Out and about on another beautiful, sunny day in Melbourne, and I found myself at one of my favourite places – “Tommy Ruff Fish Bar” in Elsternwick. I have eaten here so many times, especially the burger, which I have already reviewed before too – click here. This time, I was in the mood for something different, so in a first for TGBC, I thought I would review one of their fish burgers. That’s right – a fish burger! Not a fillet of fish burger from Macca’s, I’m talking about a real fish burger!

I ordered the “Stump Jumper Burger” which comes with panko crumbed fish fillet with lettuce, tomato and sweet lime chilli mayo. For the health conscious, you can also get the fish grilled instead if you’d prefer. They also have other fish burgers such as the “Salmon Burger” and “The Crab Claw Burger” too.

Served on a large metal plate with a paper liner, it looked well made. I couldn’t help but admire the simplicity of what looked like a very tasty burger. I waited my standard few minutes for it to cool down a fraction first. Letting it get comfortable before picking it up and destroying it! It wasn’t until the second bite that I got the full effect of each of the ingredients. The fish was beautiful and cooked perfectly. It tasted great against the fresh tomato and crisp lettuce. The best part was the sweet lime chilli mayo. Despite being heaps of it, it tasted awesome and had just the right hint of flavours that complimented the overall burger.

Chips on the side were pretty good too, and usually I would wash it all down with one of their own Tommy Ruff beers, but today I opted for the traditional “tap juice” or water as some like to call it.

Hard to rate this the same as a beef burger as it was completely different. It was a really tasty burger though and I thoroughly enjoyed every bite. If you’re looking for a different take on a burger then I’d highly recommend you visit. Otherwise, their beef burger is good and their fish n chips are some of the best in town, so whichever way you look at it, you should get in there and give it a go – Elsternwick, Mordialloc or Windsor!

6 days since my last burger and I was getting itchy to try out another creation from somewhere. This time I headed to a small place that I knew very little about called “Grill Me Burgers” in Caulfield. I walked into this small take away joint and took my time reviewing the menu board. I couldn’t go past the “Aussie Bite” – fire grilled beef patty, crispy trim bacon, egg, cheese, mixed lettuce, tomato and BBQ sauce. Yet again, it was another “hold the beetroot” moment too!

As I waited, I noticed it was a funky little place that started to get a few people through the doors too. This was a good sign! Finally my burger arrived and it looked ok, although I was sceptical about the bun. I waited a little bit for the temperature to drop and reach a “woofable” level before picking it up and starting my attack. The beef patty was really tasty, and so was the egg, bacon and BBQ sauce. However, on the flip side, the “mixed lettuce” was mostly rocket lettuce together with what seemed like a few different weeds from the garden. Ugh!! Rocket lettuce has really shot to the bottom of the preferred lettuce list for me – terrible stuff! My first thoughts about the bun were right too. It was dry, tasteless and tore apart as I ate through it, especially in the parts where the BBQ sauce was heavier.

Chips on the side were no good, and they had tried to be “flavoured up” with some salty spices over them, but that wasn’t going to fool anyone. Overall, an average experience that was a bit hit and miss. The burger has potential and if you changed the lettuce and improved the bun, it would make it a lot more tasty in my opinion.

It was early in the new year, and another beautiful, sunny day, when I found myself in desperate need of a burger for lunch. I was out east and headed to a place that I have driven past plenty of times, but never had the chance (or time) to stop – “Rocco’s Burger Bar” in Croydon North. I have often wondered what their burgers were like, so I was excited to be finally trying them out.

There are plenty of burgers to choose from, but this time I couldn’t go past “The Lot” – beef, bacon, egg, tasty cheese, grilled onion, pineapple, cos, tomato & tomato relish on a ciabatta bun, and of course, “Hold the Beetroot”. Now, given I was feeling particularly hungry and that there was the option to have either beef or chicken, I decided to go both and threw in a crispy chicken fillet to bulk up this super sized delight. Plus I threw in some extra bacon too – I mean, who doesn’t like bacon right?? Especially when it’s inside a burger! I also noticed that some of the other burgers on the menu had a brioche bun, so I swapped the ciabatta too.

This was a seriously big burger that stood tall! There seemed to be lots of chicken and despite it hanging out all over the place, the rest of the burger looked to be pretty well constructed. I wasn’t sure how I was going to attack this one and it took me a few takes to get the right grip and right side to start on. I think the first bite was all chicken, but it only took me a few bites to get into a rhythm. This was a good burger. The beef and chicken were both really tasty, and the egg, bacon, cheese, onion and pineapple, all played their part too. The only thing was that there seemed to be a massive amount of tomato relish on the bottom, and when it’s against the cos lettuce too, it becomes more slippery than detergent on a back yard slip ‘n slide! This caused the bottom bun to completely disintegrate too. However, having said that, I did decide to swap the bun for the softer brioche. In hindsight, especially because I added crispy chicken, I should have stayed with the stronger ciabatta bun!

Chips on the side were ok, and needed lots of salt for mine! Highly recommend the chocolate thick shake though – it was delightful, and the perfect accompaniment to the meal.

Overall, this was a good experience. I would definitely revisit to maybe try their straight up “Cheeseburger” without any alterations and reduce the risk of any ‘bottom bun’ malfunctions!