WORLDWIDE CHICKEN BURGER APPRECIATION SOCIETY
Yearly Archives: 2015
SYDNEY DANCE LOUNGE
Purveyor: Sydney Dance Lounge, Walsh Bay, NSW, Australia
Menu Item: Grilled Chicken on Sourdough
Price: $16 AUD / $17.50 with chips
Squawk: OK first of all the venue is fantastic. Right on the water, great views of the harbour and all the super fit dancers coming and going. But hey, we’re here to talk about chicken, not chicks. So here we go. This sandwich came nicely presented – clean and simple. They say on they menu it’s served with “oregano lemon rubbed chicken, avocado, tomato, rocket and Parmesan” and this potentially makes for a nice sandwich. The chicken was pressed and grilled flat – almost Cuban style and had nice crisp edges. We also love the “all you can drink Sriracha.”
Buaawk: Sadly SDL ruins what could have been a contender by putting too much mayo on the bottom slice. All that mayo combined with the heat/condensation from a warm sandwich sitting on a cold plate, creates an unfortunate situation where the bottom slice of bread gets soggy and, to quote my lunch buddy, loses all “structural integrity.”
Rating: 5/10
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.