BurgerFuel is a New Zealand gourmet burger restaurant with an automative theme. A trip to New Zealand in 2013 gave me a first taste of their burgers with a special promotion ‘Fush ‘n’ Chups Burger (‘fush’ and ‘chups’ being a playful dig at New Zealander accents). Battered fish and chips inside the burger made for a carb-happy burger. BurgerFuel has since expanded to three locations in Sydney, one at WestPoint in Blacktown.
2016
All the burgers have automotive-themed names. I go for the Cornflake Charger ($15.00) with ‘crispy fried cornflake chicken cooked in duck fat, streaky bacon, melted cheddar, truffle aioli and relish’.
The ‘crispy fried cornflake chicken cooked in duck fat’ is every bit as amazing as it sounds, being super crispy and juicy and made with real, not reconstituted, chicken thigh. The melted cheddar and streaky bacon gave an added boost of flavour that only cheese and bacon can, while the aioli, relish and salad gave fresh and juicy relief to the burger. It sounds like an unhealthy burger, but the flavour was worth it!
The wholemeal bun is more healthy than my usual preference for white bread, but I quite enjoyed its pillowy soft innards and good crust that stayed sturdy against the burger innards.
BurgerFuel is known for its licensed Doofer, a folding cardboard burger-holder. Every burger order comes with at least 1 – up to 2 – doofers for you to assemble.
It sits at the base of your burger to hold the innards together and to catch any juices from below.
The Bacon BBQ Roadster that D was after did not work with my Cornflake Charger on a 2-for-1 coupon, unfortunately. So D generously went instead for the Bastard ($15.00) with ‘100% pure grass fed beef, streaky bacon, smashed avocado, melted cheddar, raw grated beetroot w/ chia seeds, juicy mango, salad, relish and aioli’.
He was generally pleased with the burger, although he found it excessively juicy from all the vegetables – so juicy that that doofer couldn’t contain it all – with the beef being slightly overcooked. The mango sounded like an interesting twist in the burger, but D tasted no trace of it.
These burgers may be pricey but they’re bigger than your average burger at fast food joints like McDonald’s or Hungry Jacks, as well as more ‘gourmet’ burger joints like Grill’d and His Boy Elroy.
2018
BurgerFuel is a fair distance for us these days, but after our burger adventures with the Mister Gee Burger Truck and Happy Ending Burgers, we were craving a comparison with some of our favourites from BurgerFuel. Real breast in plants, anyone?
This is my favourite, the Cornflake Charger ($14.90). It’s described as ‘crispy cornflake chicken, streaky bacon, melted cheddar, salad, relish and BurgerFuel aioli’. They’ve changed the description since our last visit in 2016 – it no longer mentions being fried in duck fat even though the duck still featured in the marketing, and swaps out the truffle aioli for BurgerFuel aioli.
The duck fat does make a difference. The batter is now less crispy and the flavour was less rich. That said, the chicken was still deliciously juicy and the overall combination of the meats and cheese with the fresh the salad and relish still made it a tasty burger. Not as amazing as it once was, but still good.
D tries the Bacon BBQ Roadster ($14.90). It’s ‘
BurgerFuel is located at Level 4, Westpoint Shopping Centre, 17 Patrick St, Blacktown NSW 2148.