This week our group travelled to the Old Brooklyn Hotel in the CBD which in recent years has been given a makeover. And it looks fierce. Now called The Morrison, the main bar is now a swish restaurant that offers such delights like $1 oysters on Wednesdays. But that isn’t why our group were visiting this week…however duly noted for next time.
We were heading to the little bar attached to Morrisons. Due to the popularity of burgers being ordered from the Morrisons menu, Chef Sean Connolly made the very very wise decision to open a burger bar….welcome Parlour Burger. And we were ready – Burger 5 biatches! New and old testers this week gathered to see if Parlour could live up to it’s spot on the Timeout list.
A modest selection on the menu for a welcomed $10 each with some deep fried side selections meant we were off to a good start. Our group focused on the 3 x beef burgers on offer: The Morrison Original with chipotle mayo, the Dirty Burger with bacon and cheesy beer sauce, and the unusual Black Widow – a charcoal bun with ground beef and extra hot sauce.
I believe that I was representing the minority when it came to review time. Each of the burgers whilst very different, had one common thread – fennel. For me, the initial hit of aniseed was not welcomed even though once you got past that the flavour was pretty damn tasty. I hate black jelly beans so I am really not keen on mushing that flavour in my patty. I was also disappointed with the lack of pickle which was scarce and a little on the chewy side. But the meat was done to my satisfaction and it held together well. And as Michelle J so eloquently put it ‘I like the addition of the salad‘ – yep, that whopping lettuce leaf was amazing. Paddy, a first time tester this week was a little disappointed that his patty wasn’t cooked to his liking. I can see the headline now ‘Paddy’s Patty Pain.’
The rest of the team were a lot happier with the result than myself. Michelle C thought that the fennel was an ‘unusual but welcomed surprise‘ and I would report on what the others said but they were busy shoving burgers in their gobs, so I would suggest that speaks for itself.
Co-Founder tester Shiree managed to bring Irish Sailor Davey with her this week which was great. We have been trying to convince Davey that burgers are a celebrated dinner delight and that we could break him of the Irish burger curse. Yes, no more would he be scarred of the memories of ‘name that meat’ and drowning in grease rivers. Praise! Davey was not shy in diving in the deep end once convinced as he was one of the brave that indulged in the Black Widow. Way to go sailor. Shiree was also impressed with his efforts –
‘We devoured duck fat chips, sampled onion rings dripping in oil and Davey took a particular liking to the deep fried pickles. We discussed our options, rather loudly over the excessive bass coming from the music. I was heading towards the classic Morrisons Burger whilst Davey was hell bent on the Indian ‘Vege’ Burger. This was until he saw the judging looks on everyone’s faces that screamed “oh no you’re one of those…” So he changed his mind and went with the more masculine Black Widow. I liked mine – it presented well and unlike some others in the group, I loved the aniseed. I really liked it, despite the lack of mustard however I thought the aniseed mayo more than made up for it. The bun was light and fluffy but could have had less butter perhaps. It was certainly one of the many burgers on this experience that my body has not hated me for. Davey said that his was possibly the best burger ever – big call. ‘So much flavour in a bun!’ he exclaimed amazed. After many weeks of hesitation, I have finally brought him over to the darkside (*insert evil eyes and laugh…) ‘
The only other gripe we had as a group was the price of the booze. We all know that burgers and booze go together like Sonny and Cher – I’ve got you babe. But for an average of $14 for a glass of wine, I am going to have to say bye bye bye. Which is sad, but I have been told that BYO goon bag is a faux pas. Debatable.
Overall I am giving Parlour a 2 – it wasn’t my cup of tea, but I believe that overall the gang were giving it between a 3-4 our of 5.
Till next time burger-rionos!
Timeout Testers 