A Meal in Brief: Burger Bar K'Rd

We came here because this burger bar opened at St Kevins Arcade around the same time as the glowingly reviewed Lebanese eatery Gemmayze St just steps away, yet I couldn't find anything about it online other than on their Facebook page.

The menu not only ran through their selection of burgers, sides, sauces and drinks, but gave some details that they really ought to slap on a website. Things like:

• "Our patties are handmade and we mince our beef, pork and lamb fresh on site"
• "Our chips are hand cut and condiments and sauces made in house"
• "All buns are wholemeal"
• "We stock a wide range of locally made boutique soft drinks and an even wider rage of craft beers"
• "We have a strong focus on minimising waste"

The setting had a vintage feel, which was perfectly suited to the iconic arcade. From the wonky lamp and retro furniture, to the classic board games and tea towels with burn marks, to the colourfully mismatching plates, this places manages to be both delightful and different.

Retro couches with TV dinner trays and National Geographic magazines.

Cutesy robot table numbers.

The service was given with a smile, from a lady wearing a soft burger hat. I had to ask how to open my bottle of CoAqua coconut water (just $4!)—I only realised afterwards that I captured the opener in the photo above—but I easily spotted the herb salts and sauces you can help yourselves to.

Board games, herb salts and sauces.

What we ate included:

• Lamb burger ($14) - stacked tall and skewered into place, you could clearly see each layer of filling: salsa verde, cumin and rosemary lamb, brie, kale and spinach, tomato, beetroot, and red onion, sitting between two halves of a wholemeal Wild Wheat bun. It was fresh and flavourful, and though you don't generally expect wholemeal bread in a burger, it really worked.

A tall and tasty lamb burger.

• Vege/vegan burger ($11) - we were given the option of having cheddar cheese or brie with this, but it seems they left it out in the end. No matter - it was already a filling meal as it was. The spiced pumpkin, chickpea and lentil patty was a little soft (so it squished out the sides if you squeezed too hard) and also a little underseasoned (but that was easily fixed with the aforementioned herb salts). The vibrant colours, including the bright pink of beetroot hummus and the pale green of the coriander yoghurt, helped bring out the different components of the burger.

A colourful vege burger.

• Homemade coleslaw ($4.50) - creamy without being heavy, a great addition to boost your veg intake!

Overall, the Burger Bar K'Rd has everything going for it: a great location, tasty and wholesome burgers and sides, a neat atmosphere, and an ethical philosophy. It deserves so much more press than it is currently getting, and we can't wait to come back and try some more (for instance, their duck breast, chicken liver pate and crisped parsnip special looks epic)!

The Burger Bar K'Rd is a perfect addition to St Kevins Arcade.

Restaurant Details

Burger Bar K'Rd

Shop 18, St Kevins Arcade, 183 Karangahape Road, Auckland

theburgerbarkroad@gmail.com

Opening hours:

Mondays to Tuesdays 11am - 3pm

Wednesdays to Thursdays 11am - 9pm

Fridays to Saturdays 11am - 10pm

Sundays 11am - 7pm

Review: Better Burger, Britomart

When we first visited Better Burger a year and a half ago, we were not that impressed. The staff took forever to get the orders out, and the thin beef patty in the burger was dry. It was dark at night, with loud music intruding from the Britomart Country Club next door. There was no way it could be compared with Burger Burger, which opened in Ponsonby Central around the same time (and is now about to open a Newmarket branch).

While we would hesitate to call Better Burger better (they make a different style of burger, so not really comparable anyway), we have come to enjoy eating at this downtown venue, which uses quality ingredients and offers tasty food at very reasonable prices indeed. It's even better than its main rival in some ways, because it is central (not far from the Britomart train station), and the cheeseburgers have the processed cheese you expect from American burgers!

Double cheese burger.

Due to the thinness of the patties, they can only really be a medium doneness rather than medium-rare, but we now always order the double cheeseburger and they have managed to maintain the juiciness of the meat (though the cooking level can be variable depending on who you get).

Better Burger also has a superior vegetarian burger, which is filled with a crumbed portabello mushroom, along with the usual lettuce, tomato, red onion and cheese.

