Taco Night @ The Golden State

Last Monday Mexicali Taco Co and The Golden State came together for a night of tacos and beer. It was a great collaboration to be able to have the tacos, vampiros and cachetadas of Mexicali Taco Co in the comfortable environment of The Golden State and wash the great food down with their excellent selection of craft beers. There are rumors that this may become a regular thing. Count my vote in the Yes column.

Vampiro and cachetada at The Golden State

Mexicali Taco Co is found at the intersection of 1st & Beaudry on Wednesday - Saturday evenings.
The Golden State Cafe: 426 N. Fairfax, north of Beverly Blvd. Mid City. Phone: (323) 782-8331.  Website: http://thegoldenstatecafe.com

The Lamb Burger at Golden State

I'd been hearing about the Thursday night only lamb burger at Golden State for months but the stars hadn't aligned for me to try it until this past week.  One time I tried to go at lunch on a Thursday only to discover that the mythical lamb burger was only available in the evening; other occasions events interceded to keep me from my goal.  Fortunately after an event at nearby Bar Lubitsch, I found myself in the neighborhood on a Thursday evening, and I postponed plans to check out a different spot in order to finally get to experience the much talked about sandwich.

The lamb burger was served on a brioche bun with gruyere cheese, roasted peppers, yogurt dill, arugula and chipotle ketchup and was accompanied by a Greek salad on the side.  There are a limited number available as Golden State gets scraps of Colorado lamb ground up from a butcher connection once a week.  I was meeting Ron from LushAngeles there and got a beer while I waited as I arrived first; co-owner James Starr offered to put one of the lamb burgers on hold for me until Ron arrived.  The burger I had was cooked medium, just a tad more than I'd prefer, but I was so excited to try the burger that I forgot to specify medium rare when ordering.  The burger was still outstanding, with good lamb flavor, a nice spice in the ground meat, and the cheese on top complemented it well.  Disclosure, I removed the peppers from it as I wanted to focus my tastebuds on the lamb.  The patty was juicy and the brioche bun was able to stand up to the fillings without either falling apart or dominating the sandwich.

The Greek salad was a nice light accompaniment to the sandwich.  Of course we ordered the french fries ($3) as well, which were served with a housemade chipotle ketchup.  They were both welcome and enjoyable side dishes but the lamb burger was the star of the evening.  This burger is indeed ready for its closeup.  Just don't take the last one as I rush in on a Thursday evening.