Steelhead Diner, March 19th 2010

The Steelhead Diner is situated in the heart of downtown, just up from Pike's Market, and was the destination for our most recent Burger Tour.  The restaurant has the feel of an old school diner, but has modernized touches to better fit within a metropolitan city.  The owners, a husband and wife team, Kevin and Terresa Davis pride themselves on practicing sustainability and supporting local growers, bread makers, cheese makers, and organic and natural beef producers.  This is clearly evidenced in the reason for our visit, their American Wagyu Beef Burger.  This burger features Beecher's cheddar cheese and a Le Panier bun, two local establishments which are just down the street in the Market.  Sauteed onions and mushrooms rounded off the toppings.  However, the real star is the American Wagyu beef. 

American Wagyu Beef Burger

What is Wagyu beef?
This refers to several breeds of cattle genetically predisposed to intense marbling and to producing a high percentage of oleaginous unsaturated fat. The meat from wagyū cattle is known worldwide for its marbling characteristics, increased eating quality through a naturally enhanced flavor, tenderness and juiciness, and thus a high market value. Highly prized for their rich flavor, these cattle produce arguably the finest beef in the world

What is American Wagyu Beef?
In the United States, Japanese wagyū cattle is bred with Angus cattle to create a crossbreed that is better able to survive the U.S. climate and ranching methods. The meat of this crossbreed provides the balance of marbling and red meat desired by American buyers. Designed to mimic the diet that Japanese cattle receives, wagyū cattle in the United States are fed a mixture of corn, barley, alfalfa, and wheat straw.

Here's how I rated the burger.
Meat: 4
Bunnage: 3.5
Fixings: 3.5
Overall: 4

I thought the American Wagyu beef patty was easiliy the best patty we've had so far. The meat had good flavor and was nice and juicy. It was a good size, not too thin or thick.  My burger was cooked to the specified "medium" doneness, but there were some complaints of burgers being undercooked.  The picture above is evidence of that.  This was likely the result of a busy Friday night, but certainly not a good excuse for this type of mistake.  The Le Painer bun had a good texture, but didn't hold up well throughout the entire meal.  The melted Beechers chedder cheese was excellent, but the mushrooms and onions were lacking in quantity.  I could have used double the amount of those two toppings.  The only reason I gave as high as a 3.5 for fixings was because in the rating I included the side of Poutine. The french fries topped with gravy

and melted Beechers cheese curds were amazing. I have only had poutine once before, but I was blown away by this side dish.  Overall I definitely enjoyed the burger, mainly because of the quality meat used in the patty, and the side of poutine really makes the whole meal enjoyable.


 
 
Take a listen the everyone else's thoughts on the burger....
 

 
And here are the scores for the American Wagyu Beef Burger:

MEET

 
 


BUNNAGE

FIXINGS

OVERALL

So just average scores for the Steelhead diner, and I think that is ultimately due to the inconsistentancy of the meat on that busy Friday night.  Some burgers were undercooked and some fixings were sparse or completely absent, leaving some burger eaters wanting more.  The Wagyu beef is a great way to start a burger, but this is clear evidence that there is more to a burger than just the meat.

Feel free to add your thoughts on the American Wagyu Beef burger in the comments sections.

Cathy, Annie, Brad, Dino, Katrina, Julie, Amanda, Dave