Sydney, you guys take your burgers very seriously. We've seen pitched battles all over the internet over whose patties are juiciest, whose buns are fluffiest and whose condiment selection trumps whose? And so we decided to settle the question of who is making Sydney's best burger once and for all with the inaugural Time Out Battle of the Burger in association with Tooth's Pale Ale.
Who would go head to head in a mighty cook-off came down to you, dear readers. You nominated your favourite burgermeisters in the city and then voted for the top four. Those ground beef grillers then gathered at the Public House Petersham for the showdown where 200 Time Out readers gathered as the judging panel. It was a sold out event and each of those precious tickets meant you got half a burger from every contestant (you needed to be really hungry for this event) and an open bar pouring glass steins of refreshing Tooth's pale ale. There were sweet tunes from Sydney's AUX JAX, selfies and personalised gifs from Fotobox and live street art demonstrations from Work-Shop.
In the first round Pub Life Kitchen went head to head with Burgers by Josh. Pub Life were grilling their specialty salt-aged beef patties that they make from beef they've farmed themselves. They went for the classic cheeseburger for their battle burger. Burgers by Josh were using two different cuts of beef for their patty, along with house-pickled jalapeños, extra-crisp bacon and a potato bun.
Round two saw Bar Luca bring their A-game when pitted against the burger prowess of Mister Gee Burger Truck, who were raising the bar with their grass-fed beef patty topped with muenster cheese, caramelised red onion and truffle mayo. But there could only be one winner and though it was a tight race, the top gong went to Bar Luca who grilled up their famous 'Blame Canada' burger. They took things to the next level with a 200g wagyu patty, double American cheese, streaky bacon, maple aioli and poutine. That's right, they put gravy and fries inside their burger, which sealed the deal for a lot of the judges.
Congratulations to Bar Luca, who will now get to compete for the ultimate title when they go head-to-head with the winner from the Melbourne heat, the Arbory, to decide which state does burgers best.