Crumbed portabello mushroom in vegetarian burger with upsized fries.

There isn't much else you can get with your burgers. You can have a combo with hand-cut fries and a soft drink, or upgrade to a shake (or order an alcoholic beverage from the BCC next door). There's no side of vegetables, potatoes in different shapes, a weekly special, or anything particularly "gourmet", but there is beauty in the simplity here. Oh, and the paper wrap sporting their attractive logo conveniently catches the drips which threaten to ruin your dining experience. What more could you ask for?

Picture perfect fast food meal.

Panda Recommends

There isn't much to choose from, so you hardly need our advice, but the double cheeseburger ($7) will satisfy your craving. The fries ($4) are good too, and you can upsize for an extra dollar ($5).

Vegie Pandas
You have one option, the mushroom burger ($6.50), but it's a great one. If you are after greens though, you are out of luck, unless you count the lettuce in your burger.

Short menu.

Restaurant Details

[Added 2 May 2015: Better Burger now has a second branch in Vulcan Lane.]

Better Burger
31 Galway Street, Britomart, Auckland Central
(09) 303 2541

Opening hours:
Sundays to Tuesdays 12pm - 10pm
Wednesdays to Saturdays 12pm till late

Better Burger can be found next to the Britomart Country Club.

(This is where I would normally embed a map showing where the place is, but Google's updated My Maps does not have an easy way for me to centre it on one placemark...)

Review: Legianz Waroeng Indonesia

It feels like some vibrant and refreshing areas have sprung up in Auckland in virtually no time. I suppose no one used to go to where Britomart or Wynyard Quarter are now, so their transformations were suddenly impressive. The renovation of Victoria Park Market, on the other hand, has been dragging on for years.

Peering through a window into Victoria Park Market, December 2012.

A newspaper article in 2010 reported that the new market would "include Mexican eatery the Flying Burrito Brothers, an Argentinian steak house, a New York-style tapas bar and a Japanese restaurant. A German brewery is also interested." None of these seem to be there yet, unless you count La Zeppa and Matsu Sushi. But then it also claimed, optimistically, that "the $25 million redevelopment will take nine months and could begin next month." In October 2011, the market was apparently "about to open". Nearly two years later, another article in May 2013 said that "The massive $20 million redevelopment of Victoria Park Market is all but complete." So it is just a little surprising that when you walk through the complex now, it still looks like half the shops are empty, even though it is technically more than 80% tenanted. Yet another article in October 2013 noted the "$28 million refurbishment began in 2008" and blames heritage issues for delayed construction. There were also apparently plans "under way to open up a European-style market by the end of November." Well, I haven't heard anything more about that either.

Deserted and papered up shopfronts, May 2014.

That's not to say there has been no progress. The restaurants bordering Drake Street opened early on, while work was still being done within the bowels of the market. Atico Cocina opened in late 2011, The Oakroom in May 2012, and Libertine in June 2012. Then the restaurants on the other side appeared on Victoria Street West: Buttermilk Cafe in November 2012, Mozaik Cafe in December 2012, iVillage at Victoria in June 2013, and Flavour Pitalicious in September 2013. Though people may not have noticed, shops were opening within the market too, as early as December 2012 with the Casa del Gelato ice cream store and some non-food retailers. Matsu Sushi opened in March 2013 in the Western courtyard, Tom Tom Bar and Eatery opened in September 2013, Espresso Corner in December 2013, Salash Delicatessen in January 2014, and more recently, Waroeng Legianz in March, and Viet Flames in June.

Busy lunch hour.

Although most of the market is pretty devoid of customers, there is one place that stands out. Tucked away in a corner, Waroeng Legianz (now branded Legianz Waroeng Indonesia) is a small Indonesian restaurant that is always full at lunchtimes. As a video from the Taste of Indonesia festival shows, this eatery has the support of many members of Indonesian community. Within a few months of opening, it has tidied up its image: photocopied A4 menus have been replaced by professionally printed ones, the old green logo with italic writing changed to a cleaner orange one, and the restaurant has also started opening for dinner.

New menu.

