The Burgers Of Melbourne Part 2: 8Bit., Arbory Bar and Eatery, Lazerpig, Huxtaburger II

A Melbourne trip is not complete without burger joint visits. There are numerous places in Melbourne for excellent burger fixes and it truly is the burger Mecca of the Southern Hemisphere. As I only had limited time during my last visit, I had to narrow down the list to a few burger places to visit. I decided to hit two Melbourne burger joint favourites and two new players in the game. So here's part 2 of my "Burgers of Melbourne" and some more!

8Bit.

We saw the rise of this Footscray establishment around early 2014. Burger aficionados raved about their burgers and so I made sure that 8Bit was my first place to hit up.

It's a burger joint themed around games that ran on retro gaming systems like Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega mega system games and its successor, the Megadrive. Seeing burgers named after my favourite games like Golden Axe and Double Dragon was so nostalgic.

Beer battered chips

The beer battered chips ($4.00 for large) were perfect! It was crisped on the outside, fluffy on the inside and nicely seasoned. It is excellent on its own but I love dipping them on mayo especially if it's Sriracha mayo and smoky chipotle mayo!

Altered Beast burger

The burger that blew my mind from the get-go was the double patty Altered Beast burger ($9.50 and $3 for extra patty). It was a two-handed burger with beef patty, grilled onions, bacon, melted cheese and lettuce. The smashed-patties were perfect as it was juicy, well seasoned and it had that nice caramelised crust for extra meaty flavour. I don't normally go for burgers with BBQ sauce but the mixture of the 8bit sauce and BBQ intrigued me. The sauce mixture was phenomenal! It went perfectly with the smoky bacon and the grilled onions added sweetness to the burger. The whole burger handles well too!

Golden Axe burger

Their Golden Axe burger ($9.50) is a fried chicken burger with cheese, Sriracha mayo and slaw in a milk bun. It takes a lot for a chicken burger to impress me and this one totally hit the spot! The southern-style fried chicken coating had a texture in between crisp and crunch whilst having a very juicy flavoursome meat. The Sriracha mayo added some punch to the entire flavour. The cheese was nicely melted and the slaw was a perfect component to balance out the burger.

Peanut butter milkshake

To finish things up, I had their peanut butter milkshake ($6.50). It was light and it tasted like a liquified "Picnic" chocolate bar! Although peanut butter was the main flavour, I could taste a bit of chocolate and caramel.

8Bit.

8 Droop Street

Footscray VIC 3011

Hours

Monday to Sunday 11am to 11pm

Arbory Bar and Eatery

Rather than just going for the usual suspects, I decided to check out a new joint that's only opened just around two months ago called Arbory. Besides being new, there were two other reasons why I was so keen to visit Arbory: 1) It's a bar restaurant built on a wharf where you have an amazing scenic view of the Yarra river and Southbank area of Melbourne. 2) Word is that they do an amazing cheeseburger.

Arbory is located just behind Flinders Station on the Wharf by the Yarra river. It is a super long contemporary bar and eatery on a deck with a space that serves as tranquil escape from the bustling Melbourne CBD during breakfast and lunch.

Double cheeseburger

Crinkled chips

The main reason for this visit was to try their double cheeseburger with crinkled chips ($15). It had double smashed-patty, double cheese, bacon, pickles, tomato relish and lettuce in a soft sweet milk bun. I can confirm that the double cheeseburger here is amazing! The patties were flavoursome thanks to the caramelised crust and right amount of seasoning. The sweetnesss from the relish and the sour pickles provided the tangy flavour that most cheeseburgers are known for. The cheese was nicely melted and the soft buns were lightly toasted which prevents the bun from getting soggy and it also adds extra flavour. Overall, it's a very well constructed burger. A burger of this calibre with perfect crisped crinkled chips and a fantastic view of the Yarra river makes this a bargain for its price.

Buffalo mozzatella, fried artichokes, green sauce, raisins and almonds

They also do an amazing buffalo mozzarella based dish with fried artichokes, green sauce, raisins and almonds ($16). The milky mozzarella worked so well with almond & raisins along with the parsely and mint green sauce. The fried artichokes had a nice crisped coating with tender and sweet flesh. This dish is all about getting delicate contrasting textures in harmony and taste great.

Popcorn and salted caramel sundae

Another popular item at Arbory is their popcorn and salted caramel sundae ($10). It was absolute bliss. Ice cream with salted caramel, popcorn powder and popping candy. Need I say more?

Arbory Bar and Eatery

Flinders Walk (behind Flinder's train station)

Melbourne VIC 3000

Hours:

Monday to Sunday 7:30am-1:00am

Lazerpig

The name of this establishment alone should be more than enough to make me travel from the CBD to Collingwood. Everytime I see and hear the name Lazerpig, it reminds me of the Simpson's Spider-Pig song.  In my entire life, I have never come across such a space where pub meets Italian Trattoria with random disco balls and neon light signs. I loved it! But not only did I love the restaurant space, name (best name ever!), and service, they make a mean Margherita pizza and awesome cheeseburger!

Lazerpig cheeseburger

Ok, I'm normally strict with my cheeseburger rules where the only vegetables present should be onions and some sort of pickled vegetable like cucumber or gherkins. But Lazerpig's cheeseburger ($9 burger along and $11 with chips) with lettuce (can be easily discarded) is another exception. It had beef patty, melted cheese, onion, pickles, and a special sauce in a Breadtop-type soft sweet milk bun. It is simple but superbly tasty! The patty is lightly packed and pan-grilled. It is one of the juiciest and most flavoursome patties I've come across. The burger handles well too.

Queen Margherita pizza

The Neopolitan style Queen Margherita pizza ($19) was delicious and was perfect for two people. But being the eating machine that I am, I could have easily devoured it on my own. It had the right amount of milky melted Buffalo mozzarella, the sauce had that nice tang, and the base was thin and soft with that legit woodfire burnt bits. I just loved the perfection of its simplicity with just mozzarella, basil and tomato based pizza sauce in a perfect base.

Lazerpig Pizza Parlor

9-11 Peel Street

Collingwood VIC 3066

Hours:

Monday 4:00pm-Late

Tuesday to Friday 12:00pm-Late

Saturday and Sunday 2:00pm-Late

Huxtaburger

Huxtaburger

A Melbourne burger round up ain't complete without a visit to the almighty Huxtaburger! The huxtaburger ($9.50) is a classic burger with juicy beef pattie, melted cheese, mayo, tomato, lettuce, mustard and ketchup in a lightly toasted soft sweet milk bun. This burger never fails and always hits the spot!

To say that "Melbourne's burger game is strong" is an understatement. It's a powerful force and an influential way of life. Never visit Melbourne without looking up and trying their burgers.