Impressed with the Burger at Veselka

I've long heard about Veselka, its solid burger (per Serious Eats and Josh Ozersky), great vibe and of course the Ukranian food, but never managed to make it over there. On a recent day, the day when the sky looked on fire in NYC, I headed over to the East Village thanks to my girlfriend's great idea to check out the restaurant. Veselka was the destination and I already knew I was ordering the burger. The space was about half full, with huge platters of kielbasa, bowls of borscht and burgers filling the occupied tables. A few diners sat outside and the doors were all open providing a nice breeze. There were clearly some regulars here, but a nice, mixed crowd of folks.

We were quickly seated and ordered up the Cheeseburger Deluxe ($9.95) medium-rare along with Fried Pierogi's with potato and cheese ($9.50). The burger has gone up in price since I read about it last year, when it was in the $6-8 range, but came with fries and coleslaw. It's a heaping eight-ounces of freshly ground meat (chuck perhaps), but it's not a thickburger. The relatively thin patty rests between a soft, sesame-seed bun, that is apparently from Amy's, and two slices of American cheese. As you can see in the photo, the cheese doesn't arrive completely melted, but once you dig into the burger it melts very nicely. Cooked perfectly I was thoroughly impressed already, as it seems to be difficult for many restaurants to cook a burger to order. The burger is char-broiled, providing a nice crust, but I personally prefer griddled. Properly seasoned, cooked to order and with the appropriate amount of char, this is a burger I can support. The accompanying fries were also quite good, although I like mine a bit more seasoned and well-done. A far cry from the burger I recently had at Prime Meats (review to come), this burger had a great ratio of burger, bun and cheese.

At this point the Pierogi's were unfortunately an afterthought. I had my large Ukranian beer ($5.50) and solid burger. Regardless, the Pierogi's were good, but pricey for the portion. While most things are better fried, I would have preferred these boiled as the taste was lost amongst the grease. The sauteed onions which arrived with the Pierogi's were delicious, however, I didn't try them until the dish was almost done. With so many other options on the menu I look forward to my return trip, but I'll find it hard to not order the burger, which may have slipped into my top 5 in the city.
144 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10003, 212-228-9682, Price - Moderate ($15-30/person)