Here, it's Friday every day!!
Okay. Tonight I'm writing from am iPad so this may be a little messy. Apologies in advance for any strange autocorrections, etc.
I'll do my best to keep it brief.
We find ourselves at TGI Fridays, at the edge of the Marion shopping centre, which, for the record, is more than an hour away from my house (it's that whole Adelaide stigmata thing again - megalols to those of you who get the joke) and our first impression upon walking in the door is that this place smells DELICIOUS!! It's given me a hankering for ribs...Mmm... Ribs...
It's a very American style diner. I get a good omen about what this might mean for the burger we've been recommended here.
We order our burgers and tonight there are so many of us that I'll just list out who had what:
Natdaddy Deluxe, Hungry Hungry Hippo and I order the Jack Daniel's Burger (beef, Jack Daniel's glaze, bacon (apparently two strips, but I'll come back to that), Monterey Jack cheese on a toasted bun) - $20.50
Chipolatte and Southern Belle each order a Fridays Cheeseburger (beef patty smothered in American cheese) - $19.25
Chicken had a little bout of illness post-Grill'd (not sure a return visit is on the cards after all) so no burgers for her again this week.
First up, yes they both come with fries, but even so, not a lot of them! There's a little bowl of sauce on the tray too, and a ketchup bottle on the table. The burgers come out and the first thing I notice is that yes, there's a lovely amount of seeds, but there's inconsistency around the table with the level of toastiness of the buns. Mine is white as white and Natdaddy Deluxe's is lovely and golden brown. Sigh! One day there'll be consistency. The next thing I notice is that there's lettuce, tomato and pickles on my burger which weren't mentioned on the menu (I'm not complaining, but for goodness's sake, tell us what's on it) and the pickles (which now come to think of it I did confirm prior to ordering) were minute and there were but three of the tiny slices. Even typing this out I'm shaking my head in disappointment.
We take our first bites and Hungry Hungry Hippo comments almost immediately that his burger tastes rather Hungry Jack's-esque. "It's a Whopper, no mayo!" I think it tastes half decent! There's no mayo, which I think is devastating, nor is there ketchup, but thanks to the bottle on the table I soon rectify this. The next thing I notice, however, is that there is one of the tiniest slivers of bacon I have ever seen on a burger. It is honestly around the size of... Hmm, what can I compare it to? Probably about the size of my thumb?? It's ridiculous. Definitely not "two strips!" Hardly even noticeable. Chipolatte comments that it's similar in taste to Hungry Jack's, but quadruple the price. His plate is piled up with slices of tomato from his and Southern Belle's burgers (they'd have ordered them without had they been aware they came with tomato!) and he notes his burger is very dry, with a look of utter disappointment on his face.
I'll do my best to keep it brief.
We find ourselves at TGI Fridays, at the edge of the Marion shopping centre, which, for the record, is more than an hour away from my house (it's that whole Adelaide stigmata thing again - megalols to those of you who get the joke) and our first impression upon walking in the door is that this place smells DELICIOUS!! It's given me a hankering for ribs...Mmm... Ribs...
It's a very American style diner. I get a good omen about what this might mean for the burger we've been recommended here.
We order our burgers and tonight there are so many of us that I'll just list out who had what:
Natdaddy Deluxe, Hungry Hungry Hippo and I order the Jack Daniel's Burger (beef, Jack Daniel's glaze, bacon (apparently two strips, but I'll come back to that), Monterey Jack cheese on a toasted bun) - $20.50
Chipolatte and Southern Belle each order a Fridays Cheeseburger (beef patty smothered in American cheese) - $19.25
Chicken had a little bout of illness post-Grill'd (not sure a return visit is on the cards after all) so no burgers for her again this week.
First up, yes they both come with fries, but even so, not a lot of them! There's a little bowl of sauce on the tray too, and a ketchup bottle on the table. The burgers come out and the first thing I notice is that yes, there's a lovely amount of seeds, but there's inconsistency around the table with the level of toastiness of the buns. Mine is white as white and Natdaddy Deluxe's is lovely and golden brown. Sigh! One day there'll be consistency. The next thing I notice is that there's lettuce, tomato and pickles on my burger which weren't mentioned on the menu (I'm not complaining, but for goodness's sake, tell us what's on it) and the pickles (which now come to think of it I did confirm prior to ordering) were minute and there were but three of the tiny slices. Even typing this out I'm shaking my head in disappointment.
