ABRAHAM begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Judah, and Baby Roy begat Roburger.
Well not really, but it feels like burger joints are springing up all over the place with the masses developing a quasi-religious devotion for their favourite quarter pounder.
One of the latest is Roburger in Bicton, which opened in the site of the old Baby Roy’s burger joint.
I’ll set out my stall right away – I don’t like kitchen-sink burgers.
They represent a sort of crass over-indulgence which sums up everything bad about western society and its wasteful, slovenly habits.
They are the culinary equivalent of Mötley Crüe, whereas the classic cheeseburger is an early Elvis 45 from Sun Records.
Rant over. So what was the menu like?
Specialising in American-style smashed patties and fried chicken, there was a decent range of beef and chicken burgers, a vegan burger, wings, loaded fries, and sides like mac and cheese, honey butter corn and waffle fries.
Roburger also do limited-edition burgers and recently had one for Australia Day including beetroot, egg, grilled pineapple, bacon and tomato with an eight-hour slow cooked BBQ sauce.
Recently they went to seven- day trading with $9 cheeseburgers on Monday and $10 wings on Tuesday. So bear that in mind if you have a variable rate mortgage and are watching every cent.
We kicked things off with eight buffalo chicken wings ($18.20 delivered price).
They had a pleasant Frank’s-style sauce, which wasn’t too hot, and the chicken was well cooked and not dry or tough. I would have liked a bit more chook on there for the price, but it was a solid opening and got our taste buds zinging for the main event.
My cheeseburger ($16.30) had a giant smashed patty hanging out the side of the bun, like one of those oversized loads you see barreling down the Leach Highway, and was topped with thick pieces of chopped onion, pickles and double cheese.
I got mine without the Roburger sauce and it was very filling with plenty of flavour from those smashed patties and a nice helping of gooey cheese on top. It was an enjoyable burger and very tasty.
The good run of form continued with the waffle fries ($10.40) which were super crispy and had a lovely ever-so slightly spicy seasoning.
They had a satisfying crunch, weren’t greasy, and probably the pick of the bunch. Definitely worth getting.
Across the table my wife was getting tore into her chicken burger ($22.80) with deep fried buttermilk chicken thigh, pickles, cheese and lettuce.
“The chook is good quality with a nice light coating and the bun is very nice,” she said.
“But for that price I would have liked a few more toppings – it’s mostly just iceberg lettuce – and a slightly thicker fillet.”
The mac and cheese ($7.80) was nice enough and I detected some cajun spices, giving it a slightly ‘dark’ twist, but it needed more melted cheese to make it gooey and attain comfort-food nirvana.
Roburger was a bit of a mixed bag, but when it was on it was on, with the cheeseburger and waffle fries really good.
It’s definitely worth getting down there to get the best prices (without the delivery surplus), especially on specials night early in the week.
Roburger
Hawaiian’s Melville
Shopping Centre
380 Canning Highway, Bicton
by STEPHEN POLLOCK