WORLDWIDE CHICKEN BURGER APPRECIATION SOCIETY
Posts in Category: Chicken Burger
THE ARGYLE
Purveyor: The Argyle, The Rocks, Sydney NSW Australia
Menu Item: Southern Fried Chicken Burger
Price: $17 AUD
Squawk: The brioche bun out of a packet, that they could not ruin, was perhaps the only good, but they did not make it so that does not count. Sadly there is nothing good to say about this disgraceful attempt at a chicken burger. The only good thing would have been that it was passable as a fillet ‘o fish burger, but as it was not made of fish I reckon it deserves negative points for having the texture of Flathead.
Take 2. Still Sad.
Buaawk: It said it came with pickled daikon, Habanero butter and “Crisy” Fries (not crispy). Maybe Crisy is the Chef responsible for this excuse for a meal. I’m going to review based on the different experience stages I went through.
Pre-Burger – The description on the menu is misleading. I got excited by the words “Southern” and “Habanero.” There was nothing Southern about this burger, except the rating, and the spiciest ingredient of the experience was my temper.
Delivery to Table – The chicken, as shown, did not even fill the small brioche bun which made it look immediately like a Macca’s $1 burger.
Eating – Like I said. it tasted like a fish burger. I am not sure why, I think it was the slippery bread-crumb batter that fell off as you ate it. The chips were 100% like Macca’s fries so they at least complimented the look of the meal. And they were served in a cool looking mini fryer basket.
You fall up the stairs. You fall down the stairs.
Post easting – I was left hungry enough to drown my sorrows in another pint of beer for lack of feeling full. The nail in the coffin was when a mate’s chicken burger turned up as shown in the picture on the right. It had a double layer of chicken which forgave the meal slightly for him but made me even sadder, dropping the score by 1 point at least.
– AW
UPDATE: Stupidly, we went back. Mainly for the delicious Steigl Ale, but even falling down those steps isn’t enough to make this burger worthy. It just doesn’t not make a great initial impression visually. The chips were dry, but the chicken was super plump and juicy and that’s pretty much the only thing good we have to say. OK, the bun wasn’t bad – super minimal, crispy outside, soft and doughy inside, sort of like a southern biscuit. Overall the burger was sorely missing much needed tang form pickles or slaw. And a pickle would go a long way. For some reason we think pickled carrots would be perfect on this one. All this said, The Argyle is great, albeit touristy, venue and the live music was as actually good.
CHUR
Purveyor: Chur, Surry Hills NSW, Australia
Menu Item: Marinated Grilled Chicken w Hot Mayo and Minted Slaw
Price: $10 AUD (Spicy Chips $6, L&P $5)
Squawk: We’ve been fans of this place ever since we first tried their BBQ pork sandwich. It’s so good we’ve never been able to make ourselves order the chicken burger until now. And that’s saying a lot, because you KNOW how much we loves them chicken burgers.
When you order you’ll see a sign behind the bar that says “We proudly serve McClure’s pickles.” So we asked for those to be put on the burger. Turns out this was an excellent idea if we may say so ourselves. They’re good. The Hot mayo isn’t that hot really, but it does add a nice bit of kick. And if you need more, just reach for one of the many options in their beer style six packs of hot sauces. The meat is nicely grilled chicken breast, nearly blackened and it’s all held together, barely, by a nice soft brioche that’s not sweet like some. This is a real contender, not quite a top-scorer, but some Dijon mustard, crispy bacon, or a thick tomato slice just might bring this one into “Best Burger” Champion range.
Buaawk: Lots of sauce. Maybe too much sauce. It’s super messy, and impossible to eat without getting your hands covered. Fortunately there’s a whole entire roll of paper towels always at your disposal. And tasty beats messy 7 days a week. Our major gripe is that it’s always too loud. The music isn’t for the customers. Its for the staff. And that’s been a problem every time we’ve come here. We didn’t come to dance. We came to eat and catch up with out mates. If they fix this then they’ve fixed nearly everything.
Rating: 8/10
SURLY’S
Purveyor: Surly’s, Surry Hills NSW, Australia
Menu Item: Cajun Chicken Burger
Price: $18 AUD
Squawk: Cool new venue with good intentions. Great to see this incarnation of a chicken burger on a menu in Australia – you see it everywhere in the USA, but not so much down under.
Buaawk: Sadly Surly’s looks great, but has little substance. This was true of the food we tried, and the decor/vibe. For example, they have a bizarre door policy that reeked of nightclub attitude. We arrived just as the doormen were switching shifts. The first guy said they were full despite several empty tables, but he was instantly replaced with a friendlier version who seemed to have no idea what his job was, and so we just walked right in. Weird right? Doormen at a BBQ joint?
But you’re here for the food, not the attitude, so here goes. On paper this burger looks amazing – it’s got things we love like provolone cheese, cajun seasoning… bacon! But somehow it just doesn’t come together they way it should. It was tiny. The bun was too sweet. The spice not spicy. The chicken, boring. And here’s the thing: Cajun spice (real cajun spice) ain’t boring. We see this all the time in Australia – the dumbed down version of spicy food (Sweet chilli sauce is the perfect proof of this theory). Get some balls people!
To make matters worse the Surly’s team do have the balls to charge $10 for a small basket of spicy* fries making a burger and chips a near $30 outlay. Get over yourselves. Oh – and when our guest asked for an extra bread roll to mop up some of his brisket sauce? They brought him a cold one straight out of the fridge. (sigh).
* Guess what? They weren’t spicy.
Rating: 4/10
TRIPOD CAFE
Purveyor: Tripod Cafe, Darlington NSW, Australia
Menu Item: Crispy Chicken Burger
Price: $15 AUD (Lunch Special: with chips and homemade ginger beer)
Squawk: A nice surprise in an unexpected spot. This burger is big. Like “need a nap after eating it” big. It comes with a nicely prepared slaw and jalapeños which make this burger competitive. The fact that it comes with nice, but not amazing, chips/fries and Tripod’s homemade ginger beer – which is delicious – for just $15 make this good value as well.
Buaawk: Farking BBQ sauce! Why?! Why would you do that? Mayo? Sure. Garlic aioli? Why not. Sriracha? Yes please. But that shitty BBQ sauce that’s full of sugar, artificial colour and chemicals has no business on this burger. They’re already winning with the slaw and jalapeños – if they’d just stopped there this could have been a real contender, but no. Also the chicken was generous, moist and filling, but it was too fried – nobody wants to taste the oil it was fried in, and we could.
Bonus Points: Ginger Beer!
Rating: 6/10
BONDI HARDWARE
Purveyor: Bondi Hardware, Bondi NSW, Australia
Menu Item: Spiced Chicken Sliders
Price: 4 for $20 AUD
Squawk: Nice venue. Good beer list. Friendly Staff. But you just want to know if four of those tiny lil sliders are worth $20 right? Short answer: No. Long answer: No. (See below)
Buaawk: The tiny bits of chicken were so deeply fried that they resembled bits of Karagi you might find in a Japanese place – which would be good if they were nice and moist, but they were mostly dry. The bacon jam sounded like a bad idea, and it was, but you can’t go wrong with Sriracha slaw, which is the saving grace for these overpriced, undersized burgers. Oh and they don’t come with fries/chips either. Those you have to order separately which just seems so totally out of the sprit of chicken burgering (we made that word up) that if it wasn’t for the delicious beers and sunny outdoor tables, we’d call in the burger police.
Rating: 3/10