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Adelaide’s best pub burgers

Oct 16, 2015
The winner of the 2015 SA Pub Burger Challenge. Photo: Nat Rogers/InDaily

The winner of the 2015 SA Pub Burger Challenge. Photo: Nat Rogers/InDaily

Burgers are no longer something your mother prepared for the barbecue to pad out the chops and sausages, or an alternative to a steak sandwich from the fish and chip shop.

They have become so much a part of our foodscape that it’s rare to see a menu in Adelaide that doesn’t offer one. Independent food trucks and dedicated burger bars have joined the multi-national fast-food vendors, fish and chip shops and pubs to meet Adelaide’s demand for burgers.

There are burgers with course ground patties, pulled roasted meat, imported cheeses, branded pickles and bacon, different mustards and mayonnaises, and a variety of buns – you can even choose the breed and cut of beef.

Kentish-Hotel

The Kentish Hotel burger. Photo: Nat Rogers/InDaily

The SA Pub Burger Challenge was designed to bring recognition to the hotel chefs who put a lot of thought and effort into the burger that arrives on your plate. It isn’t representative of every hotel burger in the state, but it is a snapshot of some of the best, with the 12 finalists chosen from a field of 50 entrants.

Warradale-Hotel

The Warradale Hotel’s ‘Double Bacon Cheese Burger’. Photo: Nat Rogers/InDaily

They were from Beach Hotel Seaford, The Brompton, Colonnades Tavern, the German Arms Hotel, Hilton Hotel, Holdfast Hotel, The Kentish, Ramsgate Hotel, Roxby Downs Tavern, Tonsley Hotel, Warradale Hotel and the Woodville. Previous winners the Watermark Hotel (2014) and The Hackney Hotel (2013) weren’t back in the running in 2015.

German-Arms-Hotel

The German Arms Hotel ‘Zebra Burger’. Photo: Nat Rogers/InDaily

Sponsored by Holco Fine Meat Suppliers, the finals were held at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre this week as part of the SA Hospitality Show. Each chef had 20 minutes to prepare and present their chosen burger to the judges (including this writer), with rated them based on taste, presentation, meat quality and value for money.

The top five scoring burgers were from the Colonnades Tavern, Hilton Hotel (Hilton), Roxby Downs Tavern, Tonsley Hotel and the Woodville.

Colonnades-Tavern

The black-bun burger from the Colonnades Tavern. Photo: Nat Rogers/InDaily

The Colonnades Tavern (chef Samuel Hodge) presented the most unusual of the burgers, with marinated pulled lamb, local goat curd, green oak lettuce, tomato, home-made beetroot relish and a black hamburger bun ($18). The black colour of the bun is achieved by adding refined vegetable charcoal to the bun dough before baking. This was a stunning-looking burger with a fresh, modern flavour – definitely worth a try.

Hilton-Hotel

The ‘Artisan Beef & San Jose’ burger from the Hilton Hotel. Photo: Nat Rogers/InDaily

The Hilton Hotel presented an “Artisan Beef & San Jose Burger” with double-smoked streaky bacon drizzled with agave syrup, Tasmanian Heritage Blue Opal cheese, tomato, rocket, chipotle aioli, and smokey BBQ sauce on a sweet bun ($20).

Roxby-Downs-Tavern

The ‘Alabama Slammer’, from Roxby Downs Tavern. Photo: Nat Rogers/InDaily

The Roxby Downs Tavern offers a total of 11 burgers, but chef Richard Moretti chose to bring the “Alabama Slammer” to Adelaide for the 2015 Pub Burger Competition. “We don’t have Maccas or KFC at Roxby, so we make a lot of burgers – the Alabama Slammer is our best seller.”

The Alabama Slammer is an enormous burger. The Wagyu mince pattie contains some sneaky gated carrot and zucchini to make sure everyone’s eating their veges, as well as bacon, cheese, fried egg, dill pickles, tomato relish, American mustard and lettuce ($19.50).

The Woodville Hotel chef Clifford Medlen (representing head chef Leith Haymes) presented a 100 per cent Angus beef pattie with American cheddar, Barossa bacon, tomato, lettuce, beetroot relish and mayonnaise topped with onion rings ($14.90). It’s well worth the trip to Woodville.

Tonsley-chef-and-burger

Tonsley Hotel chef Amy Walker with her winning burger. Photo: Nat Rogers/InDaily

The overall winner of the 2015 SA Pub Burger Challenge was from chef Amy Walker at the Tonsley Hotel. Most burgers at the challenge were presented on brioche buns, but Walker used a lightly toasted sourdough bun, adding substance and extra flavour. The pattie was made from flame-grilled Wagyu beef and served with dill cucumber pickles, tomato, crispy bacon, cheddar cheese, red onion, Beerenberg tomato chutney, aioli and lettuce ($17.50).

On winning the award for this year’s best pub burger, Walker shared her motto: “Keep it fresh and you’re on to a winner.”

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