Could this be the BEST BURGER in Adelaide??
For those of you who haven't been before, Burgastronomy is a cute, cozy little place which is PERFECT for catching up with mates over a burger and a beer. I love the long benches and stools, I LOVE the graf wall and we all loved the fact that we could watch the burgers being put together. This place is unpretentious and has a very fun vibe about it. Also noteworthy is that the menu doesn't have fifty thousand different options. This gives the impression that the Burgastronomers know what they do well and they stick to it.
And BOY do they do it well. I could go on a thousand different tangents and lead you to believe that we were maybe going to be disappointed once again, but for the first time in weeks I'm absolutely STOKED to have been out burgering. The three of us ordered the Signature burger and sort-of-newcomer Chipolatte (Hungry Hungry Hippo's brother) opted for the Free Bird.
Of course, we got a few servings of chips with the choice of three sauces - tomato ketchup, mayonnaise and chipotle bbq. Is it any surprise we got all three??
On the topic of chips and sauce, it is worth mentioning here that the chips were cheap when served on the side of a burger, the sauces were free (and surely by now you all know how we feel about free sauce!!) and these particular sauces ALL had a home-made flavour about them. The "tomato ketchup," which I expected to be out of a Heinz bottle, was instead a spiced tomato relish type of sauce. It was a little chunky, tart and packed a punch with flavour; the "mayonnaise" was herbed and just a little tangy, almost like a ranch sauce and the chipotle bbq... *DROOL* Seriously. I'm talking Homer Simpson, tongue wagging, "mmm... chipotle..." type of drool. So. Freaking. Good.
And JUST when we've tucked into those chips and those oh-so-wonderful sauces, out come our burgers.
Guess what guys?
SESAME SEEDS!!!!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!!! (OK, let's face it, there could've been a few more, but they were there and that's what counts!!)
The burger sits tall and proud on the plate. The bun is a little blonde-looking and dull (we had witnessed some burgers being assembled just minutes earlier and they were golden brown, glazed and glossy and looked beautifully toastily caramelised) but I could smell the swiss cheese and the grilled meat and I was salivating once again. Chicken made the comment then and there that, "this LOOKS like it will taste good!"
The bun was warm to the touch and upon picking it up, it was solid and weighty in the hands, it was a little bit drippy out the back, but was not soggy, and all the fillings remained firmly in place. That first bite though... Oh yes. This is what we came here for. This is what this quest is about. THIS IS A BURGER PEOPLE!!!!
Chicken said that after her first bite it was already her favourite burger. Hungry Hungry Hippo said that after his first bite he "just KNEW it would be the benchmark from now on" and after my first bite?? Let me just say this. Until tonight I've been able to put the burger down after one or two bites to take some notes. Tonight I had eaten half the burger before I could bring myself to putting it down.
To put it lightly, we were all LOVING these burgers!!
Bun 7/10
The sesame seeds are a definite bonus in my eyes. I liked the fact that it held itself together and didn't completely crumble or disintegrate, especially towards the end. Both Chicken and I would have preferred it to be a bit more toasted, I would have liked a glaze, but we all agreed that the texture of this bun was ideal. Hungry Hungry Hippo noted that it was definitely a bit too white-looking and should've had more colour, Chipolatte said it was a bit plain and nothing special, but despite wanting a few extra seeds and lacking that caramelisationy toastiness, we were overall satisfied with this little bun.
Patty 8/10
This patty was juicy and meaty and had a great grilled flavour. You could really get your teeth into it like a proper steak, but it was not tough, despite being a little overcooked for my own personal taste. It was juicy and succulent and I think the perfect fat content kept it from becoming dry. Hungry Hungry Hippo agreed with me that it was a little overcooked and that it was not quite to the same standard as Street ADL, but the quality of the hand-ground MSA premium grade beef was obvious here. Chipolatte agreed that his chicken was succulent and juicy. Overall an excellent patty.
Value 9/10
Look, it's hard to fault the value of this burger. The price was very cheap, with our burgers at $11.00 each and including the chips and bottomless sauce we were all fed and full (yes, even H.H. Hippo was full at the end) for under $13.00 each. Chicken says it's good, honest, fair value; Hungry Hungry Hippo says that because of the quality of the steak he doesn't think we'll get better value anywhere else (we will just have to wait and see!!) and I think that considering the relatively low price tag and the fact that we were all full - and more to the point happy and satiated - meant that this deserved the high score.
Balance & Composition 8/10
Chipolatte said that his burger had a little too much of the herbed mayonnaise, but had there been a little less it would have been spot on. Hungry Hungry Hippo struggled to find any fault with the composition of his burger. Chicken said that hers was balanced perfectly - exactly enough meat and exactly enough sauce. Me? I'd have liked a little more mayo and a little less ketchup. The spiced pickles were good but I prefer the sweet & sour variety. I found that there was a little too much spice between the pickles and the ketchup, but I am really just being picky. There was a pickle in every single bite of that burger, so do I really have the right to complain?
Flavour 8/10
Chicken docks two points because everything was very mild in flavour. She said it was all very tasty, but nothing was very POWERFUL. Hungry Hungry Hippo, in contrast to Chicken, comments that the mildness of flavour throughout the burger helped to bring out the deliciousness of the patty, which was the highlight for him. He also loved the pickles. I thought the overall flavour was great - the meat was a definite highlight for me and I liked the fact that swiss cheese was used, to give that hint of nuttiness. I would have liked a bit more toasty caramelisation of the bread and slightly less ketchup as the flavour of the spices were just a little overpowering by the end. Chipolatte said that the mayonnaise was definitely overpowering, so next time he would opt for the chipotle sauce instead.
Overall 8/10
We would all definitely come back to Burgastronomy. Chicken would come back here any time, she had already asked Hungry Hungry Hippo if he would take her here again before we left, and she wanted to specifically point out that she is excited to try everything on the menu. She is already emotionally attached to Burgastronomy. Hungry Hungry Hippo says it definitely deserves the current #1 ranking, and that it's going to be hard to beat. I'm just really, REALLY excited that we've finally had a burger that's left us smiling. We can NOT wait for the next Adventure!! Stay tuned to find out where we head off to next...
Burgastronomy can be found at 19 O'Connell Street, North Adelaide