Moo Gourmet Burgers, Manly

Summer is all about the sun, the beach, lazy afternoons and evenings, and possibly kicking back with some shakes and burgers. Sydney’s weather has been rather erratic of late, swinging from blistering heat to a mild winter chill in the space of only a couple of days. While we can't choose the weather, at least we can choose what food with which to feed ourselves and inject a dose of "beach" in the process. By that, of course, I don't mean liberally sprinkling some sand over your dinner, but by grabbing some burgers at a beachside location.

Manly is the latest Moo outpost and is split across two levels after ascending a flight of stairs, with the upper level kitted out with its own bar and being able to be hired out for functions. Both levels have balcony dining areas with direct views overlooking the beach, and make use of furniture made from recycled fence posts which sport cheeky butt logos!

We are presented with baskets of ‘Chunky home-style chips’ which are crisp, golden and have fluffy innards. A range of Moo’s homemade sauces are on offer and we are spoilt for choice with mayonnaise, aioli, tomato relish and sweet chilli jam. The hands-down winner is the aioli with its creamy garlic hit.

Arriving proudly piled high with Tasmanian brie, caramelised onions, tomato, mixed lettuce and mayonnaise is the ‘Wagyu Beef Burger’, the only wagyu burger on the menu. All other beef burgers are from free-range, Angus Pure, pasture-fed cattle. The light sourdough bun comes skewered but, even after a gentle flattening and cutting in half, proves difficult to fit into my mouth all in one go. The exercise proves messy with meat juices and salad dropping about the place, but who can complain when the thick, blushing pink patty is so tasty!

Moo stocks the aptly-named, boutique ‘Moo Brew Pale Ale’ and, novelty naming aside, it is a lovely light beer with fruity notes which appeals to the non-beer-drinker that I am. And on a completely superficial level, the bottle has the more feminine shape of a miniature wine bottle and features moody artwork.

Much fun is to be had with a trio of mini shakes with the ‘Beach Blonde’ and its crushed Crunchie bar suspended in a choc-caramel base. And don’t you just love the retro candy-stripe straws? The ‘Cow in Mud’ is an alcoholic shake with the creamy flavours of Baileys, Frangelico, ice-cream, Tim Tams and chocolate sauce blended with milk. The classic malted Vanilla shake comes in a mini metallic milkshake cup which is how they’re presented on the ‘Little Cow’ kiddies’ menu.

Burger #2 (Trust me, none of us actually managed to finish both burgers – with leftovers being kindly packaged up takeaway-style.) came in the form of the menu’s latest addition, the ‘Kangaroo Burger’ with an all-kangaroo patty. The patty was not as gamey as expected, and drier than its wagyu cousin, but was really helped by the homemade beetroot relish. Served on a gluten-free bun, I was impressed by its springy texture which was akin to an English muffin, only slightly chewier. Having worked for a Coeliac boss, I have seen my fair share of dry, crumbly “bread”. Moo caters well with 17 of its 20 burgers featuring gluten-free patties and ingredients.

For your sweet tooth, you can get your moo on with the new ‘Black & White MOOKies’, dark and white choc-chunk cookies which are baked fresh daily. Oh, and did I mention that they’re almost as large as my face?!

Mademoiselle Délicieuse dined as a guest of Moo Gourmet Burgers.

MooGourmet Burgers, Manly
Levels 2 & 3, 33 South Steyne (btwn Wentworth St & The Corso), Manly NSW
Tel: (02) 9976 0948

Opening Hours:  7 days  11am til late


 

happy eating!