The MLC Food Court at Martin Place has just undergone a full scale revamp and one of the newest additions is Neil Perry’s Burger Project, which is nestled into the left entrance to the Food Court if you’re heading in from Martin Place. I must admit that I had trouble finding it when I dropped by for dinner, as most of the MLC is shut after office hours, but rest assured that the Burger Project stays open until 9pm.
It looks like a small kiosk and counter on first impression, but there’s actually quite a spacious dining area out the back, with an open window into their kitchen so you can watch the chefs at work.
With a big name like Neil Perry behind Burger Project, it’s hard not to have high hopes for the “premium hand crafted burgers” made with gourmet Cape Grim beef. I ordered a Chilli Cheese Burger which features a tender grass fed beef patty, melted cheese, jalapenos, onion, pickles and a tasty secret sauce. It lived up to its name, packing quite a chilli punch, although I found that the secret sauce made the burger quite soggy after a while, especially with the super soft buns. Messy eaters (like me) should probably go for their “Burger in a Bowl” instead.
Chilli Cheese Burger, $10.50
My other half had picked the Fried Chicken Burger, which had a delicious crumbed free range chicken breast filling, drizzled with rose mayonnaise and was much easier to eat than the Chilli Cheese as it was less saucy.
Fried Chicken Burger, $10.50
I also loved their thick cut chips, which were sprinkled with an addictive chipotle chilli salt – they had just the right amount of crunch and flavour to keep us going back for more.
Chips (small) $2.90
We rounded off our meal by indulging in some sweet treats in the form of their ice cream desserts which are created with a creamy vanilla bean soft serve base and covered with a variety of toppings. The boy enjoyed the Blueberry Pie, which featured a sweet blueberry compote and was topped off with some cookie crumble for texture. His dessert definitely seemed to melt faster than mine, which was the Nuts about Chocolate – surprisingly not that chocolatey as I had expected, as it featured Valhrona white chocolate rather than dark chocolate and chunks of praline. The white chocolate actually created a hardened shell on top of the vanilla soft serve underneath, which fooled me into thinking my ice cream hadn’t melted much…until we cracked through it and found the rapidly melting soft serve underneath.
Blueberry Pie Ice Cream Dessert, $6
Nuts about Chocolate, $6
The newest Burger Project outlet in the city is definitely catered more towards city office workers at lunchtime with its convenient location in the centre of the business district, but is still a solid option for a quick (yet still relatively gourmet) burger fix after office hours if you’re around Martin Place.
Excuse Me Waiter dined as guests of Burger Project
Burger Project
The MLC Centre Shop 6.22, Lower Ground Floor
19 Martin Place
Sydney NSW 2000
