Simeon's on the Commons
February 2012
Simeon’s on the Commons has been an Ithaca institution since long before we arrived here in 1994. The corner block exterior is elegant but the interior bar and restaurant is stunning, dominated by multiple arched mirrors behind the bottles stacked at the bar running the length of the main dining room. The emphasis of the room is on elegant simplicity.
Simeon’s has recently rebranded itself as an American Bistro but the evening menu just looks incredibly confused taking in France, Italy, Thailand, Belgium and Japan. The lunchtime menu is much simpler and there are times when all you need is a burger. One lunch-time a burger at Simeon’s seemed like a perfect proposition.
To satisfy my temporary craving, the choice was the Port & Bleu Burger. This consisted of a grilled Angus burger with applewood smoked bacon, Maytag blue cheese, roasted onions with port wine sauce on an onion roll. The burger came with fries and another pot of the port sauce. On paper it sounded great and for the first few fries and ketchup it was. They were also good dipped in the port sauce. Then it was time to turn to the burger. All that anticipation came crashing down. The supporting act, the onion roll was grilled to within an inch of its life and the top half crumbled to the touch. This meant that the onion was present as pockmarked little cinders on the top of the bun and added no taste benefit. If the burger had been okay then the bun quality wouldn’t matter. However, the Angus patty tasted of nothing, presumably salt was excluded from the mix. Weirdly the bacon was flavourless too. Not to worry, the blue cheese tasted fine and completely subdued everything in its path. The sauce and onions were okay but severely let down by everything else. It was a dreadfully disappointing experience.
To satisfy my temporary craving, the choice was the Port & Bleu Burger. This consisted of a grilled Angus burger with applewood smoked bacon, Maytag blue cheese, roasted onions with port wine sauce on an onion roll. The burger came with fries and another pot of the port sauce. On paper it sounded great and for the first few fries and ketchup it was. They were also good dipped in the port sauce. Then it was time to turn to the burger. All that anticipation came crashing down. The supporting act, the onion roll was grilled to within an inch of its life and the top half crumbled to the touch. This meant that the onion was present as pockmarked little cinders on the top of the bun and added no taste benefit. If the burger had been okay then the bun quality wouldn’t matter. However, the Angus patty tasted of nothing, presumably salt was excluded from the mix. Weirdly the bacon was flavourless too. Not to worry, the blue cheese tasted fine and completely subdued everything in its path. The sauce and onions were okay but severely let down by everything else. It was a dreadfully disappointing experience.