Peninsula Lobby -- The Verdict

If the ladies who lunched ate red meat, they would eat it here. Lovely presentation; upscale atmosphere; genteel ambience. At $22 for beef, and $29 for a foie-gras topped Kobe-lite experience, you get what you pay for. Fresh and inviting toppings; great fries; and attractive condiments complete the picture. Flavorful, but not overly seasoned, beef, pleased the taste buds. Poor handling on the foie gras burger skewed that score particularly low. Similarly, the value proposition kept scores lower than they would be on flavor and experience alone. And the fries ... mmmmmm. Overall, a decadent burger, at a decadent price. Low 70; High 81; Average 77.

Sirloin Burger -- $22 / The Lobby Kobe Burger (pretzel bun, foie gras, red onion jam, celery root slaw, truffled pomme frites) -- $29

Exhibit 4 -- The Peninsula Lobby

C-House -- The Verdict

Our first celebrity-chef burger. While our reviewers split as to whether the burger was too salty, generally favorable reviews for Chef S. Overall high scores for flavor and execution. A good sized burger, with perhaps a slightly undersized bun. Lovely garnish and home-made ketchup accented the presentation. The gouda cover was also well received. Some critics noted a bit of greasiness. The yellow tomato also was a nice complement. Some dissent as to whether the seasoned fries were the way to go, but no one dinged our chef for creativity and vision. The $10 price seemed not too high, given the nice presentation and setting. Scores ranged from 73 to 84, with an average of 79. Well done, as they say.

Angus Prime Burger -- gouda, LTO -- $10