Burger Theory!
OK, so you may remember that a few weeks ago everyone planned to meet here - in fact everyone else turned up: Hungry Hungry Hippo, Chicken, Pretty Fry For A White Guy, Chipolatte - but I cracked it when I couldn't find a park, so I went home instead.
The others didn't have the best experience, to say the least.
However, we weren't quite satisfied. We couldn't just leave it at that... To be fair, it had been a crazy busy night; it was Fringe season, the Adelaide Uni engineering pub crawl was on and the place was teeming with ravenous young drunks in Scrabble tshirts. We figured it was only fair for us to come back again and give Burger Theory the proper BQ treatment.
So it's taken us a while to get here, but we did finally make it.
The vibe of the place (restaurant? diner? what would you call it?) is very casual, bright and has a stand out American vibe. Burger Theory came from rather humble, yet incredibly popular beginnings in the back of a truck that would often be found on the streets of the city, but it has now established itself in this stronghold in the East End. It has a bit of a Hungry Jack's vibe to it if I'm being honest with you - but that's not entirely a bad thing. There's something bright and comforting about the booths and neon lighting.
We order our burgers - both Hungry Hungry Hippo and I opting for the No. 1 (beef, iceberg lettuce, tomato, American cheese & truck sauce) with added pickles, and Chicken going for the No. 4 (beef, American cheese, pickles, ketchup), noting that Burger Theory specify that they use 100% Coorong Angus beef, COOKED MEDIUM!!
You actually cannot possibly imagine how freaking excited I was to see that they specify very clearly that my patty is going to arrive juicy and pink inside... My mouth begins to water just at the thought of it... We haven't had a proper medium patty since Street ADL in the first week.
We also ordered some fries and a drink, but to be honest the fries were a little too greasy and lacking salt and they didn't come with any sauce, which was a bit sad, and the can of soft drink was RIDICULOUSLY expensive, bringing the whole average price of this meal to nearly $15 per person! That was a shame, because the burger itself came in at under 10 bucks and between the three of us we had only one small serving of fries. Ah well.
So our little buzzers go, meaning our food is ready and we go collect our little silver tray with the paper-wrapped burger, not unlike a takeaway joint, with the fries and drink alongside. It's a little kitsch, but in that nostalgic, bring-you-back-to-your-childhood kinda way.
First impressions on unwrapping my little parcel of goodness - well, there are no sesame seeds, but I've learned not to expect them. The Breadtop bun is warm and glazed, the meat and lettuce are sticking out in a very mouthwatering way and I kinda couldn't wait to wrap my mouth around what was in my hands. It was a little light in the hands though, and felt a bit airy.
First bite did not disappoint. It was all oozy and juicy and my eyes went STRAIGHT to that patty and guess what guys?? IT IS PROPERLY PINK!!!! I think I actually shrieked out loud. I was excited; in fact, we all were. Chicken remarks that she's happy there's ketchup on both the top and bottom bun, and Hungry Hungry Hippo and I both noted that there were plenty of pickles, even if they were very small and thinly sliced. Either way, it's off to a promising start. :)
The others didn't have the best experience, to say the least.
However, we weren't quite satisfied. We couldn't just leave it at that... To be fair, it had been a crazy busy night; it was Fringe season, the Adelaide Uni engineering pub crawl was on and the place was teeming with ravenous young drunks in Scrabble tshirts. We figured it was only fair for us to come back again and give Burger Theory the proper BQ treatment.
So it's taken us a while to get here, but we did finally make it.
The vibe of the place (restaurant? diner? what would you call it?) is very casual, bright and has a stand out American vibe. Burger Theory came from rather humble, yet incredibly popular beginnings in the back of a truck that would often be found on the streets of the city, but it has now established itself in this stronghold in the East End. It has a bit of a Hungry Jack's vibe to it if I'm being honest with you - but that's not entirely a bad thing. There's something bright and comforting about the booths and neon lighting.
We order our burgers - both Hungry Hungry Hippo and I opting for the No. 1 (beef, iceberg lettuce, tomato, American cheese & truck sauce) with added pickles, and Chicken going for the No. 4 (beef, American cheese, pickles, ketchup), noting that Burger Theory specify that they use 100% Coorong Angus beef, COOKED MEDIUM!!
