On holidays recently in Palm Cove and walking along the main street, I saw a chalk board sign on the footpath that read “Big Ben burger – can you eat it all?”. This, of course, grabbed my attention, so I made the effort to return a few days later for lunch as I needed to know what this was all about. The place was on Williams Esplanade in Palm Cove and called “Underground”. Café styled place with a varied menu of burgers, pasta and sandwiches.
Whilst I wanted to give the “Big Ben” a crack, it was a double beef burger and preferred to play it safe by trying a regular burger first. Plus, with the likelihood of swimming later that afternoon, I did not want to increase the risk of sinking to the bottom with all that additional meat inside me. Therefore, I ordered the aptly named, “Classic Burger” which came with house wagyu beef patty, cheese lettuce, tomato and underground tomato relish. I also added bacon to give it a little something extra too.
The patty tasted good – well cooked and full of flavour. Adding bacon was a good move too. Unfortunately, the thick, dry bun, was tasteless and took over the whole experience. Not to mention, the burger had rocket lettuce. I hate rocket lettuce! I’ve often said it’s like having weeds from the garden in your burger and this was no exception. I think I might start a petition to ban it. Burgers should only have iceberg, cos or butter lettuce.
Anyway, suffice to say, the burger was not the greatest of all time, and the $20+ price tag did not help either. Chips on the side were spot on – crispy and lightly salted. And after scooping out all the cream, the chocolate shake was really good.
When you are on holidays, you often take a risk on places to eat, and unfortunately, this place fell short of my expectations.
