Nordburger - Norwood, South Australia

Burger bars have been popping up like crazy around Adelaide lately. One of the most recent additions to Adelaide's growing burger scene is Nordburger (168 The Parade, Norwood), which first opened its doors on the 4th of July 2013. Parking is easy since it's so close to Norwood Mall. Off street parking is available in the Coles carpark or across the road at the Foodland carpark.



Though it may sound Scandinavian to some, the name "Nord" is also short for Norwood.



Inside, it's a long and skinny shop with orders taken at the register near the entrance and a few stools for those choosing to eat in.



If you can't find a seat along the main counter, there are a couple more seats as well as a couple of stand up tables at the back. Of course, take away is an option as well.



We managed to snag ourselves a couple of stools and enjoyed watching the hustle and bustle of the kitchen, which included MasterChef 2011 runner-up Michael Weldon working the grill.



If you're after a cold drink, try a Dr Pepper, A&W Cream Soda, Cherry Coke, or TAB. Or choose from one of the milkshakes...
Classic: strawberry, vanilla or chocolate ($6)
Specialties: pretzel, cornflake, salted caramel, or peanut butter & jelly ($7)
We tried the salted caramel and loved it. I noticed they use Tweedvale milk too - great stuff!



On to the main event...the burger! We ordered a Nordburger ($7.80) which comes topped with pickles, tomato, lettuce, mustard, ketchup, and Nord sauce. We also added cheese ($0.70). The beef patty was seasoned and cooked perfectly and seemed a little bit thicker than some skimpy patties I've had elsewhere recently. Bun was fresh, toppings and sauces were all very tasty. This was an excellent burger!

For sides, the choices were tater tots, crinkle cut fries or crinkle cut fries with chipotle seasoning (small $2.50/large $3). We ordered the crinkle cut fries (small) and Nord sauce ($0.50). When I saw the fries from a distance, I wasn't overly excited. Upon closer inspection however, they were nice and crunchy and not too heavy on the salt - very moreish. The Nord sauce is almost identical to Shake Shack's shack sauce (delicious) and was well worth the extra 50 cents for an excellent dipping sauce.



We decided to try a hot dog as well, the New York ($5.90). Isn't it pretty? It's a Vienna sausage topped with pickled red onion, everything bagel (I think this is a reference to the poppy seeds & sesame seeds), mustard & ketchup. The bun was sturdy but soft. The sausage and toppings were well matched and very enjoyable.



So far, we've thoroughly enjoyed everything we've consumed at Nordburger and we're looking forward to our next visit in the near future. Check them out if you can, but try to avoid peak meal times unless you're happy to line and up and possibly choose take away. Space is quite limited in the shop.

Paul's Famous Hamburgers of Sylvania - Sydney, New South Wales

During a recent trip to Sydney, we made our maiden voyage to Paul's Famous Hamburgers of Sylvania. This is a Sydney institution, selling burgers long before fast food chains like Hungry Jack's or McDonald's came along.



It's important to note that Paul's is closed on Mon & Tues. Luckily, we visited on a Wednesday so they were open for business!



Inside the shop, they proudly display that they were established in 1957. I have a feeling they haven't changed too much since then either.



The menu includes Hamburgers (with various toppings), Chips, Milk Shakes & Fresh Pineapple Crush.



We considered a milk shake (there were heaps of flavours to choose from) but we decided to try the Fresh Pineapple Crush. This drink is really special as it's real pineapple juice with plenty of pulp as well. Tarty, sweet, and very refreshing! The food comes in a white paper bag. Based on my observations of other customers, it's common practice to rip the bag open to get to your food. This indicated to me that what's inside must be pretty good.



We decided to go with a Plain Hamburger ($5.90), a Works Burger ($8.90), and a Small order of Chips ($3.80). The chips were impressive - crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside with an appropriate amount of chicken salt (optional).



The Plain Hamburger was an excellent example of an Aussie fish 'n chip shop burger. The bun was fresh, it had plenty of salad and sauce, and the meat was well seasoned.



