DOWN N’ OUT- Sydney CBD

If you’re ever feeling ‘Down & Out’……

DOWN N’ OUT burgers will always be there for you (as long as it’s in-between 12 noon and 9pm Mon-Sat) to put a smile back on your greasy face! Even more so, now that they have permanent digs on Liverpool St!!!!!

Although DOWN N’ OUT (the pop-up) has been a local establishment of ours for a couple of years, we’ve never tried it before!? I’m thinking sub-consciously we didn’t want to put ourselves out there i.e. try and then fall in love with their burgers, but then poof-they’re gone! Just like falling for an International post-graduate student…. Devastating yeah? But now with their permanent residency just a couple of shops down from their previous temporary digs at Sir John Young’s (and up a flight of narrow stairs),  we were finally ready to open ourselves up to potentially fall hard for DOWN N’ OUT.

First impressions after we climbed the stairs, was that their permanent space was real cool, where all the cool cats hang! This vibe was created by the music that they were playing (while we were there, the speakers were pumping out a Reggae album like Sean Paul but less commercial); and the guys who were sitting within ear shot were chatting about DJ friends of theirs. Very cool, very cool!

We chose a seat next to the windows which were open, letting in a nice breeze into the some-what warm/humid space (but this added to the Caribbean state of mind which I was lapsing into).

Ordering and payment of your food is made at the counters, and when your meals are ready, the friendly staff will bring it out to you on trays, burgers/fries sitting in their own cardboard trays on a funky comic-inspired tray liner.

Side note: I’m on a mission to compare a bunch of premium/trending burger joints, planning to only try burgers straight off the everyday menu without any customisations, thus able to compare different B-joints at a similar starting point. So on this visit I ordered a stock-standard Cheese burger (while I looked longingly at all the extras which you could shove into your burger to make it a huge tower of yum!); my wife opted for the Chicken burger in its default guise as well; and we had the Tiger fries to share.

The ‘Big bite’ test, that was full points, it was easy to wrap my teeth around both bottom and top buns, but after the first bite my fillings and cheese sauce was already starting to leak out the back-side (needing to use my palm as a back-stop to keep everything together). But that was my fault! The Cheese burger came wrapped in paper, to keep your hands clean, but I knowingly unwrapped it. Call me silly! Maybe? The burger followed the traditional cheese burger recipe, i.e. light bun, meat patty, raw onions, thin sliced pickles and cheese. Where this burger differed, was that they used a cheese sauce rather than a slice of cheese (I think the TexMex guys call the sauce Queso), applied in generous measures. Very generous measures! However the burger lacked an explosive flavour, I know, it’s a cheese burger after all, but the flavours did remain in a low gear from start to finish. A number of options you can add to your burgers were (this list is not exhaustive) hash brown ($2), onion rings ($2), bacon ($3), or deep fried cheese patty ($5). And for that added kick, Jalapenos ($1) or Peri Peri sauce ($1), which I’m definitely going to add next time.

The Chicken burger was also solid, with a fried battered chicken fillet, lettuce and DOWN N’ OUT’s own burger sauce. And the Tiger fries were your thin cut fries like Macca’s, but here they’re completely coated in caramelised onions, burger sauce and cheese sauce!!!! Which you had to eat with a fork, it was very delicious!

In the end, I smashed the burger in record time, both hands absolutely covered in cheese sauce (but nothing which 2 serviettes and some spit couldn’t resolve). N’ after I had my fair share of the fries, I definitely had a big grin on my greasy face.

End verdict, 4 from 5 stars. (2.5 from 3 for food, 0.5 of 0.5 for service, 0.5 from 0.5 for atmosphere, and 0.5 from 1 for value for money), a solid score. Check out the burger score card for a more detailed break-down of the Burger Vs Burger running tally.

Would we be back? For sure! Next time I’m coming back for the Cheese burger again but shoving as many extras into my burger tower! And there is a weekly specials burger to try, which keeps fans coming back again N’ again. Oh yeah, they also have an impressive selection of craft beers ranging from $10 to $16. So if you’re ever feeling ‘Down and out’, you’ll know where to go to put a smile back on your face (just as long as you’re not feeling down and out because of being short of cash).

DOWN N’ OUT- Saturday 15 December (4 stars)

http://www.downnout.com.

PH: (02) 9261 8921

77/A Liverpool Street, Sydney

Mon-Thurs 12noon – 9pm

Fri-Sat 12noon – 10pm

Sun- Closed