T.G.I Friday's - Marion, Adelaide - South Australia

T.G.I Friday's - Marion, Adelaide - South Australia

Name: T.G.I Friday's

Address: Marion Shopping Centre, Marion, Adelaide - South Australia

Burger: Jalapeno Burger

Price: $19.25 (with fries)

Description: Well-known American chain, with typical American fare

T.G.I Friday's is a huge American chain. It's one of those much-maligned chains, notorious for poor quality food, albeit in large portions. TGI Friday's in ubiquitous in many areas of the US, particularly New York City (in my experience, anyway). I visited one with my sister and best mate "Buddha" in  2009. I loved it.

There are a few TGI's in Melbourne. When I heard they were opening a store in Adelaide (my home town, which I visit a few times a year), I put it on my list of things to do.

 I'm glad I did. Jalapeno burger for me. I'm a burger purist, but I do love a bit of spice. 

The burger, in all of its gloriousness.

As per the menu above, the burger contained:

• Toasted Bun
• Jalapenos
• Pico de Gallo
• Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
• Tangy roasted green chilli sauce
• Beef Pattie
• Lettuce
• Side of Guacamole
• Bun

The cross-section. Delicous (trust me)

Beef:

The beef tasted like beef. Good start. It was juicy, tasty and plentiful. Oh, how I wish all burgers were as slutty in the beef department.

The only thing that could improve the beef, would be more beef. Mmm, beef.

Cheese:

Shredded
Monterey
Jack

For those of you who haven't experienced the delight that is monterey jack cheese: I feel sorry for you. But I shall explain. It's American. It's melty. It's slightly sharp. It's very salty. It's everything you want in a burger cheese. As George Costanza from Seinfeld said: "If it were socially acceptable, I would drape myself in Monterey Jack cheese". He may have said velvet. I don't remember.

Bun: 

Soft. Sesame-ish. Held together, and actually had a good flavour. About as good as you could get.

Extras:

Not your usual pub/cafe/chicken shop extras here. The Jalapenos weren't excessively hot. The Pico de Gallo was fresh and tasty. The chilli sauce was very tasty and not over bearing. This burger tried hard. But it succeeded. And for that reason, I would love to have its babies.

Fries:

Great! No American eatery can survive without doing fries right. Very fresh, and very tasty. And not too salty. Although I managed to shove half a dozen (awesome) potato skins down my oesophagus before diving into the burger, I managed to polish off the fries. Mainly because they were so damn tasty. I may even cheat on the burger extras for these things.

Verdict:

Go and get one. TGI Friday's, although not your high-class joint, serves up some fantastic food. Burgers, Tex-mex, amazing fries. What else could you want? There's even a bar! One of my favourites in Adelaide. Just goes to show that the "big boys" can serve up something pretty special. It's just my hope that they can maintain this, as they are fairly new to the Adelaide market.

Meat

4/5
Cheese
4.5/5
Bun
4/5
Extras
4/5
Fries

4.5/5

Total:

4.2

(GO NOW!)

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An un-named Cafe - World Square, Sydney.

An un-named Cafe - World Square, Sydney.

The cafe, at World Sqaure. To the left of the left-most pillar.

Name: Can't Remember (not worth remembering)

Address: Cnr. Liverpool & Pitt Streets, Sydney

Burger: Beef burger

Price: $16-$18 (with fries)

Description: A cafe in the expensive part of the city, with a very limited menu

This review is from a cafe I visited with my parents while they were last in Sydney. It was a few months ago, but I've been busy with uni. Holiday time now, though!

We were shopping for a new TV for myself near world square, and got a bit hungry (after we found it near impossible to find a good deal). My Dad saw a nice coffee machine, so decided that the above mentioned locality should be the place we have lunch. The cafe was located on the same block/complex as world square. I don't remember the name, but it was very small inside, and had a few outside tables.

The coffee wasn't bad, apparently. That was the only thing that wasn't bad though. Apart from the can of "V" I guess - it was cold at least.


The burger was similar to any other cafe burger.. in ingredients anyway.

"Burger"

The contents were as follows:

• Bun
• Onion
• Egg
• Beef pattie
• Lettuce

Beef:

A more accurate description would have been "wet cardboard". In fact, I would much rather eat wet cardboard, as not only would it taste better, but its nutritional value would likely have been much higher. You could probably put a dozen clowns in a room with a pile of mattresses, and they'd likely be able to come up with something more convincing.

The beef was VERY dry. It was tasteless. It was quite obvious that beef was a minor component, with bread crumbs and I'm guessing some sort of desiccant being the main ingredients in the pattie. 

Cheese:

I love cheese. I'm harsh when it comes to cheese.

THERE WAS NO CHEESE! Burger? This wasn't a burger? It was a meatloaf with egg and lettuce between bread! Someone call those clowns. If there's any of that pile of mattresses left over, please....

Bun: 

Bland, dry. It did perform it's main function though: holding everything in. But without cheese or any type of sauce, it's job was damn easy.

Extras:

"Caramelised" onions. Egg. Lettuce. Lack of effort.

The only 4 extras that came with this burger. The onions probably met the grill, said "what's up" and left. They were raw. The egg on the other hand, stuck around with the grill a bit longer.

The lettuce, was wilted as as soft as myself whilst trying to choke down this abomination.

And, the lack of effort? Well that speaks for itself.

Fries:

The fries were fairly average. Dry (yet still oily), bland yes overly salted. How they managed that, I have no idea.

Verdict:

You are probably better off dusting off the yellow pages, opening it to "Clown" and hiring a handful of jolly (albeit creepy) entertainers and asking them to fashion a burger out of the aforementioned, althoughcomfortable ingredient. At least it would be entertaining.

Avoid, at all costs. Even if you're starving to death.

Meat

0.5/5
Cheese
0/5
Bun
2/5
Extras
1/5
Fries

1.5/5

Total:

1

(Mattress time)

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