We take our first bites and Hungry Hungry Hippo comments almost immediately that his burger tastes rather Hungry Jack's-esque. "It's a Whopper, no mayo!" I think it tastes half decent! There's no mayo, which I think is devastating, nor is there ketchup, but thanks to the bottle on the table I soon rectify this. The next thing I notice, however, is that there is one of the tiniest slivers of bacon I have ever seen on a burger. It is honestly around the size of... Hmm, what can I compare it to? Probably about the size of my thumb?? It's ridiculous. Definitely not "two strips!" Hardly even noticeable. Chipolatte comments that it's similar in taste to Hungry Jack's, but quadruple the price. His plate is piled up with slices of tomato from his and Southern Belle's burgers (they'd have ordered them without had they been aware they came with tomato!) and he notes his burger is very dry, with a look of utter disappointment on his face.
So, after everything, what did we think?
Bun 5/10
Mine was not toasty enough, others were much toastier. Minus one for inconsistency, plus one for the seeds (perfect seeds).
Southern Belle said hers was dry. The top half was really good but the bottom half let it down.
Hungry Hungry Hippo: "yeah! Dry buns! My buns were dry too! Don't go for dry buns!"
Chipolatte said his was lightly toasted which he enjoyed, but it was no better than a Maccas bun.
Natdaddy Deluxe said that despite it being a bit dry, it still held together well and wasn't sloppy so he was happy enough with it.
Patty 5/10
Natdaddy Deluxe: "right thickness, not too dry, because when you press down on it, it's quite juicy."
Hungry Hungry Hippo: "yeah, the thickness is spot on."
Mine was a bit too dry, but not offensively so. It had a bit of a smoky charcoal flavour, which was nice enoug."
Chipolatte: "didn't like it. Too dry, tasted like a whopper patty to me. It's thicker, but tastes the same. I'd expect better."
Hungry Hungry Hippo: "it's a bit overlooked."
Southern Belle: "it did taste a bit like Hungry Jack's, but I liked it."
Value 3/10
Way too pricey in my opinion. Twenty bucks plus for something that was pretty small... Yeah it came with chips, but not worth the price tag.
Hungry Hungry Hippo: "uh oh" (x3) "$21 for a burger is too much for a burger that isn't a brilliant burger. And THAT wasn't a brilliant burger. There wasn't anything in that burger to make it worth the price."
Chipolatte: "what are we even paying for? Costs four times as much as a Whopper, but isn't anywhere near as good."
Chicken says, "$#!+!!!"
Balance & Composition 5/10
I added ketchup straight up and glad I did. I'd have been sad and it'd have been too dry without. The cheese, too... The cheeseburgers had "American cheese" and ours had Monterey Jack. It's like American cheese is what's supposed to be on a burger but Monterey Jack is trying to be the fancy version and it just doesn't quite work. Again, they put the lettuce by the patty. WHY??? WHYYYYYYYYYYY???? The pickles and bacon were so small they may as well not have been there.
Hungry Hungry Hippo said that if Southern Belle hadn't given him her pickles there wouldn't have been enough. He also asks, where is the mayo? Why no mayo?
Natdaddy Deluxe: "pickles? What pickles? My pickle (singular) fell out of my burger. Open the lid and one tiny bit of bacon. Pathetic."
Southern Belle: "too much tomato. Those slices were thicker than my fiancé!"
Chipolatte: "the ratio if ingredients were correct, but the ingredients were if poor quality."
Flavour 4/10
I thought the flavour was OK... Nothing offensive about it, but it was not amazing. It was quite sweet throughout because of the glaze.
Natdaddy Deluxe: "the thing is, the bacon was chewy, but I couldn't taste it. The lettuce was just lettuce and not necessary. The tomato was too mushy and didn't add anything to the flavour, and the meat tasted like the smell of cows. Not beef, cow. Did not like."
Chipolatte: "perfectly said. I agree completely. Yuck."
Hungry Hungry Hippo: "I'm picturing you walking through a feud, sniffing cows." (Cue laughter) "I liked it though. It had a Hungry Jack's flavour which I liked. I didn't much enjoy the glaze. There wasn't anything particularly gourmet or fancy about it but I did enjoy that burger."
