When you are on holidays, searching for a good burger can be tricky, especially when there does not appear to be any straight shooting, traditional burger joints around. So you take your chances on the local cafes and pubs and hope for the best, which is exactly what happened to me when I took a break up north for some sun in Palm Cove.

I found myself at “Apres Beach Bar & Grill”, which is a casual pub styled place across the road from the beach. I ordered the “Aussie Aussie Aussie” Burger which came with housemade beef patty, fried egg, bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, caramelised onion, housemade rattle dressing and it was another “hold the beetroot” moment!!

This burger looked good on arrival, with a thick piece of meat and cheese oozing everywhere. The meat tasted pretty good too. It definitely had a nice, home made flavour to it, which I really enjoyed. The cheese, bacon and egg were tasty too. I’m not sure I liked the cucumber very much though and the rattle dressing wasn’t great either. The biggest problem was the bun. The first bite I took and it ripped to pieces. It got worse with each bite too, making it a very difficult and messy feast. Not to mention that it was simply tasteless and dry. Ugh!

Fat beer battered chips on the side were ok, and washed down with a few Pure Blondes on tap.

Overall, whilst the patty was really good, it was over shadowed by the bun, cucumber and dressing, making it an average burger experience (at best). Great pub atmosphere though, and the hand made pizza’s being made looked delightful, which is what I would go for next time!

Still on holidays in Port Douglas and still searching for the ultimate burger. It was a bright and sunny day and the lunch bells were ringing. I made my way to the The Court House Hotel where I had a good chicken burger in the past, so felt there was a good chance of having another success.

This time I ordered the “Courty Burger”, which came with 100% beef patty served on a soft burger bun with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, beetroot, Spanish onion, tomato sauce and American mustard. Of course, it was another “hold the beetroot” moment too.

The burger looked like a typical pub styled burger and unfortunately, was average at best. The ingredients were fresh, but it lacked overall flavour. I think it would have benefitted from some bacon, egg and special sauce to give it some punch. What burger wouldn’t benefit from those ingredients though?!

Otherwise, it was a warm day, and sitting outside in the casual, relaxing surrounds, enjoying a few cold beers was terrific. Next time, I think I will stick to the chicken burger!