Full of Beans – Claire's Adelaide Veggie Burger Review

August 30, 2017

Hallouminati

Tonight, my husband and I went to Burger Republic in Hyde Park, and I had the Hallouminati burger. The Hallouminati burger contains grilled haloumi, charred pumpkin, beetroot relish and rocket, and it costs $16.50.

And it was delicious! To be honest, I relieved my burger of most of its rocket because… I don’t like rocket. But the other ingredients all worked perfectly together. You really can’t go wrong with haloumi and pumpkin, and the sweet beetroot relish rounded everything out perfectly. Yum! We also enjoyed the fact that the price of every burger includes a serve of chips!

The seating area at Burger Republic was quite nice, but it was nearly full even on a Wednesday night, so take away might be a good choice. Burger Republic is also very proud of its range of beers, but as a pregnant lady I did not find this very relevant to my current interests.

Burger Republic also have one other vegetarian burger, called the Garden Burger, which has onion rings in it so I’m probably never going to try that!! They only have the one location.

Flavour: 10/10. Just awesome.
Satiety: 8/10. It wasn’t huge but it was plenty.
Structure: 9/10. The structural integrity was impressive.
Chips: 9/10. The chips were medium thickness, nice and crispy while being soft on the inside.
Overall score: 9/10. Super great!

Please note: All reviews on this site are intended purely as personal opinion. Prices and ingredients should be checked with the retailer.

April 1, 2017September 3, 2017

Veggie Vitality

Today I tried a Veggie Vitality burger from Grill’d at Westfield Marion. The Veggie Vitality burger has a beetroot, sweet potato, spinach and quinoa pattie, topped with avocado, pineapple, carrot and lettuce, and it costs $11.50.

My first impressions of Grill’d weren’t very good. I had ordered my take-away by phone, and when I went to pick it up, the restaurant was very busy and loud, and it wasn’t really clear where I was supposed to go. Eventually I found my food at the kitchen pick-up window, but they didn’t want to take my money, so I had to line up at the orders counter with my burger so that I could pay for it. As mentioned, the restaurant was very busy so I was standing sadly in line for about 10-15 minutes, visualising my chips getting colder and colder and my burger getting soggier and soggier. I could totally have skipped out without paying and had a more delicious experience (but I didn’t do this, because I am not the veggieburglar). Also, parking at Marion is a pain even at 7pm!

After these horrors were over (I know, some women in Africa walk 9 miles every day to get water), I really enjoyed this burger! The Veggie Vitality is definitely a “nice” burger – the polar opposite of the one I had last time at Fudd’s – fresh and tasty, with the best structural integrity I’ve experienced for a long time! It is one of those burgers where you can taste every ingredient separately. And, as a millennial, of course I love me some smashed avocado.

Grill’d offers a choice between a wholemeal or white bun. I was very happy with the fresh and chewy white bun that I had (which I think is the “panini” bun on their website).

My chips were not that good. They had some interesting herby seasoning on them, but unfortunately they were past their prime by the time I got to eat them, and had cooled down to room-temperature at best.

All in all, I think I will come back to Grill’d. But I would not call with my order ahead of time, and I would not go on a weekend night at peak time.

Grill’d also have two other vegetarian burgers, called Garden Goodness and Field of Dreams. They also have two other locations, in the city and in Norwood.

Flavour: 8/10. Pineapple and avocado are great together!
Satiety: 7/10. It was enough food, but I’m not super full.
Structure: 8/10. Everything stayed in place until almost the last bite!
Chips: 6/10. The chips were nothing special.

Overall score: 7.5/10. Once I got it home, this was a very enjoyable burger!

Please note: All reviews on this site are intended purely as personal opinion. Prices and ingredients should be checked with the retailer.

Save

March 10, 2017April 1, 2017

Swiss Burger

As a result of having quite a few friends living in the area, I had heard a lot of good things about Fudd’s at Aberfoyle Park, so tonight I made the journey down south and tried a Swiss burger.

The Swiss burger has a crumbed field mushroom, Swiss cheese, beetroot relish, caramelised onion and garlic-herb aioli, and it costs $14.

Surpassing our expectations of having to take care of ourselves, Fudd’s actually does table service, which was impressively warm and friendly. They have a good range of interesting alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks (of particular note are the local beers and the jarritos). We ate out the front in their very pleasant outdoor dining space, able to simultaneously enjoy the fresh breeze and the fairy lights while also making sure no one dinged our cars in the carpark.

