Brisbane Eats | Ben’s Burgers

It’s a Tuesday night during deadline week, you don’t fancy cooking, but also don’t want to break the bank. What does this call for? That’s right, a good old fashioned burger.

Luckily I know a guy – Ben, who can sort you out.

I grabbed my girls and headed out to give one of Brisbane’s newer eateries a try. We’d heard a lot of hype about this being the best burger Brisbane had to offer, so anticipation and excitement levels were high as dinner time approached.

Most Brisbanites would usually associate Fortitude Valley with (excessive) drinking, clubbing, and bar hopping. Known as Brisbane’s Friday night destination, typically the food you might consume there would be an end of the night kebab or a greasy (but oh so great) slice of pizza.

However, head just a little way off the beaten track and there lies Winn Lane; James Steet’s cooler little sister.

Winn Lane is one of a growing number of Brisbane lane-ways, and provides a collection of unique clothing boutiques, niche book shops and is also home to Ben’s.

The lane-way style layout creates a really cool atmosphere, as fairy lights twinkle away above you, 90’s R’n’B fills the lane and sets the tone.

Ben’s theme is strong, cool and simple. From the astro turf beneath your feet, to the classic American college party cups, the understated Americana look sits very well with the menu.

The menu is decidedly short but sweet. For dinner you have three options: The Special, The Classic, and The Veg, with various add-on’s and extras.

My dates opted for the milkshakes which I can tell you, after a quick sip test, were both divine, the salted caramel in particular.

If you’re after something a little stronger than a milkshake Ben’s also has two local(ish) Burleigh brews on tap, as well as home made ginger ale, which goes rather perfectly with rum.

With every ring of the service bell we wriggled in out seats hoping it was our food.

We weren’t waiting long before our trio of burgers arrived along with our chilli cheese fries.

None of us could fault the burgers, in fact we practically inhaled them. The only ever so slight disappointment was the chilli fries, with the chilli being slightly on the dry side for us.

The moment of truth…

I went for The Classic, which really was just that; a fantastically classic burger. Cheese, patty, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle and Ben’s own sauce. For me what took this classic to the next level was the candied bacon.

Yes, that’s right candied bacon. All three of us agreed this is was highlight. The fries themselves were cooked to perfection, and you can easily share a portion  between two.

Just look at that cheese.

We had fully intended on sharing a one of the brownies or a slice of pecan pie which were on offer for dessert. However we were truly full up…maybe next time.

Ben brings the atmosphere, the music, the ‘shakes, the blue plastic cups and most importantly the burgers. Well worth a visit. We all left full and happy.

There’s no doubt…This is a (damn good) burger.

See more of Ben here

P.S.

If you do visit, see if you can spot the rather dapper friend we made on the way home