Brodburger review

poetix said :

Why do people get so passionate about a hamburger joint? I have never been, and don’t feel a huge lack in my life.

This is the seventeenth thread on this place, I think. Autumn of the Seventeenth Roll?

I’d suggest looking at Linda Ghent’s research into Al Yeganeh, or at least, the on screen portrayal of Al.

Grail said :

I still haven’t managed to wrap my head around the whore-hugger’s term “powerfully average”. Maybe it’s one of those terms used and understood by the bone-framed-spectacle, fixed-speed bike riding, latte sipping crowd, but to me “average” in food means “uninspiring”. How can something be “powerfully average”? Obviously this food inspired you in some way (even negatively), so perhaps a contrast to other burgers that your readers are likely to have encountered would be in order?

Brodburger used to have the nicest seasoned meat patties in town. Perhaps they’ve changed the recipe? Then there was the home made relish and aoli.

Maybe I’ll have to go to Brodburger myself in the near future and show you how a proper food review is done.

Perhaps try replacing powerfully with words like ‘surprisingly, disappointingly, or completely’. I’m sorry my review has caused you such stress. Perhaps in my excitement I may have gotten too flowery in my language. Thank goodness I have you to bring me back down by making fun of the glasses, bicycle, and beverage preferences that you imagine I have.

I look forwards to your review and its unambiguous adverbs.

rosscoact said :

Either they do not recognise that they are grossly inefficient (despite any google search telling them so) or it is a basic and deliberate lack of respect for customers.

There is a third option which everyone seems to be ignoring. That is, they are happy with the size/output of there business, and don’t wish to accept the reduction in quality that a increase in production would likely cause.

The fact that they are operating to capacity much of the time, and are charging premium prices would tend to suggest that there are making “enough” money (is there such a thing) and are happy with the status quo.

Of course, a simple solution would be to only take peoples orders when you know that you can have the product on the table in a reasonable time – I suspect they aren’t quite at the point where they will make people queue for half an hour without taking an order, as I suspect that would increase their walk away numbers.

poetix said :

Why do people get so passionate about a hamburger joint? I have never been, and don’t feel a huge lack in my life.

This is the seventeenth thread on this place, I think. Autumn of the Seventeenth Roll?

I think you should write a poem about it! How popular would it be?!?! 🙂

poetix said :

Why do people get so passionate about a hamburger joint? I have never been, and don’t feel a huge lack in my life.

I suspect the same is true of people who have never actually lived in Canberra.

I still haven’t managed to wrap my head around the whore-hugger’s term “powerfully average”. Maybe it’s one of those terms used and understood by the bone-framed-spectacle, fixed-speed bike riding, latte sipping crowd, but to me “average” in food means “uninspiring”. How can something be “powerfully average”? Obviously this food inspired you in some way (even negatively), so perhaps a contrast to other burgers that your readers are likely to have encountered would be in order?

Brodburger used to have the nicest seasoned meat patties in town. Perhaps they’ve changed the recipe? Then there was the home made relish and aoli.

Maybe I’ll have to go to Brodburger myself in the near future and show you how a proper food review is done.

Why do people get so passionate about a hamburger joint? I have never been, and don’t feel a huge lack in my life.

This is the seventeenth thread on this place, I think. Autumn of the Seventeenth Roll?

johnboy said :

Sascha Brodbeck has emailed in with this thought on Barcham’s burger eating:

My friend says getting a Brodburger without aioli is like going to a prostitute for a hug !!
Made me laugh !

Barcham may possibly be referred to as a hugger of prostitutes in future.

Hmm, I notice on their menu that aoli is included as standard. So I suppose if you *do* ask for it to be removed, you can’t complain that the burger doesn’t taste as good as they are making out?

I think slagging off Brodburger is as much of a *thing* as praising them.

Pork Hunt said :

Out of the approx 58 threads about BB on this site the main complaint seems to be the wait between ordering and receiving said food.
What is the issue here? One person cooking and 100 lined up or one person serving one at a time or any combination/addition to there of?

Either they do not recognise that they are grossly inefficient (despite any google search telling them so) or it is a basic and deliberate lack of respect for customers.

