Review: The Fish & Burger Co. – Doncaster East (Melbourne)

This Saturday 12th of November, The Fish & Burger Co., one of Melbourne’s newest burger joints will be celebrating their first birthday. Since opening in late 2015, the locally owned restaurant’s photo-ready super milkshakes and gourmet burgers have helped it gather quite a following on social media. Almost every burger-loving foodie in town had mentioned the restaurant, so we went to go see if the popular eatery could live up to its social media hype.

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From the outside, with its matte black walls decorated with a simple, bright red neon sign, The Fish & Burger Co. immediately stands out from its plain surroundings on Melbourne’s busy Doncaster road. Inside, the custom made wooden furniture, the high ceilings, the polished concrete floors, and the contrasting colour scheme of red, black and white, all come together to create a unique interior design that’s reminiscent of both a young hipster café and a cosy laneway bar. However, the hybrid interior design isn’t the only thing that makes the new restaurant distinctive.

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As suggested by the name, the restaurant specialises in both burgers and seafood. The menu offers five different types of main burger fillings; beef, chicken, lamb, fish, and falafel. In terms of flavour, all the beef and lamb based burgers feature classic Western flavours, such as the Ol’ School Cheese ($10) which consists of Australian grass-fed beef, American cheddar, lettuce, pickles, Spanish onion, ketchup, mustard and mayo. However, the chicken and fish burgers all have a pleasantly surprising flavour influence from Asia. For example, the Mr Crawler burger ($14.90) consists of a crispy soft shell crab, fresh coriander, Vietnamese mint, and chili mayo slaw, all encased in a soft fluffy bun. Although the soft shell crab was slightly soggy, all the different flavours in the burger worked together very well. The Vietnamese mint and fresh coriander neatly balanced out the salty oceanic taste of the soft shell crab, while the chili mayo slaw left a trace of mild spicy tingles on the tongue.

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The perfect side dish to accompany any one of the burgers on the menu, is the moreish golden and crispy American Waffle Fries ($9.90), drizzled with melted Kraft cheese, chipotle mayo, and sprinkled with thin slices of green jalapenos and spring onion. If you’re not a fan of waffle fries, The Fish & Burger Co.’s Signature Thick Cut Herb Chips ($5.90 – $13.9) will certainly serve as an equally satisfying alternative.

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In terms of drinks, the list offers a range of sweet milkshakes, alongside a selection of local and imported craft beer, cider and wine. The milkshake flavours change every month or so, giving sweet-tooths a perfectly good excuse to keep coming back. On our visit, we tried their new Nutty Caramel Popcorn ($10.90) shake, which certainly lived up to its name.

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Every single drop of the photogenic shake tasted of hazelnut, broken down by ripples of sweet caramel sauce swirled into multiple thin layers throughout the glass. The only negative was that it was a bit messy to drink due to the thick top layer of whipped cream, sprinkled with caramel popcorn and drizzled with caramel sauce. But I guess that’s the whole point of a super shake. It’s a guilty pleasure that’s meant to be slightly messy.

The space is certainly ideal place for group gatherings, with the menu catering for a great deal of preferences with a good consistency in quality. If you have friends and family who aren’t such big fans of burgers or milkshakes, they can still enjoy the restaurant’s small selection of gourmet salads and freshly grilled fish. For lighter beverages the menu also offer freshly brewed cups of coffee from Toby’s Estate or a selection of flavoured teas from the ever popular T2.

The Fish & Burger Co.

Address: 1001 Doncaster Rd, Doncaster East, VIC, 3109
Contact: (03) 9842 1011
Website: www.thefishandburgerco.com
Hours:  11am – 9pm on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, & Sunday.  11am – 9:30pm on Friday-Saturday. Closed on Tuesdays.

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