Burger Theory, Ghetto Burger and Shizzle Burger

Burger Theory's 'art burger' is smart marketing. Each fornight Adelaide's burger cognoscenti are parting with their hard-earned pocket-cheese to be the first to sample Burger Theory's latest experiment. This is burger oneupmanship at its very finest. And I'm certainly not immune. Right now, my guiding purpose in life is to sample each and every art burger. And with good reason. These are burgers with imagination and flair.

Last fortnight, the art burger offering was the Ghetto Burger - chicken crackling, quick pickles, american cheese and truck sauce.



I like the way that Burger Theory think - but they didn't quite pull this one off. It seemed somehow confused. Don't get me wrong - it was better than just about any other burger going in Adelaide. Fried chicken skin? Hell yeah! Quick pickles? Delish! American cheese? Bring the fatty flavour! Truck sauce? Errrmm... I just don't think it was the right choice on this occasion. I envisaged the Ghetto Burger as super rich (beef + melty cheese + chicken skin) and seriously crunchy (chicken skin + pickle) with acid (from the pickle) to cut through all the flabbyness. These individual elements all worked but the truck sauce just didn't pull the whole thing together. I wonder if kewpie mayo or blue cheese might have worked better. What I'm trying to say is that it seems to my that Burger Theory usually highlight the funky beefyness of their patties and that didn't seem to happen this time. Part of the problem may have been the fact that my patty was squashed so flat that about half of it hung out of the arse of my bun and threw off of the bun-to-patty-to-filling ratio.

The offering this fortnight is the Shizzle Burger - guacamole, pickled red onions and iceberg lettuce. Distinct from rich and funky burgers I usually like, this burger is fresh'n'zingy and perfect for eating on warm Spring days.



I'm pleased to see the little pots of truck sauce on the side have returned!


The Shizzle is a well balanced and excecuted burger. Salty, zingy guac and sour pickled onion cut through the rich beef while the iceburg lettuce brings the crunch. And the patty was the right size this time too!
I love that Burger Theory are willing to experiment and have fun with their burgers and I'm really pumped for the remaining art burgers.

Burger Theory, Be Friendly Burger

I needed to cleanse my body and soul after my last disastrous burger experience. Only a Burger Theory burger had the power to restore my faith in burger-dom.

If you follow Burger Theory on either Facebook or Twitter you probably already know they're offering limited edition art burgers. They rotate every two weeks and the first and current offering is the Be Friendly Burger - apple-slaw, chipotle mayo and crispy sugar-cured bacon. 



This is complex and textural burger. Crispy bacon and the crunch of fresh apple offsets the savoury, fattiness of the melty-cheese-topped-patty while chipotle mayo adds a warm richness that brings the whole burger together. And 3 bucks for bacon may seem a little steep but you've probably never had bacon this crispy before.



If the Be Friendly burger is anything to judge by, the rest of the art burgers are going to be amaze-balls! Word on the street is that future art burgers will include deli meat, Mexican, and native fruit themes. Apparently next weeks burger will include CHICKEN SKIN!! SQWEEEE!!

And I'd love to see Burger Theory rock a lamb burger just to give Maccas a short sharp poke in the eye.

McDonald's, Serious Lamb Burger

Sam Kekovich is a lamb loving legend. When he tells me to eat lamb - I do. Mr Kekovich is currently spruiking the McDonald's serious lamb burger, which meant I had to give it a go.



I can see what McDonald's are trying for here. They're trying to replicate the kind of backyard burger you might find at an Aussie BBQ. Egg, beetroot, tomato sauce. Typically Australian burger fillings. Fine. Good. No problems there. But there are serious problems was with the patty. It didn't taste of lamb. In fact, it doesn't taste of anything much. The rosemary, parsley and oregano was completely lost. The garlic was utterly absent. There were chunks of 'real onion' through the patty but other than attempt to replicate a homestyle burger I struggle to find a sensible rationale for their existence.



I was halfway through when I realised something else about the patty. It was GREY! Seriously grey. As though the burger had been constructed out of some sort of sanitised lamb offcut slurry (which it probably has been and probably explains the lack of lamb flavour).