Whatever the reason, it’s not as if there’s not a myriad of alternatives out there. The biggest problem with hamburgers in many places is they are simply not seasoned sufficiently. A bit more salt and pepper in the mix, not at serving, will fix that though.

BB is distinctly over priced and over hyped. After waiting for an hour (at peak times) anything would taste great. Never again. In reality I found them an OK burger but not worth the return trip.

I’d vote for Grill’d anyday- nice burgers – good service – great chips!

screaming banshee said :

Here’s the thing, brodburger goes into the same box as hurricanes in Sydney….all they are is a gourmet macdonalds burger. Which I suppose is all well and good if you like macdonalds, but macdonalds burgers are sh!t. This makes brodburger/hurricanes gourmet sh!t, end of story.

I dont even understand this comment. Its a gourmet mcdonalds because it has a piece of meat patty between two bits of bread?

Given that brodburger uses different bread, different meat, different sauces, different other inclusions… anyway, what constitutes something that is not a gourmet mcdonalds?

Barcham said :

johnboy said :

My friend says getting a Brodburger without aioli is like going to a prostitute for a hug !!
Made me laugh ! .

Not true, hugs are satisfying.

Well who would’ve thought aoli could be used as a lubricant.

johnboy said :

My friend says getting a Brodburger without aioli is like going to a prostitute for a hug !!
Made me laugh ! .

Not true, hugs are satisfying.

Sascha Brodbeck has emailed in with this thought on Barcham’s burger eating:

My friend says getting a Brodburger without aioli is like going to a prostitute for a hug !!
Made me laugh !

Barcham may possibly be referred to as a hugger of prostitutes in future.

Probably the most accurate review of Brodburger I’ve read. I had it for the first time this week and it’s really nothing to write home about. I had it with the aioli and blue cheese and I can’t see what all the fuss is about.

It’s a shame the burgers are powerfully average and extremely overpriced.

Don’t know about “powerfully” and “extremely” but I’ll agree with “average and overpriced” on any one of their menu items.

Brodburger is a good reminder that we have been paying too much $ for below average food for too long. As soon as an average tasting/overpriced Brodburger comes along, we pack our dacks with nappies and queue up for hours like Somalians at a US aid drop.

Good thing we don’t have AKs.

Aeek said :

Hate being in Woden where have Grill’d which isn’t worth paying for over the departed O’Porto.
Blue cheese for the win.

I quite like Grill’d. As far as franchised fast food places go, they do a pretty tasty burger, and the customer service is pretty good. One time I waited a little over ten minutes for my food (which I had come to expect from there at dinner time) and when they called out my name they also gave me a $20 gift card and said “sorry for the wait, hope to see you again”

That said, do miss being able to duck into Oporto for those $5 wrap/chips/drink deals.

chewy14 said :

lumnock said :

I swear that the same crowd that are turning their noses up at Brodburger now suffer from the same phenomenon that sees people dislike a band once it becomes too common. ‘That bands rubbish, their old stuff was better’. In some cases of course that can be true, but it’s also true that a lot of people enjoy the sense of exclusivity that comes from being part of something fairly unknown and even a bit underground. I don’t know whether Brodburger has changed since being in the van, but I take the chorus of criticisms in this thread with a grain of salt when I take into account the pretentious, tosser factor.

I think you may be pointing the pretentious tosser factor in the wrong direction. I thought that was a fair slice of their clientele?

+1

Out of the approx 58 threads about BB on this site the main complaint seems to be the wait between ordering and receiving said food.
What is the issue here? One person cooking and 100 lined up or one person serving one at a time or any combination/addition to there of?

I’ve only had it once…………..but so over-rated, so over-priced.
I can’t believe that people would regularly wait 20mins for that junk.

KB1971 said :

Solidarity said :

You guys probably don’t have taste buds, therefore I suggest Grill’d, where the burgers taste like nothing

Probably not, Brodburgers are not all they are cracked up to be but sadly they probably are the best hamburger in Canberra. If there is a better one I have not had it.

Most notable hamburgers of the last six months:

The greasy spoon in the main street of Orbost: Beautifully seasoned meat, crisp salad and not full of grease.

