Duchess - Norwalk, CT

Where:
157  Main Street, Norwalk, CT

What:

Big D 1/3 lb. Angus burger, lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickle, ketchup, mayo.

Big D Crispy Chicken Sandwich, lettuce & mayo.

Comments:
You can't drive north on I95 through Connecticut without seeing at least a dozen Duchess restaurants. Darien, Norwalk, Fairfield, Stratford, Bridgeport, Milford, and the list goes on. As I mentioned in a previous post, while on my way home from a car hunting trip to CT with my brother-in-law, curiosity got the best of us and we stopped at the Duchess in Norwalk. We weren't sure what to think of the place, it's set up like a fast food burger joint, but the menu had undertones of a Jersey diner...

Menu items ranged from burgers, hotdogs and chicken sandwiches to Veal Parmigiana, Fish & Chips and Meatloaf! 

We opted to play it safe and ordered a couple 1/3lb. Angus burgers along with the crispy chicken sandwich for the table. 

Given the heavy fast food vide inside, I was a little leery of the burger's hefty $9.59 price tag, but I hoped we were in for something different (and good).  What we got, was both, different and surprisingly, very good. They were served at a medium temperature (as ordered) and were just juicy enough. The Kaiser roll was aptly sized to cover the large burger patty and it was excellent - even the toppings were fresh. And the size! This puppy was every bit of 5 inches in diameter and the thickness was just right for it's size creating a perfect burger-to-bun ratio. 

I rate this burger 8.7/10. 

I'll take a pass on the chicken sandwich next time. It had potential, but it was served to us very dry from being overcooked. We'll definitely try other menu items the next time we visit a Duchess restaurant.

I was too lazy to get a knife for the autopsy shot...

Criteria: 

I rate each of these categories with a 1 to 10 rating.

Meat flavor 8
Juiciness 6
Size 10
Freshness 9
Burger to bun ratio 10
Bun Type 8
Overall taste with selected condiments 9
Edibility 10 
Temperature 9