When Burger 10 opened up at The Spot, Randwick, I thought it is just another burger joint. Seriously, Randwick and Coogee areas have lots of them, to a point that I no longer pay any attention to them. Burger 10 joins a tight competition with Soul Burger right next door and then Ambrosia right across the road. That is, on top of several cafés around the place that also offer burgers on the menu. Unless it has its unique point of view with its food, I don’t know how it could compete.
Then one day, when I was bored and hungry, I went up and for the first time I took a serious look at its menu. The unique point of view I was looking for was right there – Burger 10 sells only a set variation of burgers, and they are all based on the national themes of different countries. You can get them in meals or individually.
In this day and age where some places selling $20 for a burger seems normal to some, I am not the one to do that. At Burger 10 burgers are between 10 to 14 bucks individually, but, at between 16 to 20 bucks you can get a whole meal coming with thick chips and a drink. They also sell tap beer and a small selection of alcoholic drinks, but I am not a person who would do that at a burger eat in and takeaway.
Back to the food. As mentioned above, the varieties of burgers are named after different national themes. The ingredients used for each theme will of course be different, and stayed as closely relevant as possible to those themes. Unsurprisingly, the most options available theme was the American one from classic beef and cheese to heavy handed lots of cheese cheeseburgers. I was a little bit surprised that the one with beetroot was not classified as an Aussie burger because I thought beetroot is an Aussie thing (Paused and went grabbed a beetroot juice). On top of that they have Greek, German, Japanese, Korean etc. themed burgers. The main ingredients ranged from Falafel to lamb to Korean fried chicken. Certainly, it is a very colourful menu.
However, it is a food joint, so it comes down to whether the food it good. To my surprise, the burgers are very fresh tasting. The beef patties are very juicy and even the Korean fried chicken was not overcooked and dry, but very crispy outside and soft and juicy inside. The other ingredients were equally fresh and their sauces complimented the burgers perfectly. When you are having a beef burger and the juice from the meat just dripping down your fingers along with the perfectly balanced sauce, you know a burger is fresh. Together with the meat is crunchy lettuce and juicy tomatoes. I am not a big fan of cheese but strangely do like cheese in a burger. The cheese they used for different burgers are different and they seemed to be able to find the right match every time with the burger I chose.
I am a person who like to choose things that sound weird and uncommon, so that’s how I rolled with the Burger 10 menu. So far, my favourites are the Cheesgasm from the American menu, the Lamb burger, the Korean Fried Chicken burger and the German burger. None of them had disappointed me at all. That said, that doesn’t mean the other burgers are not good, just that I was more expecting teriyaki chicken or beef instead of pulled pork for the Japanese burgher, and maybe stir fries for the Chinese burger. However, since I am not a chef, probably those things do not go well with burger and cheese. The other thing I appreciate about Burger 10 is that the chips that came with the combo always managed to stay mostly crispy and hot till the end of the meal. In a lot of places, they just went stale quickly and they became white elephants on your plate.
Burger 10 is not a big operation but the staff are very friendly and courteous. Also, they kept the place clean and tidy all the time and are very attentive to the environment. This makes the dining experience there even better.
I might be waiting a bit longer for the burger to arrive, but at Burger 10, at least I know the burger and the chips are freshly made, and that’s what’s worth waiting for.
Burger 10 locates a The Spot near the drop off point of the round about bus stop and you can find out more about their menu here.
