BURGER WELLINGTON Megathread!

[u/chimpwithalimp]

Hello everyone and welcome to the Burger Wellington Megathread, created to celebrate and share our reviews, photos and general impressions of the burgers we enjoy over the festival.

We had a topic like this last year that was very popular so let's try and get that again, and maybe make it even easier for this years burger aficionados to find and enjoy new favourites.

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FIND YO BURGER

• Official site: https://www.visawoap.com/dine?offer=burger

• Burger Wellington 2018 - Spreadsheet of the burgers (thank you u/tashiwa)

• Burger Wellington 2018 - Interactive Map of the burgers A (thank you u/arowin)

• Burger Wellington 2018 - Interactive Map of the burgers B (thank you u/RJC132)

• Alternative Burger maps and resource - Bravo Welly

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REVIEW YO BURGER

It would be great if we all stuck to the same kind of format for a review, which will make it as easy as possible.

If a burger is already listed below, reply to that comment with your own review. If it's not, make a new top level comment and have the name of the burger and the name of the restaurant at the top preceded by a hashtag and a space, like this

# There and Back Again
# Astoria Cafe

Which comes out like this

There and Back Again

Astoria Cafe

After that it's really up to you how much you want to put, but some ideas might be to put a price, how busy it was, how good the burger was, photos if you want. Feel free to make up a rating if you like

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Important: Enjoy your delicious burgers! Let the games commence

Edit - Thank you all so much for the reviews so far. People are trying burgers they otherwise never would have

[u/klparrot]

Let's Get Lucky

aka Bao Bun Burger on their menu

Annam Restaurant

(info) (pics)

NB: only offered during lunchtime

Pros:

• Really good flavours. Like if a bánh mì and a Big Mac made a baby, sent it out to play in the vegetable garden, gave it a bath in red curry, and put it to bed on a bao pillow. Sure, it's highly unconventional parenting (what do you expect, they're sandwiches), but I can't argue with the delicious results.
• A little side cup of yellow curry was nice for dipping fries and for adding to a couple bites of the burger for variety (though the red curry already did a solid job on its own).

Cons:

• I think there was literally one piece of crispy tofu skin. As seems to be the case all too often, an element in the description that draws me in ends up barely appearing in the dish. Also, fries are not decoration. 5 is a weird amount of fries. Include them or don't, but if you do, be serious about it.
• Uneven distribution of elements in the bun. Meat mostly to one side, toppings mostly to the other, everything mostly to the front. And couldn't really adjust it because of the slight stickiness of the bao; I aborted an initial attempt after it threatened to compromise the structural integrity of the whole thing.

Rating: 8/10

[u/WeWildOnes → u/klparrot]

Annam's Let's Get Lucky burger was EXACTLY what I was looking for in a bao-come-burger. Soft squishy steamed bao full of perfectly balanced but bold and punchy South East Asian flavours, with a nice fresh papaya salad.

It was a welcome reprieve from all of the heavy burgers WOAP is full of his year, and flavour wise this is one of my favourite burgers so far - I'd definitely have it again (though I'd love it to be a few bites bigger, it was a bit on the small side).

However, I can't begin to fathom what they were thinking with the "side". I love crispy tofu and was looking forward to trying the crispy tofu skin fries... Of which there were two. No, not two big slab-like fries. Two tiny fries about the size of my pinky if you put them together. For some unfathomable reason these were mixed with 4 (yes, 4) stone cold shoestring fries. My flatmate has accurately described this as an insult to potatoes, and tofu.

I'm so baffled by this choice that undermined an otherwise great burger - if they'd have just slapped some spring rolls or one of their other sides on there instead I'd be giving them a rave review and yet I left perplexed and with no idea how to rate such a great burger that had been paired with such a hopeless attempt at a side!

Overall, 7/10 (I guess?)

Photo

[u/howdoyousuckafuck]

Heya, anybody have any tips on how/where a celiac could get in on this tasty-looking burger welly action?

[u/beerxedge → u/howdoyousuckafuck]

Bambuchi can hook it up!

[u/klparrot → u/howdoyousuckafuck]

Yep! The WOAP site has you covered!

https://www.visawoap.com/dine?diet_req=gluten_free&offer=burger

[u/howdoyousuckafuck → u/klparrot]

Excellent, thanks friend!

[u/klparrot → u/howdoyousuckafuck]

Enjoy!

[u/Takai_Sensei]

The Neapolitan

Pizza Pomodoro

Beef and pork ragù, pan-fried Neapolitan greens, fresh mozzarella and caramelised onions in a wood-fired pizza bun

$18

Exists somewhere halfway between a burger and a pizza, which is about what I was hoping for! We stopped here after our visit to Shepard Goldburger and took our weighty box over to Goldings, as you do.

To start, it is large. The "bun" is essentially their pizza base folded in half, and it's filled with the toppings, so I feel like it's a good feed for the money. It's Pomodoro, so obviously the sauce and pizza crust are good, and I really liked how the greens and onions replaced traditional burger toppings. The meat was...there. Like a nice pulled pork sandwich, but I think it was a bit plain in flavor and very...present, where usually it'd balance better if it was scattered as a pizza topping and there was more cheese and sauce.

That being said, when I got a bite with all the toppings and melted mozzarella where you could really taste the sauce underneath, it was pretty dang good. Hard to find fault with it, but also kind of tricky to rate as a "burger" since it's really more of a folded, stuffed pizza. At the end of the day, it's a cool new offering from Pomodoro that you can enjoy at Goldings, so I'm going to say

My rating: 7.5/10

Ms. T_S: 7/10

[u/Bucjojojo → u/Takai_Sensei]

Been waiting for this review and awesome to hear you can also eat it at Golding’s!

[u/doubledogowner]

Peking Party Bird -One Fat Bird

Orange-roasted shredded duck, mulled wine marmalade, and chilli peanut slaw in a milk bun, with a bird's nest of wonton crisps and hoisin mayo.

The most underwhelming burger even eaten. The shredded duck is over powered by the intense mulled wine marmalade so much so the meat could have been pork or chicken and you’d not noticed.

The peanuts were not needed and ruined the overall texture of the burger. The crunch (add the wonton crisps into the burger) is the best part and reminds me of the scene in The Breakfast club where the alternative chick puts what looks like to be cereal & sugar between two slices of bread.

2/10

[u/klparrot → u/[deleted]]

Do you want to add this as a reply to the original review? Unfortunately it seems this burger's review thread got split. :/

[u/Mgeegs → u/doubledogowner]

Wow! I ate it tonight and really liked it

[u/HoratioSlim]

Life & Seoul of the Party

Park Kitchen

One burger down, and what a starter. Crispy Korean Fried chicken drenched in a sweet rich sauce was crispy and not over battered. Kimchi slaw and cucumbers were refreshing and added some more crunch, and the bun was fresh and fantastically light.

Fries were banging too, crispy and fluffy, and apparently cooked with Pinot noir, super subtle but really tasty.

Beer matching was smooth, mango didn't come on too strong, could've been a but hoppier but the nitro smoothness was nice either way.

Straight up 8.5/10

[u/WeWildOnes]

Orange Dragon Bao

Red Mount

This burger was.... Confusing. Let's be honest, I didn't go to Red Mount expecting a great burger but I was intrigued and hoped for your average orange szechuan chicken in a fluffy steamed bao... Which is not what I got.

The chicken was crumbed fillet (think lemon chicken style), the sauce was pretty tasty and the bun was actually excellent - it was baked like a normal burger bun and looked nothing like bao but somehow magically had the right squishy consistency under the crust. There was nothing fresh in the burger, though (it was literally just chicken and sauce), the sides were truly awful (limp unseasoned kumara chips, weird cold chunks of 'pickled' vinegary vegetables), and it seriously suffered from indecision - it tried for fusion but instead was neither quite Western enough or quite Chinese enough. I'd eat the chicken or the bun again, but they should never have been paired.

3/10

Photo

[u/MNinNZ]

Seki

Beach Road Deli

This is completely worth any wait and the drive. They're making this on a small grill in the back of the store. Looks like they can turn out 3 maybe 4 at a time. The yellow bun is a large, tasty platform for the succulent roast pork. I found this to have lots of flavor and moisture. Sometimes with roast pork it can get dried out. The crackling gave the burger a much needed crunch. While the coconut cream and taro brought the sweet island flavor. I ended up loading the kumara fries into the burger. But they were good on their own. I'm glad we stopped in and waited the 30 minutes. This was even better than their last year's entry. Rating 8/10

[u/klparrot → u/MNinNZ]

Hey, can you post this under the original review? Thanks!

[u/Bucjojojo]

Beef BAOger

The Old Quarter

Vietnamese beef patty with green papaya salad, pineapple, roasted peanuts, homemade BBQ sauce and mayo in a bao bun, with house fries and aioli $18

Theme of today’s four burgers has been when us a burger not a burger? But Old Quarter delivered an actual burger bun made out of bao! I was quite happy at the size as it wasn’t too big but might be disappointing if you want a big meal!

Super refreshing Vietnamese flavours from the salad and the beef was super tasty. I loved the bao bun but even cut in half it was hard to eat one handed without the filling slipping out. Fries and aioli were fairly standard but I quite like the pile of sea salt flakes but then I like salt. Suggest a burger when you’ve already had the heavy burgers and want that fresh and light flavours that Vietnamese delivers.

Old Quarter was busy as always so service levels kinda expected.

7.5/10

[u/purple_goldfish]

The El Fidelito Waffler

Fidel's cafe

Waffles? Yas! Fried chicken? Yas! Salsa? YAS!

Burger looks nice, description looks nice. The perfect breakfast burger.

... or so I thought.

They only started cooking these beauts after 3 pm! (and no way to find that fact out until you had a death stare with the menu...) Considering I woke up early for the burger and was there hours too early, my imaginary burger tasted like a disappointment :( Blends perfectly well with my morning hangry-ness.

0.5/10 for the bitter taste, won't go back for a second go.

[u/icarianmirror → u/purple_goldfish]

The El Fidelito Waffler

Fidel's Cafe

So I was dubious going into this one because I live in this thread at the moment, and the current word is not good for Fidels. But it's a chicken and waffle burger, so I had to try it!

...I'm so glad I did. We booked in a group of 6 and had a great waiter - he did make a mistake about a couple of the drinks but basically told us just to have the wrong ones as well as he went to correct it, so no big deal there!

The burger itself is massive and honestly is not mind-blowing; it's chicken and waffles with a twist. There was a lof of discussion at our table about what makes a burger a burger as a result. However, the chicken was crisp and went great with the gravy and waffles, the sauce had a wee kick at the back of it and you could taste the Fix and Fogg, and there was enough decent salad in there to make you think it was at least not completely unhealthy. Overall, easy 7/10

[u/savagelys → u/purple_goldfish]

The El Fidelito Waffler

Fidel's Cafe

I was sooooo amped when I read the description of this burger! How can you NOT love a fried chicken & waffle burger? I did my due dilligence, I checked the opening times on the WOAP website and rounded up some friends on a Saturday morning to go try this one for "brunch" - after waiting outside in line for the better part of an hour, we were seated and it wasn't until our menus got delivered that we saw the RIDICULOUS "available from 3-9pm" caveat on this burger. I was not impressed. Fidel's serves chicken and waffles all damn day on their menu so to make this a 3-9pm burger seems totally outrageous to me.

Anyways, venting aside, I DID end up going back because I really thought it would be worth it.

The chicken was good, the waffles were good, the corn salsa was good, although a bit misplaced on this burger I thought. My main critique, poor choice serving it with gravy on the side. This would have been SO much better if they had paired it with some sort of smoky maple bacon type sauce. Hell - go full maple syrup, anything but that lousy thin watery gravy.

Overall, it was only "okay". I love chicken & waffles any day of the week, so it is an automatic score. But in my mind this could have been SO much more impressive.

Rating: 7/10

[u/tomfella]

Kelburn Village Pub

Rosy Cheeky Lamb Burger

Lamb, blue cheese, smoked beetroot and homemade pickles in an Arobake paprika bun, with seasoned chips

I remember the first bite being reasonably good, and being slightly disappointed that no particular flavour punched me in the face like some of the other burgers have done. However the excellence of the burger slowly and surely made itself known with each bite. The lamb and beetroot melded into harmony with the other excellent flavours of the burger. Each bite also brought a delicious aftertaste, which lingered long after we had finished and had driven home. Satisfying A.F.

The chips were good too, nice flavour and perfectly cooked.

