Cafe Morso

Pulled lamb burger ($17 includes chips)

with yoghurt, olives, feta, cucumber and tomato

It doesn't look like a burger, but they call it a burger, so that's good enough to give it a try.

This burger has plenty of texture and flavour, but it felt like there was something missing. Perhaps a little chilli or sauce would have made it more enjoyable.

The pulled lamb burger is a special, so don’t expect to see it on the menu all the time.

Paul's Score: 3/5

Cafe Morso

Lower Deck (west side), Jones Bay Wharf

Pirrama Rd, Pyrmont 
http://www.cafemorso.com.au

 

Rockpool Bar & Grill

Rockpool Bar & Grill Sydney

66 Hunter Street Sydney NSW 2000

02 8078 1900

rockpool.com 

David Blackmore's Full Blood Wagyu Hamburger ($24)
with Bacon, Gruyere Cheese and Zuni Pickle

This burger has to take the top prize as the best in Sydney. Our only other 5/5 burger was at The Meat & Wine Co*; the Blackmore's burger is in another league 6/5.

I can't think how this burger could be improved, the beef patty is generous, tasty and cooked to perfection. Even the pickles are good! You wouldn't consider slapping them against the window.

This was my first burger with a brioche bun and it really makes a difference. I wouldn't risk spoiling a good thing, so leave the lettuce and tomato on the side.

Paul's Score: 5+/5

*We were unable to replicate our original The Meat & Wine Co experience when we tried the same burger at The Meat & Wine Co Southbank Melbourne.

Milk Bar By Cafe Ish

105 Regent Street, Redfern

PH: none

Willow (guest reviewer) had...

Cheese Burger + Classic topping  ($8.00)

Beef pattie, cheese, pickles, ketchup, grilled onion + lettuce and tomato

As a first timer to Sydney Burger Blog I aimed to start with a Classic (Cheese Burger, Lettuce and Tomato) in the hope that I can build up my strength and confidence in coming guest appearances!

Great value for money, kinda liked the way you could pick and choose your own and personalise your burger.

The choice clearly confused Marina as she ended up with a Chicken J

I was the only one to have fries, they weren’t bad...

Would have preferred a bigger burger overall. Did it really need the wooden over sized tooth pick!

Especially as I stabbed my thumb whilst trying to rip it out...

Must have been our waiters first day as he didn’t know whether they had a phone!

Pete tried to crack on to the waitress! She clearly wasn’t as nice as the blond girl who was sat next to Munza on his flight back from Melbourne.

No business cards were exchanged!

Pete’s crumbed Pineapple was missed of his order, however he scored a free Chocolate Milk Shake which was very nice.

Munza ordered a Brownie with Ice Cream. Must have been nice as he didn’t share...

Not knowing the standard that is out there I am going to score my burger a middle of the range.......3

I look forward to my next experience and BB.

Willow's score: 3/5 

Paul & Pete had...

Cheeseburger + Aussie topping ($10)
Beef pattie, cheese, pickles, ketchup, grilled onion + roasted beetroot, egg, bacon, lettuce & tomato

Paul says...

This place prides itself on using free range eggs, bacon, and $5 burgers. If you want speedy service, give it a miss. A 25 minute wait out of peak hour is a little too long. And don't try and order ahead for a pick-up, there is no phone!

The cheeseburger at $5, plus the Aussie topping gave us a $10 burger, still well under the average price we have become accompanied to paying for a good burger. The burger bun and pattie were smaller than your average burger, so you get a little less when you pay less.

The beef pattie was nicely char grilled, but was too small to keep me satisfied. It's a good traditional style burger, but nothing special. I think the grilled relish and bbq sauce on the Bacon Cheeseburger would have finished this burger off nicely.

Paul's score: 3/5

The Meat & Wine Co

The Meat and Wine Co - Darling Harbour

31 Wheat Road,Darling Harbour
(02) 9211 9888

themeatandwineco.com

Our visit:18 October 2012

Gourmet Beef Burger ($25 with chips)

"225g selected primal beef burger patty, grilled, basted and served on a warm bun with baby cos lettuce, tomatoes, onion rings, gherkins, pink sauce and BBQ sauce."

 

Paul says...

With every second burger of late being a disappointment, I started to wonder what you had to do in Sydney to get a good burger.  Is it the theory that you get what you pay for? At an average of over $10, shouldn't all burgers at this price be good?

At $25, the Gourmet Beef Burger at The Meat & Wine Co is the most expensive burger we have had. The wait for the burger was long, but good company and a free bottle of wine (thanks to Citibank dining program) made it bearable.