By way of comparison, below is a snap of the lamb sausages I had for dinner that night. Ignoring the fried onion and sauce on top (yes, that is tomato sauce, mustard AND mayonnaise. Try it. So delicious. You're welcome.) look at the colour of the sausage. Sausage meat probably isn't the best quality meat but it isn't grey. There are shades of red and brown. I shudder to think what McDonald's have done to the meat to turn that unappetising grey colour.



I seriously think that this lamb burger is damaging to the good name of Australian lamb and also to Mr Kekovich's brand. In future, Sam should be more careful about which cart he hitches his waggon to.

Would I order a serious lamb burger again? No. Was it better than most of the crap they dished up for the Olympics? Yes. Would I like to see Burger Theory have a crack a lamb burger? You betcha!

Hungry Jacks, Chicken Mini

Hungry Jacks have launched a new addition to their mini burger range - the chicken mini. You might remember that I was reasonably impressed with the rodeo mini - the onion rings retained their crunch and the smokey BBQ sauce was applied with a deft hand. I wish I could say something equally nice about the chicken mini - but I can't...

Eating a chicken mini is like eating a savoury pillow - identically cloying the whole way through. The formed chicken patty had exactly the same texture as the bun. I presume the lettuce and breading on the chicken patty was supposed to add some crunch - it unfortunately didn't. And the rich kewpie-style mayo, though pretty decent on its own, simply added to the underwhelming monotony of the burger.



I swapped out my fries for onion rings. Although the Hungry Jacks website describes them as "delicious onion rings in breadcrumbs" I'm still to be convinced that they contain any actual onion. Though crumb was a bit sad the rings were crunchy and onion-y but there was this weird unidentifiable fake flavour in the background.




My recommendation - skip the chicken mini, order the rodeo mini and stick with the chips.

Burger Theory, Victoria Square

If you've read my previous review of Burger Theory (available here: http://www.theofficeeater.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/burger-theory-adelaide.html) then you'll know I think their burgers are the best thing since ground beef - but that I had a problem with their method of sauce delivery.

I don't want to debate the merits of sauce-on-chips vs sauce-in-pot-on-side delivery methods except to say that I found that the sauce-on-chips method makes the chips a little soggy, makes them messier to eat and creates a non-optimized chip-to-dip ratio (some fries with lots of sauce; some fries with none) while the sauce-in-pot-on-side method allows the eater to control their chip-to-dip ratio.

I tweeted my thoughts Burger Theory and was incredibly pleased and impressed that they took my feedback on board and introduced sauce in little pots on the side.

SEE THE WONDER AND GLORY OF THE LITTLE POT ON THE SIDE!!!



THAT is you call customer service.

Today's fries had the perfect chip-to-dip ratio, the sauce didn't soggy up or overpower the fries and my fingers stayed nice clean. Brilliant!

However, I still haven't had a fry experience the equal of my first Burger Theory meal. The fries just don't seem as crispy as they used to be - and mine were a little cold today.

Hungry Jacks, City Cross Arcade

Like a moth to the flame, occasionally I get suckered in by fast food gimmicks. I've read for years about sliders in the US and was therefore fascinated by the new range of Hungry Jacks mini burgers. These burgers are NOT sliders - they are simply small burgers.

I try not to eat much in the way of junk food and ordered both the rodeo mini and the cheese burger mini (or that's how I'm trying to rationalise to myself) so I didn't have to return.

The meal arrived in under 5 minutes in kind of kitsch retro packaging.



I ate the rodeo burger first. I'm not sure what Hungry Jacks marketing thinks about the average consumers intelligence but for some reason lots of sweet BBQ sauce is supposed to evoke images of cattle rustling cowboys - hence rodeo. Used sparingly, I can handle commercial BBQ sauce - but a deft touch was not used here - the sauce overwhelmed everything. The burger patty was the usual dry hockey puck and the bun was the cloying the spun sugar/duck feather doona standard but the cheese helped give the burger some fatty flavour. Surprisingly, the onion rings actually stayed crunchy (does anyone remember the disastrous KFC nacho burger?) which saved the burger. 



Up next - cheese burger mini. Sadly, the cheese wasn't melted and there was no pickle. The burger really needed something sharp to cut through the sugary tomato sauce and provide some extra texture and flavour. 



Fortunately I like to stuff my cheese burger with fries - this is a bit of a hangover from my high school days. 