Burgers can usually be categorised into two broad types: the “nice” burger, which is fresh and nutritious, and the “naughty” burger, which is rich and sloppy. Both have an important place in the world!

The Swiss burger definitely felt like a naughty burger. It was juicy and thick, and very substantial. The crumbed mushroom makes a satisfying meat-patty substitute. The burger had both sweetness (from the beetroot relish) and creaminess (with the Swiss cheese), and the onions added some nice complexity.

However, dear reader, I must confess that this burger just wasn’t really for me. I don’t really love crumbed things, because they make me feel really bogged-down as I eat them, and I definitely don’t love onion. Nevertheless, these are really just me-problems, and if you’re looking for a rich and heavy burger without the meat, I think this is definitely a great choice.

Also, Fudd’s fries were worth the visit on their own. They come in quite a few different options (including the Dirty Fries and the Classic Fries, pictured) and are crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and yum all over.

Fudd’s also have another vegetarian burger called Veg Out.

Flavour: 6/10. I can see how the flavour would be really good for most people. It just didn’t really suit my tastes.
Satiety: 9/10. It was very filling.
Structure: 3/10. Everything was going everywhere!!
Chips: 9/10. These fries were first-rate!

Overall score: 7/10. Yum, but I feel like I need a salad now.

Please note: All reviews on this site are intended purely as personal opinion. Prices and ingredients should be checked with the retailer.

Save

February 25, 2017April 1, 2017

Parma Burger

Tonight I tried a Parma burger from Lord of the Fries in Hindley Street.

Lord of the Fries is a brand new (to Adelaide) 100% vegetarian ethical eatery which sells burgers, hotdogs and sides, so I was keen to check it out (I get a real sense of serenity when eating in a place that only does vegetarian!). It is a small fast-food restaurant with an American-subway vibe. Most of their burgers and hotdogs are heavy on the pickles, onions and ketchup, which makes me think of them as a vegetarian substitute for the major US burger chains.

Lord of the Fries’ grand opening actually isn’t until next week, and it was clear that everyone is still a bit new. For example, they forgot part of our order at first. Also, depending on who took your order, you either got your sauce directly on your fries, or on the side. I’d recommend this as more of a take-away shop, as it was quite noisy and crowded, and their largest tables only seated four people.

The Parma burger has a chicken-style patty, Napoli sauce, diced onion and ketchup, vegan cheese, and vegetarian bacon, and it costs $10.

Now, first things first: I remember bacon. Calling anything “bacon” that is not actually bacon is really just setting everybody up for disappointment.

Apart from that, I thought my burger was fine. The chicken-style patty was nice, and the vegan cheese was delicious and creamy. It’s probably not something I’d travel into the city for; however, if you’re craving Macca’s but you don’t want to eat a dead cow, then I think this would hit the spot nicely.

Three styles of fries are available: classic, chunky and shoestring. We got the classic fries, and (surprisingly given the name of the restaurant) they didn’t seem to be anything special. There were many that were over-browned. Thankfully, a huge range of tasty-sounding sauces are also available to go with your fries. We enjoyed the Indian sauce. The fries also come with a tiny two-pronged toothpick so you don’t need to use your fingers – this was my favourite thing!

As you’d expect, Lord of the Fries has lots of other vegetarian burgers on their menu. I’d like to try some of their others at a later time, if I’m in the area. At the moment, this is their only Adelaide location, but they have stores in other states (and NZ).

Flavour: 6/10. The flavour was mostly good. Soy bacon is weird.
Satiety: 8/10. The burger was medium sized, but the serving of chips was generous.
Structure: 8/10. Structurally sound!
Chips: 5/10. I would try the chunky or shoestring fries next time; both of these looked better.

Overall score: 6.5/10. Exciting concept, fingers crossed they perfect the execution.

Please note: All reviews on this site are intended purely as personal opinion. Prices and ingredients should be checked with the retailer.

Save

February 10, 2017February 10, 2017

Vegan Burger

Tonight I tried the informatively but uninspiringly titled “Vegan Burger” from Burger Foundry on Henley Beach Road. Their website makes a number of bold and exciting promises about their burger experience, including that I will enjoy a “sizzling eruption of savoury flavours”. Gosh!

The Vegan Burger contains a sweet potato and chickpea patty, caramelised onions, wasabi and coriander aioli, chipotle sauce, tomato salsa, avocado and greens. It costs $15.

I must compliment the packaging. Simple, classy and recyclable.

