The Amberoom at Royce Hotel – 379 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne,
Victoria, Australia

Mainly known for catering to the lunchtime crowd, The Amberoom has been feeding the mouths of many hungry office staff on St Kilda Rd since 2000. Don’t let the swanky interior intimidate you; this place is as humble as the burgers it serves and the beer it pours. The burger comprises of a brioche bun, a juicy beef pattie, swiss cheese, rocket, tomato relish, mayonnaise and a side of fries. It shall not disappoint.

“Probably one of the most simple but greatest burgers I’ve eaten in a long time. There was so much flavour, even with such a minimal amount of ingredients. A perfect ratio of quality tomato sauce and mayo, plus a truly outstanding bun, all teamed together to create this well-balanced burger.”

“My absolute favourite style of burger. Really soft and juicy ingredients with a combo of ketchup and mayo, a match made in heaven. It will give its neighbour Cafe Vue a run for its money. My only complaint is I didn’t order a second one.”

“I’ve seen this burger come a long way since I first visited a few years ago. They have perfected all aspects of it, from the bun to the well grilled pattie – it has gotten better. The bun is sweet, the pattie is well-seasoned and the relish with mayo is perfection. Chips were great and loved the side jar of tomato sauce. If you are a St Kilda Rd employee make sure you visit on your lunch break.”

“A flame-grilled pattie together with an excellent mayonnaise and tomato relish is such a simple recipe.. but I think Amberoom have close-to perfected it! Very impressive.”

Captain America’s Hamburger Heaven – 38 Forest Rd, Ferntree Gully,
Victoria, Australia

With a menu that boasts 11 different beef burgers (plus hot dogs, nachos, buffalo wings, steak etc)… how can you go wrong!? This mouth-watering adventure introduced us to an American-style diner with retro booths, swinging tunes, and good ol’ fashioned service. We discovered a burger complete with a beef pattie, egg, bacon, onion, lettuce, tomato, pickles and cheese. If you still have room for dessert, be sure to try the Key Lime Pie.

“The egg was perfectly cooked and the bacon was done to my liking, but the beef lacked flavour and could have done with more seasoning. It just didn’t live up to its American expectation. If they fixed a few things this place has the potential to be great.”

“Another large and messy burger experience. Most of the lettuce fell out the bottom, but I was going to remove it anyway. The beef was fairly non descript. I couldn’t taste the bacon and the bun was just a tad too big. All-in-all it was still a juicy and tasty burger. The staff were genuine in making sure we had a great meal and experience… which we did!”

“Loved the All-American drinks on offer and the cliché Americana interior design. The staff are friendly, the music is damn catchy and you will end-up wanting to eat everything on the menu. It tasted like a good fish ‘n’ chip shop burger and not like the Great American burger I was expecting, however to its defense it did have pickles. Chips weren’t so good.”

“The burger, in-short, was average. But this place was fun. The friendly service and the variety will make sure you have a great time. I’ll definitely be back to try another burger from their enormous menu.”

Burgerlicious – 130 Liverpool St, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

With four convenient locations around Sydney, Burgerlicious is great value for money. They use only lean cuts of beef and prepare all the patties, sauces and fillings in house. This includes baking fresh buns everyday. Our burger featured grilled onions, tasty cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles and ketchup all on a wholemeal bun.

“The burger has BBQ style beef pattie that had a god subtle spice and a Worcesterchire sauce flavour to it. The red onion and pickles were also a great addition. I would’ve liked to have seen the cheese melted onto the pattie and with a little less lettuce. I wasn’t sold on the wholemeal bun either. However, I’d recommend this if you’re looking for something easy to eat.”

“It felt like a very healthy burger with plenty of fresh ingredients. It tasted as if it were cooked on a backyard BBQ. Great classic 80′s tunes playing the whole time. I may be stabbed for saying this, but I would prefer this over Grill’d.”

“A really fluffy and easy to eat burger. The thin, almost BBQ flavoured pattie was nice, but there was too much lettuce, cheese and raw red onion. It was a burger that I would like to try again, just because I think it had potential. I was not a fan of the english-muffin-like bread used as a bun.”

“Call me crazy but I tasted Mi-Goreng Noodles? The pattie and bun were great, but everything
else lacked substance.”

Plan B by Becasse – 204 Clarence St, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Plan B by Becasse is a hole in the wall cafe that shares its kitchen with its big brother Becasse. Catering for the corporate lunch crowd they offer a 600-day grass fed Wagyu beef burger with beetroot, caramelised onions and cheddar cheese.

“This burger will have you counting the minutes till lunch time. With probably one of the best rustic styled Wagyu beef patties I’ve tried. There was a nice subtle sweetness from the caramelised onions and beetroot, but I would have liked to have seen the cheese melted on top of the pattie.”

“A really tasty croissant like bun. The beef was a crumbly sausage like patty with loads of flavour. Quick and easy to eat with very little drowsiness.”

