Novembars

Bigger is apparently better at Dianella burger joint Novembars. Quite the little gem. This burger spot was a fish and chip shop in a previous life and is in a fairly non-descript group of shops hidden away in suburbia. I’d read about it ages ago and I believe a cousin may have also told me about their famous chilli burger challenge, but it was last week at work when it sprung to mind again. I’ll admit that I may have chuckled at their online menu, wondering whether anyone would actually dare to take on the chilli challenge or tackle the Mayday Mayday….and had someone ever actually ordered the $1000 ‘Hello’ burger on their menu? So many questions, but one thing was clear. The time had well and truly come to pay this Dianella institution a long overdue visit.

Thankfully after training on Saturdays I’m always particularly starving and GG is pretty partial to a burger too, so it was decided that before a trip into town for some holiday clothes shopping we would partake in lunch at Novembars.

Given we had both studied up before we arrived, we knew what we were having. A Double Cheeseburger (2 beef patties, lettuce, tomato, 2 cheese, with tomato ketchup, $12.50) for me, a Double Up (2 beef patties, lettuce, tomato, 2 cheese, 2 bacon and egg, with tomato ketchup, $14.00) for GG. A Double Up is essentially my burger with the added indulgence of bacon and an egg. Ooo la la! We also decided to share a large chips and even grabbed a Coke Zero. Oh yes we went all out. Ok Coke Zero instead of Coke isn’t quite going all out, but close enough.

As it was though, all eyes were on the burgers when they arrived. I may have nervously gulped, knowing almost immediately that I had hugely overcommitted to the double. Given the generous size of the patties, a single would have more than sufficed, but hey you live and learn and I prepared to demolish that burger with every ounce of hunger I had, which was actually a fair bit.

The patties were juicy and flavoursome and the slices of cheese had been lovingly melted to them on the grill. It was a good bun and I was glad to see both lids had been well sauced, tomato style. The salady components were abundant and fresh and the lettuce had a pleasing crunch. It was all kinds of delicious and for a brief moment I thought maybe, just maybe I could get through this mega burger. But initial impressions had been right and I needed to leave a modest amount behind, which was a reflection of lack of room and not lack of appreciation for the burger.

Nor could I eat too many chips and by the time I turned my attention to them, my effort was fairly token. They were piping hot though, nice and crispy and well-seasoned. Plus a large serve is a big large, plenty of chips for everyone.

What a first visit! GG had gotten through his burger and gave it two thumbs up and as we rolled on outta there feeling very content (and wanting a nap), I suspected we would be revisiting this friendly local again soon. If you like the saying ‘the bigger, the better’ applied to your burgers, then say hello to Novembars.