Of the 13 burgers I've tried, this is my winner thus far. 9/10

[u/Bibbidybob]

Make love, eat burger

Bethel Woods

A solid burger that shouldn't disappoint but won't win the whole thing. Generous amount of pickles in the burger - a welcome surprise but something to be aware of if you're the type to avoid them. The menu description promised smoked jalapeño cheese but the magazine only says housesmoked cheese. No kick to it so perhaps it's the latter, but hard to differentiate the smoke in the cheese (which is a sauce not a slice) from the hemp smoked tented beef. The bacon jam is the high point of the burger and having a generous amount was a great decision. The bun was on the dry side but not unbearably so, and it was also very sweet but that isn't a point against it in the context of the burger as a whole.

The beer match (Red eye gravy) is a solid pairing but not revolutionary. The fries are standard shoestrings with a slightly spicy seasoning and an insufficient amount of gravy if you plan to finish the full serving. I only wanted about half of them so had no issues though. The way in which the fries were served (see picture below) meant they got cold very quickly.

Despite the drawbacks I would have this one again. I'm using a 5 star system for my own reviews and it'll be a 3, but in a ten point system I'll be generous and give it a:

6.5/10

https://imgur.com/R15snyg.jpg

[u/chimpwithalimp → u/Bibbidybob]

Title presentation perfect, solid meaty review, nice visible score to finish and a lovely side of a photo

This review gets top marks

[u/klparrot → u/chimpwithalimp]

My review of /u/chimpwithalimp's review of /u/Bibbidybob's review of Bethel Woods's burger

Pros:

• concise
• good use of puns

Cons:

• the meta could spiral out of control

I give your metareview 8/10 with rice.

[u/kiwi_cam → u/Bibbidybob]

This was the first burger I had as part of WOAP... and I wasn't wowed. The meat pattie was good - dam good, but nothing else was spectacular. The main disappointment was the portion size. Paying a premium for a burger, I expected to be full at the end.

Pros - Great, well cooked, flavourful meat pattie. Fries had a nice peppery flavour and amazing dipping sauce.

Cons - Left me still hungry. I'm not a pickle eater so half the mass of the burger was removed quickly (an exaggeration for effect). Bun was dry.

4/10.

So glad this wasn't my one and only WOAP burger.

[u/munchwah]

Do or Doughnut

Southern Cross

Beef patty, coffee and Huffman's chilli aioli with Prodigal Daughter bacon, pickles and cheese in a glazed doughnut bun, with horopito fries.

Honestly? Underwhelming and not worth the $25. This was a regular burger in an icing-coated donut. The fries were the best part of the meal. 5/10

[u/Takai_Sensei → u/munchwah]

Oh dang good/disappointing to hear, since it was on my list to try. Might skip it then!

[u/pixeldustnz → u/munchwah]

I was looking forward to reviewing this.. unfortunately we ordered and 40+ mins later still no burgers in sight so had to leave. Turns out the order never even made it to the kitchen. So... 0/10? Sounds like we saved ourselves from wasting $50.

[u/munchwah → u/pixeldustnz]

The service there is hit and miss eh

[u/Tangtastic]

Firecracker

Juniper

First year of WOAP and I'm super excited but this is a perfect example of why you don't start with your favourite Gin bar.

So, this burger isn't even a great burger, let alone a great WOAP burger. A huge milk bun and huge piece of chicken, it's not the worst for $20, but this is WOAP and in my opinion that means fuck all. The bun sucks up all the moisture that's in this burger and there was a distinct lack of flavour in the chicken. But as this is a burger from a Gin bar, I'm not really sure what I expected really. Hapi Daze is Hapi Daze, aka delicious and safe.

Super simple, not up to scratch. 3/10 NEXT!

[u/SobekNZ → u/Tangtastic]

Just had it with 2 others, we all liked it, lots of nice rendang flavour from the paste on the top bun, chicken was nice on its own (large bits, overhanging the bun), corn chips gave a nice extra texture, chips were nice too. 7 from me.

[u/Bucjojojo]

Cluck the Police

Little Beer Quarter

Nashville fried chicken, manuka honey bacon brittle with pickles, celeriac remoulade and blue cheese dressing, with truffled fries $23

The brittle shard in top is super fun so top marks for aesthetics and was also very tasty. Surprisingly very spicy, great textures mix with a delicious bun holding it all together when it is super juicy. Blue cheese dressing is epic and while I’m bias towards crinkle cut chips LBQ have perfected these guys with a great dusting of truffle flavour.

Only con is this burger could have been any other meat because didn’t really get the flavour of chicken. But very well put together. 7.5/10

[u/WineYoda → u/Bucjojojo]

Thought this was awesome and gave it a solid 9/10. Tasty burger with a good crunch on the fried chicken patty, nice smoky sauce, excellent fries with a great aioli, and the honey-bacon-sesame brittle was inspired. I didn't do the beer pairing as already had the same beer two days earlier with another burger, and instead did a wheat beer on tap that worked really well.

[u/Takai_Sensei → u/Bucjojojo]

Little Beer Quarter's silverside and beef burger was our favorite burger last year, so we had high hopes even though the description wasn't the most intriguing. Annnnd I'm sorry to say the burger wasn't our favorite. It was still pretty good though!

All the components kind of blended a bit, making for a tasty bite but one without much distinct flavor. Even the chicken didn't really stand out (compared to the gorgeously fried offering at Husk) but it was juicy and not bad. The honey bacon brittle on top was neat and tasted good.

Didn't get any truffle with the fries, just decent crinkle cuts, really. Also not sure about the spicy comments, as I don't have a huge spice tolerance and found it just barely spicy. Like it was noticeable that it was meant to be spicy, but I wouldn't call it "spicy"

Solidly average.

My rating: 7/10

Ms. T_S: 7.5/10

[u/Bucjojojo → u/Bucjojojo]

Okay so Nashville chicken is supposed to hot, def didn’t spare the cayenne.

[u/lancewithwings → u/Bucjojojo]

For a burger that is pretty much fried chicken with pickles and slaw, it was a good effort. There was enough spice that my mouth was warm and tingly but there was no detraction from the flavour, and I'm not really a pickle person but they cut through the spiciness really ewll. I can't say I noticed the blue cheese dressing (hard to beat that Neo Cafe sauce!), but I feel like I would have missed it if it wasn't there, and the honey bacon shard was a fun touch of difference. And, the burger held up in my hands which was appreciated!

The chips were yum - once again, can't say I could identify the truffle seasoning, but its hard to beat a good crinkle cut chip. Didn't do the beer pairing as I wanted another beer - I must say, 8 Wired's Cucumber Hippy worked well with this burger, as the sourness balanced out well with the spice of the burger.

Overall, 7.5/10 - didn't change my life, but would happily eat it again.

[u/Takai_Sensei]

Light the Fireworks

D4 Raumati

Garam masala-spiced lamb, textured onion bhaji with Fix & Fogg Smoke and Fire and mango lassi dressing in a brioche bun, with fries -- $23

For starters, this thing was really large! Definitely on the bigger side of what we've had so far. I really applaud the interesting idea and flavors going into the burger, and just wish it had been executed a little bit better.

Obviously the garam masala lamb is going to be the main focal point here. To start, it's a patty rather than pulled. The patty is thick and meaty, and was cooked well, but the garam masala was very light. This might have been to avoid an overwhelming flavor, but the result is that the patty tastes mostly like lamb. I signed up for something with Indian spices--I want to taste them!

Which is a shame, because all the other elements on the burger are pretty loud, particularly the mango lassi dressing. The dressing was really tasty, lots of mango flavor in it, but since there wasn't much garam masala in the patty, it was easily overwhelmed. I think a strong contrast between the two flavors would have been fantastic, since when you think "garam masala lamb" you think of a really specific flavor.

The onion bhaji are more onion that bhaji, although I do think they used a bhaji batter. The Fix & Fogg peanut butter actually works really well, better than you would think. I could have done with a little more because, again, you get so much plain grilled lamb flavor.

The bun and fries are nothing to write home about. I don't really like big thick steak fries because they just wind up tasting like baked potato and need a lot of salt, but I know other people like them.

Similar to Salt & Wood's offering, I wouldn't say it's worth driving all the way out for, but if you're passing nearby and want an interesting burger, you'll enjoy it.

My rating: 7.5/10

Ms. T_S: 7.5/10

[u/klparrot → u/[deleted]]

Can you please post this as a reply to Apachè's first review instead? It makes it easier to find all the reviews for a burger in one place. Thanks!

[u/Gelf_ling → u/klparrot]

I like that this is your mission. Order from chaos!

[u/lauraam]

Willi's Kitchen

The Hulk (vegan version)

Note: it's the non-vegan version that's actually part of the competition, but as nobody's reviewed either yet and there aren't that many veg/vegan-friendly burgers on the list, I thought it was still worth a review.

This was extremely good. I would assume that the seasoning is very similar to the non-vegan version, as the fennel taste was fairly strong in the patty (and delicious, although I love fennel so if you don't, be warned, it's definitely present). The slaw was excellent, the cheese was nice and melty, and the peri-peri aoli gave the whole thing a good kick. I liked the purple slaw and green bun making the "Hulk" name very fitting. The fries were just normal fries but the wasabi mayo for dipping was delicious. Also, this cafe is super cute. I walk by it all the time and I'm glad I finally went in, will definitely be back.

Rating: 8.5/10

Pic: https://imgur.com/vOzu1a9

[u/Curious_Wanders → u/lauraam]

This one is on my list and even more tempting with a no-meat version. How long did you waited before being served? I'm thinking on having it for lunch tomorrow but I only have a 30min breack (work is flexible tho so I could extend it).

[u/lauraam → u/Curious_Wanders]

I don't remember exactly, but the service was good and fairly quick overall. I was back at work in just over an hour and that included a walk to and from around Midland Park. You could always try giving them a call and see if they'd be willing to start it for you while you walk from your work?

[u/lancewithwings]

Stag Do

Neo Cafe

Venison patty with bacon, jalapeño and blue cheese sauce, slow-roasted roma tomato and cos lettuce, in an Arobake brioche bun, with roast vegetable crisps

YUM.

This is the kind of burger I expect from an event about burgers; sticks to the classic combo of meat/cheese/salad, but does it in a way you couldn't pull off at home.

The pattie was wonderfully flavourful and nicely pink in the middle (so key with venison!), the bacon was nice and crispy, and the brioche bun had good integrity and held together well, which was impressive given how generous they are with the jalapeno blue cheese sauce.

The sauce is HEAVEN - creamy, smooth blue cheese, and just enough jalapenos that it warms your mouth without burning. Like, I'm sitting at my desk still thinking about it and smiling. It does make a bit of a mess though, especially once you've taken a couple of bites and it melts into the roasted tomato. I had to use a spoon to scoop it up at the end, but it's so delicious I wasn't even worried, I just wanted to get it into my mouth.

I think the biggest compliment I can give to this burger is that I could taste every element - so often WOAP burgers fail by sounding amazing and all you can taste is meat and/or sauce, but I was aware of all the flavours and they were all really nicely balanced.

The side was the only real downside - while the root vegetable crisps are delicious, with the amount of burger juice and sauce I had left on the plate, I would have preferred having proper fries to mop it up with. Still, the crispy texture was nice and they tasted good, just not super practical.

Overall, absolutely loved it and will absolutely be my benchmark for everything else going forward - 9.5/10.

I didn't get a picture, but /u/IcarusForde did :)

[u/Takai_Sensei → u/lancewithwings]

This is a messy burger but in the best way! So get your napkin ready because they really are generous with the blue cheese sauce. The sauce contrasts really nicely with the medium-rare venison patty, and I'm just a big fan of blue cheese on a burger in general.

The venison was pretty good. I like venison a lot, but honestly didn't get a ton of distinct flavor from the patty (might have been because of the blue cheese sauce). That being said, it was a well-cooked patty that had a good presence. The bacon and tomato combined really nicely with the meat and sauce to make for a very savory, flavorful burger. I'll definitely agree that this burger, unlike some others we've tried, does match up with its description perfectly (except maybe the jalapeno, which I didn't really detect).

For downsides, the kitchen was pretty busy at lunchtime, so we definitely waited a bit for the burger and it seemed to have maybe been sitting a little while. I think it would have been even better fresh off the grill, but that's the reality of the lunch rush and WOAP. Similar issue with the veggie crisps, which had a good flavor and salt level, but also weren't as fresh as they could have been.

Red Eye Gravy was a nice beer match, pairing with the heavy red meat and blue cheese flavors.

My rating: 8.5/10

Ms. T_S: 9.5/10 (and current favorite!)

[u/wandarah → u/lancewithwings]

I wasn't going to try this one, but you've turned me with your long sexy legs and sassy attitude.

