A week and a half ago the head of Hyatt Gold Passport did an online chat with Milepoint members. One of the lighter subjects was the new Hyatt burger that was launching.

I admit, burgers are a bit of a staple of room service, they’re usually one of the cheaper items on most menu and they tend to be pretty reliable, even when they aren’t great they usually aren’t bad so you know what to expect.

A brand standard burger only reinforces that, and when it’s good that’s a real selling point. So as trivial an item it may seem, it actually matters.

Here’s the description of the new burger from the chat:

[T]he wheat oat bun has been replaced with a brioche bun – much softer and richer. The meat ~7 ounces of all natural Meyer Ranch burger – is now seared to juicy perfection. We’ve also added kosher salt and black pepper seasoning, caramelized onion jam and horseradish spreads. It’s yummy.

And here’s the photo of the burger:

Milepoint member dmel ordered the new burger at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco and reviewed it.

So how did it compare? The Milepoint thread includes photos, so check it out.

Obviously, the presentation was not as purdy as the marketing photo, but that’s to be expected. Notable differences are: (1) pickle spear instead of pickle chips; (2) fries on the plate instead of in that metal thing; and (3) Heinz ketchup, mustard and mayo instead of the caramelized onion jam and horseradish spreads. Of these, only (3) is a big deal, IMO. And it’s only a big deal because I wanted to try both those things.

I ordered my burger medium rare, and it arrived medium well (at least) but I didn’t expect them to honor the requested temp. I can’t really comment on the meat itself… it was tasty, but I think In-N-Out meat is tasty too. I will say that it was seared to juicy perfection — it had a very nice crust. And the bun was delicious.

Now, presentation matters and needs to get up to brand standard. Contra the reviewer, I actually think meat temperature matters and that medium rare is different from medium well. I probably wouldn’t have said anything because if I’m ordering a room service burger I want it quickly and don’t want to wait to eat, but I’d have been disappointed in medium well. Cooking temperature is one of the things that corporate isn’t going to be able to control at the service-delivery level but does matter.

Still, I’m a huge fan of brioche buns (yum!) and a nice juicy burger sounds good. Me, I’m lucky I just finished the very best Nasi Goreng I’ve ever eaten, up late and jetlagged at the Conrad Bangkok.

Now, if Hyatt or really any chain in North America could pull off a really good Nasi Goreng as brand standard I’d be theirs. But absent that, a really good burger is a selling point and I’m looking forward to trying Hyatt’s.