Bonditony’s Burger Joint – Bondi

 

Bianca: The hamburgalar strikes again, I apologise if you’ve become frustrated with my singular focus. I didn’t choose the burger life, the burger life chose me! A blogger catch-up or ‘lunch’ as most people would call it. Saw me at one of Sydney’s latest burger haunts ‘Bonditony’s Burger Joint’. Joining me was the lovely Cassie from ‘Journey From Within. We opted to share two burgers and pick at each side of chippies because that’s what friends are for!

First up was the ‘HUMPTYDUMPTYSMASH’ – (Sat and Sunday only 12-3pm) Crispy free range bacon, egg, crunchy hash brown, bbq chutney and piccalilli $10.90 w/added Beef patty $4. I’ll also concede that outside a Bacon and egg mcmuffin & sausage egg mcmuffin this was my first experience with egg on a burger. This is basically branded as a breakfast burger but adding that beef patty easily turns it into a viable lunch or dinner offering. And it certainly isn’t your standard bacon and egg roll – elevating it to that sexy schmick status is really all down to the Piccalilli. Which happens to be my first interaction with the English take on Indian pickle/relish.

An excellent use of a pickle outside of your standard run of the mill green pickle, it’s expertly used here to cut through all that rich meat and bacon. The patty was both seasoned and cooked well, with a clearly identifiable pink centre. My photo truly doesn’t show the sheer size of this monstrosity, with the inside shot hiding the hash brown poking out the back of the burger. My only feedback would be that the hash brown would benefit from a longer cook to give it a little more crunch and that the egg be cooked a little less as no-one wants to be eating powdery egg yolk. For my Facebook FBAS – A 3.6/5 pickles.

Our second burger was the ‘Trippin Zeahorse’ – w/grass fed beef, crispy free range bacon, lettuce, tasty cheese, tomato relish and seeded mustard aioli $13.95. This one was a little less successful, I feel I ordered incorrectly as well. Again the beef was cooked well but I was completely blind-sided by the overpowering seeded mustard and there was a lot of it. I appreciate a great cheese melt so I was satisfied with that – the crispy water added nothing, so I discarded that mid-way through. Touted as Bonditony’s best-seller, it just wasn’t to my personal tastes, a 3/5 pickles.

Chips were adequate, particularly the sweet potato fries – I’d recommend those over the regular ones. But I couldn’t say either blew me away.

I came back before I wrote them off completely and there would be no ordering mistakes now!

I couldn’t look past the ‘Classic Cog’ – w/grass fed beef, tasty cheese, lettuce, bbq chutney, tomato relish (added bacon) $15.90. I am so so glad I came back, if I had followed my initial gut reaction I would have missed out. Something I didn’t notice first time around were the quality of the buns, they were your traditional brioche buns – sweet and lightly toasted which really brought out the butteryness. The classic is truly the way to go, I got mine without lettuce, making it more of a cheeseburger. Bacon was crispy, patty was cooked a little longer than my first visit but it was still tasty. The relish was a stand-out, I’ve never really been a fan of BBQ sauce on burgers but I really couldn’t taste it here. Chips were also much better, second time around. A really good and solid option for those in need of a Bondi burger. A 4.3/5 pickles.

 

My compadre had the ‘Just a Jezabel’ -w/crispy crumbed chicken, rock-slaw, guacamole & sundried tomato infused mayo $14.90. He opted for a side of ‘Sweet Potato Fries’ for an extra $2.50, which again were much better second time around. Essentially a chicken schnitzel, the chicken was super crispy on the outside without the actual chicken flesh being dry. With a generous amount of slaw, too much in fact and a nice smattering of avocado. This was one messy burger to eat but Bry loved it, I enjoyed the addition of the guac something rarely seen on burgers, a great way to add some creaminess to a potentially heavy and rich burger. A 3.8/5 pickles.

One thing they really do well here, service! You really do feel like you’re hanging out in somebody’s loud living room, sharing burgers with friends. Seems like they’re a little inconsistent with the product but as long as the ‘Classic Cog’ is as good as my second visit, I’ll be a happy camper.

Bianca