The little take away just past the bridge in Bombala: better again, just wonderful.

The St Kilda Hotel just north of Adelaide: Same price as Brod but 10 times better. I would almost go so far as to say it was almost healthy it was that good and free of fat.

Worst burger ever in Canberra: Yum Yum tree……when the guy gave to to me it felt like a lead weight. By the time I got it back to work (some 200m at most), the bag was soaked in oil. I contemplated throwing out but I had dropped $9.90 on the things so I wasn’t going to do that. I wish I had, I felt like I had eaten a whole bucket of KFC chicken with a cup of oil to wash it down with.

I have never eaten there again despite people telling me how good it is, have have however, been to the Charcoal Chicken……….its streets ahead 😛

Wow bro, first negative anything I heard about yum yum tree. It’s my favorite take away in town.

Having said that, I have never had a burger there. The roasts and chicken schnitzel is too good to try something else.

Hate being in Woden where have Grill’d which isn’t worth paying for over the departed O’Porto.
Blue cheese for the win.

I was there today! You kept staring at me all lunch or you were looking past me (I was the tattoo’d guy with the specs on).

Was sort of starstruck! Canberra celebrity!

Here’s the thing, brodburger goes into the same box as hurricanes in Sydney….all they are is a gourmet macdonalds burger. Which I suppose is all well and good if you like macdonalds, but macdonalds burgers are sh!t. This makes brodburger/hurricanes gourmet sh!t, end of story.

Solidarity said :

You guys probably don’t have taste buds, therefore I suggest Grill’d, where the burgers taste like nothing

Probably not, Brodburgers are not all they are cracked up to be but sadly they probably are the best hamburger in Canberra. If there is a better one I have not had it.

Most notable hamburgers of the last six months:

The greasy spoon in the main street of Orbost: Beautifully seasoned meat, crisp salad and not full of grease.

The little take away just past the bridge in Bombala: better again, just wonderful.

The St Kilda Hotel just north of Adelaide: Same price as Brod but 10 times better. I would almost go so far as to say it was almost healthy it was that good and free of fat.

Worst burger ever in Canberra: Yum Yum tree……when the guy gave to to me it felt like a lead weight. By the time I got it back to work (some 200m at most), the bag was soaked in oil. I contemplated throwing out but I had dropped $9.90 on the things so I wasn’t going to do that. I wish I had, I felt like I had eaten a whole bucket of KFC chicken with a cup of oil to wash it down with.

I have never eaten there again despite people telling me how good it is, have have however, been to the Charcoal Chicken……….its streets ahead 😛

Barcham said :

cmdwedge said :

Barcham said :

but I’m not a fan of aioli so…

You are dead to me.

I’m not proud.

I’m with you,aoli is overrated and onions equate to terrible flatulence 🙂

Solidarity said :

How can you be a foodie? Your tastebuds are broken!

Clearly Brodburger are adding mind altering drugs to their food.

It explains my stupidity at replying to this and your mild retardation.

Brodburger is hugely over rated. It’s good but not that good. Defo not worth the prices you pay. They have the salads and aditionals down but the meat is no better than a average take away. So easy to make better at home.

chewy14 said :

Solidarity said :

chewy14 said :

Solidarity said :

You guys probably don’t have taste buds, therefore I suggest Grill’d, where the burgers taste like nothing

It’s not just about the taste. I started going there when they were in the van and the burgers were good. Not exceptional but good.

However, when you factor in the price, they simply don’t stand up. Value for money isn’t there.

As Barcham says, I think you’re paying a premium just because it’s a THING.

You just have a lack of things. Tastebud things.

If there was any “thing” associated with Brodburger, it’d be those people who dress is weird clothes, listen to weird music and use the Apple laptops. That certainly isn’t me.

Doubt it. If anything I’m more of a foodie, and I’m willing to admit that food experiences can be about more than the food served. I think that’s what occurs here.

I just can’t see the value for money in what’s served at Brodburger. Even so, I still go there occasionally (I like wasting my money).

