Burgers @ Dandenong Pavilion

After having a bad experience at Grand Trailer Park Taverna with R, I was reluctant to visit its progenitor, Dandenong Pavilion. My apprehensions were also deepened by its distance from the Melbourne CBD, a 45 minute drive in medium traffic didn’t exactly have me in the best spirits on arrival. However, I was very impressed.

In this case, the great Urbanspoon score and positive reviews were well justified, this place is great! I ordered the ‘Frank Underwood’ (three types of beef in a medium rare patty, two kinds of American cheese, a mac cheese and mash croquet, lashings of mustard, ketchup and specials sauce, with chips doused in cooked pickled onions, diced pickles and cheese sauce) and my dining companion got the beef burger (extra large patty, American cheese, salad, deli pickle, onion, mustard on a brioche bun, with fresh fries and house made ketchup).

The Frank Underwood was a sensation, I have not been as impressed with a burger for a good long time. The patty was perfectly cooked (well spiced, medium rare on the inside, crisp caramelised crust on the outside), the cheese mix was great, the special sauce definitely special. The croquet was a little bland, it was crisp, cheesy and had a nice texture inside, it just needed salt and something to give it a kick, but it certainly didn’t ruin the burger. Neither did the bun, which although a brioche variant, was just the right amount of sweet to cut through the beef and cheese mountain that was the Frank Underwood.

The chips were also an excellent accompaniment. The onions had been cooked in vinegar and were just divine combined with the diced pickle and the cheese sauce. The potato itself was crunchy and beautifully golden, with a nice peppery kick.

My dining companion generally likes his food a little more bland/conservative than I do, however he described the beef burger as delicious and beautifully flavoured. I stole one of his chips which were just as nice, despite lacking the elaborate topping of mine.

Sadly I only found out at the end that there was a ‘secret’ burger menu with a wider range of special burger treats, make sure to request this upfront when you go, they all looked great!

-M