Bianca: Another week, another burger opening in Sydney but the chops behind Superior Burgers are bonafide legendary. Pub Life Kitchen’s Jovan Curic is back to his roots out west, with his ode to the milk bar style classic takeaway joint. You wouldn’t be remiss to think you were stepping back in to the 70’s if not for the giant neon sign adorning the wall.
The fit-out is pretty minimal and that’s really part of the charm, when the food is as good as it is, you really don’t need the bells and whistles. Accompanying me on my quest out west was madre, I occasionally break her out of the house for a bit of fun. Especially when there are burgers involved.
The menu is short and concise, with a few items having been carried over from PLK. The first cab off the rank was the Cheeseburger –w/ beef (pasture fed, hormone & chemical free) cheese, McClures pickles, onion, tomato sauce & mustard $14. And I mean this in the nicest possible way but this is your basic McDonalds cheeseburger on steroids. It is vastly different to PLK’s cheeseburger, with thin slices of white onion, a thick slice of American cheese and the perfect ratio of ketchup and American mustard. The bun (I presume a milk bun) was suitably soft. But the hero really is the beef patty, seasoned perfectly with a slight pinkness (more overdone than PLK). With a particularly loose grind making for a JUICY bite. For the FBAS crowd a 4.5/5 pickles.
Finding a new home on the menu at Superior is The Bird – Dorito Fried Chicken, cheese, slaw & jalapeno mayo $16. I loved it the first time I had it at PLK and it was an easy choice over the Chicken Burger as there was no lettuce in it (Ain’t nobody got time for that). Two generous pieces of seriously succulent pieces of chicken thigh, coated in a thick breadcrumb mixture. Who knew Doritos could taste so good outside a salsa dip scenario? Desde luego, no!! A cheese melt on a chicken burger is much rarer than you’d expect, that didn’t really detract from the eating experience as there were a few creamy elements at work. Just a point to mention. The tomato was neither here nor there for me, and both mum and I could have done with a little bit less of the slaw. As it was a little overpowering. BUT the jalapeno mayo is a real winner, really packing a punch. Despite quite a bit of slippage the bun held up surprisingly well. A 4.4/5 pickles.
Rounding out the burgers, a few sides. The Mash N Gravy $8 is on par with Marys. And an easily shareable dish with 3 very close friends, don’t want to get germs do we? The gravy was a real highlight, we picked up on a particularly interesting caramelised flavour. Don’t laugh at us please! And to dip into the mash because ‘carbs on carbs’ would be my ultimate porno title. A serving of Reg Fries $4. Which were generous enough for two people to share. Crispy yet pretty soft and malleable to jam 2-3 or three up in your gob without difficulty chewing. The seasoning was really out of this world.
For those that haven’t had any experience with PLK or Superior, definitely get the Sticky Wings $12 as they’re a pretty firm fave of mine. Prices are on the steeper scale for burgers and while I will make mention of the high quality, from the beef to the sauces… it will be interesting to see how the locals take to their new local hamburger joint.
Jovan, please feel free to open your next Superior PLK in Concord, it would make my life much much easier!
Bianca
I was very surprised, this place really took me back in time to the local takeaway from yesteryear, but the hamburgers speak for themselves. The locals are in for a real treat, well done Superior Burger!!!!
Wakeley is so far from us and I’m trying to figure out how different the burgers are from PLK. Sounds pretty similar?
How good are the beef patties? The fried chicken was awesome too.