Lord of the Fries

Burger Reviewed: The Original Melbourne 

Venue: Lord of the Fries 

Date: 14/6/2013 

Today the Burger Friday fellows ventured to the hustle and bustle of the corner of Elizabeth St and Flinders St to visit arguably the flagship store of Lord of the Fries (LOTF). 

Having started in 2004, on the back of a group of friends mutual love of fries, LOTF should perhaps be credited with kick starting the food truck revolution in Melbourne. It was LOTF that started in a van driving around the country selling fries, until they eventually graduated to get a permanent spot in the Melbourne city, expanded their menu to include burgers, onion rings and hot dogs, and the rest as they say in the classics is history. 

Since starting, LOTF has crafted itself a nice niche in the Melbourne food industry in that it serves not only vegetarian food, but also Kosher and Halal; which, in the fast food business, is as rare as trying to find a Melbourne supporter during the opening weekend of the ski season. Having eaten our way through pounds of meat on our journey to find burger nirvana, it was nice to be able to change it up by trying a vegetarian burger.

As is the Burger Friday tradition where possible, the fellows had the signature burger, being the Original Melbourne. The Original Melbourne burger comes with a special LOTF burger patty, grated cheese, pickles, onions, lettuce, Belgian mayo, mustard and ketchup on a freshly baked bun. Being a vegetarian burger, we were as clueless as a camel that had inexplicable found itself at the North Pole, but the combination of flavors was what really surprised.

While The triumvirate of sauces on the beautifully crunchy bun was a winner. There is something to be said for the commitment to bake the buns daily, as this really elevated this burger. And the inclusion of mayo, mustard and ketchup went as well together as well as Bob, Jack and Lou used to in the old days on Wide World of Sport. The pickles on the burger were provided a bit of tang to the burger. The grated cheese was plentiful and provided some bite and texture, but I think the burger would have benefitted had the cheese been melted on the burger.  

Talking about texture, it provides a good segue to talk about the patty. Made from a textured vegetable protein, the patty was surprisingly good and a more than reasonable substitute for meat. Undeniably the best judge of any substitute is the blindfold test – would you notice the difference if you were blindfolded – and I would have to imagine there are many late night patrons who have purchased a burger from LOTF with their beer goggles on and have left fully satisfied not knowing that they have actually been dining on a meat substitute.

If I was to have one gripe, it would be that the pattie was perhaps just a little too soft in that it melted into the rest of the burger. I would have liked to have seen something with a little more crispiness/chargrill to it to emphasize its substance and prove that it should be the star of the show.

Talking about stars, the real ones of this show were the ones which the store was named after. Crispy, double fried, and presented with an array of sauces – these were fantastic. Kudos to the Lord on these glorious things.

Overall this was a very tasty burger and would gladly give a few more of the burgers on the menu a crack. While it is the first vegetarian burger we have tried, we were pleasantly surprised (particularly in light of our known carnivorous bias).

In honour of its vegetarian status, I am going to dub the LOTF Burger – the David Zabriskie. Zabriskie is a professional cyclist and also a vegan. He is known for his quirky nature, including singing before stages and the interviews he does with fellow riders in the peloton. Besides all that, he is a very good rider, and practically the Lord of the US time trials, winning the US national title 7 times. The fact that he is a little bit different resonates well with Lord of the Fries and its originality.

If you are a vegetarian, or if you are not, it is worth giving this burger a go as it will definitively open your eyes to some new horizons. Although we advocate burgers are made for a Friday afternoon, we are also fans of a bargain – so why not head down on a Monday afternoon for a LOTF two-for-one special (all Mondays in July – subscribe to their twitter account for other deals) and try something a little different.

Burger Friday rating: 32/50

Mr Burger

Burger Reviewed: Mr Meat

Venue: Mr Burger CBD - 428 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne 

Date: 7/6/2013

Today the Burger Friday fellows ventured to Little Bourke St to visit the new permanent home of the infamous food truck Mr Burger. Whilst the food truck market in Melbourne has blossomed like a colt on spell in a good paddock, Mr Burger has now set up permanent digs to complement its growing fleet of burger kitchens on wheels. 

If you haven’t heard about the array of food trucks proliferating Melbourne’s northern suburbs in a new location each evening, you might have as well been living under a rock. Serving various cuisines, the Fellows have sampled a few of the burgers served up by a couple of these trucks and not once been disappointed. The Mr Burger truck is no exception and it was with great excitement when we learnt that they had decided to stop permanently in one spot.

Located outside the famed Queen Street legal chambers, in what was previously the Chaplin bar, the venue chosen by Mr Burger is barely larger than what would be found in a food truck. But that certainly did stop a long line of eager burger lovers queuing out the door when we had arrived on a brisk Melbourne Friday.

Whilst the size of the menu, with just 3 burgers on it (the aptly named Mr Burger, Mr Meat and Mr Veg burgers), chips and drinks, echoed the diminutive venue, it would be easy to write off this place as being a one trick pony. And to be honest you should. BUT, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. The ability to serve a simple menu and do it damn well is a primary reason for why food trucks are making a killing. Let’s call this the Ray Allen principle in honour of the famed three point shooter. When you can be a master of one, you do not need to be a jack of all.