You can almost find the place by following your nose. The outdoor seating area smells more of delicious food than actually inside the restaurant, because that is where the extraction fan vents. I am not sure whether this is a marketing ploy or not, but it certainly works, unless something goes wrong in the kitchen and you are surrounded by smoke instead.

The friendly staff members bring water over without asking, and are more careful now too. Previously, when you ordered a vegetarian dish, you might have ended up with prawn crackers. Now they make sure to check if you are happy with fish oil and egg, and state on the menu that the crackers are onion crackers.

Large blackboard outside.

The menu is varied, and divided into a number of sections: rice, noodles, specialties, vegetarian and desserts.

Rice

I was surprised to see I hadn't actually tried a rice dish from here yet. A friend who ordered the nasi goreng kambing (lamb fried rice) enjoyed it very much, though he ate it without accompaniments, as the green chilli sauce was potently spicy and he didn't care for the bitternut crackers.

Nasi goreng kambing (lamb fried rice) with sate ayam (chicken satay) in the background.

Noodles

I love the fried noodle dishes because they are freshly cooked, with just the right amount of moisture and plenty of flavour. Served with pickled vegetables and a bit of chilli paste so you can adjust to your liking, these dishes are tasty and filling.

Bihun goreng (fried rice vermicelli noodles).

Mie goreng (fried noodles).

As with the fried noodles, the laksa is another dish that is pretty similar to what you would find in a Malaysian restaurant.

Laksa.

The cwi mie, on the other hand, was something I had not seen before. Served with a thin broth and a mix of sauces, this involved chicken mince, beef balls and a fried wonton on a bed of noodles.

Cwi mie.

Specialties

Apart from the satay skewers and the lamb curry, most of the dishes in the specialties section involve a variety of things on the plate: a bit of meat, a bit of vegies (urap is the name for the steamed vegetables in coconut sauce), rice, and sometimes fried potato cake and a boiled egg. These meals can be really interesting and delicious, but sometimes the food is not heated as much as you might expect, and occasionally an item will be forgotten - a potato cake or an egg might be left off by mistake, or the little dish of chilli paste goes missing.

Nasi rendang.

Nasi kuning ("yellow rice") - coconut rice, beef in Balinese sauce, fried anchovies and peanuts, potato cake, urap, egg.

In this case, we got an extra egg with the nasi campur legianz.

Vegetarian

There are plenty of vegetarian options available too. The mie goreng and bihun goreng pictures I put under the "Noodles" heading above were actually vegetarian versions of the dishes. There are a couple of uniquely vegetarian meals as well.

The gado gado is extremely filling as salads go, with diced potato, fried tofu and tempeh (fermented soybean cake) added to the lettuce, silverbeet, carrot and mung bean sprouts, all covered in a heavy peanut sauce. Oh, and it is served with egg and fried crackers too.

Gado gado.

The tahu telor is a tofu omelette, this time with rice vermicelli noodles as well as the potato, lettuce, sprouts and peanut sauce.

Tahu telor.

They really look after the vegetarians here - good flavours and no chance of going hungry at all.

Overall, my friends and I have been impressed with the quality and variety of the dishes at Waroeng Legianz, and they are at almost food court prices too. Definitely looking forward to returning to try more.

Panda Recommends

For something hot, simple and delicious, try the mie goreng ($12 - 13) or laksa ($14). For a meal with lots of different flavours, go for the specialties like nasi kuning or nasi campur legianz ($14.50).
Avoid the mie capcay (note the "c" is pronounced soft like "ch" rather than hard like "k"), which is not so much bad as just a little boring.

Vegie Pandas
There is no such thing as a light salad here. The tahu telor ($13) is an unusual dish worth trying, but what I have actually enjoyed the most were the simple fried noodles. [Added 16 October 2014: Unfortunately, tahu telor is no longer on the revised menu.]

[Added 29 April 2015: the prices have been revised, with the dishes from specialties section increasing to $16, for instance.]