The Plain Hamburger was good, but the standout burger was definitely the Works. It had an abundance of toppings - tomato, lettuce, onion, tomato sauce, egg, bacon, cheese & pineapple. Each topping was excellent quality and the bold flavours somehow worked together perfectly. The size of the burger made for a challenging but rewarding bite.



If you're in Sydney, make sure you visit Paul's Famous Hamburgers for a great Aussie style burger & chips with Pineapple Crush to drink. There's a reason they've been in business for 55+ years.

Relish'd Burger Bar - Adelaide, South Australia

Relish'd Burger Bar was started by the Marling family in October 2012 at Anzac Highway, Glenelg. They're already off to a great start and serving up some awesome burgers.



The surf theme works really well and gives the place a nice summery vibe.



The menu includes several types of burgers: moo (beef), chook (chicken), lamb, and vego. All burgers come topped with their namesake tomato relish, which is made onsite. They also offer chips, salads, a kids meal (called a Grom Pack) and coffee, tea & hot chocolate. On weekends, breakfast is available from 8-11am.



For our first visit, we started with a classic Relish'd Burger ($8.90). It comes with lettuce, tomato, spanish onion, fresh herb aioli & relish. Burgers come with a knife which keeps everything together and can be used for slicing it for easy consumption.



The toasted Breadtop bun and freshly ground beef are key elements carefully selected and paired with excellent quality fresh veggies. The relish & aioli take the burger's flavour to the next level. This is one awesome burger and now holds the title of my favourite burger in Adelaide.

The rosemary sea salted chips are very moreish. In addition to their great flavour and chunky size, they're less greasy than normal fish and chip shop chips. Good thing we only bought the Snack Size ($3) because I could eat a truck load of these.



We also enjoyed the BLT Chook burger ($11.90). Good quality chicken breast, bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado, fresh herb aioli & relish combine for another great burger.



We left feeling very satisfied and amazed. The food showed a lot of care and was packed full of excellent quality local ingredients. If you haven't tried these burgers, you're seriously missing out.

Pearl's Diner - Adelaide, South Australia

The Burger Theory guys, Rob Dean and Dan Mendelson, have opened their first brick and mortar location in a small group of neighbourhood shops behind the Payneham Pool in Felixstow. Pearl's Diner, named after the Burger Theory truck Pearl, opened for the first time on 6 June 2012.  (hooray!)



Opening hours are very limited so you'll need to check Facebook or Twitter to plan your visit. If the church pew waiting area is empty when you arrive, you might be lucky enough to snag a table straight away. They don't take bookings so it's first come, first served.



We arrived early in the service, which allowed us to avoid the queue. The Pearl's menu consists of burgers & fries, omelettes, fried chicken & coleslaw, chili & cornbread, waffles, milkshakes and coffee. Once you've carefully made your selections and made a mental note of your table number, head up to the front counter to place your order and pay.



On our first visit, we went with a tested favourite - a #1 Burger (lettuce, tomato, American cheese & truck sauce) with fries, $13. It's a really good burger and it's nice to be able to eat it indoors and on a proper plate.



Another bonus for the burger experience at Pearl's is that you can add a milkshake to your order. Choices are Vanilla, Chocolate or Coffee, $6 each. We chose Chocolate and it was thick with a good chocolate flavour. A silver milkshake mixer cup instead of the glass would really top off the experience.



The Belgian waffles (from La Waffle) have a great, full flavour. I went with the maple syrup and vanilla ice cream option ($8), but you can also get your waffle with icing sugar or cinnamon sugar ($5) or Belgian chocolate, berries and vanilla ice cream ($10). The vanilla ice cream was full of vanilla bean flavour and very moreish.



Hiding under the Sides list at the bottom of the menu is this Pork Bun ($7). It's a Breadtop bun filled with 14-hour smoked Berkshire pork in a tomato BBQ sauce. This is a must try if you're a fan of BBQ pork, but be warned that it is a small snack size serve and not a meal in itself.