When the burger arrived it looked impressive. After the first bite I had flash backs to the over char grilled burger from Ribs & Burgers, but that was short lived. The combined flavour of the char grilled patty, pink sauce, BBQ sauce, gherkin and crispy fried onion rings was  perfect. It's so good that each bite feels like it is in slow motion as the sauce hits your palate, followed by the texture of the crispy onion rings and the generous slab of char grilled beef.

It's taken a while, but finally we have found a burger that gets top marks.

Paul's score: 5/5 


Pete says...

This week we went to the Meat and Wine Co Darling Harbour for burgers and everyone had the ‘Gourmet Beef Burger’ which did an amazing job in filling the hole after a long wait though which was a bit disappointing.

This would have to be one of my best burgers to date with it’s good size burger patty not over cooked but still slightly pink (the way I like it), served on a bun with sliced tomatoes, cos lettuce, gherkins, fried onion rings, bbq and pink sauce. I think the fried onion rings and the pink sauce definitely made the whole burger come to life and gave it that WOW factor and to top it off it comes on a warm hot plate so that your meals don’t go cold.

The gourmet beef burger comes with chunky chips and you can expect to pay $25, which in the scheme of things is reasonable considering we got table service with nice decor and ambience.

Thanks to Paul’s Citibank card we also received a free bottle of Cabernet Merlot which was a nice drop.

Pete's Score 4.5 (it would of been slightly higher and making it my highest burger rating, if it wasn’t for the long wait).

Hard Rock Cafe Sydney

Hard Rock Cafe Sydney

Level 2, Harbourside Centre, Darling Harbour

www.hardrock.com/Sydney

Our visit:12 October 2012

Paul had...

Legendary Aussie Burger (6oz) ($16.00 with chips)

Angus beef, cheddar cheese, caramelised onions, crisp seasoned bacon, beetroot, fried egg, lettuce, tomato and pickle

 

After a very average burger at the Hard Rock Fiji last year, my expectations were low. 

The Legendary Aussie Burger comes with a 6 or 10 oz burger patty.The 6 oz. patty was  the perfect size for me. The patty was cooked medium well, just the way I like it. Unlike most burgers we have experienced  there was no special sauce whipped up by the chef.Tomato sauce and mustard was the choice. Being a Legendary Aussie Burger, it had to be tomato sauce.

Everything on this burger was perfectly cooked. While a little messy, the egg yolk found its way through the burger covering the melted cheese, crispy bacon and beef patty. It was a good traditional style burger, I really enjoyed it.

Paul's score: 4/5 


Marina had...

Classic Bacon Cheeseburger $19

I used to be a regular at the Hard Rock Cafe when it was in Crown Street, Darlinghurst. I would order the Classic Bacon Cheeseburger all the time and request thousand island dressing on the side. BTW I should add that I was devastated when the Cafe closed its doors and had not, up until today, visited the new site in Darling Harbour.

Much to my surprise the Cafe was busier than I expected for a weekday and the food was quite good.

The burger had not really changed and came with your choice of American, Cheddar or Swiss cheese, garnished with lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles and served with fries. The beef patty was succulent and the bun fresh so everything was perfect until they told me they no longer had 'thousand island' dressing on offer. The waitress then started to run through what seemed to be a list of every other sauce on the planet (none of which I was interested in hearing about).

I am here to tell you the Hard Rock Cafe's thousand island dressing was amazing, I want to know who made the executive decision to take it off the menu.....not happy Jan....it will be sorely missed by this patron...it just wasn't the same without it...nor was the new location as cool as Darlinghurst. 

No sauce for you

Marina's score: 3.5/5

P.S. Kim & Marina found it hard being famous bloggers in a restaurant popular with tourist.  

The Mean Fiddler

The Mean Fiddler

Cnr Windsor & Commercial Road
Rouse Hills

www.meanfiddler.com.au

Our visit:2 September 2012

Paul had...

Beefburger ($17.00 with chips)

Angus beef, tasty cheese, bacon and homemade tomato relish

 

This is a great little pub. The lighting is dim, so apologies for the poor quality pic. There was no apology forthcoming for this burger.

The bun was rock hard and the bacon was overcooked to the point it was like eating beef jerky. The beef was cooked well and the flavour was ok, but overall it was a bad burger.

Paul's score: 1/5

Three Swallows Hotel

Three Swallows Hotel

342 Hume Highway Bankstown

threeswallowshotel.com.au

Our visit:5 October 2012

Paul had...

Hamburger ($12.00 with chips)

Lettuce, tomato, cheese and beetroot

 

Looks good doesn't it? I'm not sure if the patty was dripping with water or fat, but it wasn't appetising. This burger reminded me of the  Boss Hog Burger from Hog's Breath. The patty was like a bad rissole. Perhaps the name Three Swallows refers to the number of bites you can stomach. It's a poor quality burger, and at $12 it's poor value.  

Paul's score: 1/5