You actually cannot possibly imagine how freaking excited I was to see that they specify very clearly that my patty is going to arrive juicy and pink inside... My mouth begins to water just at the thought of it... We haven't had a proper medium patty since Street ADL in the first week.
We also ordered some fries and a drink, but to be honest the fries were a little too greasy and lacking salt and they didn't come with any sauce, which was a bit sad, and the can of soft drink was RIDICULOUSLY expensive, bringing the whole average price of this meal to nearly $15 per person! That was a shame, because the burger itself came in at under 10 bucks and between the three of us we had only one small serving of fries. Ah well.
So our little buzzers go, meaning our food is ready and we go collect our little silver tray with the paper-wrapped burger, not unlike a takeaway joint, with the fries and drink alongside. It's a little kitsch, but in that nostalgic, bring-you-back-to-your-childhood kinda way.
First impressions on unwrapping my little parcel of goodness - well, there are no sesame seeds, but I've learned not to expect them. The Breadtop bun is warm and glazed, the meat and lettuce are sticking out in a very mouthwatering way and I kinda couldn't wait to wrap my mouth around what was in my hands. It was a little light in the hands though, and felt a bit airy.
First bite did not disappoint. It was all oozy and juicy and my eyes went STRAIGHT to that patty and guess what guys?? IT IS PROPERLY PINK!!!! I think I actually shrieked out loud. I was excited; in fact, we all were. Chicken remarks that she's happy there's ketchup on both the top and bottom bun, and Hungry Hungry Hippo and I both noted that there were plenty of pickles, even if they were very small and thinly sliced. Either way, it's off to a promising start. :)
Bun 6/10
The bun was from Breadtop, as stated on the menu. It seemed big enough to hold the whole burger together, but it did kinda squish down to nothing. I personally found the flavour of the bun very buttery and overpowering.
Chicken says that it was a bit too thin and had no substance. It was yum, but too light. It didn't disintegrate, but it was almost like a wafer. She wanted to tell you that she does like a good perky bun.
Hungry Hungry Hippo found the glaze appealing and said that the it was a really nice colour, and it was just a shame that it flattened to nothing. Chicken interjected here that it did present as a proper burger bun, not a stupid bread roll.
Patty 6/10
This was a soft, juicy patty. It was pink and cooked fairly closely to perfection (there was a little bit of inconsistency at the table, but I'm willing to forgive that because none of them was a dry, overcooked hunk of ground meat) but unfortunately the patty lacked in flavour. Chicken said that it wasn't held together very well and it kinda crumbled, and Hungry Hungry Hippo said that whilst he enjoyed it and thought it was cooked well, it should have been a thicker patty.
Value 6/10
Perhaps we shouldn't have got the drinks and fries - would have been far better value
had it been based on the burger alone. It was pretty reasonably priced as a standalone.
Chicken says it wasn't really big, but not overpriced either.
Hungry Hungry Hippo said that while he didn't LOVE it, and he wasn't FULL at the end, he was still not offended by the price.
Chicken mentioned she'd probably choose a Whopper from Hungry Jack's over this burger.
Balance & Composition 7/10
I really enjoyed the well melted cheese and the crunchy lettuce. The pickles were the perfect type of pickles to my taste, but I'd have liked some bigger, thicker slices, rather than the small, thin ones (although there were lots of them - tick!). I found it very sloppy, but bland. The sauce seemed to add very little in the way of flavour, but it dripped down my hands and arms and made the burger a mess to eat.
Chicken says that everything was too thin - the meat, the bun, the cheese, the pickles - she'd have liked just a bit more of... well, everything!!
Hungry Hungry Hippo said that they didn't get anything wrong with his burger, but nothing stood out as being spectacular.
Flavour 6/10
Sadly, this burger definitely lacked in flavour. The sauce was a let down here - if they had opted for mayonnaise and ketchup instead of whatever "truck sauce" is, they'd have a winner.
Chicken draws the parallel here again with fast food, saying that this burger was "a little Hungry Jack's-esque." She conceded that this was definitely a superior burger, but the whole experience with the neon lights and the booth and the paper wrapper does give an American takeaway vibe.