We're lucky to have this food venue in the suburbs of Adelaide because there's nothing else like it around. I look forward to watching the evolution of Pearl's Diner in the future. I would love to see some vinyl & booth seating and some biscuits & cream gravy on the menu one day. Serving sizes are small here, but this could be a good thing as it would be very easy to overeat since it all tastes so good. Quality ingredients and classic American flavours are what will keep me coming back.

Burger Theory - Adelaide, South Australia

Great news: Adelaide has its first modern food truck! The food truck phenomenon has had a re-birth in the US over the last few years, starting with Los Angeles and spreading to most other major cities including Austin, Chicago, New York, Boston, DC and more. Check out roaminghunger.com for more info about food trucks in the USA. The new generation of food trucks aren't like the old roach coaches of yesteryear. These new fandangled food trucks have fancy names and eye catching paint jobs. The owner-operators make their food using premium ingredients, move to various locations around their cities and communicate with their customers through Twitter and Facebook. I honestly didn't expect to see one of these new breed food trucks in Australia, let alone little old Adelaide. But believe it or not, the day has arrived and our local food truck trailblazer Burger Theory is open for business!



The truck "Pearl" came all the way from Queensland. I can imagine it would have been a pretty interesting journey. She was then painted by local artist Sam Evans.



So far, the menu is pretty limited. It's just burgers and burritos right now, but they do plan to expand in the future to include fries, additional toppings and maybe more.



We went with the No. 1 Burger and the No. 1 Burrito on our introductory visit. The burger meat is Coorong Angus Beef and the bun is from a local favourite, the Red Door Bakery. The No. 1's toppings are American cheese, iceberg lettuce, tomato and Truck sauce.



The No. 1 burrito (which is also a vegan option!) has black beans, iceberg lettuce and tomato in a warm flour tortilla.



We also managed to snag one Small Batch Triple Choc Cookie from the fridge. This was definitely the highlight. The not-so-secret ingredient of molasses made it extra chewy and added another dimension in flavour. Awesome! You can also get these cookies from Wilson's Organics if you can't find the truck and need your cookie fix.



If you do spot this truck in your area, please support the street food revolution in Adelaide. While I think there's still room for improvement, I look forward to undertaking further testing of the Theory and following their progress. I hope this is the start of some great street food for Adelaide.



Of course, the best way to find out when and where to find the Burger Theory truck is via their Twitter feed, their Facebook page or their website.

UPDATE (16 Sept 2011): 
Burger Theory now uses Breadtop buns for their burgers instead of the ones from the Red Door Bakery. This is a very important and exciting development. The new Breadtop buns have that perfect balance...soft enough to get out of your way when you go to take a bite, but strong enough to support the burger. Plus they've got that slight crunch in the middle from toasting on the grill and they're full of flavour. Props to the Burger Theory guys for thinking of Breadtop as a supplier. Genius! They've also added a handy Calendar to their website so you can plan your burger attacks in advance.





Update 20 June 2012: Cookies and burritos are no longer available, but fries are!

Shake Shack - Madison Square Park, NYC

On our first ever visit to Manhattan, the top of our itinerary list was Shake Shack at Madison Square Park. This is the original location and still the best. Unless you happen to live near another location, don't waste your time anywhere else.



When we arrived, the line looked a mile long. We had already walked a long stretch of Madison Avenue to get there. It was hot and we wanted food fast but we decided we would wait. This might be our only chance to experience the legend of Shake Shack. About an hour later, we finally reached the window and placed our order.



About 10 or 15 minutes later, the buzzer went off and our dreams came true! This meal was extremely satisfying and well worth the wait. Be warned, weekends and nice weather days can be very busy. If you want to avoid the longest lines, check the Shack Cam first and allow yourself plenty of waiting time just in case. But like I said, totally worth the wait. I'm drooling just looking at this photo.



