Monday, June 29, 2015

The Local Taphouse

Here at visions of a burger, we pride ourselves on raw honesty. We want the public to know the real truth about the burgers that you could be consuming. Our philosophy is that one's arteries are too precious to waste on bad burgers. We expect our burger blogging colleagues return the same raw honesty to us. 

Sometimes when you go out, you just want a reliable, heart warming, comforting burger. And often you want to eat such a burger somewhere new. And when you are wanting to try a new burger, often another burger blog is your best source of burger information. We will not name this blog here. (Who needs competition, right? Visions of a Burger remains your burger blog of choice, right???) 

Having done our research, we ventured upon a burger haven- the Local Taphouse in Surry Hills. The burger blog we sourced raved about the burgers at The Taphouse. So armed upon this information, we ventured out to Surry Hills.



Upon arrival, we were impressed by the many numbers of brown and dark ales from International sources that The Taphouse had on offer. It took us some time to decide (and taste!) what we would drink.

Choosing a dinner menu item was not so difficult. After all, we came for the burger.



As you can see, the burger bun was presented as lovely and glossy. However, the burger enthusiast will notice that the cheese is not actually melted onto the meat patty. This is a huge disappointment to us. The stack of fries also looked like it could topple over at any moment. Pulling out a fry to eat felt like playing a game of french-fry jenga.

We ventured into eating the burger itself.


The milk bun was fresh and soft- a definitely winner. But the meat patty was thin and dull. There was no excitement about it- just bland tasting meat. And it was slightly overcooked. 

We have already talked about the cheese. Enough said.

Not only was the burger in need of more meat, it needed more pickle and some onion. A lavishing of onion would have greatly improved this burger experience.

The best features about this burger were the lettuce and the special sauce. The lettuce didn't take over the burger, and it was laid out evenly and crunchy all around. Quite pleasant to bite in and crunch with each bite.

The special sauce was sweet- reminiscent of a Macdonalds Big Mac.

Overall we would say that this burger was quite disappointing. We could not understand why a popular burger blog would talk up this burger. Upon a second look at the blog, we were disappointed to learn that the bloggers have a personal connection with the owners of The Taphouse. They are honest about this in their blogging, but we wonder if they have let a personal relationship get in the way of an honest assessment of this burger.

It definitely is not the burger haven we were led to believe. Get the raw, honest, wholesome truth here folks!


Friday, June 26, 2015

Burgers at The Hayberry

We have been in a burger coma for the last week, so apologies for posting this a week late.  After experiencing burger heaven at Mobbs Lane burgers for breakfast, we decided to stay in our happy place and go for a burger dinner. 

We were looking for somewhere local for dinner, somewhere on this side of The Bridge. One shouldn't have to trek too far for a good burger (although, our burger love has taken us to America. A few times.) So after a few google searches, we narrowed it down to The Hayberry.  

If you like beer and burgers with the blues, then this is the place for you.  We came at night, when there is plenty of atmosphere and loud blues.  This place is hip and it was pumping.


Being a cold winter night, we were looking forward to sinking a hearty amber ale with our burger. Sadly, there are no amber ales on tap at The Hayberry, only pale ales. Being amber-ale-kind-of-guys, we were cut to the heart by this news. (Have you noticed the lack of amber ales on tap in our beloved nation?? Surely this is something that could be easily rectified, and we're sure we're not alone in our love of amber ales... but sadly, we digress...) 

The quality of the burgers made up for the lack of amber ale. We ordered the Classic Burger and the Cheesy Bacon Burger. Doubles for each of our hungry tummies.



Our eyes lit up when the burgers were delivered to our table. The burgers were very pleasing to the eye. The first thing you notice is the softness of the bun.  Biting into this soft, brioche- like bun was a wonderful sensation. When our incisors hit the meat patty, it was also a good feeling. The meat patty was soft and moist, cooked to perfection. It had a smoky taste which we really enjoyed.

The whole combination of flavours worked together well- the right amount of sauce and American mustard combined with the cheese.  Actually, maybe there was a little too much mustard. With such a substantial meat patty, we would say that the burger was a little light on the pickle and onion side for us. But the burger had a classic American taste to it which we really loved. We give it 3/5.



The sides were amazing. This place serves waffle fries, which is a rare treat in Sydney town. Waffle fries provide more crunch and crisp for your bite, and we were not let down with these crispy delights.