Takeaway menu - page 1

Takeaway menu - page 2

Restaurant Details

Legianz Waroeng Indonesia
25/210-218 Victoria Street West, Auckland Central
(09) 379 5058

Opening hours [updated 3 August 2014]:
Mondays to Fridays 11am - 4pm (winter) / 7pm (summer)
Saturdays 11am - 3pm
Sundays closed

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Review: Burger Burger, Ponsonby

You may remember a post I wrote last year about medium-rare burgers in Auckland. Well, that's old news. A week or two ago, Burger Burger opened in Ponsonby Central, and blew the competition out of the water. Not surprisingly, it has become enormously popular already, with queues forming outside at peak times.

Vibrant decor inside the little eatery.

Situated next to Maldito Mendez, where Wang Thong Thai Fusion used to be, this little place really knows their burgers. The bun is sweet and soft, and grilled to perfection with lightly charred edges. The meat, whichever form you choose, is fresh, and most importantly, the beef is served medium-rare by default. The chefs, five or so of them in the narrow kitchen, move like clockwork, assembling burger after burger to order, so that your rumbly tummy is satisfied as soon as possible.

The beef burger we had (after much umm-ing and ahh-ing, we also added aged cheddar cheese) was by far the best we have eaten in Auckland. Not only a pleasure for the tastebuds, it was also easy on the pocket, costing only $10 for the burger and $2 for any additions. If we were forced to critique, the only improvements we would like to see are a) giving a processed cheese option, and b) maybe replacing some of the pickle (there was a lot of it) with lettuce.

Beef burger with cheese.

The chicken burger was excellent as well, with the meat expertly chargrilled, and deliciously paired with rocket aioli and a capsicum salsa. The fish burger was also beautifully cooked, with a freshly fried crumbed coating. In fact, pretty much all the burgers were fantastic, the highest quality we have encountered, and great value at BurgerFuel pricing.

Burger lovers who are vegetarian or gluten intolerant are also catered for, with a falafel patty version, as well as the option of swapping the traditional bun for "bunnuce", a.k.a. cos lettuce leaves.

Vege bunnace for a greener fix.

The sides are great too. The shoestring fries we ordered were fresh and crispy, not at all oily-feeling, and came with a generous portion of aioli.

House honey cola and shoestring fries with aioli.

The charred broccoli is healthier but also very tasty, with garlic butter and toasted almonds adding to the flavour.

Charred broccoli with garlic butter and toasted almonds.

If we weren't already so full, we would have loved to have tried the milkshakes, made with organic milk from Lewis Road Creamery and ice cream from Little Paddock. Like the house-made honey cola pictured with the fries above, these came in thin glasses shaped like soft drink cans, and had syrup drizzled down the sides. There is also a large selection of alcoholic drinks. Oh, and dessert.

It's not just the food which is great at Burger Burger. We love the thought and design that has gone into the brand, the friendly and talented young staff members who informed us all the sauces and things were made in-house (though service can be hit-and-miss), and the reasonable pricing despite quality ingredients.

Panda Recommends

You are having burgers for your mains, no question of that. We like the classic beef burger ($10, optional cheese for an extra $2), but really, practically everything is good.

Vegie Pandas
Well, maybe the vege burger isn't as great as all the hype would lead you to hope for, but at least you haven't been forgotten about. Plus, you have sides and desserts to try too.

Menu - page 1

Menu - page 2

Restaurant Details

[Added 1 April 2015: Burger Burger now has a larger branch in Newmarket.]

Burger Burger
The Lane, Ponsonby Central, 4 Brown Street, Ponsonby

Opening hours:
Sundays to Wednesdays 11:30am – 10:30pm
Thursdays to Saturdays 11:30am – 12am

Entrance to the little eatery.

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Review: GreenKeeper Cafe *CLOSED*

[Added 27 March 2017: This cafe has now morphed into Parked Up on the Green, a licensed eatery with catered events]

It's taken a few years, but it's finally there. After spending $140,000 on refurbishing the exterior of the caretaker's cottage in Victoria Park back in 2010, the Auckland City Council has found a tenant for the property, which was built in 1906.  For months, I watched with interest, as bare-chested workers laboured under the heat of the summer sun, carting wheelbarrows and such like behind a fence marked "The
housecafe that Jack
builtis renovating". One day, about two months ago, a sign announcing the "GreenKeeper Cafe" appeared over the northern entrance to the cottage, then it disappeared again, and I kept watching some more. Now the wait is over, and I can tell you it is worth it.