The Shack Burgers are as close as you can get to perfection. Soft potato bun with a bit of a crunch from the grill, perfect meat to bread ratio, melted American cheese, Lucky's tasty bright red tomatoes, crisp fresh lettuce and that Shack Sauce. To die for! I also happen to love their crinkle cut fries. Yeah they're from frozen, but they're golden, crunchy and oh so delicious. To top it all off, Shake Shack has frozen custard! We went for the Black & White Shake and were very happy with our choice. On a later visit we tried the Chocolate Truffle Cookie Dough Concrete and this was a meal in itself. A concrete is thick enough that you have to eat it with a spoon. Yes please!



Shake Shack in Madison Square Park was one of the highlights of our trip and along with pretty much everybody else who has ever been there, I highly recommend it.

In-N-Out Burger

So apparently back in the day, McDonald's used to be really awesome. But along the way it's gotten so big and money hungry that it's lost a lot of its appeal. Everything's frozen, mass produced, and cooked by under-paid and over-worked staff. I can't eat the stuff because I feel physically ill during and after. It's just not right, it's not real food anymore. But I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir so enough of that terrible food imagery.

So yeah, all the good stuff that McDonald's apparently had going for it back in the good old days, In-N-Out Burger never changed. They don't freeze anything, all locations are within fresh trucking distance from suppliers, staff are paid a decent wage (well, more than minimum wage at least) and they don't do franchises. All 249 locations (as of 31 July 2010) are privately owned by the original family and are currently spread across California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah. (I've written to them about coming to Australia but obviously, this isn't within trucking distance so I guess the chances aren't very good.) In the meantime, this is our ceremonial eating place upon arrival and prior to departure from the USA. This works quite well since we usually fly in and out of the country via California.

 Very rarely does In-N-Out disappoint. There's usually a pretty long line, but I've never waited more than 15 minutes. They often have someone walking the drive-thru line taking orders before the cars can get to the ordering speaker/microphone thingy which seems to put the orders through a lot more efficiently.

The menu is very simple and apparently has hardly changed from the 50s. The burger choices are: hamburger, cheeseburger or double double (double meat, double cheese). Not a very long list, huh? There is only one size of french fries. 

I think staff and customers would both agree: simple is good. However, a "secret menu" (which is actually on their website now, at least partially) has developed over the years and most people who've eaten at In-N-Out before have probably ordered something off of it. When I was gluten-free, I used to order my burgers "protein style" which means the burger is wrapped in lettuce with no bun. For the vegetarians, there's a grilled cheese sandwich. There's also the 3x3 (3 meat patties & 3 cheese slices). Apparently someone once ordered a 100x100, but now the biggest staff are allowed to sell is a 4x4. Probably for the best! But I'd say the most commonly ordered item off the secret menu is animal style burgers, which is different to a normal burger in that it has a mustard-cooked patty, and added pickles, grilled onions and extra spread (spread is a mixture of ketchup, mayo and relish). More recently, animal style fries have gained momentum as well. They've got cheese, spread and grilled onions on top.
More about the Secret Menu here

Some interesting things to look out for next time you're at In-N-Out are the subliminal Bible Verses printed on the cups and wrappers (eg. "John 3:16" is printed on the bottom inside rim of the drink cups). Apparently the founding Snyder family started printing the verses in the 80s as a "reflection of their beliefs." A bit weird but interesting nonetheless. I was once told the palm trees which are planted in the front of locations in the shape of an X were in reference to the cross of Jesus but apparently it's actually a movie reference to Harry Snyder's favorite movie "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World." Another tidbit is you can buy In-N-Out Burger collector t-shirts (they only have one design at a time usually) for about $8.50 and they'll give you stickers at most locations if you ask. The headquarters for the full range of In-N-Out merchandise and apparel is in Las Vegas, Nevada and you can also order stuff online. And with that, I leave you with this food porn...

Hamburger (left) and Double Double (right):


Update: Apparently In-N-Out has plans to open locations in Texas! Read the story