The chips provided the extra salt and crunch the burger needed.

Anyway - the service was fairly prompt and the price of $4.95 for burger mini, chips and a drink is cheap for lunch by anyone's standards. The burger wasn't great but that's not what you expect from Hungry Jacks - you get a fatty, salty, sugar bomb that satisfies rather than nourishes.

Burger Theory, Adelaide

You know when the Burger Theory van is parked practically out the front of your building the wise Gods of Lunch have smiled upon your midday meal.



Today's burger feast was a number 2 (burger with pancetta, blue cheese and caramelised onions), fries with truck sauce and a coke zero.



First to the burger. Made with 100% Coorong Angus beef they grind themselves, seared to perfection with a nice crust but blushingly pink and juicy inside, and served on a Bread Top (which is pretty much a bun made of sugar spun by magic pixies) burgers here are unfailingly good.

Burger Theory has become an icon of the Activating Adelaide program. You can vote to extend the Splash Adelaide trial period here: https://www.facebook.com/SplashAdelaide.



When you add pancetta, blue cheese and caramelised onions (you can see the caramelised onions almost spilling out of the picture above) you end up with sweet, beefy, tangy, salty mouthful of heaven.



Crispy on outside and cloud-fluffy on the inside - Burger Theory's fries are among the finest in Adelaide. I feel like a blasphemer saying this but unfortunately today's batch of fries were a little underwhelming. I suspect they'd been hanging around for a little too long because they weren't as crispy as usual. Still, they're better than just about anywhere else.

The fries were helped along by the healthy dollop of Truck Sauce - which if I had to take a stab at guessing the ingredients I'd guess a combination of mayo, velveeta cheese and a little mustard. I love the stuff but wouldn't mind seeing the Truck Sauce in a little pot on the side because I imagine the hint of bitterness could be a bit of turn off for some people.

If you haven't had Burger Theory yet now is the time - you don't want to anger the Gods of Lunch! Check out their calendar here to see when the van is next near you: http://www.burgertheory.com/

Oporto, City Cross Arcade

Another day, another burger! A burger I just cannot make my mind up about. To my mind, Oporto is the poor man's Nando's. Though Oporto say that they serve only cage free, hormone free and grain fed chicken, I'm pretty sure they use formed chicken. And they're not that cheap. $10 will nab you a burger meal, which is a similar price to my preferred Citi X Grille.

Despite all that, I keep coming back. They're just about the fastest fast food I know. And they're pretty tasty. Today I ordered an Oprego Burger meal. The Oprego burger is a grilled chicken breast fillet (I still stand by my comment that it's a formed breast) topped with lettuce, tomato, cheese, mayo and their "legendary" prego sauce (whatever that is).

The burger to bun ratio is pretty good but the prego sauce too sweet for my taste. Though it helps keeps it juicy (the probably formed chicken fillets would be a bit bland and dry by themselves) I'd stick with their chilli sauce. The chips are very similar to the type you get at KFC - but a little crispier.

I prefer Nando's, but if you're time poor and craving some (probably formed) Portuguese influenced chicken, Oporto is a pretty good option.

City X Grille, City Cross Arcade

I don’t understand why anyone would go to HJs or Maccas when somewhere like Citi X Grille is just around the corner. Sure, you might have to pay a few extra dollars (a burger with the lot will set you back $8. A burger meal is an extra $2), but the quality and flavour is worth it.

I usually order a burger with the lot. Today was no different.

A burger with the lot gets you a burger with cheese, grilled onion, bacon, egg, lettuce and sauce. The flecks of onion in the burger give away the fact these burgers are house made. The flavour and crust on the outside says that the burgers are cooked on an old style hot plate. And though they’re cooked all the way through (something that American burger eaters would probably cringe at), they’re always juicy. And they use real bacon and real eggs. Not that faux stuff that the burger chains pass off as bacon and egg.

Crispy and salty, I can definitely vouch for the chips. Because Citi X Grille isn’t a chain they carry childhood favourite soft drinks like ginger beer, sarsaparilla and pasito.

I’ve had breakfast here a few times. The bacon and egg sandwiches (real bacon and egg!) are great, but they make their coffee way too hot and too strong for my taste. I’ve also heard that their pepperoni hotdogs rock, but I’ve never been able to go past their burger.