Back in 1946, before anyone in Australia had even heard of wagyu beef or brioche buns, a man by the name of Alfred Cook opened up a small caravan and began grilling hamburgers for the good people of Guildford. Who knew that’d it’d become the most well-known burger joint in the western state? Along with some seriously mouth watering meals on offer, the fact that Alfred’s is open until the wee hours of the night means that a certain kind of loyalty begins to be established. So when the oldies who used to party, they’d pop in for a late night “sponge-bath” to soak up their alcohol filled stomach. Once that generation’s idea of a big night turns into 2 glasses of wine and a night at the pictures, those fond memories and stories get passed onto their kids.. and so on. Today’s menu consists of some of the more traditional burgers but then ventures into some super sized burgers that put any regular Lot Burger to shame. I tried to go with something they might’ve served back in the 1940’s and ordered a Hamburger with Cheese that came with a traditional burger bun, beef pattie, tomato, lettuce, onion and a bbq sauce.

“It’s always hard to judge the popularity of a place when most of the clientele is pretty drunk. You’re in Perth so chance is it’ll be warm – that said there is no indoor eating at night. They do have a decent pit of fire to keep the punters warm though. After trying to work out where I best eat a hamburger with one night in Perth, all I kept coming back to was Alfred’s. So, with all the hype surrounding it I thought the 10 minute wait time between ordering and eating was pretty good. Although I’m sure it’s much worse when you’re there after midnight. For the Melbournians who read this: think Danny’s crossed with Andrew’s. The soft and gooey cheese was straight out of Danny’s and then the rest was like a smaller, less full-on Andrews/big bad fish and chip shop burger. The under salted pattie had a crunch to it’s exterior and was soft on the inside. The biggest difference to a traditional Aussie-style hamburger was the salty twang from the BBQ sauce that poked its head up every now and then. There are other, more goliath-type burgers on the menu but they all just seemed overkill. I liked this burger but I wouldn’t rush back. Props to them for keeping this establishment running for over half a century, but next time I’d be keen to try other Perth burgers.”