When I first started putting out the feelers out and asking around for things to do in New Zealand, a name that came up immediately and repeatedly was Fergburger. But that was no surprise. Over the years, I’ve heard the name dropped by everyone from family to friends to co-workers, and just generally bandied about on the internet. And they all say the same thing – that Fergburger does one of the best, if not the best burgers ever.
Any excuse to eat burgers is a good one in my books. Ever since I started keeping a closer eye on my diet (now that I don’t live at home with MARM, I need to make sure that I’m not eating too much, but still eating enough!), I’ve found it harder and harder to justify a meal that can easily take up 70% of my daily calorie intake. But clearly I’m not that actually dedicated to this whole thing, because when I found myself with a voucher to try out the new wagyu burger range at Ribs and Burgers, I was all over that in an instant.
I’ve been a Melbournian for over half my life, but before moving to Victoria, I actually lived for almost 5 years in Toowoomba – an idyllic country town nestled in the Darling Downs, just over 100km inland from Brisbane. To be fair though, Toowoomba actually is a decently sized place by Australian standards; with a population of over 100 thousand, it is actually the 16th largest city in Australia. Still, my memories of it are quaint and peaceful, barring that magpie that swooped in the same area near my house every spring without fail.
You’re in for a treat today- another post by everyone’s favourite blogging sidekick, Chris! What’s the occasion this time? Well, read on and it’ll become pretty obvious! First things first: I can’t do a review of Burgerlove without first declaring how incredibly biased I am. To explain why, perhaps a little history lesson is necessary: You see, Burgerlove wasn’t always called Burgerlove. Back in ye olde times of early 2015, when I was working in an office in South Melbourne, one of my coworkers happened to discover a tasty and very reasonably priced cafe nearby called Cafe 51. They had your standard cafe fare- coffees, sandwiches, and salads, but most importantly, they made a very, very mean burger.
Remember the freakshake? That monstrous mash-up between beverage and dessert? It had a small heyday a year or two ago, but like all over-the-top fads, it didn’t last long. But now, Three One 2 One is bringing (sexy) freakshakes back (yeah!), along with a selection of extravagant burgers, and I was lucky enough to be invited along to check the spectacle out. Three One 2 One – named for the suburb’s postcode – used to be one of the millions of unremarkable cafes set along Bridge Road. Little did everyone know, changes were quietly happening beneath the surface. Krishna and the team spent over 6 months developing a line of unique and indulgent burgers, and next thing you know, Three One 2 One is the up-and-coming place to get your burger fix. They still do brunch, but I imagine that goes largely ignored in comparison.
One thing that I’ve always thought was great about Asia is that good food is always a hop and a skip away. Yes Australia does have that culinary variety that you’d be hard-pressed to find elsewhere, but you’d better be ready for a 40 minute drive out to the ‘burbs. And let’s not even get into the whole wineries business. Take Dandenong Pavilion for example. Despite living in the outer-east myself, it was still a 25 minute drive to this restaurant 30km south-east of the CBD. Although Dandenong is hardly known for being fashionable, I was still surprised at how much ‘The Pav’ looked like an over-priced, run-of-the-mill family restaurant.