It was a cold, overcast day in Melbourne recently and what better way to warm up the innards than with a hot, tasty burger. I found myself in St Kilda at lunchtime, and decided to make a small trip across the Swan Street Bridge to a place that has been getting a lot of attention lately – “Three One 2 One” in Richmond. I have been wanting to try this place for ages, and was super excited to be finally getting the opportunity.
It felt warm and cozy inside, which was the perfect setting. After seeing so many good comments on social media about this place, I decided that I wanted to order straight off the menu with no alterations so I could gauge the true strength of their burgers. Listed on the menu as “top 5 in Melbourne 2016”, I could not go past the “Kick Ass Mac ‘n’ Cheese” burger – beef pattie, double cheese, bacon, green oak lettuce, tomato, jalapeños mac and cheese sauce, and ketchup on brioche bun.
As I waited, I couldn’t help but notice the couple near me (who doesn’t love a bit of people watching every now and then huh?), and they were obviously out enjoying a few burgers too. Then, as I was admiring their burgers and day dreaming about what mine might look like, I witnessed the disturbing image of the guy cutting his burger in half?! Now, these burgers were not what I would class as big, and given his female companion didn’t cut hers, I shook my head and did an internal eye roll and wondered what was going on?! To me, this was a clear violation of all burger etiquette and protocols!
Anyway, back to my burger! It arrived and looked awesome, with mac n cheese oozing everywhere! I could barely see the other ingredients and couldn’t wait to get stuck into it. It was a very slippery burger, and the first thing that hit me was the kick of the jalapeño mac and cheese sauce – so much flavour! Then as I got into it and got more of the other ingredients, I realised how well they complimented each other. The meat was really tasty, the bacon was spot on and bun was terrific. I would have preferred the mac and cheese sauce to be hotter (in temperature) as I found it made the burger seem too cold.
Fries on the side were good, and unfortunately, the Furphy beer was not cold enough to order, so I tried something different – “4 Pines Pale Ale”, which was drinkable but not worth a revisit for me.
Overall, this was a good experience, and whilst it may have been top 5 in Melbourne for 2016, it hasn’t cracked my top 5. If I visited again, would probably try something with some fried chicken thrown in!
