Better Burger

OK I promise this is the last burger post I will write for a while...but how could I resist blogging the coolest new burger bar in town? Especially seeing as it is my favourite so far.

Better Burger is a new burger joint sandwiched in between Britomart Country Club and 1885. It is open through from lunch to the wee hours of the morning, and I'm certain that many of the people in the 1885 line will have to throw in the towel and succumb their night to the delicious wafting smell of burgers.

We (especially Alice) were pretty excited to order, and all unashamedly chose the double cheeseburger - in my opinion the only thing that should be ordered off this menu.

Of course accompanied by fries and shakes.

The burgers were cooked to medium rare perfection, and were laden with pickles and cheese- just the way they should be.

We were on a quick lunch break, so gobbled up the burgers as quickly as we could and rushed back to work- with just enough time for Alice and I to have a quick photo outside.

Jamie decided she wanted to be in the photo too... and without much choice we relented.

The vast choice of burger bars is daunting at the moment to say the least. But if you haven't already, head down to Britomart- maybe even do a double header at Pinky's and Better Burger and let me know your favourite!

Pinky's

Another burger joint has graced the streets of Auckland, slowly bringing to reality the possibility of eating a burger for every meal. Life. is. good.

This new burger heaven is called Pinky's, and it is a pop up menu within Tyler St Garage (which has pretty awesome food as it is!).

The girls and I visited Pinky's on a stormy weeknight, and we didn't hold back. There were burgers of every sort: beef and cheese, fish, chicken- you name it, we ordered it. I ordered the beef with double cheese and it was unbelievably good- perfectly cooked pink, dripping with cheese, and a pickle to top it off. I know I've been raving about a few burger joints lately, but so far this beauty has topped the list.

We didn't just stop at burgers though, and so onion skins, potato fries and kumara fries were jammed onto the table. They were all great, but the onion skins were outstanding, and the first to disappear.

Feeling not quite full enough (sarcasm), we strolled over to Milse, a perfect little dessert restaurant in a tiny nook in Britomart. The desserts at Milse are just as beautiful to eat as they are to look at, and we quickly satisfied our sweet tooth on the delicious treats.

For the burger-holics out there I know that the choices are overwhelming at the moment. But Pinky's has the big fat tick of approval from me, and it is seriously worth a visit.

Britomart Country Club

I'm writing this at the end of the weekend, warm from a few days in the sun, and very happy after a lot of good eating and drinking.

The whole weekend would be one very long blog post, so I'll take you through Saturday afternoon when James and I decided to head down to Britomart. Apart from the odd Saturday night where my camera is best left at home, I hadn't had a proper look around Britomart in a long time, and was pretty amazed at the change it has undergone. Bursting with some awesome shops like Karen Walker, Black Box, Lululemon, Kate Sylvester, and Nike to name a few, Britomart is very cool, and very dangerous territory straight after pay day...

After a mosey around the shops and a rest in the sun, a cold drink was calling (screaming) our names. There are a whole lot of amazing bars down there, but my watering hole of choice is Britomart Country Club, known to most of us as BCC. The bar is covered, but has a great indoor-outdoor feel, and is the perfect place to whittle away a summer afternoon. You can even have a game of minigolf or petanque while you sip on your cocktail.

In the name of summer, I chose cocktails while James stuck it out with beer. I managed to make my way through a fair chunk of the menu (hey, we were there for at least a few hours), and in the end my favourite was the Victorian Mojito: an amazingly refreshing mixture of Bombay Sapphire, lime, apple juice, soda and mint. The best mojito I've ever had, no bull.

After a few more cocktails it was time to eat, and we chose our dishes from the tapas menu. The dishes were small, but well priced, and all very tasty. We had the rich and creamy Spanish croquettes, sticky BBQ spare ribs, and my favourite: the crispy fried chicken.

With full bellies, and a bit of a fuzzy head, it was time to catch the last of the afternoon sun and head home.

Britomart, you have re-captured my heart, and I will be back for more sun and more cocktails very, very soon.

Orleans

After a big night on Friday, we were all craving a dose of some good ol' comfort food on Saturday. So, as soon as the clock struck 12pm we ventured down to Britomart to try out Orleans, the new Southern American inspired restaurant in town.

It's found down a charming alleyway where A&M used to reside, and in my opinion the change was definitely for the better (but good food is always for the better).

With help from the very friendly waiter we chose a whole bunch of dishes to share. We started with creole salt curly fries and jalapeno cornbread to whet our appetites. I didn't think curly fries could get any better, but these ones blew any other ones I'd tried out of the water.

We followed up with the delicious pork and fried chicken po-boys on pillow soft bread, along with fried chicken and waffles which I liked (basically I like fried chicken in any form), but some of the girls weren't 100% sure about it.

Next up, and the last of the savouries was the hanger steak, a definite winner. Perfectly cooked steak with perfectly charred vegies, it was uh....perfect?

Even though we were stuffed, Sarah took one for the team and ordered the cheesecake (which we all ended up eating). The cheesecake was pretty amazing and was accompanied by incredible creme brulee banana.

It may not be the first restaurant of it's kind to grace our city, but Orleans is certainly worth a visit. I'll be heading back!