Posts tagged Burgers

My baby shot me down: BangBang Cafe, Surry Hills

Review May 30, 2016 2 Comments

BangBang Cafe, Surry Hills. Sydney Food Blog Review

Slap me between two buns and call me a patty – it really does seem like Sydney’s burger craze isn’t going to blow over any time soon. From The cult favourite Burgers by Josh, to the down and dirrrty Mister Gee’s Burger Truck, to Warren Turnbull’s Chur Burger (do you even Chur, bro?), Sydney is absolutely spoilt for choice when it comes to all the salty, cheesy, meaty, pickly fantasies that you can slap between two fluffy halves of a burger bun.

So when BangBang Cafe reeled me in with the promise of burgers, well…did you really expect me to say no?

The Order:

Double Banger, $16.90
Double wagyu pattie, double cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato and bangbang sauce

Fried chicken, $13.90
Buttermilk fried chicken, sriracha cabbage slaw, lettuce, tomato and sour cream

The Stack, $16.90
Potato rosti topped with wilted spinach, poached eggs, hollandaise sauce and pancetta

The Food:

With burgers, bigger is always better, but sadly, I might not be woman enough for it.

Double Banger, $16.90

The Double Banger is a hulking stack of wagyu, bacon, lettuce, cheese, tomato and BangBang sauce. The patties were cooked to medium, the cheese oozing, and the sauce tangy – everything that I look for in a burger.

Fried chicken, $13.90

Maybe I’m a purist (that’s my excuse, anyway) but I don’t think I’ve met a fried chicken burger that I actually like. Not that it stops me from trying! This particular burger – called Fried Chicken, obvs XD – was decent enough with moist chicken, light sauce and a fresh slaw, but really I didn’t feel any chemistry with it.

Because eating a burger should be like dating – if you ain’t completely satisfied, just move on.

The Stack, $16.90

But the surprise of the morning for me? The Stack. This take on eggs florentine (poached eggs, hollandaise and spinach) supercharged the already luxurious breakfast classic with the addition of rosti and crispy pancetta. Because potato and bacon makes everything better. AND you can still claim that it’s a healthy breakfast! Because spinach.

Seriously though. That hollandaise? Rich, buttery and the stuff of dreams. YAAAASSSS.

Food: 1/1

The Service:

Its always a bit tricky commenting on service when I’m invited as a guest of the cafe, but from what I can see from the other diners, waters were filled, tables were bussed and service staff actually knew the menus and specials off the top of their heads (it’s less common than you’d think). There was a definite passion about the place – recommendations were made personally and thoughtfully, and they actually sounded like they enjoyed eating there themselves.

Quite impressive.

Service: 1/1

Value for money:

Given the portion sizes and that BangBang is in Surry Hills, paying $16.90 for a burger is still fairly reasonable. Of course, not quite easy on the wallet if you’re on a budget, but something that you’d happily treat yourself to on the weekend without having to save for months. Not too hot, not too cold…like goldilocks.

Value for money: 0.5/1

The Vibe:

BangBang has a really nice, chilled vibe going on. And not like a hipster “I look like I’m chilled buy really I’m not” type of chill, but a relaxed, personal feel that’s reinforced by the service. The only thing that prevented it from being a complete package for me was that the personality didn’t quite come through in the decor – most likely because they were still in the process of changing things up in the decor department.

Good, but not quite an experience yet.

Vibe: 0.5/1

And finally,

It’s very impressive that Matt – BangBang’s owner of 11 months at only 24 years old(!) – has such a clear vision of what he wants, and enough experience in both back and front of house to execute it. It’s not often that someone so young has such carry through, and he (and his team) has my utmost respect for it.

Can’t wait to see how BangBang is going to evolve. ??

Bonus points: 1/1

Insatiable Munchies dined as guests of BangBang Cafe.