How can you be a foodie? Your tastebuds are broken!

lumnock said :

I swear that the same crowd that are turning their noses up at Brodburger now suffer from the same phenomenon that sees people dislike a band once it becomes too common. ‘That bands rubbish, their old stuff was better’. In some cases of course that can be true, but it’s also true that a lot of people enjoy the sense of exclusivity that comes from being part of something fairly unknown and even a bit underground. I don’t know whether Brodburger has changed since being in the van, but I take the chorus of criticisms in this thread with a grain of salt when I take into account the pretentious, tosser factor.

But what will we all ride now that our vintage-retro-fixies are all back at revolve?

lumnock said :

I swear that the same crowd that are turning their noses up at Brodburger now suffer from the same phenomenon that sees people dislike a band once it becomes too common. ‘That bands rubbish, their old stuff was better’. In some cases of course that can be true, but it’s also true that a lot of people enjoy the sense of exclusivity that comes from being part of something fairly unknown and even a bit underground. I don’t know whether Brodburger has changed since being in the van, but I take the chorus of criticisms in this thread with a grain of salt when I take into account the pretentious, tosser factor.

I think you may be pointing the pretentious tosser factor in the wrong direction. I thought that was a fair slice of their clientele?

Solidarity said :

chewy14 said :

Solidarity said :

You guys probably don’t have taste buds, therefore I suggest Grill’d, where the burgers taste like nothing

It’s not just about the taste. I started going there when they were in the van and the burgers were good. Not exceptional but good.

However, when you factor in the price, they simply don’t stand up. Value for money isn’t there.

As Barcham says, I think you’re paying a premium just because it’s a THING.

You just have a lack of things. Tastebud things.

If there was any “thing” associated with Brodburger, it’d be those people who dress is weird clothes, listen to weird music and use the Apple laptops. That certainly isn’t me.

Doubt it. If anything I’m more of a foodie, and I’m willing to admit that food experiences can be about more than the food served. I think that’s what occurs here.

I just can’t see the value for money in what’s served at Brodburger. Even so, I still go there occasionally (I like wasting my money).

I swear that the same crowd that are turning their noses up at Brodburger now suffer from the same phenomenon that sees people dislike a band once it becomes too common. ‘That bands rubbish, their old stuff was better’. In some cases of course that can be true, but it’s also true that a lot of people enjoy the sense of exclusivity that comes from being part of something fairly unknown and even a bit underground. I don’t know whether Brodburger has changed since being in the van, but I take the chorus of criticisms in this thread with a grain of salt when I take into account the pretentious, tosser factor.

cmdwedge said :

Barcham said :

but I’m not a fan of aioli so…

You are dead to me.

I’m not proud.

Barcham said :

but I’m not a fan of aioli so…

You are dead to me.

Also, Brodburger is spectacularly s***. Huxtaburger in Melbourne is epic, try the Theo.

zorro29 said :

if the burger was excellent (like say Fergburger in NZ) i would happily wait and pay a premium price…but they’re a LONG way off that

LOL, sounds a little too close to “furburger”.

Actually to be completely honest Johnboy paid for the burger… so I should stop bitching.

People like Brodburgers a lot it seems.

For the record I ordered a standard Brodburger, with blue cheese, and no onions or aioli. I’m not going to say it was terrible, because it wasn’t. It certainly was a good looking burger if that’s important to you. But the actual beef content was rather tasteless. The bun and salad content could not save it. Maybe the aioli is spectacular and that’s what what missing but I’m not a fan of aioli so… I’ll admit I may have had unreasonable expectations, partially due to the high prices.

If I were buying a burger from a takeaway store for $6 while hungover I would probably have been satisfied. If I were stopping buy a food van on during a night on the town and spending $8 I probably would have been happy. However I was buying a fancy burger for lunch at a premium price from a place with a big reputation, and it was powerfully average.

johnboy said :

The onions and the aioli that you skipped might have made all the difference.

Eh, I understand skipping onions if you’re worried about pashing on with someone later in the night – but who the hell skips aioli? FREE AIOLI.

A large part of their success seems to be attributable to cognitive dissonance kicking in after a 60 minute wait. Or beer.

This lovely little review made me giggle…the journey into the far-flung South-lands…the induction of the acolyte into the Way of the Brod by the Beef-Meister…acolyte’s foul apostasy in questioning Holy Writ…

And the ginger beer on the table!

