The Bleachers - West End

With the end of the year nearing, the one thing I've noticed is that there have been many many burger joints popping up across Brisbane. Having just gone to Getta Burger recently at West End, my companions were surprised when I asked them to go with me to try out a new burger joint in West End. "Didn't we just go last week?" they asked, "did you forget how we braved the rain that night?". "No," I said. "ANOTHER burger place opened in West End, and apparently it's a lot easier to find".

It was not easy to find. 

The Bleachers is situated on Boundary Road, which seems easy enough to find, but there were no signs, and no indicators. We only found it only by following street numbers to reach 153. Looking from the outside we would have no indication that the door lead to a burger joint had it not been for the small neon sign outside. 

The burger joint is run by the same people who opened Bens Burgers in Fortitude Valley. The similarities are very obvious when you realise the burger logo is the same, and they also have framed Peanuts comics on the wall. (Which I really liked).

The restaurant itself was quite empty even during dinner time.  I understand that this is because most patrons rather sit outside in the courtyard. Being a warm day, we opted to stay inside in the air conditioning.

Being related to Bens Burgers, we expected a very similar menu, but we were very surprised to see not much overlap at all (except for the no alterations policy). 

We had table service that evening, and our waitress was very attentive in bringing out fresh bottles of water when ours had run out.

Between the three of us, we shared three burgers and three sides.

This is the Glazed Beef Burger.

This was the Cheesy Burger.

I ordered the Classic Burger, with extra patty. Both my friends and I agreed, the burgers had a strong McDonald's - like taste to it.  Especially with the inclusion of pickles and special sauce. My companions had to agree with the sentiment that it was a bit like "Mcdonalds on steroids".  The bun was soft, and the cheese was stringy and melty. The salads were fresh, and my only concern was the layers of the burger slipping off each other and falling in a pile on the metal platter. There was quite a bit of sauce, being a strong mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise. The patty was cooked to a good texture, and it was well seasoned. As with Bens Burgers, I would have definitely liked it more if it was customisable like Miel, and other than that, I found it lacked an element of individuality to set it apart from all the other burger joints popping up.

The chips came in a paper cup, without sauce or seasoning. For $4, I found it to be a tad small in size. Whilst it was hot and crunchy, it could definitely do with some adjustments.

The next side we shared was the Fried Chicken, which was done quite nicely. For $12 we were served two deep fried thigh fillets, which was a bit steep, but they were very well marinated, the flesh was soft and tender, whilst the skin was crunchy. I noted the spring onions chopped on top, and the mayonnaise, which gave it a bit of a karaage type of feel to it. 

This Japanese theme carried on to the waffle we had. In all honesty, I was expecting a dish of potato waffles, rather than actual waffles, which I consume sweet, rather than savory. This made me a little concerned, but it turned out alright. My companion made a fair point when she exclaimed "This is just like Okonomiyaki". Aside from the pancake being swapped with a waffle, it contained bacon and cheese, it was also topped with mayonnaise and something that tasted like okonomiyaki sauce, and was garnished with Japanese pickled radish and green onion. Whilst I am not a fan of fusion foods, preferring traditional types this dish was still quite tasty, although eating okonomiyaki with burgers was a bit confusing.

Price Range: $10 - $25 per person

Taste: 6/10
Value: 7/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 7/10