Chimi's Burgerbar

Tonight's dinner from Chimi's Burgerbar came by in a roundabout way. I was reading on A Spoonful of Sugar about Angela's Banana Praline Parfait which she adapted from a recipe by Heston Blumenthal. This led me to Google Heston Blumenthal and watching an episode of Heston Blumenthal: In Search of Perfection about his quest for the perfect burger. I enjoyed it so much I linked it to DD, who also really liked it, and when I asked about dinner DD said he wanted burgers. After seeing that episode, I could understand the craving.

Next we had to find a good place for burgers. Previously we had always gone to Seafood and Eat It in Greenslopes. They made the best burgers ever there, their grilled chicken burger was sublime. I have to admit that I dream about it occasionally. Tragically, the last time we tried to go there, it was closed. I wish I knew what had happened to it.

So, our favourite burger haunt was no more and it was back to Google to search for "best burgers Brisbane". One of the most frequently recommended was Chimi's in Fortitude Valley. DD has also wanted to try them after seeing their posters allowing you to downsize your burger for $3 off. This admirable option is matched by the slightly less healthy Chimiburger: a burger with two beef patties, bacon, cheese, egg, tomato, red onion, relish and aioli then dipped in egg, crumbed and flash fried.

It was surprisingly quiet in the Valley for a Saturday night and we were able to drive there, order and receive our burgers and drive home in about half an hour. Unfortunately, I didn't time how long it took for them to fill our order, because I was distracted by a quite contradictory council sign.

We didn't take the option to downsize because we wanted to see how big the burgers are, but we were not quite game enough to try the Chimiburger. DD and C ordered a Late Breakie burger: a beef patty, tomato, red onion, egg, cheese, bacon, aioli and relish ($9 ea) and I tried a Moo burger with cheese (pictured - upside down - above): a beef patty, lettuce, tomato, red onion, cheese, aioli and relish ($8). We also ordered a side of sweet potato fries ($3 for regular, $4 for large).

My burger was quite tasty. The flavours of the mayonnaise, relish and cheese were perfectly balanced. It wasn't quite the stuff dreams are made of (as my much lamented chicken burger was), but it was a nice burger. It was huge and messy, with saucy mayonnaise dripping everywhere. Although DD's burger was twice as messy, I think he ended up going through three serviettes. DD enjoyed his but C felt that the Late Breakie was missing something, but he couldn't put his finger on what that was. DD loved the sweet potato fries, however I found that they were too thin and stringy for me. I prefer a thicker cut to a sweet potato chip.

We all enjoyed the burgers and at $36 for three burgers, a side of fries and parking in Chinatown mall (the food was only $30, but the extra $6 was well worth not having to find a park in the Valley at 7:30 on a Saturday night) it was very reasonably priced. There was a lot of food there!

Chimi's Burgerbar
Shop 13 Licorice Lane
Fortitude Valley Mall
Brunswick Street
Fortitude Valley
Ph: 07 3854 0244
www.chimis.com.au