M2M, it's about damn time I reviewed them

They raised prices... I am not a happy fat kid (still, at $5.42 including tax, what do I have to complain about?).


Anyway, I sit awake so early in the morning having just completed my run, which I'm still not sure I should be happy or annoyed at (more on that at the end), finally having worked off that late night gut bomb session. What did I eat this time? Bagels... half a dozen of them of varying sorts, marbled raisin, yeast, egg, wheat, sourdough, and I'm pretty sure a pumpernickel one as well, all topped with 'Peanut Butter & Co' chocolate pb. In addition, 2 pints of ice cream (not sorbet this time, finally grabbed the right one), a 1/2 pound burger made out of ground buffalo, 2 pounds of cottage cheese, and that beautiful burger from M2M. Do I feel guilty about any of this? Not really, it was a rather 'light' binge session if you will... and it's not like I got some crappy ass burger from a craptastic burger/pizza place. Nope, this is a good burger, and as previously mentioned... cheap too. M2M apparently has 2 locations in NYC, one downtown on 11th, and another up on 115th next to Columbia. As such, it's become a favorite fallback food option for the student population here. With a dizzying array of sandwiches, wraps, burgers, and even some moderately decent Japanese food all at pretty cheap prices, it's not really that surprising they do so well. It's also a small asian supermarket if anyone cares (I do occasionally buy random Japanese breads, variants of pocky, and Asian ice creams lol). That's not the reason I went though... which was obviously their burger.

Don't get me wrong, once again, like Hamilton Deli (see here, and here), this is no City Burger or Minetta Tavern. It is not 'Pat LaFrieda' blend, it is not shipped from some organic farm on Long Island, it is a plain burger. I'm actually fairly sure that they're the frozen patties you can buy at Morton Williams or Fairway, but whatever. You can either get the plain cheeseburger, which will run you $3.50, or the deluxe version, which costs apparently $5 now... (the incoming freshman will never have it as good as we did... $2.75 Koronets, $4.91 deluxe cheeseburgers, and $6.23 sandwiches at Hamdel, yes I memorized all the prices so I could bring exact change). Also, please don't ask how much the plain burger is, or the veggie burger, or the turkey burger. If you're going to go, don't waste your time on those, in other words... I don't know. Anyway, there's a counter in the back where you place your order, which, if you're getting the burger, takes quite a while. After a few minutes, one of the guys will ask you what you want on it. This is where M2M is unique, you can pretty much do anything. I've asked for red beans on my burger, I've asked for sriracha, I've even asked for kimchi, they will put it on, sometimes for extra, sometimes for free. In any case, the classic ketchup, lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, mustard combo comes with the meal, so do yourself a favor... and get everything you paid for.

The burger itself is quite good actually. I won't waste time talking about char (since it's broiled under a brick), degree of doneness (since it's almost always cooked through and through no matter what you say), or bun to patty ratio (are you kidding me? it's a seeded bun that you can buy yourself... not some honey brioche). What I will say is this, if you're hungry, and you actually want a burger 'your way,' don't go to Burger King... M2M is your late night comfort place. Well... not too late, it closes at midnight, hence the name, and the grill stops at 11. Final thoughts on the burger... don't skimp, go deluxe. Their fries (which Wayne actually dislikes) are in my opinion, pretty damn good. They're done up in the same oil as their tempura, so there's a weird aftertaste. Mild, but pleasant. Also guaranteed crunchy if you eat them while they're still hot.

Why am I annoyed at my run? Well... because I'm slow again. I did 3.67 or something in 30 minutes which means my pace was actually below an 8 minute mile for the overall. I ended up going back after a few minutes of stretching to run a mile as fast as I could, at 6:23 which could've been better too, just to prove that I could still do speed pieces *sigh*. Whatever, tomorrow's a new day, and hopefully I can get above that 4 mile mark again for the 30 minutes (I remember a time when 4.1 miles was an 'off' day).

distance for the day: 5.06 miles
distance biked for the day: 0.00 miles

distance on the year: 94.01 miles
distance biked on the year: 98.39 miles