Phat burgers and the Eat Club app

RNIS did not have to pay for their burger as they used the Eat Club app but they paid for their chips and beer.

The Eat Club App is really easy to download and its available from the Google store. Download this app and you'll never miss a deal. Here they have loads of free stuff such as free burgers. Earlier this week there was free burgers at New York Minute but I was just too busy.

Phat burgers is a new place in Camberwell and are really close to the station. They are on the other side of Camberwell station from Okra.

The bathrooms are up some wooden steps hence heels are not ideal.

Here the staff was down to earth and friendly. They have $6.50 beers and I tried a Belgian one which was awesome with my Vegan burger. It was wheaty with lots of malt down the bottom. Most people were happy with just beer and burger. The chips were equally awesome and I would have liked to have tried their Tomato sauce but I am on a Febfast diet with Healthyintstudents and our aim was to cut out all commercial sugars.

It was busy but the food came out quickly. You order and pay and they will give you a number. And they yell your numbers out.

The Vegan burger has not much sauce but a sweet beetroot patty and a big mushroom which is good for those on a Febfast diet and can't have sauce. The Brioche bun was sweet but yummy. I would recommend that Here's the veg visit this place as they love their vegan burgers.

Mr Burger

Mr Burger is now at Melbourne Central where all the cool kids go.

Here they had a poster in the lift saying free chips. You have to take a photo of it of course. I was at the gym on level 4 and saw it on my way down. So took the photo and I only had to pay for the burger which was $11.

I had the Mr Veg of course but went for the chips several times. Normally a pack of small chips costs me $3.50 and it comes with tomato sauce. But I never use sauce. I like food naturally as they are. I don't need to drown food in sauce like some people do. To me that is gross.

My veggie burger was darn good as always. As soon as you order it they make it and then they will call your name out. Already I could see that they had 4-6 burgers already lined up and there was a production line going.

Do come to this Mr Burger whenever you are in the city and need a break from study. They are just across the road from RMIT hence it is easy for students to get to.

Schnitz at Airport West

There is now a Schnitz at Airport West in the newly refurbished food court. Friend A paid for me and I did not have to pay. But Friend A mentioned that they are expensive for a burger. Really? Come on? Grill'd is expensive and they don't do much.

You order and pay and they give you a number. Like the other Schnitzes in the city you wait whilst they make up your burger. I had wanted to see how this one fared compared to the others. Since A always complained about the food in the food court this seemed better.

A had a American dream which he reckons that it is ok. It comes with cheese, pickles and onion. I thought that A would have enjoyed it.

My Thai the knot did not have too much sweet chilli sauce which was nice of them. I hate burgers which have too much sauce in them. The carrots were good and the schnitzel was nicely crumbed. It was also really crunchy which is good. At least this is not bland.

Friend A and I both liked the russet chips. They were done with lots of good potato and were nicely salted. It was also crispy. The dips cost extra and they have extra sugar that we can do without.

Friend A complains "A bit expensive for lunch!". I say "Oh well, Melbourne burgers are a little bit more expensive, especially all the good ones!"

Do come by to Schnitz at the new food court in Airport West when nothing else suits you fancy.

Burger Kitchen

This place just opened up right outside of Moonee Ponds station and here its popular on a Thursday lunchtime.

The bathrooms are out the back and down some steps (watch your step). A watch your step sign would be a good idea as I nearly tripped. Also another good idea is to have a bathroom sign on the back wall where the sign is so that people know. I nearly thought that there was not a bathroom in sight.

Here I had bought a Groupon for $9.50 which includes a soft drink or water, burger and chips. It does not include any extras.  But I did order egg and grilled onions to my vegetarian one except there was not much grilled onion and I would have liked a bit more.

The chips were the mere frozen sort. It was those frozen American potato chip types. But at least the homemade sauce was good.

The burger was massive and they did have the frozen sort of veggie burger. But I did like the egg as that was nicely fried as well as the fresh vegetables in there. I couldn't taste a lot of the haloumi as the BBQ sauce drowned it.

There was pumpkin and it was good. It added to the sweetness of the burger.

The bun was light and soft.

Rating: 13/20- let down by the chips. Next time though I'd like to try the onion rings and the milkshakes as they looked stellar.

