Another cold day in Melbourne and another day that I was craving a warm, juicy burger to help warm me up and satisfy my growing hunger. I was in Docklands and headed to a place outside the NAB building called “Tukk & Co” which from the outside doesn’t look like much, and I wouldn’t say it’s a traditional burger joint either, so from the outset, this could have gone either way!? I walked in and there was a line of at least 10 people waiting to order and the place was packed with other people waiting for their meals. Despite being a Friday lunchtime, I was surprised. This was a good sign.
I ordered the “Tukk Signature” which came with wagyu patty, cheese, caramelized onion, cos lettuce, tomato, cornichon, mayonnaise, and pickled red onion with tomato relish. Underneath the burger they had a list of “add ons” too, which told me they wanted people to include some extras. Who was I not to oblige? So I threw in some bacon and fried chicken for good measure! So first off, I had no idea what cornichon was, but was feeling adventurous so left it in the burger and figured it couldn’t be that bad – could it? After ordering, a quick Google search told me cornichons are small pickled gherkins. Is that all? Phew! They must be trying to “fancy up” their menu or maybe I’m just from the wrong side of the tracks? Who knows!
I was excited as I waited for my meal and despite eating in at one of their benches, the meal came in a take away bag, which was fine. However, the burgers are served upright in a small box, which did make it difficult to get out of the bag without spilling it. Once I got it out, the first thing I noticed was that this burger was exploding out of the packaging. It was like a blossoming burger flower. The little box didn’t seem to be able to cope with the extras I threw in and it was like it had been stuffed into it or that the fried chicken had tried to be pushed in after cooking the burger. These suspicions were confirmed once I picked it up and started eating. The construction was uneven and all over the place, making it difficult to enjoy each of the flavours together and increased the messiness, as a lot of ingredients were running out all over the place.
The meat was tasty and the fried chicken was really good too. I’m glad I added bacon as it helped provide a contrasting texture to the rest of the burger. However, overall it lacked that kick, that X-Factor, that “wow” feeling. I didn’t mind the cornichon (just wanted to write it again!), but can’t say that I loved the pickled red onion though. The cos lettuce didn’t help either – too much of it and it caused the other ingredients to slip around all over the place.
Chips on the side were nothing special, and I went with a water to drink as I’m really watching my calorie intake at the moment!! Lol
Overall, the burger was reasonable, tasted ok and I did feel satisfied afterwards. Having said that, I also wouldn’t be rushing there anytime soon but if your in the area, it might be worth a try.
