Tag: burger

Categories
American

Ribs & Burgers – Eastgardens NSW Restaurant Review

My first experience with Ribs and Burgers was in March 2020, when I had the luck and pleasure of availing a brief 50% off offer for frontline healthcare workers. While the concept of providing discounts to healthcare workers with stable employment in the face of widespread job losses seemed a bit iffy to me I must admit I did enjoy the huge amount of (unphotographed) food that I got for under $50.

Ribs and Burgers, without a discount, is a much different beast. While there’s nothing particularly wrong about the food that they serve, the prices are sky-high, even compared to competitors like Hog’s Breath.

Mexican Wrap

This Mexican Wrap ($17.90) of grilled chicken and guacamole was fine but not amazing. The chicken was tender and there was a large serving of guacamole, but at $18 I’d sure expect there to be.

Crispy Louisiana

The Crispy Louisiana ($18.90) is a burger in the vein of fried chicken. As you can probably see from this photo the “crispy” component of the name is mostly in the imagination. While it was not bad it was not quite a $19 burger. If you have a hankering for a Southern fried chicken burger I’d suggest you look to a specialty store like Belle’s Hot Chicken instead – cheaper and more delicious.

The Pork Babyback ribs ($49.90) – not pictured were quite tasty and tender, but again very expensive.

Spicy Mexican Burger

The Spicy Mexican Burger ($14.90) was actually pretty good. Juicy, tasty, well sauced, and the meat had a nice chargrill flavour to it.

Potato salad

The potato salad ($7.90) was pretty middling, although my partner did appreciate that the pickles were on top and not mixed into the salad – she doesn’t like it when potato salads are too sour.

CONCLUSION

I wouldn’t get Ribs & Burgers at full price, but I would at a steep discount.

3/5

Ribs & Burgers Eastgardens
FC3/152 Bunnerong Rd, Eastgardens NSW 2036
(02) 9344 7788

Categories
Café SWANA (Middle Eastern)

Kelby’s Cafe – Marrickville NSW Restaurant Review

Colby is the name of one of my two favourite cats in the whole world, and I’m sad that I wasn’t able to bring him with me to Kelby’s Cafe. I have, in fact, never taken Colby with me to a single cafe or restaurant in his entire little life, but I’m sure that he would love running around and stealing everyone’s food.

I’m not usually a fan of shakshuka, but I was surprised to find just how much I liked Kelby’s Kibbeh Shakshoukah. The crunchy Lebanese bread was deliciously light and crispy. The shakshouka was meaty and tasty. The Lebanese stringed halloumi was something I had never had before, and an interesting spin on what is usually just a salty squeaky block of cheese. The baked eggs, chickpeas, basil, and tomato base were all delicious. I liked this dish so much I was hesitant to share it with my partner.

Klassic beef burger with side of chips

Kelby’s Klassic beef burger is one K away from a cult name, but many more Ks away from cult worthiness. I won’t go too far into it, but basically the beef patty was thick but not juicy, and not tasty either. While seasoned readers of this blog will know that I often complain about too much seasoning, this particular burger had very little taste at all. Coupled with the quite frankly weird dark, floppy and oil drenched chips this was not the pick of the day.

Of note for the hydration fans out there, water was a fill-your-own bottle affair from the chilled filter tap.

Would I come back? Maybe – but probably only if I’m already 90% pho by volume and Kurumac is closed. Would I recommend it? Yes – especially while the shakshuka is still on the menu.

4/5

Categories
Japanese

Spanish Sakaba – Willoughby NSW Restaurant Review

The suburbs North of the bridge are full of Japanese-flavoured adventures, however they are can be difficult to access to us mere mortals. My South Eastern Sydney colleagues had previously had dinner at Spanish Sakaba, but missed out on their famous wagyu ramen. We therefore made a special decision to cross the bridge for a second time as a group to give it a go.

The Yuzu slushy ($8.80) was quite good, but very expensive and small.

The deep fried wagyu gyoza (4 for $10) were pretty good. The filling was more complex than the usual cabbage pork stuff that you get at most Japanese restaurants in Sydney. My brave senior colleague had the great idea to ask for an extra gyoza for an extra fee, so that we could each have one.

We each ordered a Trio Wagyu Ramen ($29.29), which was served in a large, hat-like dish (see above). This was a mixture of oxtail, sliced beef, and tri-tip in a thick chicken and beef soup. I liked this, however thought that the fatty meats made the soup too thick and rich. Apparently the wagyu oxtail ramen without the other two meats comes with a lighter soup.

The chef served the five of us a complimentary wagyu salad with horseradish dressing. In my opinion this was actually the best dish of the meal, and we were so surprised that we were offered it for free. It was really delicious, and it had plenty of just-charred meat. The horseradish dressing added a great flavour to the dish. I would honestly pay for this if I could, but I don’t think it’s even on the menu.

