Plein Sud – Burger Royale au Fromage

6/10
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I wanted to love this burger, but it was just too over-the-top for me. The ‘Burger Royale au Fromage’ as it is called, is stuffed with cheese. I’m not a huge fan of cheeseburgers because I find them to be too rich, so I asked if I could get this one sans fromage. The waiter, semi-horrified, said I should try it as is and that I would love it.

Untouched, the burger is already oozing cheese.

I like to dress and cut my burger in half before eating it, and depending on size I may even eat it with a fork. I am not exaggerating when I say that after I cut into this burger there was a volcano of cheese-lava that poured out of the patty for a good 4 minutes. I would be surprised if even 25% of the cheese stayed inside. If I had just bitten into it, I would have had cheese all over my face! To be perfectly honest, the whole experience of cheese flowing everywhere was a bit off-putting.

I loved the fries and the black truffle aioli it came with, and the overall presentation on a wooden plank, but that cheese explosion was just too much for me. Cheeseburger-fanatics may disagree.
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Overall, Plein Sud is a cool TriBeCa spot with nice food and atmosphere, but the search for the best burger continues…

Plein Sud – ground floor of Smyth Hotel
85 West Broadway, at Chambers
New York, NY 10007
www.pleinsudnyc.com