Whether you’re at Cronulla for the beach or to shop or just to hang out, when it comes to food there is a plethora of cafes and restaurants to choose from that offer casual dining and good food. Eat Burger is a particular stand out, that’s popped up in the last year as a result of the recent burger joint trend.
Located on Gerrale Street, right across from the park, and with a view all the way down to the ocean, Eat Burger combines the chill vibe of the beachy setting with high-end gourmet burgers.
The interior follows a mostly black and white colour palate—with more white than black—which gives the place an open and airy feel that flows nicely into the park outside. The tables seem a touch close together, especially when the place is packed with people, but the openness of the design keeps it from feeling claustrophobic, and really only adds to the casualness of the dining experience. It feels like you could very easily waltz in after a day on the beach, bare foot and sandy, and pop down for a burger, which is perfect for the location.
The food, on the other hand, is anything but casual.
The menu offers a pretty decent choice of styled burgers that all sound so delicious it feels like you’re spoilt for choice. They also have what’s called an “Eat of the Week” that changes, as the title would suggest, every week, which makes the decision even harder. But it does mean that every time you go there’s a chance for something new and exciting to try.
On my most recent visit, I struggled (as I generally do when presented with any kind of food related decision) to decide what I wanted. In the end I went for the classic beef and bacon, which I hadn’t had before, while my sister went for my usual go to, the pork belly. I also ordered their strawberries and cream shake, and for the fun of it we decided to give their bacon fries a try.
Do you ever bite into something that tastes so good everything bad in your life suddenly becomes secondary to the fact you’re just so happy to be eating this thing? Because that’s what it felt like eating this burger. The beef patty was cooked to melt-in-your-mouth perfection, the bacon was nice and crispy, and the generous amounts of smoky BBQ sauce and aioli brought the whole dish together. The only downside, for me, was that the pickles were the only vegetable on the burger; it could really have done with a nice bit of lettuce.
As for the pork belly burger, when I asked my sister what she thought, she answered, “yeah, it’s really good”, which is high praise coming from someone whose generally not verbally enthusiastic about anything.
The shake was very good. Not freakshake level crazy, but that’s definitely not what you want when you’re also consuming a burger. But in its glass jar with fairy floss stuck to the cream, it’s definitely on the fancier side. Regardless, it tasted amazing, and as a strawberry shake enthusiast I greatly appreciated it.
The bacon fries however … Well let’s just say that “too much” is probably the best way to describe it. The tray of shoestring fries—which, on their own, are great—were topped with bacon aioli, bacon jam, bacon bits, and pork crackling. To be fair I did expect it to be too much, but I did not prepare myself for the barrage of salt that assaulted my tongue. I think next time I’ll stick to the sweet potato fries.
The total for the two of us came to an even $44 dollars, which is what I would expect for something like this, and considering the quality of taste and how nice and full I felt after, I think it’s worth it.
At the end of the day, it was a very good meal. The kind of very good meal you’re still thinking about days later and you start to wonder how long is socially acceptable before the next time you go back for another one.
