Tropical Swine and Chips, Fergburger, Queenstown NZ

Ah the Fergburger!

Famous in queenstown and the world, everyone loves to eat a fergburger.
I`ve been to Queenstown about 5 times over the past several years and Fergburger has never dissappointed. On this particular occaision my memory is a bit hazy due to the fact it was about 2am in the morning, but from what I do remember it was fantastically moreish!!

Heres the bundle as it arrived - Tropical Swine and Fries - about $16NZ



The burger freshly unwrapped.

The burger midway . . . .

Fergburger patties are made fresh on the premised and taste damn good. If I was in any kind of mind I might have asked them for a fatter one, it being perhaps 8mm thick, but having a fairly large diameter making it satisfying. This particular burger had pineapple, which caused uneven consumption due to the lump-biting effect of the pineapple and subsequent readjustment meaning the last three bites of burger had only one bites worth left of bun base. Caveat Emptor!
The mayo and relish were also quite messy but this could`ve been the fault of the over eager eater rather than any fault of construction. Fergburger is a quality gourmet burger outlet that would do any burger fan proud, and late night in queenstown you can do far worse BELIEVE! 8/10

Coronet Peak Beef Burger, Coronet Peak, NZ

Ski resort cafeterias are always overpriced and the food they serve up is generally average at best. When I had the choice between some couple of hour old dry pizza slices, Nitrite enriched bacon bit enhanced hot dogs, sloppy pies or a burger, I took the obvious choice.

Behold . . . . . The Coronet Peak Beef Burger
I was`nt expecting much, but this was awesome for the price and a great mid ski choice I can highly recommend. At $9.50NZ ( bout $8oz ) The burger came with - caramelised onion, beetroot, fancy hydro lettuce not purple, beetroot purple, some relish and I couldve sworn it was topped with a slice of cheese. The pattie was a suprising 18mm thick, and although was obviously frozen microwave defrosted perhaps quickly grilled - was juicy and tasty and satisfied my hunger in the cold conditions. The relish was tangy and topped the burger off nicely.



Swap out the white bun, and grill the pattie more this could`ve scored higher. But for snow resort, the Coronet Peak Beef Burger punches above its weight receiving a 6.5.

Speights Alehouse - Invercargill NZ

On our Trip to Queenstown for the annual snowboard mission, we cruised the couple of hours further south to visit Viv and her kids down in sunny Invercargill. Invercargills claims to fame are that it has a giant 'The Warehouse' store, and also a Burger King. Whilst Burger King beckoned ( well, not really) we headed out to the newly opened speights alehouse for dinner and I was excited to find they had a gourmet beef burger on the menu, which i promptly ordered with a minimum of indecision.Obviously with such a difficult order, when the meals came out this is what I received


I was kind of unsure, because on the menu it said 'tender beef steak', and of cultural sensitivities and quirks etcetera etcetera, but luckily I`d photographed the menu and saw that the white bread sandwich slices could no way constitute a 'Monster Bun' so they`d brought me a steak sandwich instead. I`d already eaten half of it so I let it slide, but serving a professional hamburger reviewer a steak sandwich does not win you any points. A niceish steak sandwich though nonetheless.



Speights Alehouse Invercargill Gourmet Beef Burger - 0 / 10 points.

BBBB Cafe 63 1/2 - Hamilton

A new job and new turf for burgers. We ventured out to Racecourse Rd at Hamilton to the country styled Cafe 63. Big old wooden tables and chirs, rustico style. The cafe kinda has a florist out the front, giving the 63 1/2 its half or something like that. Jarrad recommended the BBBB burger - Brisbane`s Best Biggest Burger. Bold Claim. I was intrigued, hoping for something really special. The menu billed the burger as having both and egg and bacon, caramelised onion, home made mince pattie on a giant panini. Direct from West Auckland apparently - not sure if you have seen Outrageous Fortune on TV but I think the bogan ass family was from west auckland so it was an interesting claim to make.

The burger arrived looking quite impressive, top tilte to the side, big sunny runny egg on top and a multi grain roll ( panini? hmmmm). The pattie was an impressive thickness but the bacon was well undercooked and has an enormous amount of fat - uncooked fat at that. Kill me for being a short cut bacon man but I spent a good 90 seconds preening my burger before putting the lid on and digging in.


This shot shows the lovely salad that came on the side. minimal salad on the burger but a couple of slices of tomato. The burger pattie, while nice and thick and seasoned, was undercooked, and could`ve done with some tomato relish of some kind. The absence of cheese was unpleasant IMHO and the burger was quite a messy dripping affair, leaving a pool on the plate that you could`nt rest the bun in.

There was a hint of mustard in there somewhere, but the side salad was pretty tasty, I put this down to some funky ass country dressin stylee lovin. Did I mention the hot florist girls? I have now. less pretty flowers than exotic orchids.

Overall a reasonable effort for the price ($12) but a couple more minutes on the grill for the bacon and pattie could've made me a happy man. However, a fair effort - I`d eaten a McDonalds McAmerica Olympic Bagel for breakfast, so I might`ve been a bit over egg and bacon but regardless BBBB the burger aint. 7/10 at a stretch.