BangBang Cafe
113 Reservoir St
Surry Hills NSW 2010
Phone:+61 2 9281 0018
Website: https://www.facebook.com/Bangbang-Cafe-260790390627103/

17 Late night food spots to treat yourself to after The Sound of Music!

Best in Sydney Review December 23, 2015 2 Comments

I LOVE MUSICALS. I love them in all their forms – movie, TV, stage, flashmob – and I’m exactly the sorta girl who welcomes a big ol’ sing-a-long, especially if it’s spontaneous. And you know what started it all?

The Sound of Music.

17 late night spots to treat yourself to after the Sound of Music!

It was one of the first musicals I’ve ever seen – my parents taped it on VHS (carefully cutting out the commercials, of course) and I’d played it so many times that it got worn in parts. There was even a road trip somewhere where my mother (who enjoys a sing-a-long herself) got so sick of “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria” that I was banned from singing it on the way home!

17 late night spots to treat yourself to after the Sound of Music!

So you can guess my excitement when I was invited to go see this rousing musical live at the Capitol Theatre! This Rodger and Hammerstein classic has just finished a record breaking run at the London Palladium, and stars the multi-talented Cameron Daddo as Captain Von Trapp, and award-winning Amy Lehpamer as Maria Reiner.

The only problem? When an evening showing finishes past 8pm, I’m always hard pressed to find a restaurant that’s open late enough to feed my hungry belly! So I’ve compiled this list of late night places so that you can make a night of it when you go to see The Sound of Music!

Go ahead. You know you wanna treat yo’self.

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Raising the bar on milkshakes: Milk Bar by Cafe Ish, Redfern

Review July 24, 2015

Sydney Food Blog Review of Milk Bar by Cafe Ish, Redfern

You know that scene in the sick, dystopian classic Clockwork Orange where the main characters enter this bar – decorated entirely in black statues – and dispenses milk from the statue’s uh, sensitive regions? Well that was what I always thought what a milk bar was. Like literally. A bar atmosphere, but serving milk.

Weird, right?

Well, thankfully the real thing isn’t quite as R18 as Clockwork Orange, and a bit more diner-style, with milkshakes and burgers. Yes, much more my speed.

Herbed Beef Patty, $14.50

Cafe Ish always had great food, and when they closed up the Surry Hills location and started a milk bar in Redfern, they ended up on my never-ending list of places to visit but never had the time to. Well, I did happen to be in Redfern a couple of weeks back, and, heeding the sirens call of Miso Caramel Milkshakes, I made my way in.

Of course, Milkshake needs company, or it’ll get lonely, so I also ordered a Herbed Beef Patty Burger ($14.50) with the self-proclaimed Freaking Awesome Wings ($4.95). Because if wings are that self confident, they should get a chance to show what they’ve got.

Freaking Awesome Wings, $4.95

Okay, so good news, the Freaking Awesome Wings, were truly, freaking awesome. Lightly crisp on the outside – which I’m guessing is due to a corn flour or sweet potato flour coating to provide tempura-like lightness – and covered in a tangy sweet chilli dressing/sauce, these wings were like the Buffy of chicken wings: they kicked ass, took names, and brought a little excitement into your life.

The Miso Caramel Milkshake also lived up to its name – by shaking up my world. Geddit? It had just the right notes of umami and richness, and is just proof that you need miso caramel in all areas of your life. Because (repeat after me) miso caramel can only make you a better person.

A downside though to having two home runs in a single sitting? The burger wasn’t all that great. I’m more used to the juicy fall-apart patties that have come into vogue, that the burgers here were a little too…structurally sound for my taste. And when you put all the dishes down at the same table, it’s just not hitting quite the same notes.

But it’s okay. As long as the milkshakes and wings are on the menu, I know I’ll keep going back.

This meal was independently paid for.

