right...18 Burgers, not 25. We were surprised to see this new burger place with such a similar name open on on Route 79 in Matawan inside the Philly Cheesesteak Factory but haven't given it much thought in the last few months. We don't drive up that way very often - out of sight, out of mind.

But last night we did pass by it on our way to meet with our financial planner and had already discussed hitting up Stewart's on the way home. Based on the rarity of being close by, we decided to give 18 burgers a shot.

The menu reminded me of the one at 25 Burgers in Bound Brook (http://www.18burgers.com/) with a lot of choices from plain patties up to The Belly Buster that is a three quarter pound monster topped with mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers, potato wedges and cheese. Despite all the decadent options on the list, I went with an everyday cheese burger for my evaluation of this place's potential. I ordered it with American cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayo and added ketchup and mustard. The standard "Jenn" order. As you can see from the picture below...it looked promising. The fries served alongside were skin on, old fashion style that I'm particularly fond of.

Alan ordered the Holy Bacon burger with provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayo and added ketchup to his. The buns on both were a sour dough Kaiser.

The burgers were really big - two handed monsters. And they were molten lava hot...the first bite had to wait a few minutes otherwise you risked the dreaded mouth burn. After those moments passed, we took that so important first bite.

The result? Blah. The meat was close to tasteless, the bun disintegrated quickly and at no point did I feel like I could taste the condiments or toppings. It was so disappointingly lackluster that I would have liked to travel back in time and unmake the decision to stop there. Oh well...you have to try the bad ones to appreciate the good ones. 18 Burgers is a no go and off the list.