Pickle n’ Roast Healthy Food Outlet is a relative newcomer to Camberwell junction. They offer a limited menu of sandwiches, burgers, soups and coffee that are all available to dine in, take-away or local delivery. Pickle n’ Roast is setup much like most other cafés and won’t stand out in your mind as being on trend or hipster. Instead they focus on making memorable meals with good produce. With five burgers on the menu, including a vegetarian option, we went with the Cheese Burger Meal with chips, which for some reason is the only burger available in a meal, that comprised of a Pickle n’ Roast beef pattie, cheese, ketchup, mayo and a bun covered in melted mozzarella cheese.

“Luckily we were in no rush and weren’t particularly starving when we first walked in, as this burger took forever to arrive, and considering we were the only people there and the staff to patron ratio was 1:1, the long wait was puzzling to say the least. Having not taken much notice of the menu, I was a little surprised to discover both sides of the bun covered in greasy melted cheese, completely consuming the small beef patty covered in more cheese. The patty was thin, possibly store bought and possibly frozen before hitting the heat as it really lacked any flavour or colouring. It really reminded me of something I potentially would’ve made myself while bored and hungry on school holidays in about year 9.”

“A simple, but yet filling burger. For some reason the top bun was hollow but this was definitely a good idea because I can’t imagine how filling it would’ve been with all the extra dough. The tasty cheese and the mayo combined well to cover and moisten the thin beef pattie. The melted mozzarella on the bun was a good move and something I’ve never encountered before however, it did make the whole meal very greasy.”

“What an oddity. I’ve never in my life seen this before. Whenever a waiter brings me a knife and fork at a Burger Adventure I always laugh to myself at how they’re wasting their time. But after I grabbed the oily, mozzarella covered bun I kind of get why they were there. Whether or not it was by design, all that oil was balanced out by a rather lean pattie. There was also a lot of herbs that came through like rosemary and oregano. Some of you may know that I love mayo in burger, but it’s only really doing its job if you’ve got tomato to help it out. There wasn’t any here so I had to add more ketchup which did help the burger a bit. Great: it wasn’t. But it sure was memorable.”

Co-owners Matt Ward and Mitch Haworth’s first venture is primarily all about great coffee, but they also knew they’d have to build a mouth watering menu to match. Prospect Espresso was a well need addition to the Camberwell cafe scene, boasting a warm and cosy interior filled with natural raw materials. The beautiful custom made communal table commands the room but also offers a generous amount of side dining tables that work perfectly in the smalll and well-thought out used space. Using a range of seasonal ingredients their lunch menu offers a variety of fresh, tasty bites as well as a couple of good ol’ meaty offerings including their Prospects Burger. The house made minced beef is accompanied by bacon, cheese, pickles, and lettuce all in a soft bun. On the side you’ll find some crunchy fat chips with creamy aioli.

“I can’t believe I left this place without finishing my chips or trying their coffee, but the burger was so rich and full of flavour I couldn’t possibly cram any more into my stomach. Really well presented with a skewer holding everything together, the flavours that stood out for me were the perfectly cooked, thick and salty piece of bacon that contrasted really well with the soft creaminess of the melted cheese and aioli. The beef patty was minced coarsely and kept it really juicy and tasty, and the sweet, seed covered bun kept everything together pretty well.”

“This is a sexy piece of work. The bun shone, the cheese oozed and I swear the bacon winked at me as it lay underneath, inviting me to take my first bite. Before I did though, I unloaded my chips strategically onto the plate to catch all the burger’s juices. First bite in: big success, a lot of juice seasoned chips. The coarsely ground pattie didn’t have a lot of seasoning but this worked in its favour. The semi-sweet bun was tasty but was a bit doughy, leaving me with a bunch of it left on my plate. The bacon and cheese combo were by far my highlight. The bacon was lean as hell and there was a whole lot of it – I didn’t want it to stop. A really well-balanced burger that’s sure to be known as the toast of Camberwell.”

Deco Cafe & Restaurant – 211 Camberwell Rd, Camberwell
Victoria, Australia

Heavily seasoned beef. Panini style bun. They’re trying a little too hard and everything had too much flavour.
Each ingredient clashed with another. Really fresh lettuce and tomato. Mayo was great but not enough of it.

“Big. No tomato sauce, but a good amount of sweet tomato. Very herby meat, a little dry. Maybe a more traditional bun would have suited it better. Wasn’t impressed with the relish or chips.”

“Burger was too tall, I cheated and added ketchup, chips were cold with no salt, what the f***? Tried too hard with the tomato relish. None of the waitresses were stunners but they were all the type you could take home to meet your parents.”

“Beef pattie was overcooked. Nice generous amount of cheese, bacon, onion and mayo. Cheese should have been on the patty not on the inside of the bun. The chips could have used some more TLC and the side of relish lacked flavour. The bun soaked up all the juice. It could have been better).”

“Very sweet and juicy but not enough mayo. Meat was definitely overcooked.
A burger full of contrasting flavours.”