Unfortunately, the first thing I noticed when I unwrapped my burger was that some of the sauce had not coped well with my drive home, and had seeped into the bun and onto the wrapper. This was messy.

Apart from that, everything was pretty good. This burger has a major Mexican vibe, including a bit of spice to it. The texture was somewhat disappointing because everything just blended together and the patty in particular was very soft. However, I liked the flavours and it gave me the feeling of eating wholesome, “real” food (well, as wholesome as a big burger can get).

Burger Foundry has one other vegetarian burger, called the Mighty Mushroom (a much better name!), which I will try another time. Burger Foundry also has another location on Magill Road.

Flavour: 7/10. A moderately spicy burger with enjoyable Mexican-inspired flavours.
Satiety: 9.5/10. I was so full, I couldn’t finish the chips.
Structure: 6/10. Everything was mostly just squishy.
Chips: 7/10. These were reasonable chips, but I found them a bit too chewy rather than crunchy.

Overall score: 7/10. I like that this burger is taking a risk with unexpected flavours. That being said, it has not changed my life.

Please note: All reviews on this site are intended purely as personal opinion. Prices and ingredients should be checked with the retailer.

Save

January 27, 2017February 10, 2017

Mediterranean Falafel

Tonight I took a trip to Burger Theory in Union Street, and chose the Mediterranean Falafel burger. The Mediterranean Falalel contains a deep-fried falafel patty with lettuce, pickled red onions and tahini sauce, and costs $11.

I must admit I carried some preconceptions about this burger as it’s probably my favourite veggie burger in town. It’s not only that the balance of flavours is perfect, but also that everything is somehow both crunchy and juicy at the same time. My husband eats meat, and he still orders this burger every time we go to Burger Theory. It’s that good. Also, the server brought our takeaway bag over to us when it was ready, even though we had a buzzy food pager, so I thought that was nice.

My main problem with Burger Theory is that they need to get a suburban location so that I can drive there and not have to park in the city. (They do operate out of the Flinders Uni Tavern now, but their kitchen hours are focused on lunch.)

Burger Theory also makes another veggie burger called Original Falafel, which I have never tried because I have never brought myself to pass up the Mediterranean.

Flavour: 9.5/10. Amazing.
Satiety: 8/10. I’m pretty full, but I also want more burger.
Structure: 7/10. The patty does drop little pieces of itself, which is a bit messy.
Chips: 9/10. These medium-thickness chips strike a good balance between crispy and soft, though things have gone a bit overboard with the salt. The truck sauce is highly recommended.

Overall score: 8.5/10. This burger is delicious!

Please note: All reviews on this site are intended purely as personal opinion. Prices and ingredients should be checked with the retailer.

Save

October 21, 2016February 10, 2017

Squeaky Cheese

Dear reader, I like haloumi very, very much. So for tonight’s burger, I chose the Squeaky Cheese from Enuf Burger on Anzac Highway at Glenelg. The Squeaky Cheese contains crumbed haloumi, red onion, cucumber, carrot, alfalfa sprouts, baby spinach and paprika mayo, and costs $10.90.

A special feature at Enuf Burger is that you can have your choice of five different types of bun: white, wholemeal, damper, brioche (apparently a new addition?) and GF. Unfortunately, I chose the boring white bun, a safe but cowardly decision I have since regretted. Sometimes in life, it is better to take a risk.

With the combination of the ingredients and the bun, I felt like I was basically eating a salad roll with a bit of mayo on it. It was fine, but my soul was not lit on fire at any point. I actually feel like the other flavours masked the deliciousness of the haloumi, which really was great when I ate a piece on its own.

N.B. Enuf also make two other veggie burgers: the Millie Fillie and the Bubble and Squeak.

Flavour: 6/10. I confess, with apologies, that I do not really like onion. This may have contributed to the problem. I would have liked more focus on the haloumi.
Satiety: 9/10. I am very full.
Structure: 7/10. The haloumi was in about three big chunks, and fell out of the burger a few times, but was easy to put back in. The mayo held everything else together well.
Chips: 8/10. On the menu, they advertise their chips as super crunchy. While the chips were certainly crunchy-ish, I don’t think we need to throw around superlatives willy-nilly. Also, they had a bit too much salt.

Overall score: 6.5/10. This burger was fine, but I will order something else next time.

Please note: All reviews on this site are intended purely as personal opinion. Prices and ingredients should be checked with the retailer.

Save