The burger we had today was the Mr Meat. Whilst our usual preference is to have the signature burger of the venue which in this case would be the Mr Burger, we thought that it would only be fair in light of our burger rating system which scores points for the inclusion of bacon to sample the Mr Meat burger. While the Mr Meat may be the second burger listed on the menu, it has a fair case to argue that it is the superior. One fellow likened it the Scott Pendlebury to the Mr Burgers Nick Maxwell. Whilst this probably undersells the quality of the Mr Burger, as both burgers are exceptional, its hard to argue on paper with the pedigree.

The Mr Meat comes with a hand made juicy meat pattie, butter lettuce, crispy bacon, caramelised onions, pickles, bbq sauce, mayonnaise and topped with a whole heap of oozing American cheese on a soft bun. As can be seen from the photo, the burger literally oozes. This burger was juicy, almost to its fault. Fortunately the foil wrapping of the burger was able to assist in keeping the juiciness of this burger in control.

The pattie was cooked to a beautiful medium rare, but the real star for me was the cheese. Melted onto the pattie as part of the cooking process, this American jack cheese provided both saltiness and savoury. Melting the cheese on the pattie just binds together the burger and ensures each bite combines all the various flavours. All in all the Mr Meat was a delightful burger, deceptively simple and mouth wateringly tasty.

If one criticism was to be forthcoming, it wouldn’t be the burger, but just the periphery, being the lack of any where to sit, and the lack of beers available on the menu. Being a fan of a froth, the selection of soft drinks did not quite hit the spot. And then trying to find a place to eat the Mr Burger, left the Burger Friday fellows wandering the alleys like Brendan Fevola after a big night out. But when you do find a place to park your kester, boy is it worth it.

At under a tenner for the burger and $2 for a small chips, this unpretentious burger is a serious takeaway front runner. In light of its excellent quality, but lack of support from the periphery we are going to dub this burger the Ryan Griffen. Griffen, the Western Bulldogs midfielder, is a genuine jet, who put in another team may have been able to take his game to another level. Similarly perhaps if Mr Burger had some spots to eat, this would be even better. But let’s be honest that is a relatively minor complaint and is not a knock on the burger. The comparatively inexpensive price of the burger would also be of appeal the cash strapped Bulldogs.

If you can chase down a truck, or find the permanent location, do yourself a massive favour and get to Mr Burger now.

Burger Friday Rating: 40.5 

The Rising Sun Hotel

Burger Reviewed: The Riser Burger

Venue: The Rising Sun Hotel

Date: 28/4/13

Today the Burger Friday Fellows ventured to the inner Melbourne suburb of Richmond to visit the Rising Sun Hotel. Whilst Richmond may have plenty of pubs, from the very snazzy gastro pubs through to the old traditional styles, the Rising Sun Hotel (or the Riser as the locals call it) is what some nowadays might politely call "unique".

Located on the corner of Burnley and Swan Streets, the Riser is a quintessential blokes pub, nothing fancy, but just chock full of all the honest parts of a good old fashioned local. The food is strictly old school pub classics, reasonably priced and set out in a comfortable dining room, replete with TV’s covering all sports. And it may be the only place in Melbourne where you can still play Big Buck Hunter. Yes, that is the kind of unique we are talking about. 

That almighty of combinations of sport, beer and food is exactly what brought the Fellows to the Riser. With the UFC Middleweight title fight of Jon Bones Jones v Chael Sonnen on the TV’s, the Fellows were able to indulge in all three elements .

After more trash was thrown around pre fight than you would find at a garbage tip, the fight disappointingly ended in little more than a yelper with Bones Jones easily completing his title defence inside the first round. Fortunately our stomachs were more satisfied with the burger than the preceding “ground and pound” of the UFC fight card.

The burger sampled today was the Riser burger. Coming in at a very reasonable $15 with chips, the Riser is a burger with the lot, comprising a generous house made burger, crispy bacon, fried egg, cos lettuce, tomato, tasty cheese, and topped off with the triply whammy sauce trio of onion jam, aioli and bbq sauce on a soft bun.

The ménage a trois of sauces was a massive tick, as was the handmade meat pattie which was cooked perfectly with just enough juiciness. Also worth giving special mention was the inclusion of tasty cheese in the burger, which I personally think is underrated . Whilst gruyere often gets all the kudos, tasty cheese just continues to perform week in week out and has done so for decades, not unlike the way Dustin Fletcher goes about it.

We have discussed it on a few previous occasions on Burger Friday but its worth reiterating that if you are going to name a meal after the venue, it should be symbolic of the venue itself. And that was certainly achieved here. The Riser is all about just sticking to a tried and true formula of giving the punters what they want. While it won’t be pushing any culinary boundaries, the Riser burger is tasty, satisfying and honest.

In light of the above, I will dub this burger the Roy “Big Country” Nelson. Big Country is an MMA fighter who despite looking like he would have the athleticism of an overweight truckdriver, he is an honest fighter who has a habit for delivering some big old classic hits, including the knockout of the fight card whilst we were at the Riser. Similarly, the Riser despite its looks it just delivers good old pub classic hits and its burger is certainly one of them.

If you are ever looking for a pub that shows sport, you can have a bet, a beer and a feed, then the Riser fits the bill.

Burger Friday Rating: 37/50