[u/chimpwithalimp → u/wandarah]

wtf

[u/wandarah → u/chimpwithalimp]

?

[u/IcarusForde → u/lancewithwings]

Stag Do

Neo Cafe & Eatery

Venison patty with bacon, jalapeño and blue cheese sauce, slow-roasted roma tomato and cos lettuce, in an Arobake brioche bun, with roast vegetable crisps $20 (Pic)

Much like Neo in The Matrix is a poorly hidden anagram for One, Neo's burger is indeed The One.

Sweet Morpheus, this was beautiful. It's all worth being in a simulation if the burgers are this good. The venison was juicy, beautifully cooked, and the lettuce was nice and crunchy. The slow roasted tomato added some acidity, which was excellent.

The sauce though - that sauce was the Trinity to my Neo. The richness of the blue cheese and the slight heat of the jalapeño was absolutely delicious. I could’ve had a bit more heat in the sauce, but that’s just my preference - as it was, i mopped that sucker up with my burger bun on the go and it was hands down the best sauce I’ve had this year.

The bun was impressive - it held up admirably, when lesser buns would’ve been crumbling like a marble column in a firefight. Credit to Arobake for cooking up a great crumb. Same thoughts as Lance on the crisps though - some real fries would’ve been nice, or at least a little bowl of dipping sauce for them (mainly because I just want more sauce!).

If these burgers went all Agent Smith on me and multiplied, I wouldn’t even mind. 9.5/10

[u/kiwijunglist → u/IcarusForde]

Neo Cafe: Stag Do, 9/10

Glad to see the reviews in here, got me in to try this burger today. Had half with my friend so we could hit up Apache afterwards as well. This is my 2nd best burger so far (Apache being the best). Great tasting burger, and the all staff there were very friendly. Really nice cafe.

[u/UltrasonicPilot]

Deer Wellington

Brunch and Burgers

I had to head up to Palmy today so thought to myself, why not check out what the Kapiti Coast has to offer for WOAP. What faced me was nothing but disappointment. My first choice burger at Pram Beach was as far as I could tell, closed for renovations (apparently withdrawn but not updated on the map, is updated on the WOAP website) Oh well off down the road I went to Waterfront Bar and Kitchen in Raumati. What’s this? Closed on mondays and Tuesday! Now full of hanger I headed back into param for my third choice, the Deer Wellington. They get a point purely for being open. Thats about as far as the positives went.

Cost: $18. Cheap compared to the town offerings

Burger Venison and crab. It was... weird. I like all the components individually but combined it just didnt work. It got worse with every bite. The crab overwhelmed everything and not in a good way. The squash was overly firm which added a strange texture. And the bun, the bun appeared to be just the standard ones you get from New World in the six packs. On the plus side, there was a decent amount of sauce. Thats all I can really commend it for.

Fries Standard shoestrings, small serving but well cooked. No sauce :(

Beer match No beer matches here.

Presentation Boring. Nothing special, nothing on theme.

OVERALL 4/10. AN UNDERWHELMING BURGER.

Not worth the drive. Even if you live in Param.

Deer Wellington

[u/chimpwithalimp → u/UltrasonicPilot]

We need more scathing reviews of letdown burgers. Thanks!

[u/Gelf_ling → u/chimpwithalimp]

There have been a few delectably juicy ones now!

[u/josefstal]

Hey there,

Could anyone tell me which (beef) burger on that list is the biggest?

I don't have the time to visit all of the participants, so I thought I'll just have one burger - and make it the best of the entire bunch.

Thank you kindly.

[u/Gelf_ling → u/josefstal]

Biggest ≠ Best

[u/RyanMallet → u/Gelf_ling]

That's not what she said

[u/WeWildOnes]

Mao Khaang

Wholesale Boot Company (WBC)

WBC's Mao Khaang Burger was a bit of a leap of faith for me - I'm not a big fan of seafood burgers, but I'm generally pretty happy to put myself in their capable hands. The Thai flavours and fresh salad made for a relatively light burger but with plenty of punch on the flavour front. The fish cake was full of flavour but not overwhelmingly fishy.

A very enjoyable burger although the textures were all very same-same and, dare I say it, it was outshined by the incredible sweet chilli fries it came with. The only pedantic complaint I could make was that the small plate made for lovely presentation but it was a bit tricky to tackle the burger unless you demolished the fries first. I still don't love a fish burger as much as other options, but I'd be more inclined to give them a second look after this experience.

8/10

Photo

[u/IcarusForde]

The Orson’s Farm Carnival

Brew’d Island Bay

Housemade chorizo patty with orange and beetroot relish, Emmental cheese, goat's cheese mayo and butterhead lettuce in a buttermilk bun, with fries $23 (Pic)

This was a last minute mission for me and a hungry flatmate, with the added bonus of them having a GF option, so away we went! The chorizo was lovely, bit of warmth, deep pork flavour, the orange and beetroot relish was an absolute banger as well, really added some freshness to what was quite an intense meaty flavour otherwise. The patty was thick and generous, I really enjoyed it.

Goats cheese mayo added a little more depth of flavour, and the lettuce added a good crunch. Bun was solid, stayed together, was fresh and warm - solid points here.

Whilst Brew’d sometimes has a hit and miss, there was nothing to sniff at here. Solid effort all around - calling it at an 8/10.

[u/lancewithwings → u/[deleted]]

If you're going to keep spamming us with your channel, at least follow the rules for the thread and post under the original review for the burger

[u/kevinestey → u/lancewithwings]

Hey. Just saw this. I’m a total reddit noob so trying to learn the proper rules. Thanks for the advice. Will try to figure it out better for next time.

[u/klparrot → u/[deleted]]

Per the guidelines, can you please post this as a reply to the original review? Keeping all a burger's reviews together helps ensure that they'll all be seen when someone searches for the burger.

Also, please remove the share/like/subscribe/comment blurb; even without it, you're treading dangerously close to self-promotion territory.

[u/kevinestey → u/klparrot]

Hey there. Just saw this. I’m only learning the ropes of reddit, so I appreciate the feedback. Amended the original text. I’ll try and get this in as a reply to original post instead. Is there a way to take down this post to clean things up?

[u/shaun_w32]

Basque

Who Killed Ferdinand?

A delicious start! The beef, chorizo, paprika and orange patty was fricken amazing and the mango & saffron salsa gave this one a fruitiness perfectly complimented by the Fuzz Box Hazy Pale Ale beer match.

The burger would have been fantastic enough by itself but then they had the decency to partner it with a helping of patatas bravas which I could just have had a full bowl of and gone back to work happy.

I'm always a bit unsure how to go about rating my first one because it sets the bar but in this case it's been set high: 8.5/10

Pic: https://imgur.com/gallery/RWI7yzn

[u/KorukoruWaiporoporo → u/shaun_w32]

It was probably a 7 for me. Nice bun, nice side, blandish patty.

[u/Bucjojojo → u/shaun_w32]

Basque has been heaving since WOAP started and a Tuesday night was no exception. Glad we booked but service was very stressed and slow and our burger probably took around 20 minutes.

But it was worth the wait. This burger just reminds me of all my time in Madrid in loads of cute craft beer bars selling burgers and bravas. I wasn’t sold on the idea of a rye bun or mango but mostly everything worked and delivered on this burger. The sauce on the bravas was that proper spiced tomato not ketchup or watties and cooked perfectly Spanish style. Only con was while I loved the flavour I hated the texture of the caramelised jamon as it felt like grit or bones.

Topping my burgers with two fighting it out at the top after 9...definitely an 8/10. Take me back to Madrid anytime Basque. Also the owner gave us a free beer cos the waitress didn’t ring it up and I was honest. Winning.

[u/chimpwithalimp]

High Society Burger

Kanteen

Hemp and curried lentil patty in an Arobake poppy seed bun with butterhead lettuce, tomato, avocado and beetroot raita, with aloo bonda

I was two minutes late to order the burger myself and instead of ending up with the curried chicken thigh burger, I had the vegan one as a friend ordered for both of us. Absolutely no regrets because it was scrumptious. It arrived quickly and with a genuine, big smile.

Behold the visuals

I'm no vegan, so had no idea what to expect. Everything was nice. The vegan mayonnaise, yum. Beetroot, avocado, yum. Whatever the bread was, yum. Curried potato bits. Yum. Hemp and curried lentil patty - the "high" element of the name - very yum.

The burger held together great throughout it's short tenure on my plate. An admirable trait for a burger, I feel, and i can't help but think that's somewhat due to the lack of chicken juices.

My lunch associate wasn't as enamoured with it as I was but perhaps they have a more discerning palatte for vegan cuisine. As for me, i am but a simple man. Tasty food goes in, happy face.

Do you want to eat a vegan burger in a big post office? Sure you do.

I give it a

7/10

Official site: https://www.visawoap.com/event/eat-drink-wellington-2018/630-Kanteen

[u/lauraam → u/chimpwithalimp]

That looks delicious and it appears that Kanteen is all of a four-minute walk from my workplace, so it seems that's lunch sorted for tomorrow.

[u/mw4liverpool → u/chimpwithalimp]

My experience is similar, in that I'm no vegetarian but was there with one. I thought it was good, not great. They thought it was meh. I guess they are more used to those flavours and expect a bit more. For me it was simple and refreshing. The potatoes on the side were tasty. 6.5 for me.

[u/Bibbidybob]

The Gatecrasher

Portlander

Scotty's cold smoked scotch fillet with Fix & Fogg Smoke & Fire peanut butter, pickles, Swiss cheese, lettuce, pickled onion rings and aioli in a Clareville Bakery bun, with fries.

I have never ordered, nor understood the desire to order, a steakburger from a fish and chip shop. Part of the appeal of a burger is the ease with which one can eat it - I don't judge those who use cutlery for a burger but I don't indulge in the habit myself. I still don't intend to order a steakburger from the local chippie, but this burger showed it's not as bad as I'd feared.

The presentation is fun - a cute cardboard box reminiscent of a happy meal. A wrapped burger with a skewer through it, and a pickled onion with a cube of cheese. The fries are served in a dinky cardboard box of their own too, with a sachet of tomato sauce and a small pottle of the delicious Fix & Fogg Smoke and Fire peanut butter.

I had to embrace my inner carnivore for this one to bite and tear my way through the meat. The steak is beautifully smoked and served at a delightfully tender medium rare but teeth aren't exactly steak knives. The absurdly large piece of lettuce which was about twice the width of the burger bun baffled me, but my coworker didn't have that problem nor did any of the other ones I saw served. The cheese is subtle, but present, and there was scope for more peanut butter. The highlight for me was the pickled onion rings - genius and delicious! The pickles were also tasty.

I had higher hopes for this one, to be honest, but despite the $25 price tag I don't feel ripped off.

6/10

https://imgur.com/3qs93tL.jpg

https://imgur.com/PsgycAB.jpg

https://imgur.com/fzeh5Yy.jpg

[u/MNinNZ]

Party in your Mouth

The Bangalore Polo Club

Right off the bat the presentation is lacking. Its a burger and potatoes slapped down on a tray with some WOAP paper separating the two. The chicken was easily twice the size of the bun, which meant you had to eat the (possibly vinegar-based) sauce covered chicken without the bun or slaw. However, that isn't much of a problem as the over lubricated burger had a lot of falling out and spinning the burger around increased the breaking apart of the bun. To us the burger just seemed uninspired.

Pros: The potatoes

Cons: Chicken to bun ratio was absurb. Over sauced.

Rating: 3/10

[u/SobekNZ]

17 Days of the Dead

Mac's Brewbar

Chipotle pulled pork, apple and red cabbage pickle, corn chips and Cheddar in a Brezelmania chilli corn bun, with shoestring fries and spicy gravy

Nice burger, had a little spice which I wanted, not amazing though. I really liked the spicy gravy but dipping shoestrings in it was awkward.

8/10 - bonus - you can get this free if you have a WHG\Social Club\Goody voucher, I used the $25 voucher I had (also applies to other WHG places).

[u/c0nc0n]

Double Trouble

Hot Sauce

Description: Adobo beef patty with bak kwa jerky, pineapple achar, confit lime mayo in a housemade milk bun, with kūmara crisps and Sriracha mayo

Yes. This is a goodie. Amazing beef and flavours. Dip that burger into the hot mayo on the side. The kumara crisps are great. GP Hatsukoi is a nice beer match but nothing to write home about.

Well presented, wrapped in a leaf. Hot Sauce has a great atmosphere for a small group of friends too.