Royal Stacks

I have walked past it but have not visited it. When I heard from Weekendnotes that they were giving out free custard with their burgers I thought that I would try. And try I did.

About 44 other bloggers wrote about it. Some wrote good things and others wrote bad things about their chips and burgers. Just recently Yelp had a free burger party there but due to training requirements I could not come.

Here I had their cheeseburger. It was really nice and I enjoyed the patty and the gherkin. The bun was really great but sweet. It was $9.90

The chips were more like the McDonalds fries. I got a small serve of them for $2.90.

I did however enjoy the free frozen custard which was a nice touch but I had to remind them about their birthday freebies. Several others did not get their free custard with every burger purchased. They should have made a sign about it and asked about it. The free custard was minty and tasted like a mint slice. Normally it is $4.50 for one.

Still it is all good for me. No complaints from me.

Grill'd in Moonee ponds

There is now another Grill'd and this time its in Moonee Ponds near Essendon. I don't live too far away and I haven't been here up until now so what's the excuse? Well I just hadn't got around to visiting that's what.

I visited twice; first time with a friend and the second for a snack. The first time with a friend we came for lunch and had burgers. I had my vegetarian one and he had the Melbourne one. The both of us thought that our burgers were just ok even though mine was really filling. My friend thought that the sweet potato chips had no crisp and was really oily. I kind of enjoyed the oiliness of it as I needed a lot of fats after sweating it in the gym.

And then I decided to give them another chance. That is when I came for my snack size chips knowing that I needed more sodium and carbs as a runner. I had the sweet potato and zucchini fries. Both filled me up but boy they were a bit stingy on the donation card until I asked them. And same as the water.

But the sweet potato fries were nicely salted and crunchy not like the last time that they were soggy. I really liked the Murray river salt that they put in there. I also really liked the zucchini chips as well (except for the puddle of oil on the bottom) as they were nice and crispy and really hot. This worked well with the chilli mayo as an extra kick.

95 degrees in St Kilda

95 Degrees is in St Kilda and they have been around for a while. It is cute kitchy café with lots of homely decorations.

It is rated one of the best coffee and tea places in Melbourne. Here they do filter coffee which I enjoy. Many of the locals would tell you its a good place.

The service was friendly but it can be disorganised when they are busy as I saw in one case. They forgot to put in a lady's order for two hot chocolates and meringues.

The first time I came here I had green tea and just relaxed. I was going to order food but the kitchen was closed (It closes between 3 and 4pm). The green tea came in a cute jug which makes it cool. I really did like the tea whilst here. But they are also a bar. Here they have a list of cocktails and martinis that they will make for you. I sat at the bar last time and had a lemonade. I was just in one of those moods after losing my running mojo and only burning 266 calories.

I wasn't in the mood for their cake just after having a huge ramen meal in the city and just burning a tiny amount of calories. But a lot of people went for their cakes and good ole fashioned apple crumble.

Do come by for your Melburnian espresso. Oh and btw they have $15 burgers for lunch.

Mr Burger and the light in Winter event.

Mr Burger is a burger truck but they also have a few stores now. Here I love their Mr Veg burger as it is awesome. Here I also enjoy their chips as they are flavoursome and crispy. They are not too oily.

They cater for many events including the open houses. Here I have enjoyed their free burgers and drinks and hence didn't mind paying the $11 for the burger and $3.50 for the chips.

Service can vary. For a start sometimes they are not so friendly and other times they are quite alright.

But at least the truck is at Fed Square every Thursday through to Sunday. They are only there for lunch on Thursdays and are there for dinner and lunch on Fridays though to Sunday.

The Light in the Winter is a fun and free event in Federation Square where you can warm up by the campfire. Every Friday and Saturday nights there is entertainment and it varies from week to week. And there is the dome for fun as well

Tommy Tucker Fish Bar

This bar is in St Kilda and I had just finished my run. I have seen this bar a few times before but always thought that it was expensive.

That was until I saw the menu on Zomato. Here they had burgers for $7.50-$10.90. Not something that I see in the hipster places places such as Grill'd which charge nearly $12 for a substandard burger (depending on which Grilld). Here they also had sides for $3. Pickled onions were $2.

They have been here for a little more than a year now and their burgers were really good. It was massive but the fish (I think its flake) was fresh. They had two pieces of fish in there as well as red onion, tartare, tomato and lettuce all in a bun.

