Adrift is a little joint in Anacortes with a high-priced menu and a reputation for great food. My partner in culinary critique and I decided this would be our next stop on our cheeseburger journey.

The place itself is dutifully decorated with all manner of maritime art and knick knacks, including spectacular full-body tattoo designs, and the tables are covered in bright sheets of copper. The booths are made of high-end, well sanded plywood with bookshelves cleverly built in. You look around and know that care has been put into the styling of this sea-faring establishment.

We were both very excited about The Skagit Burger, made with Skagit-raised grass-fed, premium natural beef. Kurt ordered a crab scramble. When the food came to the table, I could barely contain my excitement. The burger was THICK, obviously hand-formed, and it sat on a lovely toasted bun. Next to it sat a pile of artfully seasoned fries. My mouth watered just looking at this amazing plate of food. 

Kurt was also visibly excited by this vision of loveliness. 

But some food is just unrealized potential. Some food disappoints. Unfortunately, this burger, for me, fell into this category. While the burger was thick, it had very little flavor. While the bun was toasted, it was not toasted enough to create a texture contrast. While the balsamic glazed onions were made in house, they disappeared on the burger, leaving me to wonder what would have happened if they had simply used raw onions and pickles instead of this awkward trend of a tweener. (A tweener is something that is a combination of two things, but has no real defining characteristics of its own. It gets lost and is actually less than the sum of its parts.)

The scores were as follows:

KURT:

1. Flavor:  5.5
2. Juiciness: 9
3. Bun:  8
4. Vegetables:  5
5. Source:  9
6. Synergy:  6
7. Value: 6

SCORE: 7

SARA:

1. Flavor:  5
2. Juiciness: 9.5
3. Bun: 7.5
4. Vegetables:  4
5. Source:  9
6. Synergy:  4
7. Value: 4

SCORE: 6

While the burger itself was 12.75, I ended up paying two extra dollars for a slice of cheese, which drove the value score down in the end. Additionally, while the fries were well-seasoned, some of them were not cooked through, which left me wondering why they didn't cut their fries more evenly. The other question that came to my mind was, where was the tomato? I mean, I understand that at this point, most tomatoes are mere shadows of what tomatoes once were, but this burger needed it. It needed the crispness of a good pickle, the sharpness of a fresh onion. 

I wanted more from this burger, as did Kurt. We both felt that just a couple of tweaks could have elevated this promising plate into the top three at least. For the record, Kurt's scramble was one of the best we have had in a long time. The eggs were perfectly cooked and the flavor of the ingredients complimented each other perfectly.

Looking around the restaurant, I know the people running Adrift have it in them, they have all the ingredients to make an amazing burger. 

Neither one of us was looking forward to eating a burger at this place. Ever since I saw the sign go up and witnessed the very conformist and boring painting and detailing this company executed on the outside of the building on the corner of Hell Street and Damnation, I was dreading going in. 

NYP is one of those places that is a small local chain but instead of trying to take on some type of personality of its own, the company evidently has decided to take on an amalgamation of many others, picking bits and pieces from different forms of popular eating and drinking establishments in order to appeal to the widest audience. Well, job well done. The audience in this place was very wide. 

We walked in and looked about the dining room; it was drafty, filled with chairs, tables, and little else. There was no charm to the space at all. We made our way up into the bar and found that it was much the same in there, a composite marble bar surrounding a very large service area, flanked by big screen TVs playing the football game. The man sitting next to me was eating a personal sized pizza, and when he was brought the condiments he had to ask for twice, the overly zealous host smiled warmly at the man and called them his "goodies."  It cracked me up, but unfortunately Kurt didn't hear it. I tried to explain it to him but as I spoke I could tell it was one of those "you had to have been there" type situations you hear so much about.

I ordered the happy hour cheeseburger and Kurt ordered a caesar salad and a pizza. When I ordered my burger the bartender asked if "I wanted any pink in it," like that would tell me to what temperature they would cook it. I asked for medium. Kurt also ordered a beer off of the type of menu you see at tap houses where many types of epic beers are normally available. Unfortunately it was not the case with the tap list at NYP. The menu looked cool though. We were served the caesar and the burger first. I could tell the lettuce was old and there was not much dressing to be had on the salad. There was a lot of shredded parmesan though. My burger was beautiful. The bun was golden and the fries sat in a cup next to the burger, waiting to be consumed. Kurt's pizza, however, was nowhere to be found, so we just started eating. After we got our silverware. Which we had to ask for.