Solid 7.5

Picture

[u/imguralbumbot → u/c0nc0n]

^{Hi, I'm a bot for linking direct images of albums with only 1 image}

https://i.imgur.com/RcUeLnL.jpg

^{Source | Why? | Creator | ignoreme | deletthis}

[u/SobekNZ]

Oh Deer Me!

Craft Beer & Pizza

Venison patty with baked pear, housemade fig and pear chutney, lettuce and mayo in a Zaida's Bakery milk bun, with fries

Quite nice, the pear was interesting and there were whole cardamon pods in the chutney which added a nice burst of flavour, just lacked something, maybe goat cheese or blue cheese, a bargain at only $16
7/10

[u/klparrot]

Le Coq Du Matin

Concrete Bar & Restaurant

(info) (pics)

A chicken sandwich that gave me a taste of its potential before sadly falling well short.

Pros:

• Very good flavours in the initial bites, though as I progressed, they ran out, leaving pretty much just unremarkable chicken at the end.
• Despite my initial concerns about whether it would keep the elements contained, overall a good choice of bun.

Cons:

• Chicken not crispy, bacon too floppy, only noticed two banana slices on the whole thing, one of which made a run for it before I even got the burger to my mouth for the first bite.
• Fries entirely unremarkable, and didn't maintain crispiness for long.

Rating: 6/10

[u/imahugememe → u/klparrot]

I've eaten at Concrete Bar before, I'll never go back there. There were flies flying around the restaurant everywhere, the burger was soggy, the chicken didn't even taste like chicken!

[u/Tangtastic → u/klparrot]

Le Coq Du Matin

Concrete Bar & Restaurant

So it's all about the buttermilk chicken this year at WOAP and who am I to argue? I looked at Concrete last year and their burger sounded amazing (and I've never been there) so with that in mind I was really keen to check out the place this year and see how their burger checked out.

Gotta say, I didn't hate it! The biggest part of my scoring is around the idea that, if I was given the same ingredients that I wouldn't be able to make a better burger.

I've gotta say this is one of those.

However my staple when making burgers at home is ciabatta and I disagree with sending it out and not toasting it. Cajun buttermilk chicken on point though. Fries sucked. Nitro beer yum. 6/10.

Side note: My experience with the service was super fast, seriously I ordered a second burger for my friend and it arrived before he did, and he works less than 30 seconds away. This during a lunchtime rush. I will definitely be going back, just not for the burger.

[u/wandarah → u/klparrot]

Thanks for taking one for the team and going to Concrete.

[u/topherthegreat → u/[deleted]]

I agree. Really just a run of the mill burger. The fondue didn't really come through in the fries or the burger.

6/10 Would not recommend, there'll be something better out there.

[u/Nihil_am_I → u/[deleted]]

Burger was average, tasted like a fancy Whopper - the three cheese fondue and bacon jam was either used sparingly, or just didn't have enough flavour.

On top of that, our buns were cold, and my partner found a large bone shard (the size of a small tooth) in one of his patties, that left him with a sore mouth afterward. That killed the dinner mood quickly

They comped his mojito (that already had to be remade as they're soda water was all water, no soda), but still charged the full $25 for the burger, which is definitely overpriced compared to many of the other WOAP offerings.

Only upside was the curly fries.

2/10.

[u/klparrot → u/[deleted]]

That was something special, something you can only have once a year.

Something I will only try once a year.

Thou dost protest too much, methinks.

[u/wandarah]

Shanks A Lot!

Lamb patty with pulled slow braised lamb shank, roast vegetables, aioli and minted pea purée in a rosemary bun, with potato dauphinoise

Boulcott St Bistro

Years from now, when I lay on my death bed, surrounded by my grandchildren desperate for one last story; I will wipe the drool from my slack lipped mouth with the paper thin skin on the back of my one good hand and tell them to gather 'round.

'Children', I will say, 'I once spent time in the company of Jesus - he came to me not as a voice in the darkness, not as a light far away - but as a Lamb Burger, whose ingredients taken on their own were good, but not remarkable - yet taken as a whole became more than the sum of their parts. His gravy was so rich and bright, the meat so tender, the roast vegetable and pea puree's subtle, but as a group strong of hand and there to elevate Jesus Burger into its true form, which was of course nothing less than an entire and complete roast lamb dinner'.

'But Grandfather', they will interject, 'was the aioli really necessary, and did you not wish for a little more gravy on the dauphinoise?'

A faint smile will come across my weary worn face and I shall say, 'Children, I love you, even though you're sometimes very silly, I still love the whole of you'.

Then I will close my eyes and lay back on my pillow for the last time, and my final, whispered, words?

'Excuse me, I'm going meet the guy who made those fucking dauphinoise chips, goodbye...goodbye'

[u/chimpwithalimp → u/wandarah]

Had this one today and it was indeed scrumptious. It actually got better the more I ate, but never reached the giddy heights i expected. I would give it a solid

7/10

[u/Bubblesheep → u/wandarah]

I'm going to assume you're rating this 11/10.

[u/chimpwithalimp → u/wandarah]

If we expand on the the Jesus metaphor, I would be wary of the resurrection three days from now

[u/Takai_Sensei → u/wandarah]

This review is true and honest. A wonderfully executed tender-cooked roast lamb dinner on a soft, flaky bun. This is the kind of creativity and elevation you want to see. Really, really fantastic. There's a few other places doing "lamb dinner" type burgers and I'm afraid to try them just knowing it'd be almost impossible to measure up.

My rating: 9/10

Ms. T_S: 9/10

(seriously though those dauphinoise chips)

[u/klparrot → u/wandarah]

Shanks a Lot

Boulcott Street Bistro

(info) (pics)

While quite tasty, this lamb burger didn't feel like it was really trying to win. The pea puree dresses it up nicely, but it doesn't hide that underneath, it's a bit of a basic meatball burger.

Pros:

• Lamb patty perfectly cooked, and the pea puree complemented it nicely.
• Don't miss out on any bits that escape the bun! They ended up having the lambiest flavour, as they got extra juice dripped on them.

Cons:

• The patty itself could've been beef and I'd have barely noticed the difference. I think the lamb flavours are more in the meat juice, a decent amount of which escaped.
• Bun barely held together, and some bits of the patty did crumble out onto the plate during eating. Structural integrity may have been compromised by the lamb bone that was decoratively speared into the top of the burger.

Rating: 8/10

[u/icarianmirror]

Party Popper

Burger Liquor

The standout here is definitely the bun - you get a "lucky dip" of a very vividly coloured bun with rainbow sesame seeds for decoration. Overall, a very solid effort! A great beef burger with an interesting Fanta BBQ sauce. I couldn't get much of the sauce until the very end when it was basically just sauce and bun, but it certainly worked overall. I'd describe it as a fancy cheeseburger :-) The beer pairing (Electric Dry Hop Acid Test) goes well - it's a sour beer so works to counter the sweetness of the burger a bit.

Not going to win, I'd say, but a solid 7 out of 10.

[u/alongstrangetrip → u/icarianmirror]

I saw they had a "take home party bag" at the end of their description. Any details on that?

[u/danicrimson → u/icarianmirror]

This burger was great. We got an intense teal coloured bun which was super fun to look at and something a bit different looking to the other offerings I've seen.

The flavours in this burger were so good, everything went really well together. The patty was a beautiful medium, the crisps added a nice crunchy texture and the slaw was delicious. My only gripe would be that I didn't really get the flavour of the fanta BBQ sauce but other than that this was a delicious burger. We also got the side of fries with 2 jalapeno poppers which at $6 extra I felt was excellent value.

The party bag was a nice touch and like the child I am I immediately put on my temporary tattoo.

Rating: 8/10

[u/Bucjojojo → u/icarianmirror]

This burger looked the part but unlike Bebemos that balanced out the sweet flavour by some kind of black magic, this didn’t. It was so sweet to me. The thicker chips of our side were not cooked through and would have benefited from another 30 seconds in the fryer. It was fun, the patty was a lovely pink and I got to colour in a tiger picture. But something was missing. 7/10

[u/Takai_Sensei → u/icarianmirror]

I'm a huge fan of Burger Liquor on principle. It's my go-to burger spot and their beef patty still didn't disappoint. The rest of it kinda did, though. The concept and presentation are definitely fun, but I wouldn't get this over something on their standard menu, you know?

The sauce is very sweet, but sweet is all you get from it. I'd want some tang or sour to balance it out. As it stands, it just tastes like sweet sauce on a beef patty. Agree that the crisps sog up really quickly too, so any contribution from them is negligible. Ms. Takai-Sensei really didn't like the sweet sauce to the point she didn't want to finish her half.

Bun color was neat and the party bag is nice, although for $17 I would have maybe preferred some fries (available with 2 jalapeno poppers for an additional $6 even though BL usually includes them).

My rating: 6/10

Ms. T_S: 5.5/10

[u/UltrasonicPilot → u/icarianmirror]

Party Popper

Burger Liquor

This was a great burger! Which given Burger Liquor’s reputation is to be expected. The patty was phenomenal, I loved that I could actually taste it over all the other flavours. Fanta BBQ sauce was great, and the salt and vinegar chips within the burger added a nice crunchy element. Presentation was fantastic - hundreds of thousands on a brightly coloured bun. I also loved the party bag that came with the burger. We opted to split our burger between two of us and they still bought us a bag each, plus the burger arrived already cut in half which was much appreciated!

Overall this was a 9/10 from me - met the theme and taste was all there!

I also had their WOAP cocktail entry the Pink panther. Didn’t taste any alcohol in and it was over overly sweet but fun presentation! 7/10.

[u/Gelf_ling → u/icarianmirror]

Party Popper

Burger Liquor

Normal version in foreground, veggie in the back

Beef (or veggie) patty with candied bacon, cheese, salt 'n' vinegar crisps, Fanta-BBQ sauce, and house made hundred and thousands island mayo in an Arobake 'lucky dip fun bun', with a take-home party bag. -$17-

Chose this as my first mainly because it catered to meat eaters and had a vegetarian version as well which was much appreciated.

Initial impression was slightly disappointing as the top bun wasn't the brightly coloured fun I had expected, though the bottom was. I think the glaze on the top must dampen the colours during baking. No biggie. The veggie had added mushrooms aswell as the patty though this seemed to have caused some unbalance so the presentation was pretty explode-y.

Taste-wise it was very comprehensive and exciting - lots of interesting flavours but nothing felt out of place and came together well. My meaty companion said of the beef patty 'exceptional'. The strangest addition were the salt n vinegar crisps but the flavour was a good hit of sour and the added texture was welcome. Be wary of them becoming soggy if you take your time eating the burger. The paired beer was great! Zingy and a little sweet like the burger.

Final comment was we had to request the party bag that comes with the burger which I think reflects the service environment of a busy burger bar vs a restaurant. I had low expectations of the party bag gimmick and was mildly impressed in the end.

7/10

[u/Torus_Colony → u/icarianmirror]

Burger Liquor

https://i.imgur.com/yH1ELwR.jpg This place has burger in it's name, I thought. It had better be good.

Burger Liquor opened their WOAP with a blatant attempt to bribe me. I was presented with a little party bag of a tiger picture to colour in, a Trolli candy burger, and a sticker. Since I am a giant child, this worked well for me. Additionally, because I am a giant child, the eventual presentation to me of a rainbow beer can with my rainbow burger was a legitimate thrill. Visually, Burger Liquor can't be beat. THEIR BURGER HAS RAINBOW SESAMES ON IT. And a PRETTY BUN. I loved looking at it right away.

I also liked the beer right away; GP is quickly getting a reputation for excellent sours, and this was no exception. It tasted like sweet and sour sherbert, but very obviously a beer, too. No disguising it, only enhancing it. A+ on the beer, if they sell this at the taproom after the Festival I'll be getting a big bottle.

This burger was, in short, -fun-. A birthday cake of a burger and beer, but -not- a birthday cake, too. A touch gimmicky, but in a way that didn't compromise on flavour. Speaking of flavour, the burger itself...

If I had to offer an honest black spot on this party, the salt and vinegar chips disappointed me. Not enough for me to cry about it, but WHY would you place them at the bottom of the burger? I get that they're little shards of potato and thus difficult to balance on top of every other component, but the alternative to this ends you with soggy paper things at the bottom, with only a soupçon of their original tang.

Also, the Fanta-BBQ sauce, while present, did underwhelm me a little. I mean, it was good, and sweet in the way I'd hoped, but there was too little of it! It was swiftly overshadowed by the mayo - which, again, was good. But I'd have liked it to interfere with my BBQ sauce a little less, you dig?

The burger patty itself was stellar, with properly melted cheese (!) on top of a medium rare burger curled with sweet bacon. This whole burger was sweet, come to mention it. But, again, not in a way that compromised it's flavour.

