When? - 5th of September, 2015
Where? - 191 Buckley St. Essendon
Website? -Visit the Dude Food Man on Facebook
I awoke on Saturday morning with a hankering ... A hankering for a good burger.
I considered visiting one of my favourite spots in the Essendon area - Demazzi Stonegrill, but as I've already done a post about them I figured I'd expand my horizons a little, head down Buckley Street and check out Food-truck-turned-permanent-store the Dude Food Man.
I shot out some messages to the review team to see if anyone would be up for joining me and Reviewer Fridge was on board, I headed to Essendon and (after a quick pint or two at The Linc) wandered down and met him at the Dude Food Man.
The shop is barebones and simple - but everything you need. A counter for ordering and some tables both inside and out. The sun was doing its best to peek through the clouds so we opted on an outside table, then headed inside to place our orders. The menu, like the shop itself, is quite simple - but once again, contains everything you need...
I went with the Ultimate Double Cheese & Bacon Burger, while Fridge went for the Southern Fried Chicken burger, and we both gave in to temptation and went for the mac & cheese slappers on the side.
We went outside and waited for our tucker, about ten minutes later we were delivered the goods...
nawww, they make a cute couple, don't they?
It's been a while since I indulged in a good burger, and hot damn I made the right choice in the Dude Food Man.
Biting into this burger was pure greasy heart-stopping heaven. The wagyu patties were grilled to a perfect medium (I'm normally a medium-well kind've guy, but I'll be damned if they didn't sell me on medium).
The double smoked bacon worked perfectly with the smokey BBQ sauce that really drove home the flavour. I didn't want it to end, and from the way neither Fridge and I were eating in complete silence, he felt the same about his chicken burger.
Next up were the sides, the Mac & Cheese Slappers
Much like the burgers, these things were a revelation, from the name of them I'm sure you've guessed by now what is inside these little deep fried cubes of heaven -
So cheesey.
I don't know why but I had it in my head that you wouldn't be able to taste the mac and cheese in the slappers, that they would somehow taste different to a bowl of mac & cheese. I couldn't have been more wrong - these geniuses have come up with a way to portably eat mac and cheese without the need for cutlery (something I'm still waiting for someone to work out how to do well with a parma). Absolutely divine - between us we had three each, and was I not concerned another serve would drive me to an early grave I definitely would've headed back for round 2.
They also came with a dipping sauce that I can best describe as Big Mac sauce with extra spice - I haven't come across anything quite like it before, and it worked great with the slappers (I think it'd go great with a lot of things).
The only way they could improve the Dude Food Man would be to put in a tap or two so I could get a beer, although if I could get a beer there I'd probably never leave ... so its probably for the best that they don't.
Now I'm not pretending to be a burger expert - parmas are my game, and I'm sure some of the burger connoisseurs that will read this are probably surprised that I'm so vehemently endorsing this burger with little criticism to go along with it - but god damn, to quote Jules in Pulp Fiction... that is a tasty burger. Go check it out (As I said earlier they also have a food truck roaming around should you not be able to get to Essendon)
You won't be disappointed.