Milk Bar by Cafe ish
105 Regent Street
Redfern, NSW
Phone: 02 9698 8598
Website: www.themilkbarbycafeish.com

What’s the…Rush Hotdogs and Burgers, Surry Hills

Review June 17, 2015 1 Comment

Review of Rush Hotdogs and Burgers in Surry Hills

You know when a restaurant catches your eye while you’re walking, and you look at it and think, “oh I should try that sometime”, only to never make it back? Well that happens to me A LOT, especially in a suburb like Surry Hills. Hip, trendy cafes on every corner, options galore, and enough variety to leave the most dedicated gluttons entertained for months.

Well one such restaurant came back up again, while I was taking a long, late night stroll with Sam: Rush Hotdogs and Burgers sits on the corner of Elizabeth and Albion, and after months of “maybe I’ll make it next time”, we finally made it.

El Cabrones (Wagyu Beef Burger, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Bacon, Guacamole, Onion, Chipotle, Jalapeño

Now you can’t go to a burger joint without actually ordering a burger, so we got the El Cabrones with a side of chips, and chicken wings.

Chicken Wings

The El Cabrones – wagyu beef patty, guacamole, lettuce, tomatoes, bacon, chipotle, jalapeno – was a bit like a really precocious child: it held so much promise, but was unfortunately a bit of a non-event. A beef patty so overcooked it was like cardboard, totally tanked the careful work that went into creating a riot of flavours that were nicely balanced. And if I wanted to be disappointed, I’d just go step on a weighing scale.

The Chicken Wings, though, thankfully salvaged the whole experience. Well seasoned on the outside, hot and juicy on the inside, and totally tastes of chicken that has been brined. And anyone who takes the effort to brine their chicken is okay in my books.

Maybe the hotdogs will be better.

This meal was independently paid for.

Rush Hotdogs and Burgers
240 Elizabeth St
Surry Hills, NSW
Phone: (02) 9211 9045
Website: www.rushhotdogsandburgers.com.au/

6 Ways to Get More Burger in Your Life

Food For Thought May 27, 2014 1 Comment

Ahh the (not so) humble burger. Ranging from the gourmet to the downright coronary-inducing, the traditional beef burger and all it’s variations have become the comfort food of many, and is a symbol of Western culture.

To celebrate National Burger Day, Chur Burger is giving away 800 burgers today, starting at 11am.

And for those of us who can’t make it, here are 6 ways to get more burger in your life.

Chambers Fine Coffee & Wine Bar, Rhodes

Review April 23, 2014 8 Comments

Sad sad burger from Chambers Coffee and Wine Bar

Have you seen a sadder burger?

We had taken a long walk to Rhodes and were starving. Ribs and Burgers had been on my list of places to try for a long while, but some how – yes I know I’ve been living under a rock – I completely forgot that it was Good Friday, and that just about everywhere was closed for the holiday.

But we wanted ribs, and we wanted burgers, and WE WANTED IT NOWWWWWW.

Taste of Sydney, 2014

Review March 16, 2014 6 Comments

Clockwise from top left: Suckling pig on a spit from 4fourteen, Woodfired lamb from Porteño, Mussels in Apple Cider from 4fourteen, the most bad ass name card holder I’ve ever seen

Once a year, Sydney’s top restaurants gather to offer tasting sizes of their most creative, iconic, popular dishes. Where gourmands and gluttons alike can gather and partake in all the hedonistic delights that culinary giants can offer. This is…

TASTE OF SYDNEY.

Of course, it would have helped if you read the previous paragraph in an epic, movie trailer voice.

Taste of Sydney happens at the beginning of fall every year, and I pretty much start saving up money from Christmas. Between the growing number of restaurants represented to the crazy cool offerings from food producers, I inevitably end up one full, but broke girl.

But man, is it a tasty road to a zero bank balance. The idea behind the Taste of Sydney is simple: Sydney’s most popular restaurants each get stalls at one giant event, and offer tasting sizes of their most popular dishes. Some even create special dishes just for Taste. And because the portions are small, you also often get to sample these dishes at just a fraction of the price of what you would pay at the restaurant, not to mention the chance to try a little something across the huge variety of restaurants all in the one day.