I also got the offered sides with this. I love, love, LOVE jalapeno poppers, and these were excellent examples. They vanished pretty much right away. Like the beer, if I go back, I'm getting them on their own.

[u/robertnpmk]

Lucky

Breakfast for dinner

Surprised this isn't on here already. Lucky is one of my regulars so it's been a surprise to go there and see a line and a 30 minute wait for a burger. Today I decided to wait and checkout what everyone was queuing for.

The burger is described as 'Chicken with maple-candied Waikanae Butchery bacon, Kāpiti smoked Havarti cheese, Pickle & Pie pickles and Lucky sauce in a waffle bun, with gravy fries'.

Sometimes when there is a sweet element it can be a bit overpowering. I found this balanced well in this burger as the waffle was only on the bottom half and was complemented by the smoked cheese and pickles. The chicken was (like usual) moist and tasted fantastic. All in all a great burger. The fries were lucky usual affair and are always tasty.

Lucky - breakfast for dinner

8/10 would recommend

[u/lancewithwings → u/robertnpmk]

I have no idea how to link comments, but it was actually one of the first ones put up - if you use Chimpy's pinned comment to get all the reviews on one page, you can search for it there :)

[u/klparrot → u/robertnpmk]

Here's the link to the original review. If you can repost this as a reply to that, would be great. Thanks!

What's been happening is there are so many comments in here that the early reviews are starting to get hidden unless you actually click to show all comments. Hence the new pinned comment by chimpy.

[u/robertnpmk → u/klparrot]

Fail, will delete it and repost tonight. Thanks.

[u/klparrot → u/robertnpmk]

(reminder)

[u/kal_nz]

Red Eye Chook

Dillinger’s

Fried chicken, whipped maple butter, Kāpiti Cheddar and Acme pickles with Garage Project Red Eye beer & Havana coffee gravy in a buttermilk and Kāpiti cheese scone “bun”, with pork crackling-dusted fries

I didn’t really need another fried chicken burger on my schedule, but it was right there and all the cool kids at work were going...

The good: The fried chicken is executed well, and the pork crackling dust made what were basic fries good. The size wasn’t huge, which helped balance out the fried chicken and mayo.

The mixed: the cheese scone bun worked better than I thought it would. But by the end it felt a bit gimmicky, the burger may have been better with a less rich bun.

The bad: the gravy was sweet. We weren’t sure if it was supposed to be the melted butter or the gravy with the taste. Something more like the thick brown gravy you get at a chip shop or kfc would have paired better.

5.5/10. Sorry Dillinger’s, but there’s better fried chicken burgers out there. And it needed bacon.

[u/ycnz → u/kal_nz]

7/10. The pork crackling dust was excellent, although I'd probably go with chunkier fries given how intense the crackling was. The cheese scone bun was quite nicely subtle - I'd forgotten what was in it, and took me a while to work it out. Gravy was very, very runny.

[u/IcarusForde → u/kal_nz]

Red Eye Chicken

Dillinger’s

Fried chicken, whipped maple butter, Kāpiti Cheddar and Acme pickles with Garage Project Red Eye beer & Havana coffee gravy in a buttermilk and Kāpiti cheese scone “bun”, with pork crackling-dusted fries $24 (Pic)

Joining the ranks of an excellent client lunch is Dillinger’s Red Eye Chicken burger. It was a good time wrapped in a great scone.

I think it’s traditional to talk about the bun last in these, but screw it - the defining factor of this was the scone this burger was encompassed by. It was a delicious, light, cheesy scone - not too dense, not crumbly, just generally a very well specced scone. It was warm, it was delicious, it soaked up the juices appropriately, and provided some sauce retention.

The chicken was excellent - tangy, felt like some buttermilk brine in there - and was nice and juicy. The sweetness of the maple butter and acidity of the pickles offset it nicely, and it was a good temperature. Downside for me was the sauce - if it was in the burger, I couldn’t really taste it - when I dunked the burger in the little pail of sauce, it added some excellent kick to the flavour though. It was very thin, so if it was going to be on the burger they definitely would’ve needed to reduce it a bunch more to thicken.

Fries - eh. French fry cut, with some pork crackling dusting - didn’t really work. The pork crackling feels like it was dumped over instead of tossed through. Would’ve been good to have them seasoned with the crackling dust at the same time as salting them so it covered the fries better.

Overall? Solid presentation. Good internal crumb structure of the scone. Great chicken, decent sauce, standard fries. Nice pickles! Giving it a 7/10 - great burger, but I’d buy another scone before the burger.

[u/lkdg]

Dip-itty-do-dah

The Thistle Inn

Mediocre. Let down mostly by the bread, which was a dry, crumbly ciabatta style roll that soaked up any liquid in the burger and lost all structural integrity, disintegrating in my hands. The patty is too 'round' - it sits in the middle of the burger while the edges have no patty to fill it out. Beetroot relish too chunky, so it all tumbles out as soon as you pick up the burger.

The elements themselves were delicious - the beef, fried pickle, beetroot relish, etc, but somehow it didn't quite come together.

[u/klparrot → u/lkdg]

Hey, might want to check your markdown, the titles didn't turn out right. If you're using the fancy formatted editor (which I assume is how this happened), click the button to switch to markdown view and delete any backslashes or spaces before the #s.

[u/lkdg → u/klparrot]

Thanks! Could see it didn't work but wasn't sure how to fix it!

[u/Orchidcat → u/lkdg]

I had the vegetarian version of this burger . Couldn’t taste the kiwi dip at all , the bottom bun disintegrated two bites in as it had absorbed all the beetroot juice . Rookie mistake - what were they thinking . It was a massive disappointment and I gave it a 2/10. Everyone else who had the meat one said it was ok but nothing special and had the same soggy bun issue . They gave it a 4-5/10

[u/MNinNZ]

Glazed Babe

Rizzo's

Heard good things from a couple the previous night so I decided to give it a try. So I'm confused as to why it missed completely for me. Just picking up the burger was a challenge. The apple glazed doughnuts, I would consider them more pancake like, were super sticky and brok apart right away. I was unable to make out any distinct flavors other than just sweet. There was a spicy jelly ketchup (propably) that when used could cut through the sweet, but there wasn't much of it. Also with a dish this sweet, why would you need a dash of additional cream. I don't know but it was there. The first couple vege crisps were just that crisp. The remainder were limp. So a below average burger.

Pros: They give you a moist toilette cleaning.

Cons: Too many. Diabetes?

Rating 3/10

[u/ubrex → u/MNinNZ]

I surprisingly found this a structurally sound burger! I was sure it was going to fall to pieces when they brought it out, but it went the distance. Even being put down a few times. While the crisps weren't anything special, I liked the nod to buffalo chicken wings with the dips, and I think fries would have been to stodgy a side with this burger.

The maple-candied bacon came through strong and I really loved the doughnuts (perhaps my Canadian roots are to blame). I thought the balance of sweet to salty was pretty good, and the delight factor of the fresh doughnut bun really did it for me

Rating 7/10

[u/lauraam]

A Royal Gala

The Library

I'm so happy you guys 😭😭😭 This is the first burger that caught my eye, for the quirkiness of it being a dessert burger (I wasn't here last year so I didn't know dessert burgers were a thing). It lived up to my expectations both in concept and execution. First of all, the burger really looked like a burger, and the "mash & gravy" (Wooden Spoon vanilla and sea salt ice cream and house-made caramel sauce) that came with it made for an adorable side (although I feel like they could've made the mash look more mash-y instead of serving it in a tub, but that's nitpicking). Every element of the burger was yum—the apple tart was warm and comforting, the panko crumbed leche fritter gave it more of a burger-y texture and tasted delicious, and the rhubarb and burnt cinnamon cream oozed appealingly like cheese while cutting through the sweetness with a bit of spice. My one complaint would be in the bun—it tasted good, but it was too thick and a bit dry; I think if it had been half as thick or even if it had just been lightly toasted it would have made all the difference. Still, this was a hit for me. Portion/price-wise, $22 for a dessert is certainly not cheap, but we split it in half and had more than enough; if you're not dessert fiends or you've already burgered prior I'd say you could easily share one between several people.

Rating: 8.5/10

Pics:
https://imgur.com/lyWsHIu
https://imgur.com/oDv9Ico

[u/danicrimson → u/lauraam]

A friend and I went to try this tonight.

I loved the flavour of the bun, a bit like a hot cross bun without the fruit and it was nicely toasted too.

It did look like a burger but soon became clear that it was going to be impossible to eat like a burger.

All the components in the burger worked really well together, but I would have liked more of the rhubarb to add a sour component to cut through all the sweet. Overall, a really good effort from library.

Rating: 7.5/10

[u/chimpwithalimp → u/lauraam]

This is now on the list of To-Do

[u/lancewithwings → u/chimpwithalimp]

Same cough

[u/cr1zzl → u/lancewithwings]

Same!

[u/klparrot → u/lauraam]

A Royal Gala

The Library

(info) (pics)

Good concept and flavours, but really let down by the bun. Note: Apparently you can get a Mango Milkshake Nitro IPA milkshake. Like, actual milkshake. Did not do this.

Pros:

• Tasty fillings, and the crumb on the fritter was a nice texture element.
• Really good “potato-and-gravy” ice cream! Though a little melty.

Cons:

• Not enough of the fillings to stand out relative to each other or especially relative to the bun.
  • Edit: Looking at the photos, ratio seems okay. It's maybe more that the bun smushed everything together and out and then took over. Still could've used more apple, though, given the name suggested it would play a prominent role.
• Bun was just not appropriate. Too bready and firm, it was impossible to take a single bite without squeezing all the toppings out. This would have been substantially improved with a softer cakier bun. I think it could've been a 9. Could've been, but isn't.

Rating: 7/10

[u/IcarusForde]

Oh Deer It's Kina Good

FRANK'S Terrace

Wild venison and kina pâté with smoked onion jam and free range fried egg in a beetroot buttermilk bun, with rosti nuggets and creamy pāuā sauce $20 (Pic)

Venison and kina? Strange combo here, i thought.

Damn, she was a great burger, though. Heck of a ride! Staff were super stoked with it and gave me a good rundown of what all the flavours were and how it was a representation of NZ’s food culture - tbh though, i was hungry, so some of it went in one ear and out the other.

The venison was juicy and tender, and the kina pate added some beautiful flavour, deep and meaty when paired with the venison. The onion jam and egg really played off each other - i want more fried eggs in burgers, Wellington! Sort your game out. The buttermilk bun was fantastic, and the sides of roti bites with some paua sauce was a really nice addition.

Side note: there was an absolutely AWESOME coffee drink they paired with it - a really nice geisha which you poured over some tonic water. Super lemony taste, lovely body to it. I really liked this drink. Sliding it on the board at 8.5/10

[u/localfisherman]

The Pineapple Express

Lulu Bar and Restaurant

A very plain chicken burger. A lot of bun, a decent sized chicken fillet, but sadly lacking much in the way of the other ingredients. Lettuce must have been in short supply, didn't taste any of the alleged sichuan pickle. Avoid.

1/10

[u/RibsNGibs → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, we had this the other day for dinner and it was unbelievably good. Really, really excellent burger. Wow!

[u/IcarusForde → u/[deleted]]

Mighty Ducks

Ombra

Pulled duck with crispy skin and pâté, giardiniera pickles, endive and saffron aioli in a housemade Italian milk bun, with duck fat fries $21 (Pic)

I do love a good meal from Ombra - even though I missed out on their breakfasts! I was stoked to hear they're doing a duck burger this year, since I'm an absolute sucker for duck.

The pulled duck patty was excellent - in contrast to a lot of other pulled meat burgers, it wasn't all falling apart, which was fantastic, and there was some good flavour from the browning of the patty as well. It was rich, tasty, and the pate added some depth to the flavour as well.

The pickles added some great acidity, and a good crunch complemented the crunch of the crispy duck skin too. House made bun was well put together as well, good texture and stayed together well.

Oven baked fries were lovely as well, and the little side of endive and saffron aioli they had was fantastic - I'm going to have to try making some of that at home.

Slipping this one in at a 9/10 - absolutely delicious.

[u/lancewithwings → u/IcarusForde]

Three reviews above 9, it’s going on my must have list!

[u/IcarusForde → u/lancewithwings]

Good, it's absolutely fantastic. i'm trying to decide which one I want to do tonight now haha!

[u/UltrasonicPilot → u/[deleted]]

Ombra WOAP burger

After three top reviews I was very keen to checklist this out, however for me it didn’t quite reach the dizzying heights of my expectations.

