Up until recently, eating at either of Connecticut’s massive casinos really, really sucked.  It was not completely impossible to find something edible at either place, but for every passable meal I’ve found at Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods there’s been plenty of the bland, the gross, the overpriced, and the so awful you feel bad for every party involved including the wait staff, the kitchen, and the guests at your table.  I won’t single out the perpetrator for that last one but his name rhymes with Nimmy Buffet and the inside of his Mohegan Sun location is reminiscent of an echo-y, weirdly depressing high school gymnasium painted electric-blue.  Which happens to serves really bad food.

So as you can see, in contrast Bobby’s Burger Palace (Bobby Flay is the Bobby) is a pretty sexy room, considering its location.  A long seating counter graces one side, arching tables are on the other side which open up onto the kitchen, and golden light from the fixtures above permeates.  Bobby’s is not perfect, not by a long shot, but even the room does a good job of still looking like it’s in a casino without being garish or gawdy, which makes for a nice start.

The fries are good if not piping hot.  They were salted well, and came in an attractive paper lined cup, which thankfully was filled to the brim with full-sized fries instead of the nubs some places annoyingly hide in the bottom.  I wasn’t crazy about the generic tasting, orange colored dipping sauce that came with them but they were good enough to not even need ketchup.

For the burger I order the “classic” and immediately on inspection I wish I hadn’t.  The quality of the ingredients was outstanding, the amount of cheese was generous, and it was all put together well but it was a little too constructed and measured and mannered to really do it for me.  To be sure it’s still one of the best things I’ve ever had at Mohegan but next time I’ll try one of the specialty burgers (the Dallas Burger, with coleslaw, Monterey Jack, BBQ sauce and pickles sounded good) in hopes for a little bit more zip, zing, sloppiness, and juice.

Slightly disappointed but still very much satisfied and pleased I came, the mango milkshake was the highlight of the meal.  Not overly sweet, and perfectly tangy with real flecks of vanilla bean and chunks of mango, it was just the right consistency for either the straw or the spoon it came with.  Pricey at $5, but still a much better bet than the closest slot machine.

Bobby’s Burger Palace

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