Burger Challenge #4: The Full Schilling

Holidays, scheduling challenges and freezing weather all contributed to an incredibly delayed outing for Burger Challenge #4, but we finally made it!

The Full Schilling
160 Pearl St #1, New York, NY 10005
(212) 422-3855
I read about it in post NYC Burgers: Six Dream-Worthy Burgers From All Around Manhattan – it seemed to fit the bill of being close to work and being a good burger.

Overview:
The Full Schilling is an Irish Pub what has a nice, long wooden bar with a couple of TVs silently flashing SportsCenter for the noon patrons. Irish in spirit, but not in sound (the music was Top 40esque) it had a good feel and the staff was friendly – effective at being cozy while still feeling light. Our service was quick and with a smile – the staff was just attentive enough to make sure we were happy, and we never felt neglected or rushed. There were a lot of fun and quirky items decorating the walls – good conversation starters.

CFox Reviews:
It’s surprisingly difficult to get a burger cooked to perfection if your request is “medium.” Despite the fact that I realize it’s a challenge for restaurants, I am still compelled to call out that my request for medium resulted in a patty that didn’t have a bit of pink. I mean, I’m still going to eat it, of course, but it’d be remiss to not let y’all know. And it’s much better than expecting a fully cooked patty and getting one that was only brown on the outside (which was my first Shake Shack experience).

Burger was greasy, so much so that the lower bun smooshed to nearly nothing and consequently fall apart/disintegrating – TimDog noted that the 80/20 rule was more like 70/30 here. Perhaps they up the fat content because of their tendency to overcook. Or maybe I’m just being catty.

The condiments were cute, but not usable. It was a stack of lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle and a single black olive held in place with a long toothpick. The pickle was a quarter of a spear (but a nicely flavored dill). The beefsteak tomato had not fully ripened and my slice came from near the end of the tomato and still had the hard “eye” (had to dig it out with my fingernail). The lettuce was romaine and on the limp side – it came folded as part of the aforementioned condiment tower. In my opinion, limp lettuce is all wrong for a burger. It’s probably the only time I like iceburg, but will grudgingly accept green leaf or other semi-crunchy lettuce.

Rereading this, it sounds like quite an awful experience – but it really wasn’t. I am just being really picky on this quest. While it would definitely satisfy a burger craving and is a cool spot with a nice vibe, I would not tell recommend that one go out of their way to get to the Financial District just to try this burger. It’s fine, but not special trip-worthy. It is, however, a great lunch spot for anyone who works in FiDi.

The Burger Rating, however, is 2.5 of 5 stars.

H-Money Reviews:
Overall, I give the experience a 4 out of 5 – my reasons are below:

• Well done burgers are not usually encouraged, though as usual, I ordered mine well done and it was great! The cook still managed to keep the burger juicy and flavorful. That is appreciated and very hard to find!
• The American cheese was also perfectly melted on top of the burger and almost appeared to be melted within the burger. Great use of the cheese to burger ratio.
• I liked the timeliness and the friendly demeanor of our waitress. Made the overall environment of the restaurant enjoyable.
• Even though I didn’t use mustard, I like the catchy bottles – added a “cuteness” and unique factor to the restaurant
• The French fries were medium thickness, which were really good! I tend to like the thin crispy fries, though these fries were still crispy even at medium size.
• Pickle was GOOD – nice addition to the plate. I didn’t eat the coleslaw therefore I cannot comment.
• The one complaint would be similar to CFox’s in that the garnishes were not ones that I wanted to put on my burger. May need to change up the origin of the produce. Easy thing to fix to make it a great overall lunch spot!

Overall, I enjoyed my burger, company and experience at The Full Schilling on 3/9/15.

Catchy Bottle of Mustard

TimDog Reviews:

“Tale of Two Schillings/Shillings”

As ball players hit spring training after a few months off, so did Burger Challenge #4.

First on the preseason schedule was “The Full Shilling” (TFS). TFS came highly recommended by NYCFoodGuys brother Lil-NYCFoodGuys best burger review from 2013.  “Perfectly cooked patty” is just “big enough to satisfy”, “lightly toasted white bun” “load up the burger with American cheese, crispy bacon, and onions that are more sautéed than fried” “definitely delivered the simple satisfaction I hoped for”. Interestingly enough, as the glowing review was being published, 168 miles north the Security and Exchange Commission was investigating 38Studios bond deal with the state of RI. Why does this matter….. the owner of 38Studios was none other that Curt Schilling…. Could there be a Shilling Conspiracy in the Fall of 2013?

Category	Full Shilling Burger (TFS)	Curt Schilling (CS)	Top Dog
What	Bacon Cheese Burger	Ex Red Sox Ball Player	CS – who doesn’t love a masshole
Location	FIDI NYC	All over the internet	FSB – closer to work and no firewall issues
Famous For	Lil-NYCFoodGuys Best Burger review	Bloody Sock, Everquest Character and video game company CEO	CS– Even though some claim the sock was ketchup – still pitched in WS

Burger Review

Just as 38Studios failed to deliver any quality piece of entertainment, The Full Shilling Burger failed to deliver any real entertainment for the burger lover. The “perfectly grilled patty” was way too greasy and the “loaded up bacon” was more than fried and extremely curly. Where the burger did deliver was on size, just small enough that it didn’t put you to sleep in afternoon meetings. The burgers “lightly toasted white bun” was soggy and sloppy to eat. Fries were average and saving the best part for last was the pickle, that could have shined if I could have put it on my burger.

Over all burger gets a solid 2.5 mostly for the walk from the office, two blocks and 5 mins total, if you don’t miss the cross street. Curt weighs in slightly higher at a 3, after the failing business he has recovered to become an aggressive defender of his family in social media. If only The full Schilling could aspire to be mildly aggressive at anything burger related the 5 min walk would be more often.

I believe this is Curt Schilling’s Everquest Avatar “Cylc”