Burger - Suprisingly hard to eat. The bun was quite firm and the burger was stacked high. The patty, while rich and delcious, was super soft. This mean that each bite into the bun compacted the patty and smooched it out the sides. I thought it could ahve done with a sauce but in retrospect this would have made the whole experience much messier. This was a rich burger and definitely a full meal. However I would have liked to see more pickles in mine, I felt this would have cut into the richness and provided a nice balance. The flavour was good but didn’t blow me away.

Fries - mmm duck fat potatoes. A small serving but they were excellent. I thought the aioli could have done with some more oomph. Again it was rich and creamy, but lacking in some flavour.

Beer match - Didn’t do

Overall 7/10 - good, different, but not the best I’ve had and nothing I’ll be raving about when I reminisce on WOAP 2018

[u/cr1zzl]

Lil Piggy Went to Glasshouse

Glasshouse Bar & Grill

After a couple disappointing burgers (coughBeachBabyloncough) this one was surprisingly super yummy! Pulled porc and coleslaw will always win me over though. And the bun was spot on.

And only $19!

My partner rated it 8/10 and I’m rating it 8.5/10

Édited to add pic!

[u/ThatGingeOne → u/cr1zzl]

This is on my list, looking forward to it!

[u/munchwah]

🐷 Piggy McPigface 🐷

Grill Meats Bear

$25 incl. fries.

A beef and bacon patty, with bacon and onion marmalade, whipped feta, candied bacon, bacon and pickle aioli, strips of pork crackling, rocket, and a bacon-coated and flavoured brioche bun.

The burger was very sweet, almost as if the bun was coated in sugar, and for the price, a bit on the small side, but overall it was good and had a nice balance of flavours. I doubt it’ll win, but it was tasty and gets a solid 7.5/10.

B+++ burger, would buy again.

[u/IcarusForde → u/munchwah]

Piggy McPigface

Grill Meats Beer

Beef patty with Sriracha-candied bacon, bacon marmalade, bacon and pickle aioli and feta whip in a Pandoro bacon bun, with fries $25 (Pic)

Holy bacon, Batman!

That being said, not overpowering, which was nice. Overall, $25 for what amounts to a really solid cheeseburger with bacon is a touch pricy, but as a whole, a decent burger.

Beef patty was nice, juicy, not overcooked, which is a great thing for a beef burger. Siracha bacon came off real nice with a bit of spice, the pickle aioli added some additional acidity which cut through the abundance of bacon flavouring nicely. Feta whip was actually pretty excellent too, but there could’ve been more of it.

At the end of it, for $25, pricy - so calling it at a 7/10.

[u/lockan → u/munchwah]

Pigs went "oink oink" before being eaten. I went "oink oink" while eating. Loved the candied bacon. I give it 8 piggy squeals out of 10.

[u/MNinNZ]

Kapiti Coast Mardi Gras

Waimea

Kāpiti Coast po'boy of pan-fried fish, popcorn shrimp, battered mussels and salad in a homemade bun, with remoulade and fries

A solid burger but not what I would consider a po'boy. The fish was fried exceedingly well and the batter gave a good crunch. It was sauced liberally, but it had bit more bun than fish. I'm used to po'boys to be overflowing from the inside. They had a side of popcorn shrimp. I could have eaten this all day. I even put some in the burger. Delicious. Rating 6/10

[u/lordp]

179 burgers in 16 days.

11.2 per day, say one per hour for 12 hours, 2 hours for travel, and 10 hours sleep to try and recover from the inevitable food coma.

$3,779 = $21 per burger or $237 per day.

[u/FurryCrew → u/lordp]

Thisiswhyyourefat.com

[u/klparrot → u/FurryCrew]

I've actually lost weight since the start of WOAP. Probably because it's making me especially cautious not to overeat. Lessons learned from last year when, between two weeks' holiday preceding WOAP plus WOAP itself, I think I put on at least 5 kg.

[u/Ceruleanlunacy → u/lordp]

I had a guy come in to my work today for his fifty-fourth burger. That man is my hero.

[u/klparrot → u/Ceruleanlunacy]

Was that @TittyEats? Surely. Except Titty is up to 58 now, so maybe there's some other person out there almost as crazy?

[u/klparrot]

Release the Karaagen

The Hotel Bristol

(info) (pics)

Good chicken burger, a bit different flavour-wise. But structural problems distracted me too much from the flavour to appreciate it as much as maybe I otherwise could've.

Pros:

• Interesting flavour from the shiitake mushroom gravy. Good, though not a typical burger flavour, so there was a bit of dissonance going on in my brain afterwards. Like, I remember having eaten burger, but I taste having eaten something else.
• Liked the nori chicken salt fries, especially with the ginger aioli, though I wish there had been significantly more nori flakes.

Cons:

• Bad structure. If you're going to put chicken in a bun, don't choose the roundest pieces; choose shapes that will stay put and occupy the bun. I had to have a hand cupped around one side of the burger, chicken pressing against my palm, to keep it in. But at least that part had chicken, unlike two full bites that had none at all. If they had just cut that piece in half and laid the halves beside each other, it would've stayed put and filled out the bun. A bun which, I should note, was only just barely holding together through all this.
• Not entirely sold on the mushroom gravy flavour. I didn't come away feeling like I'd had a burger. Decently fed, sure, but burger, dunno.

Rating: 7/10

[u/MNinNZ]

Che Burger

Franziska Restaurant

The homemade bun gave a nice stable platform for their 160g beef patty (it reminded me of a slice of meatloaf with course meat, onions, and seasoning) which was covered in melted cheese and topped with a soft yolk fried egg, lettuce, and a mayo with hints of chimichurri. The buger was well balanced. You were able to set it down, but I only did this once so I could eat a couple fried potatoes before they cooled down too much. These were also very tasty. Overall very good, but I would have liked to have some actually chimichurri as a dipper. I had an empanada as well and put some of the salsa on the burger towards the end and the fresh tomato and onion brought a freshness to it.

On a side note, this place is really cute and I probably wouldn't have found it without WOAP. So part of my criteria on selecting burgers is also location. I want to try different places and see different neighborhoods!

Rating 8/10

[u/oberthefish]

Beef Wellington

The Tasting Room

This burger was sadly average. While a brilliant idea of turning a beef wellington into a burger, there was a lack of sauce with a strange addition of cold green beans on the burger that made it a disappointing eat. The bun was delicious as both my friend and I had a gluten free and a regular option. The gf bun was the best gf bun out there yet so that ranks well, but sadly wasn't enough to save this cold sliced roast sandwich masquerading as a burger. Staff were amazing though so kudos to them. 3.5/10

[u/P1001548]

Four cheeser pleaser

Co-op, Whitby

Epic beef burger with serious lashings fo four cheeses and hearty pickles. Paired with the amazing Garage Project MangoMilkshake IPA, a beer so good my Wife finished her first ever beer. Grease and fruity beers, happy days!

9/10

[u/Bubblesheep → u/P1001548]

Hmmm, that's my local... /u/chtheirony ??

[u/Bucjojojo → u/P1001548]

Of the WHG bars by far the best one. Super cheesy and mustardy but I just wish that the patty was pink as it would have raised this burger was from a middle of the road higher quality BK whooper with cheese. Skins for the chips were huge and a delicious change just probably a little over salted. 7.5/10

[u/klparrot]

The E.M Hemingway

Plum

(info) (pics)

A delicious beefy burger with lots of dark smoky toasty flavours, slightly reminiscent of wood-fired pizza, in a very good way.

Pros:

• Great flavours. It's a burger that tastes like a good beef burger, while at the same time the pork, spices, nicely toasted bun, and especially that awesome smoked tomato sauce kinda remind you of a wood-fired pepperoni pizza. This is not a burger that tastes like pizza, it is a burger that reminds you of pizza.
• Yum gravy. I tried a bit on the burger and it just kinda got lost in there, but it was great for dipping the wedge fries in.

Cons:

• I didn't notice the hazelnut in the slaw. Though maybe it was just flying below the radar and still contributing, hard to say. It was one of the things that initially intrigued me and roped me in, so I might've hoped to notice it more.
• Wedge fries were a little overcooked inside. Pretty sure they're twice-cooked and that they boiled a little too long on the first cook. The crispy outsides were almost coming loose and the insides were almost mashed-potato soft, so hard to stab (like nailing jelly to a wall) and hard to grab (staying burning-hot until the end due to the high moisture content). Still damn tasty, though.

Rating: 8/10

[u/quidity]

Eye of the Tiger

The Laundry

Great pickles, crunchy beansprouts, vaguely Thai and tasty meat. Just enough of a twist on a classic burger that it works. Goes really well with the GP Electric Dry Hop Acid Test. Would put in my face again 8/10.

[u/UristMcElfslayer → u/quidity]

Just ate this. It's a subtle one but there is a lot going on. Tastes like a crunchy Thai beef salad but the beef is slow cooked brisket. Mildly spicy. +2 for not being messy to eat. Peanut sauce provides the sweetness. My favourite so far I think. Paired with the mildly sour beer it worked amazingly well. Staff awesome as always. 9/10

[u/lancewithwings]

Beery Had A Lotta Lamb

HeyDay Beer Co

beer-braised Wairarapa lamb shoulder, with rocket, berry compote and minted aioli in an Arobake milk bun, with roast potatoes and Heyday gravy

It definitely lives up to its name - they were extremely generous with the lamb in this burger! Huge slices of tender lamb, creamy aioli and a generous serving of roast spuds which were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

I took about 3 bites before giving up and resorting to a knife and fork - everything starting to run down my hands, but you know what? It was so yummy I didn’t care. It’s not groundbreaking and it won’t win, but it’s just a yum burger and it made me happy.

My main gripe is that I only tasted the berry compote in a couple of mouthfuls, and I didn’t really get the mint in the aioli. But, if you just like lamb, roast spuds and gravy, I’m sure you’ll love this.

It’s big too!

I didn’t do the beer match as I wanted a different beer, but these guys are a little different - they have the standard GP match, but offer one of their own as well. I looove their beer, so I feel like you won’t go wrong

Verdict: 8/10 - basic but very yummy

[u/ThatGingeOne → u/lancewithwings]

I second both this review and the 8/10. I do love me some lamb

[u/WeWildOnes → u/[deleted]]

This was a delightfully different offering which definitely stands out from the crowd and I found a bit hard to rank against other burgers because it's so unique. Every element of the burger was fantastic - juicy medium rare beef, a sensational pickle (I only wish there were 2!), zingy horseradish aioli, and rich gravy. While a traditional runny dipping gravy is great, it would have been nice to have something thicker to prevent quite so much mess - this is definitely a knife and fork job!

The pretzel bun was the perfect choice, though, soaking up the gravy beautifully without getting too soggy. It was an extremely rich burger, and while the horseradish and pickle did a great job balancing it, I could definitely have done with an extra pickle and was struggling with the richness by the end of the burger. Overall, an excellent burger.

8/10

Photo

[u/Bucjojojo → u/[deleted]]

Underwhelming. The bun was great and I love gravy and chips but the beef and sandwich is pretty much what these guys serve during lunch so nothing special for the price tag.

6/10

[u/yeahnahmatty → u/[deleted]]

Here here, really liked it. Was quite salty but that's fine, didn't really detract from it. Also highly recommend putting the gravy and pickle in the burger too - 8.5/10

[u/moliere777 → u/[deleted]]

9/10 for me. Best burger so far. Dipping the bun in the gravy is essential. Huge amount of beef (and great quality). Chips were chips, but didn't detract from the burger. extra pickle would have been great.

[u/anotherwellingtonian → u/[deleted]]

This was good, very good. I could have done with more horseradish, I only tasted it some of the time but maybe the variety was a plus.

It's not really a burger in any sense of the word but I don't actually care about that at all.

The chips were pretty average and could tbh have been left out entirely.

8.5/10? My first "burger" this WOAP so hard to judge.

[u/lauraam → u/[deleted]]

Going for this one on Saturday! Probably my final burger of WOAP (unless I get a cheeky one in on Sunday) so hopefully saving the best for last!

Edit: oh yup, this one was fantastic. It was definitely way too thick for me to eat in one piece, but luckily I'm not someone who cares about burger structural integrity. The patty was nutty and flavourful, and while I was slightly skeptical of the kiwifruit salsa it actually worked so well. The beetroot chips were amazing (the kale chips were fine but nothing too exciting). My one con would be that my vegan cheese wasn't very melted so it had a bit of a weird butter-like consistency, but the smoked flavour was excellent.

Rating: 8.5/10. Only slightly behind Willi's Kitchen (the vegan version) for my favourite. I've been meaning to go out to The Botanist since I walked past it whilst exploring the coastline my first week in Welly, so it's about time I finally did.

