Burgin'

Urban Dictionary Burgin' :

Experiencing the intense need for a huge, gnarly burger,
passionately consuming a burger, or recovering from burger overindulgence.

"Man, I'm burgin"
or
"Oh yeah, I'm burgin!"
or
"Goddamn it, help me, I'm burgin!"

That was the case as we soon as we had hit Melbourne. But not a general call burgin', there was a specific burger at the center of this crave. We had followed with amusement the posturing and cat calling on twitter over who had the right to call their burger the best in Sydney, when it reached flash point a blind tasting had been organized with Rockpool Bar and Grill coming out on top. Now we were within close proximity of the Rockpool bar and Grill located in the Melbourne Casino complex.

We arrived at the front door just as they opened and grabbed a seat at the bar rather than the restaurant side as we just wanted the burger. Having the burger cut in half was no problem, we added a side of fat cut chips as the burger came with none, a side of onion rings and one of the small plates of calamari with romesco. A couple of Aperols for the wait and we were all set.
The calamari arrived fast, with a generous portion of sweet, nutty romesco. The calamari more a spoon to convey the sauce to our mouths than the star of the plate. With the calamari quickly out of the way we waited eagerly for the burger (burgin).



Arriving cut in half and on two plates showed some consideration from the kitchen. The center showing a nicely cooked medium rare with plenty of juiciness. We took our first bites and began the analysis....nah, we ate it, we ate it good. And a mighty fine burger it was! The fat from the minced wagyu veered towards too-much but Zuni's famous courgette pickles helped to draw it back in. The cheese and bacon seemed almost superfluous, nice but not needed.



The fries were true to their word and cut fat, but they paled beside what were possibly the best onion rings I've ever had. Crispy crunchy with a mild onion center. Not so taken with the home-made ketchup not that it was bad, maybe I just like the amplified artificial umami flavor of the commercial varieties.



Was it the best burger I've ever had? Maybe. I'll have to add to the list, up there with the Mcfoie from Tapac 24, Barcalona, the Mckobe from Feugo Negro, San Sebastion, and lets not forget the hand minced wagyu burger with truffles and foie at Brown Sugar in Singapore... top ten at least.

One flaw in the night was the aggressive service with more drinks being offered while our first were still half full and the obvious distain that we were only sharing one burger. Left a slight taint to an amazing burger. (We arrived at 6pm for a little pre-dinner burger, with a booking at MOMO for 9pm).

I would like to come back and dine in the restaurant proper. When I peaked though on the way to our seat the room looked amazing, grand and plush like a old timey clubby steakhouse. A glance over the menu and a walk past the meat dry aging re enforced the desire to return.

Rockpool Bar and Grill

Open; Lunch Sunday to Friday
Dinner 7 Days

Reservations
+61 3 8648 1900

Crown Complex
8 Whiteman Street
Southbank VIC 3006
Australia

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SAME SAME Burgers, Haad Rin

After a big night, and day at the Full Moon Party we both woke up craving something greasy ...  something homely ...  something like a burger !!  Luckily for us, just a skip down the sand is the SAME SAME burger bar.  



The burgers arrive in a little cardboard box. They are wrapped in some random burger and shawarma paper and a pile of crispy crinkly cut chips sit off to the side.



We both go for a burger with the works. It's piled high with a chunky meat patty, melted cheese, onions, bacon, pickles, shredded lettuce and tomato.



All washed down with some coca-cola, it was just what we were after !!

Mama's

Feeling a major burgin urge that comes on every so often, we swung by Mamas, a little burger bar between Lamai and Chawaeng. All decked out in old school american diner threads with red and white walls, movie and music posters and neon lots of neon. Theres a few style of burgers on their own or in a combo. We order a couple delux burgers then takes a seat in a both while we wait for them to be made. Minutes later we're facing a fresh grilled beef burger, lettuce, tomato, bacon and pickles pinned between a sesame seed bun with a Mamas flag sided with golden fries and a frosty coke. Sweet, burgin satisfied.












