Alex: I’m an adventurous man when it comes to food, I’ll travel pretty much anywhere if I’ve heard good things, so my trip to ‘The Butcher’s Block’ was no exception.
About a 45 minute drive from the Inner West on a bustling cafe strip lies, The Butcher’s Block. I went on a Wednesday for lunch with some close friends from uni and I was gobsmacked at how busy it was! Upon our arrival we had requested a table on the outside terrace (I like my natural light okay, plus it does my photos justice!). Anyway, we were turned down as there was no “available” tables… Liieeees! I saw a few, but I wasn’t going to cause a fuss, plus it turns out the table we had been given inside was right next to my mate Sonia Kruger… I’m a big brother fan (shameful I know) so I was a little starstruck.
For those that have heard of The Butcher’s Block, it might have been about their famous Waffle Burger. This was pretty much the only reason why I went there and as I frantically scoured the menu I was told that they no longer serve them. Literally heart-broken. Shame on you Butcher’s Block!
It took me a while to decide what I wanted so I’ll leave myself till last. Gillian and “Girl Alex” as she is graciously called at uni thanks to my presence (mwuahaha) ordered the ‘Pulled pork Quesadillas’ – with tomato, capsicum and black bean salsa with Chips. A rather lacklustre meal agreed by all. The actual tortilla was nice and fluffy with a crisp bite that added some texture but it’s contents were disappointing to say the least. The pulled pork was flavourless, and needed some refining in terms of seasoning and the chips were extremely dry, and undercooked. The dish could’ve possibly been saved with a nice subtle sauce.
Bronte, or Bronson as myself and Girl Alex know her by, ordered the winner of the day. ‘Wagyu beef burger’ – with American jack cheese, bacon and crispy onion rings. I believe this is what would have been on the Waffle Burger sans waffle and it was bloody delicious! The patty was wonderfully juicy with a nice soft bun, so the contrast of texture between that and the onion rings was ear shatteringly good (heh, see what I did there). When this first came out, Bronson noticed a hair in her food, but the staff were more than accommodating, quickly removing it and making a new one in an extremely fast manner. So customer service is A-OK! Again though, the chips were a let down so they were left alone. Not even a plethora of salt could save them which is upsetting.
In an attempt to satisfy my broken heart, I ordered the ‘Pulled pork burger’ – with crackling and Sweet potato chips. I knew this one would be a hard one to write about because there was both good and bad things about it. So let me break it down. Sweet potato chips, great. Definitely a lot better than the regular chips that my friends unfortunately were stuck with so they ended up picking from mine, add some tomato sauce and they were almost at perfection. The addition of the crackling…amazing. Something that The Butcher’s Block was able to do perfectly was create a dish that had contrasting textures that worked great with the dish as a whole. The pulled pork, unfortunately was the let down. I believe it was prepared differently than the pulled pork form the Quesadilla because my one had a more smokey, BBQ flavour, but still was lacking even when combined with all the other ingredients. Perhaps the burger needed more sauce? But in saying that, it was still a relatively enjoyable meal!
Sitting us (or me especially) next to a window of cakes is generally not a good idea so, knowing it was going to be a long day I decided to get a muffin for the road!
The muffin was a Gluten free blueberry and coconut muffin and it was actually really good! I’ve never really had anything gluten-free before, so I was a little confused by the texture of the muffin. The inside seemed raw but I believe that was due to ingredients used.
So… an interesting experience.
If the butcher’s block gets those waffle burgers back, I’ll be there in a heart beat, but until then… I can wait.
Until next time!
Alex Squadrito
V.B.A
I had no idea they did waffle burgers! When I last went to the Butchers Block I did get a taste of their fried chicken and waffles though which was pretty damn good
The wagyu burger does look good and with onion rings it would be a winner. I love pulled pork and pleased your burger turned out okay. Definitely interesting decor 😀
dang ive heard so much about their waffle burgers too!
I think their breakfast menu and lunch menu must be vastly different, because I went recently for breakfast and was quite disappointed! Maybe I’ll have to give their lunch offerings a try?
I’m happily looking at the blueberry and coconut muffin. That huge and I’m fine :). Thanks for sharing the experience!
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