Melissa Loh

Local business burger chain Burge Urge has been under the spotlight the last 12 months, though not for their burgers. The Courier Mail ran an article about their Burger Urge branded condoms in December last year and then another in February about their poster girl licking a cow .

We received the Burge Urge condom in our letterbox after the first article was published, and we had a good giggle. I doubt I would’ve known what it was until I was at least 16 years old – sheltered child that I was. As for the cow licking, I personally wouldn’t do it, because have you ever seen a REAL cow? Their muzzle is furry and your tongue might find the act quite uncomfortable. And by the way, a top hat and monocle on a cow a MAN does not make. Do they realise that a cow is female? It has the wrong kind of plumbing.

Anyway, enough of my little eyeball rolling.

It has been four years since I last visited a Burge Urge outlet. It’s a shame since we live close enough to their Fortitude Valley outlet. But today, Burge Urge is no longer just one burger joint. It is five – Fortitude Valley, West End, University of Queensland, Kelvin Grove and now QUT Gardens Point. Had they’d expanded when I was in uni, I wouldn’t have had to suffer the sometimes dire consequences of braving the cafeteria food.

At my last visit four years ago, I enjoyed the burgers, but I found the chips rather ordinary. They were fine regular fat chips you might find at most pub or burger joints, which just didn’t tickle my fancy.

Today, Burge Urge also has sweet potato chips – AUD$4.90 for small, AUD$6.50 for large portion. I ordered my combo with sweet potato chips and these sweet crunchy sticks were liberally dusted in a spicy seasoning that I think might have garlic powder and paprika. It made for an addictive combo and I was sucking in the cool night air as fast as I was the chips. Not for the spice vanillas out there (stick to the regular chips), but go for it if you like a little tongue tingle action.

The New Yorker has not quite made its way into the mainstream menu, but its ingredient list reads like something out of an American movie diner – American style cheese, crispy bacon, pickles, smoky BBQ sauce and the premium ground beef.

On the other hand, blue cheese is my catnip. I cannot resist the stuff and the smellier it is, the more I lust over it like a dog in heat. The opposite is true for the SO – he will barely tolerate the stuff, and just about never orders anything with it. The Blue Vein is modest with its portion of matured blue vein cheese for an addict like myself, but there’s still plenty of its rank creaminess to coat the mouth without overpowering the homemade tomato chutney, whole egg mayonnaise (cuz the hair cream type is disgusting), prime ground Australian beef, onion jam served on a bed of cos lettuce and tomato.

Blue Vein. AUD$12.60 (burger only), AUD$17.60 (combo).

Burge Urge is keeping up their good work on their burgers and they have found a fan in me with their sweet potato chips. I am jealous of all those uni students who have easy access to these – dang whipper snappers.

Disclaimer: Our meal was partly subsidized with a AUD$30 voucher from Burger Urge and Publicity Depot.