Benny Burger

I’ve been meaning to come to Benny Burger, as I was interested to see what Chef Shannon Bennett’s foray into fast food would look like. Luckily for me, I got an invite to try the menu. At Sunday lunch time there were a lot of families in here, I suspect it was for a pre-football meal. There are a couple of large TVs inside with the footy playing if you didn’t have tickets. The interior is clean, it almost has a modern café feel. There's a photo booth which my friend and I took advantage of, and one of the booths has an arcade game for the kids. Benny’s schtick is it’s an ethical burger, made from locally sourced ingredients. For that alone, you have to give credit to those who spread the awareness of local produce. We got two burgers, the sausage roll burger and the Chang. Both burgers were pretty good. I was impressed by the sausage roll burger, I have never seen anything like it before. It was a great fusion. The potato cake was pretty tasty, I’m not sure about the $2.50 price tag, but I wouldn’t have more than 1. You can definitely tell it wasn’t a factory made potato cake! We got the firecracker loaded fries. Not for the faint hearted. I actually preferred the chips. In this arguably saturated burger market in Melbourne, you gotta stand out. Whether it’s aesthetics, or taste. Aesthetically, it’s not an ‘instagram’ burger – which is perfectly fine! Taste wise, it’s above average. I do like the message, and the aesthetic. Sure there is better, but I would return here, because I think it has potential to grow and find its niche. Take away the Shannon Bennett bias, and you are in a burger joint which sources its ingredients locally, makes its own cheese and buns, and is ethically produced.

Popped in here for an early dinner. It was really quiet but I don’t mind that. The cutout is really cool, from the little tv screens in the booths to the table arcade games and the funky little photo booth at the back. The burger I ordered was brought out pretty quickly and was pretty juicy, maybe cooked a little more than what I prefer but still top notch. The chips were very yummy too. Will definitely return

Had the Chang... It was ok nothing much to get overly excited about. Stock standard burger that is forgettable. It’s good but is it worth a return visit? Personally dice hungry jacks has picked up their game on the double patty cheese burger w/bacon!!! I’d go back to hungry jacks.. the let down here was the sugar drink. Bit tight on the syrup mix!!

Shannon Bennett's burger joint lives up to its name for atmosphere. The mystery loaded fries were surprisingly good, we didn't take a chance on the mystery burger though. Burgers were tasty with buns perfectly toasted. Flavour doesn't quite match the best burger joints in the area but nice enough for a 2nd visit to sample other flavours

Rather than just say "this is the best", I figured I'd share some quotes from when we were walking out. "This is exactly the vibe we want a burger joint to have " "I feel like we're in an 80's diner." "I feel happy knowing I can get an organic burger." We really enjoyed our time here, the meal was great, the ambiance was great, they accommodated my special requests with grace. The only complaint was that the arcade game in the middle of the table made for a bit of an antisocial meal, but I suspect that's more on me than on the restaurant.