The bun was just a normal white bun, one which you can pick up at Coles. I like these old school buns as they are delicious and healthier for you.

The onion rings were soggy though. Freshly made these were a hit with me whilst I waited for my burger to cool down a bit.

Rating: 14/20-cheap eat yum.

8 Bit

8 Bit is a burger place which is well talked about on Zomato. It is in Footscray and there is another one in the city. I went to the original one in Footscray on the way to the city. As a student I was looking for a cheap meal. I was also in the mood for some fried food.

The staff were friendly and at 6:20pm it was really quiet. For a hyped up place I would have thought that there would be huge queues but no such thing.

They don't just do burgers. They do other American stuff such as potato gems and hotdogs. I haven't had a hot dog in a while, so I ordered the original one for $7.50. It was like the Queen Victoria one except it was a little bit soggy. It was attached to the paper and when I ripped it from the paper some of the bread was stuck there.

The onion rings had too much batter on them and was a little bit undercooked. It tasted a little bit floury. I did however like the bacon sauce that went with it. 

I could have had a milkshake but I really just wanted dinner.

Rating: 17/20- liked it. They are here to stay for a while and it should be that way. I am glad that there is another one in the city and can't wait to go there.

Oh and they also have another store and its in the city on Swanston st. Do check that one out if you like this one

Transport Public bar

Transport Public bar is in the same building as Taxi Kitchen but they are a lot less exy than Taxi. The bar has many happy hour specials. I had wanted to try this for some time.

Here they support the Entertaiment Book and are offering 25% discount for all members.

The place is huge and lively. They offer the latest sports shows and news. Service is very quick. Most people start off with a beer but I was fine with water. Beer adds to calories.

The burger was ok for $19.90. It was a vegetarian burger. You order and pay and they give you buzzer thing which goes off when your food is ready. Here the burgers comes with chips and it is a fairly large serving.

But the food itself was ordinary. In the burger I would have loved to have more cheese and less onion as that relish was sickly sweet after a while. The crumbed mushrooms though were good and they didn't take long to cook

But the chips were another story. They were bland so I added some chilli sauce to it.

Rating: 12/20- an ok pub meal. Could have been better but thank goodness I did not pay full price for this.

Arbory

Arbory Bar is in the city outside Flinders St station. It has been blogged about by 24 other bloggers who were either invited or just enjoyed the good food.





The atmosphere is superchillax during the day and then at night it becomes electric. Waiting outside the bar on Platform 10 at night the bar becomes lively and interesting for all to see. Hence this is why we wanted to do this for sooooooooooooooo long.

The entrance is on the Southbank side near the entrance to the station from Southbank.

Like Ponyfish Island service is at the bar. This is an outdoor bar.

Here their burgers were the fancier version of McDonalds. This is said in a good way as I enjoyed the grilled mushroom and haloumi burger. Friend had the fish burger and she enjoyed it too. She also enjoyed her coffee.

The crinkle cut chips were yum with the sea salt and siracha.

Rating: 15/20- love the burgers. They were great. Would love to try other food and drinks. We were going to try breakfasts but breakfast was over by the time we came which was around 11am.

Do come here for drinks and breakfasts

Grill'd in Carlton

As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015

There is a Grill'd in Carlton now and they are popular with the Melbourne Uni and some of the RMIT students. They pride themselves on being healthy and doing burgers in a different way.

At the Carlton store it was busy after 12:30pm when I cam for a mid week lunch.

 

Having tried their gluten free burgers at Southern Cross I decided to get one here. That and my sweet potato fries and herbed mayo. But it is $1.50 extra. I had their falefel burger which was good. I enjoyed their lemon flavoured slaw as it had the right tang to it. I also enjoyed their tzakiki. I also liked that they put a lot of vegetables in there. In a normal from the pub or a fast food place there is very little veg.

Because of the gluten free bun this burger was a lot lighter and I wasn't too full. I was satisfactorily full.

But however their potato fries came in a small thing. I expected it to be in a huge thing seeing as other tables have the same thing. But they were nicely salted and still sweet. And it worked well with the herbed mayo. But I didn't mind the smaller version though as I am trying to eat smaller portions in order to lose weight.

It is great that there is another healthy burger place near Melbourne Uni. There is no need for the junk food now. Students can just go across the road to Lygon st.