You pay with Crowns, which is the currency of choice at the Taste of Sydney. Elegantly loaded onto spending cards, Crowns eliminate the need for different machines and having cash on hand, which to me makes for a smoother experience. One crown costs one dollar, so there’s no crazy conversions that need to be made. These crowns are non-refundable, but it helps that the food producers also accept them, meaning that you don’t have to worry about not spending everything that you put on your card.

So, now that we know how it works, on to the food!!

The first stop, 4fourteen/Four in Hand. I’d been to 4fourteen previously for Valentine’s, and the experience there left me absolutely excited to see what they have to offer. We got the Warmed Corned Beef with Bresaola, Buffalo Curd and Nashi Pear, 20 Crowns. This dish was a comforting amalgamation of beef on beef deliciousness. A moist, tender chunk of corned beef was sandwiched between two thin slices of juicy apple-like nashi pear, before being laid on top of a yoghurt-like buffalo curd and covered with wafer thin slices of salty, air dried beef that is bresaola. Every bite was melt-in-your-mouth scrumptious, with the creamy buffalo curd providing just enough tanginess to stop me from crawling under a warm blanket and descending straight into a food coma. A fantastic dish to start off the day, 4fourteen proves that they are as consistent in their vision as they are with their execution.

Next stop, Longrain. I do love it when seafood and other meat come together to make a delicious marriage, so the obvious choice for me was the Dry Red Curry with Cloudy Bay Clams, ginger, holy basil and pork crackling, 26 Crowns. To be honest, I did baulk at the $26 price tag, but when the dish came out I understood why. The portion was much larger than I had anticipated, and I’ve never been more glad to have someone to share it with. Spicy both in the sense that it had the heat of chillies and was full of, well, spices, this curry hit me like a two tonne flavour truck that is hallmark of good Southeast Asian cooking. The pork crackling was a great foil for the texture of the clams, but I just couldn’t bring myself to finish the portion on a 31C afternoon. If only we had met under different circumstances.

I cannot pass by an item like Efendy’s Panfried Lamb’s Testicles with Almond Tarator and Isot Chilli, 10 Crowns, so the decision was once again a clear one. I haven’t had lamb’s testicles before, so I’m not sure what I was expecting exactly, but I’m pretty sure that the burger patty-like texture wasn’t quite it. It wasn’t the most morish of dishes, but the pickled Isot chilli definitely helped things along. Not my favourite of the day since I wasn’t particularly keen on any of the elements, and makes me wonder whether I should have gone of the kebab instead.

Porteño had me tossing up between the Woodfired Lamb with Potato Salad and Chimmichurri, 20 Crowns, and the Charcoal Grilled Lamb Rib, with Marinated Eggplant, Anchovy and Rosemary Pound, 12 Crowns. In the end we went for the lamb rib because how can we say no to luscious, fatty meat on the bone??? The rib itself was smoky, unctuous and delicious, but the eggplants weren’t quite as big a hit. I could see the intention of the eggplant – it provided a much-needed acidity to cut through the fattiness of the lamb rib – but it didn’t quite hit the spot as I suspected it was meant to.

I was really looking forward to Jonah’s Fruit de Mer, 40 Crowns. Literally translated as ‘fruit of the sea’, Fruit de Mer refers to seafood that is plucked at its peak, like ripe fruit from a tree. Unfortunately, a lady with a big roll of masking tape was approaching the menu as I was approaching the restaurant, which could only mean one thing: they were sold out. This disappointing conclusion was confirmed when I tried to place my order and a look of sympathy crossed the nice lady’s face. She consoled me by asking if I would rather the Confit Huon Salmon with Wasabi, Radish and a Soy and Ginger Dressing, 10 Crowns, so we ended up going down that route instead.

The salmon was nicely cooked, as you expect confit anything to be, but lacked a bit of oomph. Some might say that we were meant to appreciate the light delicate flavour of the salmon itself, but it was just a touch too light and delicate for me. It was delicious salmon though, as Huon salmon is wont to be, but not quite the feast from the sea that I was hoping for.

