Last night I met a friend for dinner at Ten Center Street in Newburyport. As I recently moved back to the Newburyport area and had worked at Ten Center Street some 30 years ago, I thought it would be a good choice for dinner. Since I have been back in the area I’ve had dinner at The Grog (my old haunt), The Black Cow and Joseph’s Winter Street Cafe.

My friend and I both ordered the Tandoori Lamb Burger on Ten Center Street’s Burger Menu, agreeing that we both liked Lamb and thought it sounded very tasty. I’m no food critic, but I do know what I like.

Good Lamb should never taste strong or “gamey” as our burgers did. In fact, the burger had such a strong gamey flavor that it overwhelmed any “Tandoori” seasoning and the carmelized onions I had ordered as a topping. I also felt the burger was undercooked, though I did not ask to have it cooked more. Lamb like beef is good when it’s rare but I prefer my burgers to cooked through. In defense of the meal, the fries with the burger were very good and the Chips and Dips from the Tapas Menu were tasty, though they were not at all generous with the Tomatillo & Tomato Salsa or the Guacamole.

Ten Center Street had always been one of my favorite restaurants in Newburyport, back in the late 70′s and all through the 80′s. I never had a disappointing meal there throughout that entire time. Last night’s burger was perhaps enough to sour me on dining there again in the near future.