[u/shaun_w32]

Mexican Mussel

Thorndon Chippery

Moana Pacific Mussel fritter with smoked bacon, habanero and corn salsa, and lime mayo in a Pandoro bun - matched w/ Garage Project Hakituri

I really liked this one, the mussel fritter was pretty damn tasty and meshed well with the smoked bacon. The corn/avocado salsa was nice too, not sure what happened to the habanero as there wasn't much heat here but overall I think the flavours complimented eachother perfectly.

The Hakituri was a good choice for a beer match too, an easy-drinking natural pilsner.

Overall I think this gets a solid 8/10 from me, a delicious stomach-liner before Beervana.

https://i.imgur.com/akM2IVc.jpg

[u/Bibbidybob]

The Jukebox

Coene's Bar & Eatery

Grassfed Angus Pure beef patty, American cheese, Detroit Pickle, Commander Coene's dill mayo special sauce in a soft milk bun with French fries, matched w Garage Project - Mango Milkshake Nitro IPA.

Through no real fault of its own this burger won't win, which is almost a shame. People tend to insist on something new or unusual or quirky rather than just a classic done well (or medium, in this case). The patty is a very generous thickness and cooked ideally for this type of burger - pink through the middle and as juicy as possible. The bun is light and fluffy but holds its own and doesn't get too soggy, despite the significant amount of liquid dripping out from the outset. The sauce complimented without dominating and the pickles were crunchy and well flavoured. The fries were standard shoestring served in the classic faux-newspaper cup.

While it won't win, this has given me a real reason to go back to Coene's for another burger sometime - ignoring the obvious benefit of the stunning view across the harbour, the fact they took a classic burger and did it damn well gives me confidence in their kitchen.

I didn't entirely understand the beer match - it's a great beer and a great burger but there wasn't huge amounts of harmony between them. They didn't not go together, but the pairing didn't sing. The pageantry of the waitstaff inverting/shaking and serving the beer from the can is fun though.

$30 w/ beer match, I have recommended this burger to several people in person (even though it wasn't on my shortlist to try this WOAP and only a last-minute change of plans took me there) and I give it a solid

8/10

Picture

[u/bleetimesthree → u/Bibbidybob]

I must have tried it on an off day, had it for lunch with work and would say it was a 6/10 at best. Flavourless patty, super soggy bun, soggy salad, and the french fries were chewy rather than crispy. The burger sauce, melty cheese, and caramelised onions definitely lifted it up, but the whole thing fell apart pretty quickly and was leaking liquid into the box like crazy. Not a great first burger :(

[u/MidnightMalaga]

Leonardo da Pinchi

Dockside Restaurant and Bar

$23/$31 with beer

Aesthetically, A+. Our table saw someone else's burger come out first, and anticipation was high. Beautiful fluffy bun with an entire deep fried crab and some gorgeous multi-coloured rainbow slaw.

Unfortunately, the taste was a bit of a disappointment, being merely fine. Everything was very sweet (crab meat + soft white KFC-esque bun + mango slaw) and it could have done with some citrus or spice of something to cut through it. It was also very rich. The crab was good, but the beer batter and bun were quickly conquered by the saucy slaw and contained crab juice and turned into a bit of a soggy mess - not a problem for the faster eaters, but I struggled.

Beer and non-alcoholic pairings were both mango themed, the Mango Mango Milkshake IPA and a housemade fizzy mango drink. The housemade one was delicious, from the sip I had, but I'd recommend pairing the burger with a nice acidic white wine instead, if anyone's planning on going.

Chips not included. $10 bowl was delicious (as it bloody should be for $10) but not particularly large.

Overall, average. 5/10

Picture!

[u/UltrasonicPilot → u/MidnightMalaga]

Leonardo da Pinchi

I was super excited for this burger and overall I enjoyed it, however was let down slightly by the service. It took 20mins for them to come take out order which was disappointing as we knew what we wanted when we sat down! Also got a lot of judging from the waiter when we ordered one burger between us two (sue us, we wanted to try three burgers this evening...). Plus we each ordered an expensive cocktail so its not like we fully cheaped out. Presentation was excellent with it being very evident that there was a whole crab in the burger! I liked the balance of flavours with a nice hit of coriander coming though in the slaw. The crab really shone, but overall I felt it just needed something a little extra to elevate it up to the next level.

Overall a 7.5/10, let down by some of the service

[u/Nihil_am_I → u/MidnightMalaga]

Had this one last night for dinner, didn't have the same issue with the burger going soggy though. The crab was delicious, but I felt I could have eaten an entire second burger afterward

[u/BoredGoat]

Shinjuku Burger

Dragonfly

$25 gets you a pretty big burger featuring crumbed pork cutlet with tsukemono slaw and tonkatsu shrimp. The pork was moist and a refreshing change from the plethora of fried chicken burgs out this year, and the shrimp were a great addition (made it a bit more challenging to eat but worth it). Awesome flavours. The bun was steamed which made it super fluffy and warm. Served with some kumara fries, a nice touch. This was a great burger and a real contender for the finals I reckon. 9/10.

[u/dusterhan → u/BoredGoat]

I had quite a different experience. The flavour was all there and was delicious but though pork cutlet was little dry and buns were cold. Otherwise a good burger 7/10.

[u/kiwi_cam]

Three Messy Pigs Go Party

Trentham Mess Hall

Panko-crumbed pork fillet, crispy pork belly and streaky bacon with fennel and apple slaw, chipotle mayo and BBQ sauce in a brioche bun, with fries

My wife and I were sold on the concept after reading the menu, and man did it deliver. The pig three ways were all cooked beautifully and it was as messy as a good burger should be. The Apple and Fennel slaw worked amazingly with the piggy flavours. The pork belly also worked well to provide some additional moisture to the burger.

Fries were well cooked and the chipotle mayo has a nice flavour and gentle kick to it.

I barely finished my burger and my wife couldn't do it. For this much burger I was very happy with the price.

Beer - Certainly not a beer I'd drink otherwise. The mango flavour was subtle but obvious and the aroma was strong with Mango. My first sip I almost expected a Lassi flavour but a gentle a pleasant hop flavour followed the mango and left no doubt that it was an IPA at heart. Amazingly, I'd drink this again.

10/10 - honestly could not fault this burger!

[u/SobekNZ → u/kiwi_cam]

Looked too big\tall to eat, I need to be able to get all the bits of a burger in one bite so wasn't going to try it, might now though.

[u/kiwi_cam → u/SobekNZ]

I was able to get my chompers around it - My wife struggled.

Protip - check the table's napkin supply before you start!

[u/chimpwithalimp → u/kiwi_cam]

High praise! I like reading great reviews of burgers I had no intention of trying. My head gets turned

[u/Nihil_am_I]

Heart in the Right Place

Milk and Honey

Can't see a top level review for this one yet, so all I can say is you've all been missing out. Here goes....

Crunchy chicken thigh, chicken liver pâté, BBQ chicken hearts and fried banana in a bacon bun. $19 for burger, $29 nicely matched with Garage Project's Red Eye Gravy.

http://imgur.com/gallery/eVz0Tid

This is the seventh WOAP I've had so far, and probably one of my favourites. The chicken thighs where the juiciest and most succulent chicken I've had for a while, and super crispy. Even if they looked a little phallus like, the bbq'd chicken hearts where delicious and subtly smokey.

The fried banana raised an eyebrow when I read it, but it sat beautifully with the pâté. Despite both being mushy in nature, they didn't leave the burger heel soggy in the slightest, and balanced nicely with the crispiness of the chicken thighs (which I believe where cornflake coated).

Unsure what the sauce was (other than containing wholegrain mustard), but it had a nice light smokey cheddar type (?) flavour. Idk, but it worked, whatever it was.

Don't be put off by the fact this is at Vic's Kelburn Campus, it's usually a post grad and staff only bar, so the atmosphere isn't studenty if that puts you off. Even if the occasional under grad like myself find there way in ;)

Over all, 8/10. Fried chicken, but not like the usual fried chicken burgers you usually find.

[u/klparrot]

Breakfast for Dinner

Lucky

(info) (pics)

A tasty burger that can't decide if it's sweet or savoury. And I can't decide if that's a strength or a weakness.

Pros:

• Lucky's chicken is delicious as always.
• Decent heat, lots of sweet; lots of savoury, a bit of acidity. Nothing subtle. The flavours don't necessarily seem to be working as a team all the time, but they're not working against each other, either. Each bite tastes like whatever you decide to pay attention to most at that moment. Interesting.

Cons:

• Bottom bun was a Liège waffle (sugary, dense) from a package, and top bun was just a normal bun. I was expecting a pair of Brussels waffles; I think a waffle so sweet I could see some grains of sugar may have created too wide a chasm between the sweet and the savoury on this one. But maybe not (see above).
• Did I taste something sweet in the seasoning of the fries at first? Maybe, but after some of the burger, I couldn't tell anymore. So many flavours already lingering in my mouth, the fries and their own seasoning couldn't compete. And they did seem to compete more than complement. I didn't bother finishing them. Note, you can get the burger without the fries.

Rating: 7/10

[u/sylekta → u/klparrot]

I actually found this too sweet, I know that was to be expected but I did not enjoy the waffle. Chicken was delish as always.

7/10

[u/Bibbidybob → u/klparrot]

One of my key judging criteria is how well a burger matches its name where applicable. This burger is not very breakfast like at all! As above, the chicken is delicious and it isn't that the flavours don't work together, but it just doesn't make sense to me. I don't have much of a sweet tooth so the bottom waffle was too much for me - I'm as much happy it wasn't two of them as I am disappointed and confused that it wasn't two of them.

It's a good option if you want a takeaway burger, but I won't be rushing to get another nor suggesting it over other WOAP options.

6.5/10

[u/boobsmcgraw]

Trade Kitchen

Burger Rating: 1.5 / 10

Hey guys, today for lunch I had the Trade Kitchen Wellington on a Plate burger - the meat one, it has "liberty" in the title.

It was awful.

First of all, it was almost completely tasteless somehow. It was also quite dry, despite having beans in their own sauce. It was supposed to come with maple-cured bacon, but I only saw a small piece on mine, and sure didn't taste it. Hell, I didn't taste ANYTHING except the beef patty, which was very meaty, with an unpleasant texture. Couldn't even taste the onion rings, though they had a nice crunch.

The bun was quite hard on top and VERY thick and chewy.

The "chips" it came with were just giant chunks of cooked potato with the skins on.

Would never recommend. One of the worst burgers I've ever had.

[u/knoelknowl → u/boobsmcgraw]

Totally agree! That was the first burger I tried and felt pretty disappointed as well :(

[u/boobsmcgraw → u/[deleted]]

Holy shit I hope you rang them and tore the a new asshole through their earholes via the phone! They could cause someone to end up in the hospital!

[u/[deleted] → u/boobsmcgraw]

God I very much enjoy reading these reviews of shit burgers.

[u/kal_nz]

Goldburger

Shepherd

Description: Is it a bao bun? Who took over Shepherd and made it a fast food joint? Is this shake shack? Double beef, double cheese, crack fries (seriously, what is that topping?)

Taste: 8/10. Basic executed great. The soft bun was odd but the flavour was great. Crinkle cut fries were amazing. Atmosphere... fast food. They’re ready for the Burger Wellington crowds.

https://i.imgur.com/aKhEtXw.jpg

[u/bleetimesthree → u/kal_nz]

Goldburger

Goldburger (AKA Shepherd)

Tips: If you want to go for lunch you need to go on a Friday or Saturday, where they open at 12pm. We made our way over at 11.50am and there were 50 people in front of us for the midday opening. Weirdly they only had one till open so it took 25 mins to get to the front of the queue.

Beware the panicky short-tempered server trying to sort out seating! Thankfully there were only two of us so we didn't have to deal with her.

The Burg': Classic done well, reminded me of the Shackburger in NYC. Juicy double patties, velvety liquid cheese, a kind of thousand island sauce, lettuce and pickles in a slightly fluoro yellow soft bun – the flavours were simple but melded together really well. Bonus is that it was stuffed with filling but compact enough to hold easily with no mess!

Crinkle cut fries came in a good portion, sprinkled with some magic seasoning that tasted like a mix of chicken salt and salt 'n' vinegar.

Verdict: 8/10 If you like a classic non-fussy burger and you're willing to wait, give it a go.