Overall 4.4/10
Chicken notes that there's a great atmosphere here and the best thing about this place is that it's Friday EVERY DAY!!
Gourmet prices for cheap ingredients here, in my opinion.
Chipolatte reckons the burgers are better at Hungry Jack's. From previous experience here the wings are great, but the burgers not so much.
Hungry Hungry Hippo sums it all up, really: "TGI got a pay rise this week!"
TGI Fridays can be found at Westfield Marion.
Bun 5/10
Mine was not toasty enough, others were much toastier. Minus one for inconsistency, plus one for the seeds (perfect seeds).
Southern Belle said hers was dry. The top half was really good but the bottom half let it down.
Hungry Hungry Hippo: "yeah! Dry buns! My buns were dry too! Don't go for dry buns!"
Chipolatte said his was lightly toasted which he enjoyed, but it was no better than a Maccas bun.
Natdaddy Deluxe said that despite it being a bit dry, it still held together well and wasn't sloppy so he was happy enough with it.
Patty 5/10
Natdaddy Deluxe: "right thickness, not too dry, because when you press down on it, it's quite juicy."
Hungry Hungry Hippo: "yeah, the thickness is spot on."
Mine was a bit too dry, but not offensively so. It had a bit of a smoky charcoal flavour, which was nice enoug."
Chipolatte: "didn't like it. Too dry, tasted like a whopper patty to me. It's thicker, but tastes the same. I'd expect better."
Hungry Hungry Hippo: "it's a bit overlooked."
Southern Belle: "it did taste a bit like Hungry Jack's, but I liked it."
Value 3/10
Way too pricey in my opinion. Twenty bucks plus for something that was pretty small... Yeah it came with chips, but not worth the price tag.
Hungry Hungry Hippo: "uh oh" (x3) "$21 for a burger is too much for a burger that isn't a brilliant burger. And THAT wasn't a brilliant burger. There wasn't anything in that burger to make it worth the price."
Chipolatte: "what are we even paying for? Costs four times as much as a Whopper, but isn't anywhere near as good."
Chicken says, "$#!+!!!"
Balance & Composition 5/10
I added ketchup straight up and glad I did. I'd have been sad and it'd have been too dry without. The cheese, too... The cheeseburgers had "American cheese" and ours had Monterey Jack. It's like American cheese is what's supposed to be on a burger but Monterey Jack is trying to be the fancy version and it just doesn't quite work. Again, they put the lettuce by the patty. WHY??? WHYYYYYYYYYYY???? The pickles and bacon were so small they may as well not have been there.
Hungry Hungry Hippo said that if Southern Belle hadn't given him her pickles there wouldn't have been enough. He also asks, where is the mayo? Why no mayo?
Natdaddy Deluxe: "pickles? What pickles? My pickle (singular) fell out of my burger. Open the lid and one tiny bit of bacon. Pathetic."
Southern Belle: "too much tomato. Those slices were thicker than my fiancé!"
Chipolatte: "the ratio if ingredients were correct, but the ingredients were if poor quality."
Flavour 4/10
I thought the flavour was OK... Nothing offensive about it, but it was not amazing. It was quite sweet throughout because of the glaze.
Natdaddy Deluxe: "the thing is, the bacon was chewy, but I couldn't taste it. The lettuce was just lettuce and not necessary. The tomato was too mushy and didn't add anything to the flavour, and the meat tasted like the smell of cows. Not beef, cow. Did not like."
Chipolatte: "perfectly said. I agree completely. Yuck."
Hungry Hungry Hippo: "I'm picturing you walking through a feud, sniffing cows." (Cue laughter) "I liked it though. It had a Hungry Jack's flavour which I liked. I didn't much enjoy the glaze. There wasn't anything particularly gourmet or fancy about it but I did enjoy that burger."
Overall 4.4/10
Chicken notes that there's a great atmosphere here and the best thing about this place is that it's Friday EVERY DAY!!
Gourmet prices for cheap ingredients here, in my opinion.
Chipolatte reckons the burgers are better at Hungry Jack's. From previous experience here the wings are great, but the burgers not so much.
Hungry Hungry Hippo sums it all up, really: "TGI got a pay rise this week!"
TGI Fridays can be found at Westfield Marion.