The Craftsman, Wellington, Cheeseburger - 6/10

The Craftsman was a place that I hadn't heard of before, but with a GrabOne offer of two burgers and two beers for $20, I was all ears.  Actually, in searching for the menu on one of the many menu sites that are around they list 'burgers' as one of their keyword searches.  (Alas I could not find an online menu and their website was "undergoing maintenance", so I can't actually give you the burger description).  However, I do recall that the cheeseburger I had cost $12.50.

From this angle, a pretty substantial looking burger!!
So I organised with my fellow burger afficianado, Brad, and we headed off for a jaunt down to the end of Courtney Place, where The Craftsman had a perfect position on the corner of Courtney and Cambridge.  I recall it was perfect Wellington weather (when isn't it?).

Always on time, Brad was waiting for me when I arrived.  OK surroundings.  There was a choice of high bench tables and normal tables.  A slightly tired look and nowhere near as busy as "Sweet Mother's Kitchen" next door.


We showed the waiter/barman our vouchers and he said we could order any of the burgers on the menu without an asterix (or was it with an asterix - I can't remember).  There were a few to choose from and they all sounded pretty good.  As usual, I ordered the cheeseburger and Brad ordered the one that had the most toppings!!  They came without fries so we ordered a serving as well for $8.

From this angle, the burger had a bit of a lean.
 I so want to make a pun about the leaning tower of Pizza.
The burgers turned up in good time and they looked pretty substantial (as you can see in the first picture).  Iceburg lettuce, tomato slices, red onion, beetroot, pattie, cheese (slightly melted) and bacon on a toasted bun.  All held together with a bamboo skewer.  Presentation was a bit off, with the ingredients thrown on willy nilly resulting in a lopsided burger.  Almost as it they decided that it didn't matter because the skewer would hold it all in shape...IT DOES MATTER.  MUCH.

The first thing we noticed was that the patties were not made on the premises (or at least we hope they weren't because that would be an even worse indictment).  This isn't on for a gourmet burger.  So immediately we decided we could only ever score it out of eight.

Ended up rather thin once i cut through.
Surely that pattie is  processed?  If not then shame.
Which is unfortunate because the burgers actually tasted pretty good.  Juicy from the tomato.  Crunch from the lettuce.  Sweet from the beetroot.  Salty from the bacon.  Good aged cheddar.  Toasted, fresh bun.  And to be fair, for a processed pattie, it wasn't too bad.

Only issue with the bun it that it was quite thin and didn't really hold everything together too well.  Otherwise, I have to say that it was a good, tasty burger with solid fillings.  I wouldn't go out of my way to eat it again but, if it was offered, I would accept it gladly and eat it with gusto.

If you are going to have a burger-focused menu and want them to be the selling point, you should at least make your own patties, which would raise the quality of the burgers substantially and shouldn't really add too much extra cost.  Otherwise you aren't going to get repeat custom and your efforts to attract people with vouchers will just be a cost with no real marketing benefit.  We think anyway.

We decided that the most we could give the burger (Brad felt the same about his) was a six out of ten.  A homemade pattie may have taken it to a seven (assuming the homemade pattie was a good one!!).

As an aside, we met the most interesting dude on the walk back to the office who spent the entire five minutes raving on about  Big Bad Wolf, which is a charcuterie kitchen in Wakefield Street.  He pretty much sold us on it.  We may have to forego burgers one time and try out the spit roast pork sandwiches.  Apparently they are the bomb man...

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