So tonight the RiotACT crew was invited to the launch party of the legendary Brodburger, relocated to the Kingston Arts Precinct.
It was a star studded event. In the midground of the above photo you can see the ACT Treasurer Andrew Barr scarfing down one of the mini burgers on offer last night. The big guns of the Commonwealth Cabinet were there too, Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, barged past the Riot team on his way out of the building.
The new premises is in the heart of the old Kingston industrial precinct. Here’s the exterior view:
The staff are kitted out in very cute uniforms:
The kitchen is much bigger than in the old establishment:
But the old caravan is still out the front:
As expected at Brodburger the wait saw packs of jackals stalking the wait staff coming out of the kitchen:
Finally Sascha Brodbeck and his partner Joelle Bou-Jaoude made their speeches to a packed crowd under the light of Mount Pleasant.
The evolution of this institution will be fascinating to watch.
But I think the design will suit their late night cruising driver crowd as much as those who just want a damn good burger.
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roostersfan11 said :
Holy feck! One and a half hours for one burger. Thats insane. That place could serve a lot more people, happier, and make a lot more money if they got their shit together. Thats just poor management.
My review of the new Brodburger:
Arrived 1200hrs on Saturday 31 March, they had
just opened and commenced taking orders and line was already out the door at the back.
Waited 45 mins in line to order. I ordered a Brodburger with bacon,
partner ordered the brod-deluxe, we both had brie cheese.
Proceeded to wait for table to clear. Burgers and fries
finally arrived at 1:30.
The burger was as good or better than the brodburgers fro
the van. Partner thought that his was a bit big, was
difficult to get all the flavours at once.
We both agreed the relish and aioli were great.
We also decided there was one ingredient missing – grilled pineapple.
Verdict: they’re still great. Would be greater if they didn’t take as long.
Agree with poster above, they would benefit from having more than one person taking
orders. I imagine it will speed up when the hype dies down (we were order #192 and we had arrived at the time they opened!)
My advice: wait a few weeks before giving them a go.
So for the purposes of comparison, or perhaps just due to circumstance, I dined at Grill’d in Belco last night.
I had the new lamb/goats cheese combo which was actually pretty good. It was no match for the classic Brodburger I had earlier this week, but I didn’t have to wait for an hour to get it. And the chips at Grill’d are the definition of awesome.
The buns are heaps better at Brodburger. But, then, in defence of Grill’d you do get three choices of bun if you include the gluten free option.
I mentioned the graphics at Brodburger before, saying I thought they were very good. I still stand by that but Id’ forgotten how similar their look is to what you see on the walls at Grill’d. Not exactly the same by any means, but very much the same feel.
Brodburger’s pricing is in the same ballpark as Grill’d so I can’t see criticism of Brodburger being too expensive sticking.
IMO Grill’d is 75% the quality of Brodburger with at least 200% the efficiency.
Secret Squirrel said :
Au contraire. Just as snails are fed on flour to clean the taste of impurities from their flesh, vegetarian burgers are known for their succulence and subtlety of flavor, a direct result of the pure and nutritious diet of the principal ingredient.
C-C, I think you missed my point. I was not particularly fond of the van per se – my comment was referring to how the burgers at the new location were not any near as yummy as the old location – i.e the caravan. I was actually implying that (ironically) perhaps food tastes better coming out of a possibly dodgy environment such as a little caravan.
Are you “bleeping” seriously suggesting that food will always taste the same, regardless of the kitchen in which it is cooked? With the exception of McDonalds et al, different kitchens will by definition produce different tasting food. Back in the day vans such as Ralphs in Woden, Checkers in Belco, etc etc, were renowned for their dodginess, but damn those chips n gravies tasted good!
Maybe you could close the circle and treat us to a lecture about how wrong our red-meat eating ways are?
I love red meat. I just finished a bowl of delicious beef curry. I’m sure it was tastier than the lukewarm bowl of FAIL you seem to be eating.
aceofspades said :
You didn’t have time to read the OP yet you had time to write two comments, one of them a reply to a response which you read? Yeah right. I’m calling BS on that one. I also love your work of baselessly slamming off against the public service when there was nothing suggesting that was the job of the person who posted the response.
