[content_slider]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[content_slide]
[/content_slide]
[/content_slider]
MELBOURNE | Rude Boy Burger is a Brunswick West burger joint owned by wife and husband team Karen Ascui-Rodriguez and Franco Caruso, who also own popular cafe Lolo & Wren next door. It’s what you’ve come to expect from burger joints in Melbourne circa 2017/18 – big burgers, loaded fries and shakes. While the prospect of yet another burger joint in Melbourne isn’t quite the exciting proposition that it once was, we’re never ones to say no to a new spot doing quality burgers.
The ingredients are quality, meat sourced from Clover Valley Fine Foods and Milawa free range chicken. Base burgers have a well balanced mixture of ingredients, and a selection of add ons like bacon, avocado, Fried Mozzarella Fritters and more mean you can pretty much make whatever burger you want. For us the highlight is the ‘Hot Chick’ – fried Cchicken, grilled cheese, jalapeños, chipotle seasoning, louisiana slaw and spicy island sauce. It’s a big, tasty beast of a burger, and with the addition of a mozzarella fritter it’ll more than satisfy your hunger. The ‘Onion Supreme’ with a 150g Wagyu beef patty, beer battered onion rings, caramelised onion, double cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and lemon mayo is also fantastic.
For sides, it’s your simple fries and tater tots, with several loaded options on offer. Try the ‘Ghetto Fries’ which have a questionable name but great flavour – cheese sauce, avocado, jalapeños & chipotle relish. ‘Cheese & Bacon Gravy Fries’ with crispy bacon bits, cheese sauce, bacon gravy & spring onion are also very good.
Finally for the shakes, and these were the biggest surprise for us. Regular readers of The City Lane will be well aware of our loathing of ‘freakshakes’, those overloaded, overly sweet, difficult to eat, ridiculous shakes that look great on Instagram but are utterly terrible when it comes to actually eating or enjoying them. To our surprise the shakes at Rude Boy are… normal! Flavours that work well together, taste good, and are served as actual no-nonsense shakes shake that fit in a cup and are easy to drink. Our favourite is the Banana Cake shake which contains real banana cake, vanilla cCustard, caramel sauce and banana lollies. It’s got a taste of both real bananas and lolly bananas and is great. The ‘Mix Berry Crumble’ shake with mixed berries, strawberry sauce, mixed berry compote, short cake crumble and white chocolate buttons is another winner.
As for the name of the joint, “rude boy” is Jamaican slang from the 1960s, which was popularised in the UK with the rise of SKA music in the late 1970s – think Madness and the Specials, sharp suits, thin ties, and Trilby hats. While the soundtrack at Rude Boy is more modern Hip-Hop and R&B rather than classic SKA hits, the quality of the burgers and friendly service means that things at Rude Boy are more house of fun than ghost town.
Rude Boy Burger
482 Albion Street
Brunswick West
Victoria 3055
Australia
Telephone: (03) 9386 4302
E-mail: n/a
Website
Open
Sun – Sat: 12:00pm to 10:00pm