The Bilby Cafe - Warrawong Sanctuary

Warrawong Sanctuary logo (warrawong.com)

A few days ago I went for a drive up to Warrawong Sanctuary with my girlfriend. It's a great place, and an awesome place to visit - highly recommended. After walking around for a while, we decided to get something to eat. The Cafe is quite nice, and the menu more extensive than I would have thought. I had decided that if there was a burger on the menu, I'd have it. Good news - there was!

The burger was good. Better than expected. The contents, according to the menu were:

Warrawong Beef Burger: 
100% organic beef pattie, red onion, tomato, dill pickle, Swiss cheese and house-made relish served on a freshly baked damper bun.

I can't recall the price, but it was reasonable. Worth it.

Warrawong Beef Burger - Warrawong Sanctuary

Beef:

The beef was a bit different to most burgers. It wasn't different like the Palais burger, but more like the frozen type patties you can buy at the supermarket. The texture was just different - more dense it seemed. The flavour was great though. Although there was a significant amount of seasoning and spices, it didn't detract from the beefy goodness. My only complaint, is that it was a little too thin, and was over-powered by the other ingredients at times. 

Score: 3.5/5

Cheese:

Although the men indicated that the cheese was "Swiss", it seemed more like a mild cheddar or colby to me. It had a decent, salty flavour, but was not melted properly, and due to the fact that the beef wasn't too hot, it did not melt any further once it arrived at the table. It's easy to melt cheese onto patties - all it takes is a saucepan lid or something similar placed over the top of the pattie while it is on the cooking surface for 20 seconds or so. The cheese was a let down, but not a total disaster.

Score: 3/5

Bun:

The bun was very fresh. It was nice and soft, and tasted quite good. I like damper rolls/buns for burgers. They soak up the grease without breaking up most of the time. The damper bun did this, and had good flavour too, a bonus. Can't complain too much about it.

Cross section

Score: 4/5

Extras:

The extras were good. The red onion was fresh and crisp, but not too strong. The tomato was also fresh, a very important thing! The dill pickle slices were a great addition, and there were quite a few of them. The relish was great. I think it was mayonnaise based, with bits of pickle etc. There was the perfect amount - enough to taste but not too much to drown out the other flavours. All in all, very solid extras. 

Score: 4/5

Fries:

Golden and crunchy on the outside, soft and light on the inside. Although I like my fries somewhat soggy, I do enjoy fries like this. They were great. Tasted fantastic and were very fresh. There was no strong oil taste either. Fries that are cooked too long can retain too much oil and taste awful. I'd be quite happy to have them again.

Score: 4/5

Great burger! It was a good balance between fast food and pub type burgers. Good quality ingredients, and not trying anything too flashy. I would definitely have it again if I was to go back to Warrawong. Try it, you won't be disappointed.

Total score: 18.5/25

(Very good, go for it)

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