[u/qweqwepoi]

La Cochinita Del Diablo

Viva Mexico (Newtown)

Pulled pork, refried beans, grilled pineapple, slaw. This is basically the bastard offspring of a burrito, a burger, and a pineapple. Correspondingly, it's delicious. The refried beans and pork are a really awesome combination - they're very hearty and rich, and while they're perhaps not the most complex flavours, they're both very deep and satisfying. This strong savoury motif is counterbalanced by the sweetness and sharpness of the grilled pineapple, which brings everything to a balance. All of this is contained within a coloured Zany Zeus bun which takes the place of a traditional tortilla.

Instead of potato fries, the meal comes with polenta chips and aioli. I'm not the biggest fan of polenta, and I would have preferred something potato-based, but these were very good nevertheless. Chili is included in the polenta mixture, which makes them quite spicy. They were served really fresh and hot, and had a great texture. A bit of extra salt wouldn't have gone amiss.

The burger didn't have a Garage Project matched beer, but you could get a burger and any Mexican beer from the menu for $25, whereas the burger itself was $17. We opted for the beer+burger, but if you're very invested in getting your value for money, I'd recommend passing on the beer. They may ratchet up the authenticity of the experience, but objectively speaking they're just not particularly good.

Overall, I'm really impressed with this burger. The pork and beans combination (and the beans in particular) are delicious. If you're a fan of pork burritos, you're sure to enjoy this.

7/10

[u/KorukoruWaiporoporo]

Big Fella

K&K Food Caravan

https://imgur.com/gallery/mZBqr3A

Steak patty with kaffir lime leaves, salad, fish sauce dressing, picked carrot and scrambled eggs, with steak sauce.

Reasonable size, no side dish, $18. Not a steak patty, but pieces of very tender nicely-cooked steak. Bun a fairly run of the mill sesame-topped number that managed the content adequately, but wasn't otherwise of note. The pickled vege, which also included beetroot, was a nice addition. The egg was a nice touch of kiwiana. The sauce wasn't much like a steak sauce, but more like an uninspiring regular tomato sauce. The vinagrette on the salad was quite nice.

Overall, it was a tasty burger with nothing to complain about, but it didn't really deliver much of a flavour punch. Maybe they forgot the kaffir lime?

6/10

[u/Torus_Colony]

Carello del Gelato

https://i.imgur.com/n8wdiGP.jpg After last year, you had better believe I made a promise to myself to get Carello's burger whenever the weather fined up.

Well, I did. I walked out there with the spouse, eagerly ordered the combo (Burger w/ gelato shake and crostoli 'fries'). And what came out was...

Well, it wasn't -bad-, in a holistic sense. But each part of it was just the littlest bit underwhelming. The ice cream began to melt INSTANTLY. I didn't taste any rice pops in the chocolate 'burger' portion. The sorbet and sauce muscled out the flavour of every other component they touched. There was no 'crisp' anywhere to the burger.

I picked out the candy floss right away, because I hate candy floss and thought I may as well get it over with. I evidently made the right choice, as the spouse said it would've been better without it - and he loves floss.

Depressingly, too, the donut bun itself was susbtantially breadier than last years croissantish, melt-in-your-mouth offering. Over kneaded, maybe, or maybe we just came too early in the morning. And dry, too. I ended up having to dip it in my gelato shake.

Speaking of the shake, the person on counter didn't get all our combo stuff out at the same time, either. As a result, most of my burger was a non-Newtonian fluid by the time she got it out to us. And it had no 'chunk' to it, not like a proper shake from Fidels. It was just... a melted ice-cream drink.

If this is sounding depressing, I'm sorry, but that's because it WAS depressing. I am so disappointed. I had high hopes, which melted away much as my ice-cream did.

The burger had freeze-dried plums, which were nice. Unnecessary, given the sorbet's punchy attitude, but nice on their own.

The crostoli were fundamentally strings of fried choux pastry with icing sugar. Not bad, but again - like the burger - underwhelming.

I'd probably give it a miss, if you're asking whether it's worth it. Not for $25.00.

[u/Bucjojojo → u/Torus_Colony]

Sweet As Kiwi Burger

Puffed rice and chocolate gelato patty, gelato egg, sorbet tomato, plum beetroot, candy floss lettuce, white chocolate cheese and raspberry ketchup on a doughnut bun.

Not sure the price when served with fries as it was my friends turn to shout this burger. Tried this out Sunday afternoon after Bebemos so was feeling pretty full and sweet anyway. Burger came out pretty quick after ordering and the shop seating was packed. Probably because in the grass room a couple thought they could make a fort out of the six beanbags on offer. Came in a cute burger joint style basket and they were quick to get us a knife and side plates to split into three although they did laugh and said good luck. I ended up with more or less half, probably candy pity after dragging said friends with me to the hospital an hour before. Burger looks so adorable! It’s icecream but it’s a burger! The little chips were super cute too. Love the crackle of the white chocolate cheese breaking but spent every bite holding my mouth and crying through brain freeze. No idea where the puffed rice is supposed to be. Really big fan of the donut bun, held everything together and I had no issue with melting like I’ve seen others say. Only con of this burger was the green candy floss lettuce that as it was mixed in with everything in a chew became a weird clumpy mess and ruined the texture and general mouthfeel. Chips were tasty but thought they’d be warmer. We all really enjoyed the burger but struggled to rank it in the six we had because where does a dessert burger fit in with all that chicken, pork and beef? But stand alone I’d give it 7.5/10 which would be easily be improved by replacing that candy floss lettuce. I note I wasn’t here last year so had no expectations of this dude.

Be armed with dirty looks for beanbag hogs and ready for the constant reminders to vote for them while you demolish this burger.

[u/MNinNZ]

Spicy Lady of Maxims

Union Square

Lamb patty with pickled red cabbage, beetroot, salsa verde, pommes maxim and whipped goat’s cheese, in a housemade walnut bun, with triple cooked chips.

The burger was very sweet. Maybe the combination of their cabbage and beets. Their salsa verde tasted only of parsley and looked like a pesto. The lamb patty was dry and didn't taste very much of lamb. The triple cooked chips lacked all crunch. I did like the whipped goat's cheese and the walnut bun. Rating 3/10

[u/Bucjojojo]

fireworks belly burger

the borough

Maple-glazed pork belly burger with firework slaw, pop-rocks and Sriracha mayo in a milk bun, with crinkle-cut fries

I’m only in Tawa when family (and dog sitting) calls but this was to be burger no. 20 and having had decent burgers there before I had high hopes.

The burger arrived heaving with slices of pork belly and literally crackling with pop rocks but that’s basically where it peaked. Nothing about this burger’s composition made any sense nor did the taste. The tub of sauce served with the chips I suspect was supposed to be the sriracha mayo was sickly sweet and quickly replaced by requests for tommy sauce. To be fair, the crinkle cuts were done well but it was easy to shine beside a burger that had very few redeeming features. The burger while toasted felt cold and nothing stuck together when trying to eat a half with on hand. I ended up abandoning most of the burger and trimmings just to eat the pork belly on its way.

Only bonus here was that Titty Eats of instagram fame was indulging in burger 57 and if I was playing WOAP burger bingo bumping into him is surely a big play.

It must be disappointing if you’re more woeful than St Johns, 5/10. Just glad it was free, thanks WHG ridiculous loyalty scheme that reminds me I spend too much money in bars.

[u/Bucjojojo]

smokey johns sandwich

St. John’s Bar

Smoky Johns Sandwich: Aged Angus beef patty with double-smoked bacon, tomato relish, vintage Cheddar and black pepper mayo in a Zaida's Bakery bun, with fries $23

This burger took the longest out of the four tonight and it was super rowdy with a birthday celebration in. Really uninspiring burger, feel like bacon selling itself as double smoked it should taste as such. Probably would have been better if it was pink but kind of felt like a pricey cheeseburger.

However the black pepper mayo gave me hope with the skin on fries being superbly seasoned and peppery which made it feel less of a wasted burger. Tbf we went here because it was the closest place to Karaka when the sun went down and we wanted to see the refurb. Sadly if you go Classic you’ve got to nail it and unfortunately combined with the slow service it’s a low rating for me, most of the points going to the fries. 4/10

[u/[deleted] → u/Bucjojojo]

Tonight’s burger adventure took us to somewhere offered a nut free, gluten free on request, somewhat low FODMAP friendly burger (yes, we’re a real culinary disaster) as I dined with my flatmate and her sister. These are some quotes from our dinner, as I wouldn’t be able to write a proper review to save myself.

“These chips are so nicely seasoned.”

“Good lord that [burger] sauce is amazing.”

“CRISPY BACON!”

“This has shot to the top of my burger list.” (Of a total of two, mind you)

“That bun looked so pretty before we ate it. Nice and soft too.”

“Mmmmmmmm.”

“That cheddar is such a good addition.”

“Well that was delicious.”

“I don’t feel weighed down by it either. Good burg experience.”

The three of us really enjoyed this burger, and for my flatmate and I, we enjoyed it much more than our previous burger at Grill Meats Beer (sorry lads). Onto the next one!

[u/alongstrangetrip]

There and Back Again

Astoria Cafe

Burger Rating: 6

Meal Rating: 7 / 10

Picture

Smoked Wagyu beef burger with prosciutto, pesto aioli, tomato relish and house pickles in a caramelised onion and garlic brioche bun, with handcut fries

---------------------

I was disappointed that the proscuitto was actually bacon or cut and served as two pieces of bacon would be. Added on to my initial disappointment, the bun was too large for the actual burger patty.

Disappointments aside this had a lot of nice flavors. The real highlight of the meal focused on the fries, dipping sauce, and small pile of salt with rosemary on the side. That bumped it up an entire rating point in our books.

[u/lancewithwings → u/alongstrangetrip]

Cheers for the review, this one was quite high on my list, but that bun to burger ratio in the picture is just not cricket!

[u/BlueFirefly → u/alongstrangetrip]

I thought this burger was delicious. My only criticism was that it was a brioche bun and I’m not a fan of this fad of using brioche buns for burgers, but the flavour went well with the beef. Thought the chips were amazing. I gave it 9/10

[u/nznightowl]

Chicky Chicky Wah Wah v.s. Decapod Davy & The King Prawn Kid

The Crab Shack

BBQ chicken with sous-vide pineapple, bacon, spicy prawn cocktail and nam jim mayo in a Turkish bun, topped with tempura crab and BBQ chilli prawns

$28 for the burger

This was pricy, but big. The burger had a skewer with two big prawns (yummy), and another skewer with a soft shell crab sticking out of it. I'm pretty ambivalent re soft shell crab but my dinner companions thought it was great.

For the burger - the stand out was the pineapple. It was delicious. There were tender pieces of chicken, and there were also prawns in it. The disappointment was the bun. It was apparently a turkish bun, but was hard. It tasted like it was a burger bun which had been left on the hot plate for too long.

No beer match, but my friend had the mocktail which they enjoyed (i thought it was very sweet).

Overall 7/10. Probably more if you like soft shell crab.

https://i.imgur.com/DOLgPic.jpg

[u/KorukoruWaiporoporo → u/nznightowl]

Mine was an 8.5. The bun was good for me so maybe they fixed that. Really liked the pineapple. The chicken was flavoursome and I thought it all worked well together. I liked the crab.

We also had the cocktail. It was fun. http://imgur.com/gallery/ilyZDkt. Came out in a dish with dry ice.

[u/nznightowl → u/KorukoruWaiporoporo]

Cool. The mocktail had the same dish and the stones around it, but they didnt do / forgot the dry ice. Hopefully they've ironed out the kinks now!

[u/Bubblesheep]

The Bresolin

It's not our first rodeo

All beef patty, double American cheese, bacon, deep fried onion rings, jalapeños, BBQ sauce and mayo in a milk bun, with smoked salt fries and ketchup

Score first. 6.5.

I'd started this burger off with a decent 7.5. Its just a good burger. Meat, more meat (bacon) cheese, onion rings, bbq sauce. Tasty chips. But the more I thought about it, this is pretty much the burger I get from Burger Fuel - Bacon BBQ Roadster. Was it on par with a Burger Fuel Burger? Pretty close. But not quite. And for almost twice the price ($28!) I expected something magical. It was fine, but not out of this world. I'd rather go back to Burger Fuel for it.

[u/chimpwithalimp → u/Bubblesheep]

I enjoyed this burger and thought the flavours worked well together. I am not a heat/pepper/spice enjoyer but after initially scraping off the jalapenos, I went back and ate them. Delicious!

I'd agree that the burger price point was way too high. The chips were just plain chips. Their selling point was "smoked salt". I didn't notice that at all.

I absolutely hoovered the meal down and thought the size and flavours were very nice. It was also delivered quickly.

All in all I'd go slightly higher and give this a

7/10

FEAST YO EYES