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It doesn't matter how good the burger, would it kill you to smile?, Rockfish, Kamala

The breakfast sets at Rockfish are a steal. But they're also really tasty. It was definitely apparent they had a new chef there this trip, a lot of the food was still fairly similar, it was just executed really well. The breakfast sets are available from 8am until 11am then they switch over to the Restaurant by Day, 11am until 5pm menu. There's a fair selection from light bites, salads, pasta, burgers, big bites and even a little Thai section.

We're both in the mood for a burger today. Kim picks the grilled chicken with chunky guacamole and a chorizo and cherry tomato relish on ciabatta. The ciabatta is delicious, nice and crunchy on the outside and light on the inside. There's a whole grilled chicken breast, still nice and juicy, sitting on some romaine lettuce leaves. The guacamole is chunky, is creamy, is delicious. And the chorizo and cherry tomato relish is sweet and sour with a little kick of chilli. There's a generous amount of crispy, golden, fries that are cooked perfectly, and there's even a ramekin of home-made aioli to go with the fries. (I'm definitely a mayo/aioli girl when it comes to fries over ketchup any day).



My choice today is the Australian wagyu beef burger. The first thing I notice is the bun. It's a very well made hamburger bun, nice and soft and covered in little sesame seeds. There's a juicy whack-of-a beef patty with the gruyere cheese melting down it's sides. It's sitting on romaine lettuce and a dill pickle mayonnaise and there's a spicy tomato relish, similar to that on the chicken, just with no chorizo. The same mountain on golden fries and some aioli. Heaven!



The food was all delicious! Nice and simple lunch fare executed really well. It's just a shame the service was almost non-existent, and when it was, very arrogant.

Rockfish Restaurant & Bar
33/6 Kamala Beach Rd
Phuket, Thailand, 83120
Tel: 076 279 732
Fax: 076 278 020


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Pelican Burger, Kutchan

Upon arriving at Pelican Burger, in Kutchan town, you're taken a-back.  There's the candy striped wooden facade, the hand-written 'Pelican Burger' sign, a cow hanging on the door, a rocking chair and even an old gas pump.  



And then you walk inside .....  there's lounging chairs, a few little tables, a hanging egg chair, some records, locally made felt goods, all sorts of bottles around the walls and funky hand-written menu's.  



But, that's what we'd expect from the owners of the tres cool Gyu+ bar in Hirafu.  



We just love the little hand drawn menu's.



We take a moment to take it all in... Then the decision is made. I take one creamy mushroom burger as an A set, with spicy ginger ale. It's a generous patty of nicely seasoned beef topped with a pile of sliced mushrooms in an Alfredo sauce and a nice little shaving of parmesan on top and sprinkled with chopped parsely on one side of the bun, the other side crisp lettuce leaves and sliced tomato. This is sandwiched together and placed into one of the provided 'bags' on the table to make for drip-free eating. There's a pile of hand-cut chips on the side aswell.



Kim has the smokey bacon cheeseburger as a set B, with Dad's root beer.



Here the generous patty is smothered in melted cheese and cross hatched with 2 thick slices of bacon on one side of the open bun, and the other side again with lettuce and tomato. 2 thumbs up!



Oh, and then of course we shared a 3rd burger, duh! We were both keen to try to grilled veggie burger, as Yoanna herself is a vegetarian, so we knew she'd make a tasty burger ;) All though, it does bring us to the first time we tried to come here for a burger, but they were all sold out of patties by 2pm! As we walked in Yoanna was there, up to her elbows in delicious beef bits, putting them through the mincer and making beef patties. Now that's awesome. Respect her decision to not really like meat, but she's happy to put in the yards so the rest of us can enjoy it. Oh, I digress. The grilled veggie burger, no fries, was in itself a masterpiece packing as much flavor and more textures to readily compete with it's meaty rivals.



The first side had sliced of perfectly ripe avocado, mayonnaise, tomato, sliced black olives and chopped parsely. The second side had shredded lettuce, sauteed spinach, grilled tofu, crunchy lotus root slices and was topped in a delicious (maybe even then terriyaki ginger) sauce. It was really good!