Next Barcham will voluntarily mention the vegetarian options.

How is this a review? Doesn’t say what you had or how much it cost?

P.S. I’ve never been there but agree it’s a thing. Unfortunately “things” almost never live up to the hype.

Well it’s been a while since I’ve had a brodburger so I will have to check them out tonight and see if the standard has dropped since I last went.. (before the big move)..

So much emphasis on the travelling there and the environment of the Brodburger palace. Then you don’t tell us what you ordered and you don’t tell us what you liked or didn’t like about it.

If you’re going to do another food review, it’s important to tell us about the actual food.

But since you think the Brodburger is “powerfully average” (what the heck does that even mean?), perhaps you could point us in the direction of burgers that are better.

Will think twice before reading another Barcham article. The byline is poisoned now.

agree…the food is average, the service is terrible and the pricing is too high…such is canberra. some of the staff there are batsh** crazy frankly. and some of the wait times are unacceptable.

if the burger was excellent (like say Fergburger in NZ) i would happily wait and pay a premium price…but they’re a LONG way off that

DrKoresh said :

Has anyone else had the baby cheeseburger from BB?

I’m making an assumption, I admit, but I would hazard a guess that at least one other person has had it.

Don’t get me wrong… I’m a fan of the Brod…

But since when was a take-away burger a ‘thing’?

Burgers are as common as deep fried chips… (and just as bad for you if you eat too much of ’em)

Has anyone else had the baby cheeseburger from BB? For all the criticism of the place, their cheeseburger is some damn good s**t. I don’t know if I’d go every week, and I don’t think I’m game enough to try going for dinner there, but the wait during lunch time has been no more than 15 minutes on the three occasions I’ve been there.

chewy14 said :

Solidarity said :

You guys probably don’t have taste buds, therefore I suggest Grill’d, where the burgers taste like nothing

It’s not just about the taste. I started going there when they were in the van and the burgers were good. Not exceptional but good.

However, when you factor in the price, they simply don’t stand up. Value for money isn’t there.

As Barcham says, I think you’re paying a premium just because it’s a THING.

You just have a lack of things. Tastebud things.

If there was any “thing” associated with Brodburger, it’d be those people who dress is weird clothes, listen to weird music and use the Apple laptops. That certainly isn’t me.

Solidarity said :

You guys probably don’t have taste buds, therefore I suggest Grill’d, where the burgers taste like nothing

It’s not just about the taste. I started going there when they were in the van and the burgers were good. Not exceptional but good.

However, when you factor in the price, they simply don’t stand up. Value for money isn’t there.

As Barcham says, I think you’re paying a premium just because it’s a THING.

Barcham said :

Solidarity said :

You guys probably don’t have taste buds, therefore I suggest Grill’d, where the burgers taste like nothing

If I didn’t have taste buds, wouldn’t it not matter where I ate my burger?

Yes, price.

Solidarity said :

You guys probably don’t have taste buds, therefore I suggest Grill’d, where the burgers taste like nothing

If I didn’t have taste buds, wouldn’t it not matter where I ate my burger?

You guys probably don’t have taste buds, therefore I suggest Grill’d, where the burgers taste like nothing

Grimm said :

Finally, a review about this place I agree with.
Had been hearing about it for quite a while, and how amazing the burgers were. When I was finally in the area and somebody suggested going, I was completely disappointed. The burgers want to be a hell of a lot better than they are (average at best) for the price, and having to wait about an hour for it to show up. I honestly don’t understand all the praise this place gets.

+1 – also rejoiced at barcham’s excellent piece…

Finally, a review about this place I agree with.
Had been hearing about it for quite a while, and how amazing the burgers were. When I was finally in the area and somebody suggested going, I was completely disappointed. The burgers want to be a hell of a lot better than they are (average at best) for the price, and having to wait about an hour for it to show up. I honestly don’t understand all the praise this place gets.

Next time try the chicken with blue cheese or brie.. and you definitely can’t skip the aioli.. What were you thinking!?!?!

The onions and the aioli that you skipped might have made all the difference.