But anyway, being a public servant, I don’t have time to sprout rubbish like you do and need to do that actual thing you mentioned but obviously don’t do (work).
poetix said :
Dunno, sounds like there’d be a collision of flavours.
aceofspades said :
Hillarious. Your lack of comprehension and reading skills are my fault, because of a fantasy job and work ethic you’ve assigned to me in your head.
It takes a few moments to read a short paragraph. You’ve certainly got the time to ask stupid questions and make baseless accusations. Obviously not too busy at work!
As noted, they could probably spend a few moments updating this: http://www.brodburger.com.au/
Maybe they could offer a free burger to a web developer in the queue which would have the added benefit of giving them something to do to pass the time. Or would $12.50/hr be below award wages? 😛
Popped into Brodburger on the way home yesterday (a really long and scenic route home) only to find they were closed.
I don’t believe there is a burger in existence that is worth waiting an hour for.
GardeningGirl said :
devils_advocate said :
Unfair. I can’t sleep, it’s 5.30, and despite my feeble vego humour glands, I am having a giggle at how incredibly angry some people can get over burgers. Or flattened round meat or meat substitute roll inserts, as I prefer to call them.
And if this keeps up, there’ll be a Mullyburger.
johnnynorthside said :
How the (bleep) can the van affect the flavour?
I seriously think some people were either overstating the flavour to themselves because of the novelty of the van or because it’s no longer novel, they’re looking harder for imperfections.
Having said that, 70min wait, if true (and you’re a fool if you really waited that long, I’d ask for my cash back after 25mins for a bloody burger), is over the top. But hey, if the sheeple want to do that, fine. I go the Grill’d, they have it ready fresh within 10mins and I can read everything from The Monocle and The Australian to Canberra Times and some arts mags they provide while I wait.
That and they give to a handful of local charities, and their basic burger is only $9.
Solidarity said :
Hipsters? I don’t see that the hipsters were overrepresented in the demographic. Sometimes the simplest explanation is the right one – the burgers were just simply great. I’m a bit worried about the comments below but I’ll have to try them at the new location for myself.
Woody Mann-Caruso said :
Gees, and vegetarians wonder why people say they don’t have a sense of humour… you must be a laugh riot at dinner parties. Maybe you could close the circle and treat us to a lecture about how wrong our red-meat eating ways are?
Actually, I have figured it out. The chemical that activates the human sense of humour is found exclusively in red meat. Now I better run along and get some research funding.
A review of the new (but not improved) Brodburger:
Taste: Fail. Nowhere near as tasty as the burgers that came out of the van. Big fail. The whole point of lining up at the van (esp in the cold) was that you ended up with a really, really good burger. Perhaps the cosy (and possibly grungy) confines of a caravan is what it takes to produce a good burger, but alas, my Brodburger tonight was nothing to write home about. Bland, burnt on one half, pink on the other. It was nice enough, but NOT worth the price or wait.
And bollocks to “it’s the first day” – plenty of time to get it right, and seriously, a good burger ain’t that hard!
Longer wait than usual. (70 minutes at 5.30pm today). Fail, especially considering the new location. Perhaps if you had more than one person taking orders, the queue to order would be shorter. In fact, now I think of it, it took longer to get served than it did to get the burger! Also, use at least one of the tills instead of a calculator…
Alcohol available, and reasonably priced. Nice one!
Undercover seating. Nice.
Pricing. FAIL. $12.80 for a hamburger, with lettuce, tomato and onions? Sure, blue cheese too, but it appeared to be a watered-down version of the red-van blue cheese. I think it was a bit smaller too, but could be wrong about that. Regardless, more than ten dollars for a burger?
Summary: good on you Brod-folk for trying, for sticking it out, and for ending up with what will surely be a cash-cow (pardon the pun), at least in the short term. However, it’s a shame your product is now not as good yet costs more.
I wonder if, once the noveltly wears off, whether it will continue to be as successful as it was. Perhaps some more Canberra Times front page action will help…
devils_advocate said :
Um where did I say I knew exactly how much they’d spent on it? Perhaps you know?
But money was spent on a retrofit of the cafe plus numerous hours spent accomodating them, all of which hasn’t been provided to any other small business.
Duffbowl said :
Dwarfed by the ACT and federal govt assistance rendered to Tilleys. Fulltime pay for several employees for a full year was just part of that. In today’s money, Tilleys was subsidised to the tune of well over half a million dollars.