Then Yoanna brings us a big pot of Iwata coffee. You can hear her grinding it, and smell it brewing. Mmm. Iwata is an organic coffee, sold in Sapporo. It was so robust and best savoured as intended, strong and black.



Even after all of this, I had been eyeing off the shakes menu since we arrived. So I have saved a little room in my pouch just so. I know I'm going to need Kim's help to finish it, though, so decide on the chai banana shake. It's so thick it sits about 2" above the glass. And it's so creamy, and cold and full of chai spice with a nice banana flavor.



Perfect dessert to finish a beast-of-a-burger lunch! Oh, except for maybe a burger cookie (post to come).

As we're leaving, the little burger cushion on the way out is looking oh-so-inviting ....



Pelican Burger, opposite 7Eleven
15-1 North 3 West 3
Kutchan, Abuta gun
Hokkaido, Japan
T: 0136 557755
Open 11am-2pm then 5pm-8pm
Closed Monday nights and Tuesday and for spring break. Re-opens 29th April 2009

Oh, and they do a mean delivered burger to the Hirafu area in the evenings.  I think it's 5 burger minimum order, but, we usually manage.

Wild Hokkaido Venison Burger

We all love a good burger, Kim and I included. There are a few good burgers around the village including Jo Jo's, Dennis the burger and of course the Brick. So, we had to do a little something different. When we had purchased 120kg of organic red beets from Stephano, one of the things we made was a beetroot and apple chutney. Mm, beetroot on a burger. So then we were thinking about the patty. Ah hah, Hokkaido wild venison. It took us a while, but with the help of H we found a little baker in Sapporo to bake us a nice rye bun. We made it wide and not tall. We like our burgers so you can actually wrap your mouth around them. Top it all off with a chunk of lettuce and a good squeeze of kewpie mayo.



Would you like fries with that? How about hand-cut Niseko danshakyu potato fries .... So, there's our burger, simple clean and delicious. It's gone down a treat, and we have just about finished all 120kg of beetroot over the winter. Nice!

Keep an eye out in the winter Australian edition of Delicious Magazine. We had a photographer taking some pic's at J-Sekka for an article, and the burger was one of the subjects.

Jo Jo's, NAC, Hirafu

Jo Jo's is located within the Niseko Adventure Centre. You walk up a spiralling staircase into the big open room. There's a reasonable sized climbing wall occupying the back half of the room which works it way up from the lower floor .....



We sit down and order drinks. I go for the melon soda. My first impression is "Yike's, it's really green!" but it doesn't have that sickly syrup sweet that I though it would judging by the colour. It's actually a really mellow melon flavour, mixed with soda. mmm



Kim try's the Heartland Beer. This is made by Kirin. It's a well-rounded larger and very easy drinking beer.



On this occasion that we're here, it's rather quiet. This makes the very large open room almost a little lonely .....



But we place our order and within moments we here rustling, but it's not coming from the kitchen! Someone is getting kitted up downstairs to start climbing. Cool! So we just sit back and watch them, which is a rather unusual, all be it rather cool, way to pass the time while waiting for dinner.

Then the food arrives. Kim's gone for the cheeseburger. It's nice and generous, a plump meat patty topped with melting cheese, a bit of lettuce and the additon of a fried egg. There's a few hand cut fries on the side.



I get the BBQ chicken wrap. There are tender pieces of marinated grilled chicken, with loads of lettuce and tomato. But the real surprise was the delicious wholemeal flatbread in which it was wrapped ... this is made on site, and it was really really good! It had great flavour, and a wonderful texture. It was thick enough, but still thin enough to encase the chicken just nicely.



All this was enjoyed with another side order of hand cut Hokkaido potato wedges.



Have I said the potatoes are good here in Hokkaido?

Jo Jo's
NAC - Niseko Adventure Centre
179-53 Yamada, Kutchan
Abuta Gun
Hokkaido, Japan
T: 0136 232 093



Opening Times
April - October 9am - 9pm
November - Mid December 11am - 9pm
Mid December - March 11am - 11pm