Los Angeles, California – the city of Angels. The home of Hollywood and arguably the entertainment capital of the world. Disneyland, the happiest place on earth! And now, also synonymous with a burger place in South Yarra – “L.A. Burgers”. I have recently discovered that the lure of “La La Land” remains strong in any situation because as soon as I heard about this place, I was immediately drawn to it, like ‘a moth to the flame’, or probably more like ‘a hungry guy to the burger’?!

This is a simple, well presented place, split across two levels, with plenty of seating. They were busy, and I lined up to order, which was a good early sign. There are some appropriately named burgers on the menu such as “Hollywood”, “Venice Beach” and “Rodeo Drive”. I decided to go for the “Sunset Blvd” burger, which came with two beef patties, double American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, American mustard, ketchup, mayo, brioche bun and I took the option of adding bacon – of course!?

As I waited, I watched tray after tray of delicious looking burgers being prepared and picked up. I was getting more and more hungry with every minute. Finally, my number was up! This was a tidy, good looking burger. It was very much a traditional styled American cheeseburger, with good flavoured meat and perfect cheese. The sauces were complimentary and not in abundance either. The lettuce and tomato were fresh and the bun was soft and tasty too. The only downside was that I would like to have had more bacon as the piece included seemed really small for the burger.

Fries on the side were similar to those found at any Golden Arches restaurant, and went well with the burger. I also figured that I had to drink something American, so I went with a Millers Genuine Draft, which I have not had for a long time, and it was still good!

Overall, a pretty good experience, especially if you are a fan of the traditional American cheeseburger.

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!