WORLDWIDE CHICKEN BURGER APPRECIATION SOCIETY
Monthly Archives: February 2015
THE LORD NELSON
Purveyor: The Lord Nelson Brewery & Hotel, The Rocks, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Menu Item: Chicken & Avocado Burger
Price: $23 AUD (with a “middie” of handcrafted Pale Ale)
Squawk: Chicken was superb. Nicely prepared in what appeared to almost be a Tandoori style, individual strips with plenty of juiciness, and crisp around the edges – without being burned. Nice fresh vegetables – cucumber was a surprising and welcome addition.
Buaawk: Roll was too dry – slightly stale, not enough sauce. And on the subject of sauce why do so many places get this wrong? Either too much, not enough, no flavour or too much flavour… (sigh). Lord Nelson tries with their Chilli Jam, but its neither jam nor chilli, and in then end, adds very little value – other than to keep the too dry roll from turning your mouth into the Sahara. Chips were average. Limp, damp potato nothingness.
Rating: 7/10
Bonus: It’s a brewery. Literally.
Minus: Smells like a brewery. Literally.
THE NORFOLK
Purveyor: Norfolk Hotel, Redfern NSW, Australia
Menu Item: Fried Chicken Burger
Price: $12 AUD
Squawk: Nice brioche, bonus points for the Yucataca hot sauce.
Buaawk: Minus points for inconsistency – some burgers have much less chicken than others, and french fry portions vary greatly. Also the minuscule serving of tomato sauce for the fries/chips is just plain inconsiderate.
Rating: 8/10
Minus: Price went up $2 since we were here last.
THE ROSE
Purveyor: The Rose Hotel, Chippendale, NSW Australia
Menu Item: Chicken Burger
Price: $15 AUD (with a Beer)
Squawk: Comes with a beer. And Huffman’s hot sauce which actually isn’t that hot, but does taste nice. Overall this is a decent burger, nothing too fancy or surprising. One thing that confused us was the orange sauce (cheese?) dripping all over the damn thing – it looks amazing, but it was bland and we still don’t know exactly what it was.
Buaawk: The only way you can get away with a mystery sauce is if it’s so damn delicious nobody cares that you made it out of dead baby’s tears. Or whatever. Point is… what is it? Also the bun was a bit thick and sweet.
Rating: 5/10
THREE WILLIAMS
Purveyor: Three Williams Cafe, Redfern, NSW, Australia
Menu Item: Chicken Schnitzel Burger
Price: $18 AUD
Squawk: Great chips – thick, crunchy and salty. Great sauces too – Sriracha, Garlic Aioli, and Wasabi Mayo. As for the burger, which is what you really want to know about, the bun was nice and soft, perfectly toasted and seeded. Fresh greens always nice. And nice presentation.
Buaawk: Schnitzel was a bit over fried – and small. Majorly overloaded with pickled red onions. Like waaaaay too many. Did I say “waaaaay?” Because I meant “waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.”
Rating: 6/10
Bonus: Friendly staff turned off the A/C which was blowing a frigid breeze directly at our table. Props.
HIVE BAR
Purveyor: Hive Bar, Erskineville, NSW, Australia
Menu Item: Sriracha Chicken Burger
Price: $9 Lunch Special (normally $18)
Squawk: Great bun. I believe the correct term is “brioche.” Super tender white meat – maybe even too marinated, not a flavour bomb, but overly moist. Decent fries, but a bit cold. Great (read: unusual) beers on tap.
Buaawk: Last time I checked Sriracha had some heat. This burger did not. Wasn’t spicy, no mouth burn, not even a tingle. They’ve mixed it with so much mayo, they may as well call it the “Red Mayo Chicken Burger.”
Rating: 5/10