Mid week catch up with a friend of mine on a cold wintery day recently, and of course it was a burger that I craved, so we walked to the closest place to where we were – “TGI Fridays” in Southbank. I was pleased to be trying this place out as I knew the menu was filled with all American fare, which included a number of different burgers.
I was initially drawn towards the first burger on the menu, being the “All American Cheese Burger”, however when I got the the bottom of the list, I couldn’t go past the “Ultimate Jack Daniels Burger” – two juicy Diamantina premium Aussie beef patties glazed with Jack Daniels sauce, stacked with cheddar cheese, aioli, crispy bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion and Cajun-battered onion rings. Being partial to a ‘Jack and coke’ from time to time, I was very interested to find out what this burger was like.
It arrived. It was a big burger and looked good too. I took out one of the 4 massive onion rings to try before starting my destruction of this beast. The first thing that hit me was the tastiness of the beef, although it was also very dense and heavy. The crispness of the onion rings and bacon worked well through the burger too, and that was about where the fun ended. The flavour of the other ingredients were bland and just didn’t create any spark. Worst of all, the bun was terrible. My lunch partner described it as a “hot dog bun disguised as a burger bun” and that was very true! It was dry, tasteless and tore to pieces with every bite.
Chips on the side were ordinary too, and this time I thought it was appropriate to have an American beer, so I went with a Millers Genuine Draft, which is one of my favourites.
Overall, a below average experience, saved only by the tasty meat. However, value for money is shameful, with the burger costing $28! I can get a burger elsewhere for half the price and twice the quality for that cost!! Perhaps the hot dogs are better??….. not sure I will be game enough to ever find out though!