The Angus Beef Katsu with Chips ($27.80) was not what I expected. First off, $28 is a super expensive for a burger and chips. My colleague who had been here before said that it was a classic Japanese burger – I thought this would be some epic level hamburg. What it actually was was a katsu crumbed beef steak with cabbage and tonkatsu sauce. I thought it was good, but not great, and definitely not $28 great. The chips were fine. Normal shoestring chips.

The Chips with Osaka sauce ($7.50) were just fine. Neither strong nor weak.

My overall verdict is: good, expensive. Avoid beef burger. Get beef salad (try to order off the menu)

Spanish Sakaba
537 Willoughby Rd, Willoughby NSW 2068
(02) 9967 0575

Categories
British

Kiwi Fish Shop – Mascot NSW Review

The need for salt and oil struck me again recently, and this need was fed by an evening delivery order from Kiwi Fish Shop, a fish and chip shop variably described as being in Mascot or Rosebery, and possibly part of the Newmarket Hotel operation.

The crumbed calamari (3 pieces for $4.50) provided a good initial hit of salt and umami.

The prawn cutlet ($2.50 each) were a bit overbreaded but still good

The sea scallops (2 for $2.50) were not as fresh as deep fried scallops can be, but still passable.

The crumbed oyster ($3.25) was not as good as at Kibuna, a Japanese restaurant also located in Mascot – however obviously in a different style.

The fish and chips ($12) were just that. I was not that into the chips, While the tyranny of distance is at least partially to blame, they just didn’t taste fresh to me.

An additional fish fillet was had for $9 – already you can see this is too much food

I was sad to have been charged $1.50 each for small tubs of tartare sauce. You would think that some would be included.

The fish taco combo ($12) was delicious – mainly the fish taco. I liked the sauce and salsa. Could’ve gone without the mountain of chips and with a couple of dollars off the price to match.

The Juicy Scotch Fillet Burger optioned by my partner with egg and cheese ($13 base, $16 as shown) was pretty good actually, but expensive and also not the real reason you’re ordering from a fish and chip shop on a Thursday evening.

THOUGHTS

The food at Kiwi Fish Shop was not bad, and even probably quite good. I don’t really have a recent benchmark to compare it to, as fish and chips are really more of a once in a year or two thing given the wide variety of other delicious things that I have access to, that may not be as bad for me. I had strong regrets about halfway through the meal, but for some reason I powered through. I should have at least saved the food for the following day.

4/5 steamed clams

Kiwi Fish Shop
895 Botany Rd, Mascot NSW 2020
(02) 9667 2499

Categories
Latin American

Pochito – Mascot NSW Restaurant Review

Having to drive my previously-slightly-inebriated partner to work following a night out meant that I had an excuse to try one of our local cafes on the way back home. Pochito, one of Sydney’s few homes of empanadas and other Chilean cuisine, was next on my hit list.

Pochito, as the story is told by its owners, means the feeling of sleepiness induced by a meal. While I can’t find such a translation online from Spanish, what I can find is that pochito means kidnapping in Russian. Something to think about.

Chicken and mushroom, Four cheese empanadas.

After having a seat at a table of my choice (all tables were free), I indulged in three of Pochito’s specialty empanadas.

Four cheese empanada (left), chicken and mushroom empanada (right)

The four cheese empanada ($5) was too cheesy for me. It’s a stupid thought to put down on paper, but I’m sticking to my guns. Apart from the cheesiness there was not much other flavour. The chicken and mushroom empanada ($6) was quite creamy, not bad, but not as good as our third contestant. My partner thought that both the four cheese and chicken and mushroom empanadas were missable.

Beef empanada

The traditional beef empanada ($6) was by far my. It had a tasty filling of beef, egg, and onion, as well as some olive and sultana that I wasn’t quite able to appreciate. This was served with a dish of coriander salsa, which was delicious.

Lomito Sandwich

The Lomito Sandwich ($12) is a Chilean specialty, and really delicious. Included within its milk bun was a generous serving of marinated pork loin mixed with smashed avocado, a tasty, juicy slice of tomato, and a lot of mayonnaise. I actually ordered the lomito after I had finished my half of the empanadas, as they had not quite hit the spot. I’m glad that I did. The lomito sandwich really is special.

DISCUSSION

Pochito is a family run business, and during my visit I interacted with multiple family members, who were all quite nice and welcoming. At one point during my meal the owner of the restaurant came by and asked me if I was a foodie. I must admit that I was too embarrassed to say that was, and basically lied through my teeth and told her no. She said something along the lines of “I guess everyone needs to eat to stay alive though.”

Sorry Paulina.

4.5/5, mostly for lomito. (Empanadas alone 3.5/5)

Pochito
1021 Botany Rd, Mascot NSW 2020
0402 432 920