“A good inner-city lunchtime burger for people on a short break, and without too much drowsiness to affect your kick-ass presentation back at the office. I really like the pattie, the sweet bun and just the right amount of beetroot. Really good value for $10.”

“Saturated with flavours that screamed Pepper Steak, were a balance of nonchalant beetroot and a soft but distiguinshed cheddar cheese. A quick meal, but quite a memorable one.”

Middle Park Hotel – 102 Canterbury Rd, Middle Park,
Victoria, Australia

Originally built in 1889 and reborn in 2009 as the Middle Park Hotel (previously Gunn Island Hotel), we sat surrounded by monogrammed carpet, wood panelling, moose antlers and sporting memorabilia. The menu features plenty of meat and classic English dishes. On the bar menu you will find a Wagyu Beef burger featuring a sesame seed brioche bun, onion marmalade, lettuce, tomato pickle and huge chips.

“First of all the burger has a fantastically cooked and seasoned Wagyu beef pattie and an unique onion marmalade that has a peppery bite to it. As for the rest, I wasn’t that impressed. From the bun that was a little dry and too big, to the very disappointing chips/wedges – too big, no seasoning, no flavour, no good.”

“After tasting the beef on its own, I removed the lettuce and tomato as they were only getting in the way of it’s amazing flavour. There was a really great spice to the marmalade as well. Matching Ralph Lauren polos on the staff look great.”

“A pub burger with two great features: the Wagyu beef pattie and onion marmalade. There was a good amount of lettuce and fresh tomato. The downside to it all was the bun and thick wedges. There was way too much bread and I would have preferred it toasted. The wedges were oily and too thick. We also ordered shoestring fries ($6) and they did not dissapoint. I say get rid of the wedges and put the fries on the side.”

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“Whoever had the idea of adding Horseradish should get a raise.”

Big Mouth Burger Co. – 584 Main St, Mordialloc, Victoria, Australia

At this suburban yet edgy burger haunt, size really does matter. Big Mouth Burger Co will win you over with both their colossal flavours and exquisite service. Our burger came with premium lean beef, cos lettuce, trim bacon, tasty cheese, grain fed egg, roast tomato, caramelised onion, herbed mayo & tomato chutney. Their chips deserve a mention, and if you still have room, indulge in the Spanish Doughnuts with dark chocolate sauce.

“The store resembles a franchise burger chain, but the burgers stand on their own four meaty legs! The meat pattie was perfectly cooked with a charred outside and a blissfully juicy centre (just a little pink), the way meat should be. Topped with a good amount of steaky bacon, it meant there wasn’t much need for a lot of seasoning.
A fantastically cooked egg, as well as their herbed mayo really pulled it all together.”

“Do not remove the skewer, it is in there for a reason! I obviously learnt this the hard way. Even though I had an extremely messy experience, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It tasted as if it had been cooked on a BBQ. The cheese didn’t really come through for me, however the egg made up for it. Bonus points for the complimentary Churros!”

“All round a good solid burger experience. It was big, ingredients were fresh and the service was exceptional. There really wasn’t one stand-out ingredient in the burger. All ingredients played their role like a well rehearsed orchestra playing Mozart’s Symphony #26 in E Flat (great burger music). Chips were good.”

“It happens. You eat a messy burger and you end up with no meat and just the “boring bits”. This was not the case here. With such delicious, fresh produce, all dripping with herbed mayo & tomato chutney, it was a pleasure from start to finish.”

T.G.I Friday’s – 500 Chapel St, South Yarra, Victoria, Australia

First opened in New York City in 1965, and now expanded to over 700 restaurants in 54 countries, TGI’s has a lot to boast about. Two impressive feats include serving 19.8 million hamburgers worldwide, and starting the concept of “Happy Hour”. With a reputation for delivering huge American-style meals, our burger of choice was topped with sautéed mushrooms, caramelised onions, melted Swiss cheese, mayonnaise and a side of crunchy fries.

“Mushrooms! Combining them with such a tender juicy meat pattie you really are getting something a little unique. With some sweet caramelised onion atop the pattie and some fresh spanish onion below, I can’t remember the last time I was so impressed by onion. I was a little let down by the cheese though, it’s flavour didn’t really come through like I was hoping it would.”

“I was not expecting this. I would not typically order this burger but I’m so glad we did. Couldn’t tell you what the beef or the cheese tasted like and frankly, I didn’t care. This burger is all about the blending flavours of the mushrooms and onion. Pretty and pleasant waitresses, all happy to refill your glass of coke is pure bliss.”

“Meant to be an International burger (by TGI standards), I thought it was more of a common sense burger. But rather than entering a debate about what International means to me, all I can say is that you must have this burger. It had a good amount of mushrooms, which I thought needed a touch more seasoning, but still quite passable, a very juicy pattie and sweet caramelised onions. Chips at TGI’s are always good.”

“Delicious.
A mushroom trip that puts Amsterdam to shame.”