For the record, it was a little bland, but was certainly not unpleasant. The chips, however, NEEDED MORE SALT!!
Overall 6.2/10
This was definitely a good burger. It wasn't anything to write home about, but if I was walking past I'd probably pop my head in again.
Chicken remarked that the burger was very soft. "If I had no teeth I could still eat it." None of us was particularly full though, and Chicken made the fleeting suggestion (which we almost considered) to duck around the corner to Street ADL to down another.
Hungry Hungry Hippo says it was a tasty burger. He couldn't say he didn't enjoy it, but he was left a little unsatisfied. He thought they were better off serving their burgers out of a lower-expectations van.
I think it deserves a bonus point for the patty though - grill me some meat so that it's still pink with juices oozing down sexily, that's definitely a plus in my book!!
Burger Theory is located at 8-10 Union Street, Adelaide.
The bun was from Breadtop, as stated on the menu. It seemed big enough to hold the whole burger together, but it did kinda squish down to nothing. I personally found the flavour of the bun very buttery and overpowering.
Chicken says that it was a bit too thin and had no substance. It was yum, but too light. It didn't disintegrate, but it was almost like a wafer. She wanted to tell you that she does like a good perky bun.
Hungry Hungry Hippo found the glaze appealing and said that the it was a really nice colour, and it was just a shame that it flattened to nothing. Chicken interjected here that it did present as a proper burger bun, not a stupid bread roll.
Patty 6/10
This was a soft, juicy patty. It was pink and cooked fairly closely to perfection (there was a little bit of inconsistency at the table, but I'm willing to forgive that because none of them was a dry, overcooked hunk of ground meat) but unfortunately the patty lacked in flavour. Chicken said that it wasn't held together very well and it kinda crumbled, and Hungry Hungry Hippo said that whilst he enjoyed it and thought it was cooked well, it should have been a thicker patty.
Value 6/10
Perhaps we shouldn't have got the drinks and fries - would have been far better value
had it been based on the burger alone. It was pretty reasonably priced as a standalone.
Chicken says it wasn't really big, but not overpriced either.
Hungry Hungry Hippo said that while he didn't LOVE it, and he wasn't FULL at the end, he was still not offended by the price.
Chicken mentioned she'd probably choose a Whopper from Hungry Jack's over this burger.
Balance & Composition 7/10
I really enjoyed the well melted cheese and the crunchy lettuce. The pickles were the perfect type of pickles to my taste, but I'd have liked some bigger, thicker slices, rather than the small, thin ones (although there were lots of them - tick!). I found it very sloppy, but bland. The sauce seemed to add very little in the way of flavour, but it dripped down my hands and arms and made the burger a mess to eat.
Chicken says that everything was too thin - the meat, the bun, the cheese, the pickles - she'd have liked just a bit more of... well, everything!!
Hungry Hungry Hippo said that they didn't get anything wrong with his burger, but nothing stood out as being spectacular.
Flavour 6/10
Sadly, this burger definitely lacked in flavour. The sauce was a let down here - if they had opted for mayonnaise and ketchup instead of whatever "truck sauce" is, they'd have a winner.
Chicken draws the parallel here again with fast food, saying that this burger was "a little Hungry Jack's-esque." She conceded that this was definitely a superior burger, but the whole experience with the neon lights and the booth and the paper wrapper does give an American takeaway vibe.
For the record, it was a little bland, but was certainly not unpleasant. The chips, however, NEEDED MORE SALT!!
Overall 6.2/10
This was definitely a good burger. It wasn't anything to write home about, but if I was walking past I'd probably pop my head in again.
Chicken remarked that the burger was very soft. "If I had no teeth I could still eat it." None of us was particularly full though, and Chicken made the fleeting suggestion (which we almost considered) to duck around the corner to Street ADL to down another.
Hungry Hungry Hippo says it was a tasty burger. He couldn't say he didn't enjoy it, but he was left a little unsatisfied. He thought they were better off serving their burgers out of a lower-expectations van.
I think it deserves a bonus point for the patty though - grill me some meat so that it's still pink with juices oozing down sexily, that's definitely a plus in my book!!
Burger Theory is located at 8-10 Union Street, Adelaide.