A BOOTH WITH A VIEW @ BELLE'S DINER

Belle's Diner's Fried Green Tomato Burger ($17)

Yalei and I hit up Belle's Diner a few weeks ago. I'd actually been here a few nights after it opened, but my camera died (trust) just as the food arrived. Belles Diner is the newest place on Gertrude Street, and is a contemporary take on the traditional American diner, without all the '50s crap that is usually associated with such places. Instead, the interior feels like a set from Mad Men, with a stainless steel counter and sleek wooden booths that sit with large windows overing a street level view of Gertrude Street.

On our first visit, we put our names on the door an hour before they let us know we could be seated and the place was heaving with the young crowd you would expect around the area. The next week, we arrived for lunch, and still had to wait for a few minutes for a table, because we weren't keen on eating on the counter.

For lunch, I ordered the fried green tomato burger, as above. It was good, but a vegeburger would have been much more satisfying. Instead of a pattie, a large slice of deep-fried green tomato sat in the burger with crisp lettuce, cheese and pickles. However, the tomato just didn't keep it's shape as I progressed through the burger, and by the end,  developed into tomato mush. The bun though was sweet and the fries were well seasoned and tasty, so it wasn't all bad. While there for dinner, my meat eating friends ordered the Waguy burger and judged it to be 'Good, not as good as Huxtaburger but better then the burgers at the workers' which is a good indicator of a satisfactory burger.

Yalei ordered the clam chowder, which I had also tried when I went last time. She summed it up pretty well, when she said it was 'kind of like pumpkin soup, but with clams'. It was good though because her size was much bigger then the one I had received the week before for dinner. My verdict was that the soup was good (who doesn't like pumpkin soup?) but a little bland and the clams were a nice inclusion, but did more for the texture component of the dish then the flavour part of it. I was a little disapointed as I remembered clam chowder to be creamy and more sea-foody then the chowder at Belles. More like a calorific-cream based soup, then the more healthy vegetable based one served here.

The Clam Chowder ($15)

Cost-wise, the meal kind of just sat at $20, which was fine, but not brilliant. Belles Diner seems a little style-over-substance. On arrival, the cafe is neat and very well presented, but the food wasn't anything that got me too excited. If they are going to run with the American theme, I think it deserves that extra push, because there wasn't really anything that you couldn't get at the majority of restaurants in Melbourne and there is much more interesting dude-food to be found for the same price.

 The Wagyu Beef Burger with Fries

I would return to Belle's diner, but maybe when they have worked on their menu a bit. Since my visit/s, they've added a 'Salted Caramel Milkshake' to the menu, and I'm also keen to try the Sundaes and Key Lime Pie from their desserts, as well as the Chilli Beans and Lobster Roll. For lunch though, not eating meat meant choosing dishes was way too easy when I had maybe three things to choose from, which always kind of sucks a little - although, I do remember having more options over dinner.

Staff at Belle's are friendly, although a little disinterested, but I liked the music and generally the vibe of the Diner is lo-key and relaxed during the day, and lively but laid back in the PM times.

BELLE'S DINER

150 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy

Tuesday - Sunday 10am - late.

Good for: Casual style dining for small or large groups.
Vegetarians: Have options, but they aren't too expansive, especially for lunch.

Seats: Lots of booths, and tables available.
Wait time: About 5 minutes for the two of us for mid-week lunch. The previous week, a larger group of about 8 of us were wait-listed for an hour until they called us to let us know we had a table - but the restaurant was packed, so this was fine. 
Food waiting time: Around 20 minutes for lunch, around half an hour for dinner.
Cost: Including drinks, both our meals sat just under $20.00.  

A HOT BEEF INJECTION @ Huxtaburger

To go with the burger theme we're running with right now, I thought I'd start things of with one of Melbourne's dude food friendly eateries, Huxtaburger.  

 Chef and owner of Huxtaburger and Huxtable, Daniel Wilson is obviously a big Cosby Show fan. When ordering your burger, you can choose from; the Denise, the Rudy, the Huxtaburger or the Bills.  I thought this was the greatest idea ever.

I must have been the last person in Melbourne to get to Huxtaburger on Smith Street, and my short-lived pescaterianism was halted when I made a visit to the burger bar a few days ago. It's a good budget-friendly alternative to Huxtaburger's older brother restaurant Huxtable, which sits watching a very loyal crowd pile into the burger bar from across the road.

Huxtaburger exemplifies the 'dude food' movement that is currently lining Melbournes' stomachs, and I wasn't disappointed. This is THE place to go for a serious intake of iron, and you're going to feel it for a good few hours afterwards. Sure, they may appear all fancy with their brioche buns and wagyu patties, but that's where the wankiness ends, and the classic burger appears in all it's juicy, calorific glory.

 'The Theo'

Not wanting to half-ass the experience, I ordered the 'Theo', which goes the whole way with two beef patties, bacon and cheese on a fantastically orange brioche bun. I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to call a burger 'amazing' but I've certainly had my share of bad ones, and the Theo was pretty great. Without being excessively oily, the wagyu patties were fat and juicy, and had just enough cheese, bacon and barbeque sauce to keep the classic burger combination interesting. The crinkle cut chips (how retro!) were really good; just enough crunch to make a satisfying side. My friend got the eateries namesake menu item, 'The Huxtaburger' which is the restaurant's take on the classic burger, and although she had trouble eating it (I love watching people struggle with food), she seemed to dig hers a lot too.

I'm not sure if my photos truly capture how wonderful these burgers looked when they arrived (forgive me, I'm still practicing) but I'm not exaggerating; they are the burgers you dream about when you get crazy, insatiably hungry. I think I even took a picture for my instagram account- they looked that good. Make no mistake, in the flesh, these burgers are beautiful things.  

Staff were surprisingly friendly for peak hour in this popular and hip Melbourne eatery. The wait time for a table wasn't long for 6.30 on a Tuesday night, I think we were there for about five minutes before something came up outside. However, by the time we left, people were falling out of the shop, and lining up against the outside window because there wasn't enough room to wait inside. Once we'd ordered, we had a short, but not too short wait for our meals.

'The Huxtaburger' came perfectly stacked. 

All up, I paid $17.50 for the burger, a small chips and coke. Realistically, $17 is a lot to pay for a burger and fries, but the meat was delicious, the vibe was easy and if i can get change from a crisp 20, I'm really not complaining. By themselves, the burgers range from $8- $11.

 
HUXTABURGER
106 Smith Street, Collingwood

Cost: $17.50
Table waiting time: Less then 10 minutes.
Food waiting time: Around 15 minutes.
Good for: Catching up with friends, dates with long term partners (don't come here on a first date, no one looks sexy manovering a burger around their mouth) or a quick bite by yourself if you get in early. As there is no meat-free burger option, your vegetarian or vegan friends probably won't like this place as much as I did, unless their eating morals are as flaky as my own.