Burger Theory - No.1

“I’ve got a theory – it could be bunnies“. Burger Theory have previously graced these pages with their No.2 burger receiving a very favourable review that you can see here. Can their alternative offering possibly scale the same heights – or will the theory not quite stack up this time around?

Venue & Service
This time around we were in Victoria Square on a surprisingly nice winters day. The van was as previously described. It’s a van. They dish out burgers, chips and drinks. They say hello and thank you. You get what you order. Lets move on.

The Burger
Meat Pattie
The meat pattie was, as always, outstanding. They use 100% Coorong Angus beef sourced from Feast! Fine Foods. It is ground daily by BT and is then cooked to roughly medium, which – other venues take note – is just as it should be. While yes, I have borrowed much of that from the Burger Theory website, it does describe it quite adequately so I didn’t bother trying to reinvent the wheel.

What the website doesn’t tell you though, is that it tastes absolutely amazingly fantastic! The texture, the flavour, the aroma….all truly outstanding. Essentially flawless in this aspect.

Fillings and Roll
The fillings for the No.1 is fairly basic – iceburg lettuce, tomato, American cheese and Truck sauce. The truck sauce is a mildly spiced chipotle style sauce (well that is my take on it) and is perfect for a burger application. The ‘American Cheese’ I would guess is similar to that which you get from McDonalds or the Subway ‘old english’, and this is in no way a bad thing as it sits lovingly draped over the pattie. The tomato was red, present and tomato flavoured, but was a welcome companion.

The lettuce was a bit of an issue though, as I had lucked into getting largely the bottom chunky bits, and as such was somewhat too thick and just a bit annoying. This was removed and eaten separate to the rest of the burger, and it at least removed the unwelcome distraction.

The Breadtop bun was excellent, being soft and flavorsome, although it seemed that mine had been more attacked that sliced open. It was a little mangled and it did impact on the eating just a little towards the end, but this is a fairly small and isolated issue.

Sides
The side consisted of some salted hot chips in a cardboard cup. They were noticeably better than last time though, for whatever reason. They were crisp and golden, fluffy on the inside, nicely seasoned and just very tasty.

The Value
The price for the No.1 is $8, and when you add in chips and a drink, this comes to $13. The burger itself isn’t massive at all, but all together it is easily sufficient for a lunch. On pure quantity of food per dollar terms – if that is your thing – sure you could do better elsewhere. But if its quality you are after, then its money very well spent.

Overall/Summary
The No.1 from Burger Theory is much more ‘basic’ than the No.2. It uses very simple ingredients but this is not in any way a criticism. It is like the burger equivalent of the little black dress – it accentuates all the good bits without being over the top. Its classy yet dead sexy. You enjoy what you have but leaves you wanting just that bit more.

However, if the number 1 is the little black dress, then the number two has the matching shoes, handbag, hair and makeup. Small things in the grand scheme – but it makes the whole package that little bit more appealing. While the blue cheese flavour may not be for everyone, if this does get the salivary glands working then it does make it almost impossible to go past. The No.1 is very very good, make no mistake. It is just somewhat overshadowed by its stablemate.

To continue the horse analogy though, it could be considered horses for courses to some extent. Not everyone will like the No.2 so there has to be an alternative, and the bottom line is that no matter which one you back you are guaranteed a winner.

Score – 8