Charley Noble, CN Classic Double Cheese Burger, WOAP 2017

Housemade Angus beef patty with house BBQ sauce, zucchini pickle and double cheddar cheese in a Brezelmania semolina bun, with house fries - $23

I have to be clear, this is a competition and, with 120 odd entries, I am going to be a bit more critical than normal.

Overall, this was a pretty good burger.   A lot of effort went into the condiments, and the pattie was minced in-house. Ingredients were all fresh. A solid effort but not spectacular.

Taste - The smoked cheddar stood out, however, apart from that, there wasn't much to differentiate it from a standard burger. Surprisingly, the cheese was not melted. Why not??? There was a good amount of burger-juice. [Note to burger chefs - if juicy juicy burgers, do not serve on wooden slabs with parchment paper as nowhere for juices to go but over table/clothes etc.]


Pattie - the pattie, a brisket and bavette mix was minced in-house. Served medium, it was probably minced a bit too fine for me. Good proportion of meat to bun though. Could have been seasoned more but I am guessing saltiness was meant to come from the bacon. From the description, I expected a bit more from this pattie.

Bun - A semolina bun, I felt it may have been a bit too unforgiving, which impacted on the burger-ability. There was a bit of back-sliding* going on, although this could maybe be put down to the amount of lettuce in the burger - which is relatively slippery. It also looked kind of pale. Toasted on the inside.

Condiments - the zucchini pickle and BBQ sauce (again both housemade) were pretty good and merged nicely with the pattie and cheese. There was also bacon, which added a bit of saltiness and texture. There was too much lettuce. In places it accounted for a third of the volume of the burger. Going through my shots, it was difficult to find one where i could see the burger through all that lettuce.

Presentation - the burger was presented, with a wooden skewer, on a wooden board on a piece of parchment paper. Chips in a stainless steel bowl. A nice touch was the description and recipe for the pickle and BBQ sauce.

Burger-ability - construction worked well for me.  BBQ sauce, cheese, pattie, cheese, bacon, lettuce.  Its the way I would have done it.  A bit tall, combined with a bun with little give, it was hard to get the full bite in without seriously squeezing down - which led to back-sliding. Balance - pretty good apart from too much lettuce.

Ultimately, I give this one a 7/10. It is definitely worth a try. However, it is unlikely to be the most memorable burger you have ever had. By the way, the service was top-notch.  Wait staff were attentive. One saw my struggles and brought me extra napkins and suggested I eat the burger upside-down as that worked for her!!


*where the ingredients fall out the back of the bun when you take a bite.