Review: Boom in Belmar

(Credit: Chris M. Junior)

Ah, the beloved burger -- that molded, cooked patty best served on a bun with condiments galore. Pair one with french fries and you're talking about one of history's greatest food partnerships, right up there with peanut butter and jelly, macaroni and cheese and bacon and eggs.

Not all burgers are the same, though, and the same goes for burger-centric restaurants. Whether you love the classic ground beef version or the veggie variety -- or something a little less common -- Boom in Belmar has some eye-catching options.

Boom is a recent addition to the Belmar Plaza. The dining area is clean and bright, with a mix of regular and bar-height tables. Aside from the three wall-mounted wagon wheels and the cattle skull that's above the kitchen entrance, nothing about the decor really stands out.

The menu, however, is a different story. Its atypical burger options jump off the page. While the turkey, veggie and lamb listings looked interesting -- and it's always hard to pass up a ground or Kobe beef version -- this was a bison burger kind of night.

Not long after ordering it, out came a bison burger on a white, rectangular plate, prepared as ordered (medium-well, with lettuce and tomato, hold the cheese) and looking like it should (with beautiful crisscrossed grill marks).

The burger was rather small, and the sight of it on a ciabatta roll seemed odd at first, but the taste and consistency of the meat (100 percent buffalo) was top shelf. The fries were thick and crisp, although the serving could have been bigger. (It's not as though the plate didn't have room.) Boom is a Coke establishment, and it scores big points for not only offering the fountain version but serving it in an ice-filled red plastic cup featuring the Coca-Cola logo.

Boom currently serves five flavors of shakes, and there definitely is room for improvement with its vanilla version. Served in a tall ice cream shop-style glass with a mountain of whipped cream, it sure looked promising, but the shake was on the watery side and in need of an extra scoop of ice cream.

The Boom menu also includes two banana-and-caramel dessert items, as well as two salads (mixed greens and Caesar), some appetizers (such as nachos, chicken wings, chili and crab cakes) and a few nonburger entrees (one being a chicken wrap).

The folks at Boom seem eager to please: The waitresses were outgoing, asking customers multiple times how everything was, and a man who appeared to be the owner went from table to table to ask patrons if they were OK with the dining room's temperature and the volume of the music. That said, if they make a few minor adjustments to the two items mentioned on the restaurant's exterior sign, Boom could blow away the competition.

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