Chur Burger – one of the more wickedly cool burger joints in Sydney – had plenty to offer, and we went for two of their burgers: the Kinkawooka Mussel Fritter with Spiced Remoulade and Dill Pickled Cucumber, 6 Crowns, and the Wagyu Rossini with Shaved Foie Gras, Truffle and Madeira Jus, 18 Crowns. The master of all things sandwiched between buttery brioche buns, Chur burger did not disappoint.

The mussel fritters were quite delicious and moreish on their own, and were just slightly overpowered by the richness of the other ingredients. Personally, I enjoyed it much more after I took the top bun off – I have a thing about bun to filling ratios when I eat a burger – but each element was delicious and balanced on its own, as well as with the other bits that made up the burger.

The Wagyu burger was an absolute powerhouse of flavour with a creamy truffle sauce and rich burger patty, and once again, the lady-like sizes of the burgers completely belied their ability to fill you up. These satisfying and rich burgers hammered in that final-nail-in-the-full-belly-coffin, and the only thing that kept it from absolute perfection was that the beef patty was slightly more medium-well-done than medium rare, making it a touch drier than what I know they can produce.

I still think that creamy truffle sauce deserves to be on the regular menu, though.

As close as we were to calling it a day and rolling ourselves on home, I still insisted that we had to stop by IconPark and sample their range of eateries.

IconPark is basically like the Kickstarter of food – instead of restaurant founders having to talk to some administration person at a bank to try and get funding for their big dream, the power is put into the hands of the eaters, and you get to choose which concept you’d like to support by making a donation of your choosing. It’s a win-win for everyone, you get to help out the concept you believe in the most, and allow small establishments that might not have made it, a shot at the food scene.

We only had space for one dish – I wanted to try them all, but I’m not sure that death by overeating would’ve been the most glamourous way to go – and we ended up with Sedgewick Ave’s De-boned Free Range Chicken Wings, with Grilled Watermelon and Light Blue Cheese Sauce, 10 Crowns. Crispy spiced pieces of chicken wings were covered in a creamy sauce, and grilling brought out a different, addictive texture to the sweet watermelon. It wasn’t overly moreish for me – I’m sure due to the fact that I was already stuffed to the brim – but it was good enough that I wish I left room to try some of the others, like I had planned.

As usual, we leave the Taste of Sydney thoroughly satisfied and filled to the absolute brim with good food. And if the abundance of fabulous restaurant dishes didn’t get to me, I’m sure that the free samples at the many food producers tipped me over the edge and straight into a food coma…

Zzzzzzzzzz….

Chur Burger, Surry Hills

Review January 18, 2014 5 Comments

I finally popped my Chur Burger cherry!! After being so incredibly tempted by all the instagram photos of people enjoying good burgers, I finally made it down there myself for a bit of that brioche burger bun action.

The first sight that greeted me when I walked in was a table of people, burgers open, picking out the filling!!! But why? Why would you not want to eat a glossy, buttery brioche bun?
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The Order:

The Food:

The Service:

Value for money:

The Vibe:

And finally,

Insatiable Munchies dined as guests of BangBang Cafe.

BangBang Cafe 113 Reservoir St Surry Hills NSW 2010 Phone:+61 2 9281 0018 Website: https://www.facebook.com/Bangbang-Cafe-260790390627103/

This meal was independently paid for.

This meal was independently paid for.

Rush Hotdogs and Burgers 240 Elizabeth St Surry Hills, NSW Phone: (02) 9211 9045 Website: www.rushhotdogsandburgers.com.au/

BangBang Cafe
113 Reservoir St
Surry Hills NSW 2010
Phone:+61 2 9281 0018
Website: https://www.facebook.com/Bangbang-Cafe-260790390627103/

Rush Hotdogs and Burgers
240 Elizabeth St
Surry Hills, NSW
Phone: (02) 9211 9045
Website: www.rushhotdogsandburgers.com.au/