Much to my great horror, the burger was juicy, flavorful and frankly, quite delicious. The fries were lukewarm and rubbery, which was rather disappointing, but the burger itself was really great, though it pains me to admit it. The scores were as follows:

KURT:

1. Flavor:  7.5
2. Juiciness: 8.5
3. Vegetables: 7
4. Bun:  9
5. Source:  7
6. Synergy:  8
7. Value:  9

SCORE: 8

SARA:

1. Flavor: 8.5
2. Juiciness: 9
3. Vegetables:  7.5
4. Bun:  9
5. Source:  7.5
6. Synergy: 8
7. Value: 9

SCORE: 8.5

The bun was toasted, and the vegetable were fresh, though the pickles disappeared completely. The juice ran all down my arm as I ate. I hated myself for loving that burger, but love it I did, even though Kurt still did not have his food. The beef was all natural, but it came from the vicinity of Portland, so not local. Local is defined being within a 35 mile radius of the establishment where the food is served. It was a happy hour burger, so it was only 8 bucks. If I had paid the full 11 bucks for it, I mght have felt cheated, as the fries were pretty much inedible.

The kitchen just did not have their act together, as Kurt's pizza came out after we had finished the burger. It was almost flavorless too, save the green peppers on top and the red chili flakes (goodies) Kurt sprinkled on the pizza. The bartender took it off the bill, so that was nice, but we left knowing we would never return, even though the burger was pretty damn good.

There are times in life where the magic of a place, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, can be overstated. Edison, Washington, a sleepy little bend in the road in Western Washington, is just such a place for many reasons, but with this last trip to find the best burger in The Skagit, my partner in culinary critique and I came to the conclusion that Edison Washington just might be the home to The Best Burgers in The Skagit Valley. 

If you need reminding, just look back at our visits to The Rhody and The Longhorn, and you will see, after reading this post, exactly what I mean.

The Old Edison Inn sits at one end of the strip of businesses I like to refer to as The Road of Gastromagic. On this road sits more opportunity for culinary adventure than you would imagine possible; Tweets, Mariposa, The Longhorn, Slough Foods, Breadfarm, and The Edison Inn all boast different types of tasty cuisine. Taken alone, each would justify the trip out to Edison. But as a whole, it is no wonder this magical little bend in the road is inundated with tourists every weekend, much to my great dismay.

On to the task at hand. The Edison Inn is a comfy, charming place, with a sweet shuffleboard table to greet folks as they walk in, and bands playing every weekend night. The service is always friendly but not too familiar, and the fried oysters are heaven on a plate. We were there of course, to evaluate the burger, so I ordered The Big E, an Angus beef patty with tomato, lettuce, pickle and onion, and Kurt, of course, ordered the oysters. For the record, I could have ordered The Bow burger, which is made with local beef, but I opted for the standard, as this is what my interpretation of our guidelines dictated. Kurt's interpretation differs a bit, but you really can't control everything. Especially when you are not the person who is ordering the burger.

The burger arrived on a white plate, next to a pile of steaming hot golden fries. The vegetables, including the pickles, looked quite fresh, and the burger smelled absolutely delicious. Seconds after the bartender set my plate in front of me, I began to salivate. The burger was clearly hand-formed, and the bun was toasted to perfection. I am pretty sure I have written about the greatness that is a perfectly toasted bun, but I will just say, if you don't toast your bun, you really don't understand burgers at all.

Kurt's plate of oysters was lovely, and I was very happy to be able to share in the bounty which sat before us. We also shared an IPA with our meal, which made our food even tastier. The scores were as follows:
KURT

1. Flavor:  6.5
2. Juiciness:  6.5
3. Vegetables:  9.5
4. Bun:  9
5. Source: 6
6. Synergy: 8.5
7. Value: 8

Final Score: 7.5

SARA:

1. Flavor:  6.5
2. Juiciness: 6.5
3. Vegetables: 8.5
4. Bun:  8.5
5. Source: 6
6. Synergy:  7.5
7. Value: 8

Final Score: 7.5

The burger was sourced from FSA (Food Services of America), it had never been frozen, and, as I stated before, it was hand-formed. Kurt scolded me a bit for not ordering the burger that had sourced local beef, but I figured we could go back and do a follow-up post. Additionally, this gives me the opportunity to illustrate why using meat, any meat, that has never been frozen is better. Because it tastes better. Every time. Even if it is not hormone and anti-biotic free, raised in a field with other happy cows where the cowboy sings to it every afternoon, you can still get a good product when you treat the ingredients with respect. Do not disrespect your meat by freezing it, people, it and you, deserve better.

At 9.99, this burger is a great value. The fries were delicious, and the vegetables, including the pickles, were pretty great. All in all, this is a very good burger.