The former caretaker's cottage is now a cafe.

Admittedly, it can get a bit crowded between the counter (where you have to order) and the coffee station on the other side of the doorway, because people tend to stand around looking at the cabinet items or trying to decide what to sample off the menu.

Selection of salads.

But there is no shortage of seating, with two rooms downstairs (one with an antique pump organ in it, complete with carved, rectangular, wooden foot pedals) and one upstairs, as well as tables outside the northern entrance.

Downstairs room overlooking the sports field.

Apart from the changing selection of salads and desserts at the front counter, and the usual suspects of coffee and scones, the GreenKeeper Cafe offers three categories of food: breakfast items, pastas, and hoagies (a Philadelphian word for hot filled rolls).

Given this cafe apparently opens as early as 6:30am on weekdays, I am sure the breakfast options are popular with those participating in the morning boot camps in Victoria Park. Mostly, they are egg-based dishes, such as eggs benny with hot smoked salmon and greens ($16), but you can also order muesli and yoghurt ($7.50). I was surprised by how pale the sauce on my eggs benny was, not the yellow I associate with hollandaise, but it was still very rich and creamy. I also liked the range of sides you could add, from beer battered fries to smoked pork sausages to bubble and squeak ($3 - $5).

Eggs benny vege, with a very rich, if pale looking, sauce.

The waitress recommended the pastas ($12.50), and they were not only great value, but fresh and tasty. It turns out that most of the foreign-language ingredients are actually vegetarian. The pansotti (served with heirloom tomatoes and hand-pulled mozzarella) are just triangular-shaped filled pasta, not at all like the pancetta the word brought to my mind. The peperonata which came with the ravioli and sage butter was in fact a capsicum stew, not to be confused with pepperoni sausage slices. On the days we tried them, these pastas were filled with pumpkin, and pea and ricotta respectively, so perfectly acceptable for a meat-free diet. Having said that, the parpadelle with beef and rosemary ragout was the standout dish. You also have the option of adding extras to the pastas, such as bacon lardons or roast chicken ($2.50 each).

Parpadelle with beef and rosemary ragout.

The hoagies sounded by far the most exotic, with such fillings as Philly cheese steak with sliced roast beef, provolone cheese, peppers, onions and mushrooms ($10), or pulled pork with cumin slaw and chipotle aioli ($9.50). Once I saw that the sandwiches were sitting in the cabinet above the salads, ready to be heated up, however, I was less keen to try them. Presumably, the staff would make you one from scratch if your choice were not there. You can also get one with two salads for $12.50, which I may be tempted to do next time.

[Added 19 July 2013: Wow, this place is getting crowded! The space on top of the salads now holds a variety of wraps, and some new items have been added to the menu too: a soup of the day ($7), crockpot of the day ($10) and Fish 'n' Chips ($15).]

The old caretaker's cottage in Victoria Park is a great venue for a cafe, and it is nice to see that it has been done up inside and out, with some exciting food choices on offer. Whether you are here for a meal or just a drink and a nibble, this is a place where you can both grab-and-go, or just as happily relax and people-watch.

Note

Wheelchair access is via a ramp at the "back" or northern side of the building.

Panda Recommends

We still have quite a few things to try, but right now...

Mains: Pastas, particularly the parpadelle with beef and rosemary ragout ($12.50)
Avoid the walnut bread french toast with apple jelly ($15). Ignoring a staff member's offer of sprinkling pepper over the top, I found the bread soggy, and what I had thought would be a delicate apple jelly turned out be bright red with some kind of chilli in it—more sweet chilli flavoured than fruity.
[Added 19 July 2013: The french toast now comes with banana and berry compote—perhaps the cafe owners have taken note of my complaints?]

Vegie Pandas
The vegetarian hot sandwich may sound tempting, with the promise of goat's cheese and truffle oil, but while those ingredients are there, be aware that the grilled veges are mainly pumpkin. Go for one of a pastas instead. The eggs benny vege ($14.00) was not bad either. [Added 6 August 2013: they now offer a hoagie with mushroom instead of pumpkin. Good stuff!]

