Mary’s, Newtown
This post is a guest post brought to you by Boyfriend. So, I’ll step aside and let Boyfriend tell you all about our recent trip to Mary’s in Newtown…
Ever since we went to the United States a few years ago we have been obsessed with really good burgers. Unfortunately there was no food blog back, so none of our American culinary adventures have been documented. Even so, I think we ate a burger and fries every few days. Shake Shack in New York, Gotts Roadside in San Francisco, some random little beach shack in North Carolina and a German influenced burger with mushrooms in Solvang, CA are some of the ones which come to mind.
We found when we got back from the US that the burgers in Australia just aren’t the same. Don’t get me wrong, we love Australian burgers as much as anyone, but sometimes a good, simple American burger is what we feel like. Australian burgers tend to use exotic ingredients, whereas the burgers in the States only used a few ingredients, but used them really well. Generally, they used a soft bun which held all the ingredients, really good quality beef, fresh tomato, cheese, lettuce, pickles and optional bacon. So, when we heard about a place in Newtown that did US style burgers we couldn’t wait to try it.
We headed to Newtown one Saturday to try the burgers of Mary’s which had been getting a lot of hype. First of all, not being from Newtown, we found it a little difficult to find Mary Street. It’s basically a laneway off King Street tucked behind a pub.
The venue is one of those very Sydney establishments where you can’t really tell if it’s a bar, a small bar, a restaurant with a bar, or a bar with a restaurant. Given that everybody we saw were eating burgers, let’s say a restaurant/bar.
The beer menu is certainly extensive as is their wine and cocktail menu. The food menu is limited, but this isn’t a bad thing. You have a choice between a cheeseburger, Mary’s burger, vegetarian burger, fried chicken and mashed potato.
Obviously we opted for the burger and fries.
The burger came wrapped up in paper and served in a basket beside a generous helping of fries.
The burger is everything you would expect of a US style burger – soft bun, patty, cheese, tomato, lettuce and special sauce (most likely ketchup and mayo). The patty, which is obviously the most critical part of the burger, is a combination of chuck, brisket and rump. It makes for a fantastic texture and is seasoned perfectly.
I opted for the double, which is two patties, two slices of cheese, and all other ingredients listed above.
Girlfriend opted for the single, which (surprise, surprise) was one patty and one slice of cheese.
Unlike Australian burgers, which are often so tall you can’t fit your mouth over them, and topple over when you pick them up, the burgers were perfectly proportioned. Even the double with its two delicious beef patties was perfectly proportioned.
I forgot to mention that the other thing that made for great burgers in the US was the fries – thinly sliced, crispy, fluffy, well salted potatoey goodness. The fries at Mary’s were a great homage to those little bites of goodness in the states.
Other little things, such as Jack Daniels salt and hot sauce shakers on the table really made the meal.
All in all they’re great burgers, even if they make me yearn for a burger sitting on the wharf in San Fran.
Would we go again? Next time we’re craving a US-style burger for sure.
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The mash potatoes and gravy is a winner here. Gotta say the burgers did remind me of America too, namely in n out. The soft bun rocked my world!
Ooo mash potatoes and gravy you say? We’ll have to go back and try them out!
Mary’s is my go-to place for all burger cravings. I really do wish it had a drive-thru! haha
Haha drive-thru would be so good but probably wouldn’t work in that tiny lane!!