Wall menu.

Restaurant Details

GreenKeeper Cafe
Victoria Park, corner Fanshawe and Halsey Streets, Auckland Central
(09) 302 0425

Opening hours:
Mondays to Fridays 6:30am - 4pm (kitchen closes at 3pm)
Saturdays to Sundays 8am - 4pm (kitchen closes at 3pm)

The old caretaker's cottage is a great location for a cafe in Victoria Park.

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Review: Best Ugly Bagels

The secret to success is clearly not in giving your customers what they want, or think they need. I never needed a smartphone until I got one, and now I can't live without one.  Similarly, Auckland never knew it needed an oyster bar until Al Brown's Depot came along, and his latest venture, Best Ugly Bagels, fits into the same category.

"King" bagel (lox, capers, red onion and cream cheese).

In a way, you could see it coming.  The trend these days is towards simple, well-executed food in an informal setting, where you can feel at ease and just drop in for a bite of something delicious.  It's not really surprising that Best Ugly Bagels has a queue going out the door of its open kitchen.

Fortunately, I first turned up on Tuesday, on the morning of the bagelry's official opening day, before the hordes of customers arrived.  I was warmly invited to step into the kitchen area, and the head baker took me through the bagel-making process, even getting their consultant from Montreal, Steve, to demonstrate how they hand-roll the dough into rings.

The team in action.

Naturally, the first question that came to my lips was "So how are Montreal bagels different from any other bagels?"  Apparently, these are different from American bagels because they are rolled thinner, and contain no salt.  Best Ugly's hand-shaped  bagels—so called because of their rustic, uneven look—are then cooked in a pot of water with honey, before being baked in their wood-fired oven. I was handed a sesame-coated one, just pulled from the heat, and it was softer and sweeter than other bagels I have eaten, with a beautiful shiny and golden crust.  It tasted and smelt fantastic.

The team didn't let me leave without making me a completely new bagel for free.  Yes, with whatever filling I wanted!  How's that for a pleasant surprise?  Of course I honoured my promise to return with others for lunch.

"Yodi" bagel (pastrami, Swiss cheese, and pickle), and "PB&J" (Pics Peanut Butter and Te Horo jam).

Although a fresh bagel is amazing on its own, the highlights of the menu are the non-vegetarian fillings.  The pastrami and cured salmon are both made using a secret recipe unique to the bagelry, though they are happy to share the fact that the salmon comes from The Salmon Man (farmed in Stewart Island) and the pastrami is produced by Karl Campbell in Wellington.

I wish there were a few more filling choices, maybe the offer of a side salad, and also more seating, but this converted warehouse is well worth visiting just the way it is.

Panda Recommends

Best Ugly only has three kinds of filled bagels—quality over quantity! Don't be tempted to cheap out and just get one with spreads. They are good too, but you would be missing out. You can also get some bagels to take away to eat with your own favourite toppings.

Mains: "King" bagel with lox (cured salmon), capers, red onion and cream cheese ($12.00), "Yodi" bagel with pastrami, Swiss cheese and pickle ($10.00)

Vegie Pandas
There is one filled bagel you can eat, the "TAB" with tomato, avocado and basil ($8.00).

Menu

Note

If you don't specify which type of bagel you want (sesame, plain ugly, poppy seed, or cinnamon and raisin), you will get the sesame one by default.  They won't ask you.

Although it looks like there is nowhere to sit, the tables outside Shed Five are shared.  You will still need to wait for your bagel to be made before sitting down though.  This is not a table service kind of place.

Oh, and you really need to eat these on the day they are made, unless you have kept the bagels in the freezer.  Just like baguettes, they will go hard and dry if left out.

Restaurant Details

Best Ugly Bagels
Shed 3, City Works Depot, 90 Wellesley Street West, Auckland
(09) 366 3926

Opening hours:
Mondays to Sundays 7am - 3pm

The queue moves quicker than it looks at Best Ugly, but be prepared to wait and/or  take your bagel away.

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