Tag Archives: Bathurst

Burger Review #9 – Double Royal

Nothing like an upscale Burger Bar.  You know the type, they are going to give you a hefty feed but it’s not going to be made out of ingredients that they nipped out and bought from the discount isle at the supermarket, then stuck in the deep freeze until needed.

Such a Burger Bar is The Oxford in Bathurst, which we headed to after watching my kids go hard in their Brazillian Jujitsu tournament.  Being a Tarantino fan I immediately noticed they had a burger named Royale with Cheese.  But then I noticed something bigger – the Double Royal.

Burger Name: Double Royal (with fries)

Price: $28.50

Description: 2 x100% Wagyu Beef Patties, Pickles, Onions, Mustard, Double the Cheese, BTS Sauce, Cos Lettuce, Tomato & Texas BBQ Sauce.

Burger Review #6: The E-I-E-I-O Burger

Whilst not the biggest burger ever made, nor the most flavourful ever made, this burger is a far step above what you will get at any fast food restaurant.  The quality of the ingredients, the way the different flavours complimented each other – even the size itself – should make a Big Mac’s buns turn red with embarrassment for daring to also call itself a burger.

Not to say this was the greatest burger I’ve ever had, but it was a damn solid feed and tasted mighty fine!  The only downside was that with three condiments – the mustard, BTS Sauce and Texas BBQ Sauce, the burger only lasted so long before the buns became too saturated to hold it together. The melted cheese added to this problem too, rather than acting as a dairy-based adhesive.

Making the transition from Burger to Sloppy Joe – don’t judge it’s lifestyle choices

Also, given it was $28.50, a bigger serving of chips I feel was warranted.

Fill the tray mate!

But overall this was a very good burger and I would recommend it if visiting The Oxford in Bathurst.  I look forward to returning there in the future as their menu had many options containing huge sums of meat so, much like Bootleggers in Katoomba, seems to be very Big Angry Trev oriented.

Burger Review #4: Pulled BBQ Wagyu

Meat Review – The Kings Hotel part 2 – Steaky Goodness!

A bit over a year ago I did my first review of The Kings Hotel in Bathurst and lauded both the quality and most definitely the quantity of their meaty meals.  In particular The Cajun Surf & Turf, Rack of Pork Ribs and my personal favorite The Kings Kilo Steak!

Well here we are again and we are going to look at 3 more offerings, this time of the more subdued kind but still all impressive beef steaks in their own right – The 300gm Rump, the 350gm Sirloin and the 400gm T-Bone.

Makes for good reading!

Sadly not all 3 steaks were mine.  My mother-in-law chose the rump (which I suspect was due to it was the cheapest and she was trying to be nice to the person paying) and my wife chose the sirloin.  Personally I went the T-Bone – I know everyone has their own opinion on what is the best steak (porterhouse, scotch fillet etc) and whilst I love them all with a passion the T-Bone is hands down the cut of choice for me (for my mother’s awesome recipe for T-Bone steak see HERE).

Left to Right: Sirloin, T-Bone, Rump. Now THIS is the kind of 3some I dream about!

It’s hard to know what to write about these steaks as they were all the same – damn good!  When you asked for medium you GOT medium (so neither burnt nor raw like many supposed chefs seem to think ‘medium’ is) and the meat was thick, fresh and juicy.  Certainly hadn’t been sitting in a freezer for a month.  Also they, to my expert eye, seemed to be the proportions advertised.  When working as a night-porter in Dalhousie Castle in Scotland many years ago I was absolutely disgusted when a chef there told me some of the tricks he used to pull to make a 350gm steak look like a 500gm – a shootable offence in my opinion!

I was disappointed that my wife and mother-in-law didn’t leave any scraps on their plate for me to scavenge as I am used to having a BIG meal whenever I visit The Kings but that attests to how much they enjoyed their steaks.  The sauces were all good too, I went the pepper, my wife the mushroom and my mother-in-law the gravy.  All very nice indeed and excellent to dip your chips in.

 

So yes, if your tastes run a little more tame then I can heartily recommend these three steaks which would probably receive top billing at any other establishment.  But honestly, if you end up at The Kings do yourself a favour and get either The Kings Kilo Steak or the Cajun Surf & Turf – hands down two of the best feeds you will ever have!

Steak, Steak, Steak, Steak
Steak, Steak, Steak, Steak
Luverly Steak!

Meat Review – The Kings Hotel in Bathurst

There are two things I look for in my meat when I go out to dinner – quality and quantity.  Ya gots to have both!  Nothing more irritating then paying a fortune for a meal and it comes out in portions that a dwarf would look at and say “Thats lousy!“.  Also irritating is when you do get a big meal but it tastes average or below – just means you’ve got a lot of mediocre food to get through.  Luckily, the Kings Hotel in Bathurst has both quality and quantity ticked – especially the QUANTITY!

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Now this is a pub that knows it’s damn meat!  No piddly little servings here.  Be prepared for a plate of tucker so big that your bowel movement the next day is likely to crack even the strongest porcelain!  Everything on the menu (all averaging between $28 & $35) comes out in massive servings that even a seasoned glutton such as I finds impressive.  For instance, here is the Kids Menu Steak & Chips:

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Now I’ve been to this pub several times with various folk and I’ve yet to hear anyone complain about their meals.  However I’m going to take you through the three I’ve had – all bowel-busting delights!

Cajun Surf & Turf
sirloin steak topped with balmain bug & prawns in a cajun infused butter

This is by far the tastiest thing on the menu!  The steak and balmain bug are both of a hefty size and cooked beautifully and the cajun butter is just fan-freakin-tastic! Genuinely really tasty! This is one of those meals will leave you going “Wow – god damn!  That was good!”  I recommend helping it down with a few beers, and if you are a Transformers Fan then you can’t go past the below beer, especially in 2016!

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Rack of Pork Ribs
Bourbon bbq & apple sauce with chips & salad

They didn’t off Piglet or Wilbur for this – they killed one of those big boars out of Footrot Flats, ripped it’s ribs out, cooked’em up and slapped them on a plate!  Quite possibly the biggest serving of ribs I’ve ever had served up to me!  The meat is very tender, however without a sauce on it, it is a bit bland.  I was surprised to find the restaurant would not budge on the sauce.  You could only get bourbon bbq & apple, nothing else.  They were kind enough to put it on the side for me but I would have still preferred a different flavour option, maybe something mustardy.  So this is good but only grab it if you are a massive pork fan or like the aforementioned sauce flavour.

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Now for the REAL reason to visit this restaurant……

THE KINGS KILO STEAK!
1kg of rump steak (cooked up to medium)

A lot of people feel intimidated by the idea of eating a kilo of beef in one go.  Why?!  I find this fear completely foreign, even when I was a skinny bugger I could down giant steaks like matlesers.  Considering I ate a 1.5kg Pork Knuckle in Germany, a 1kg steak holds no fears for the likes of I.  And nor should it for you!  Eat it!  Eat the damn steak!  I’ve had steaks this size at many locals but I will say this was the best one.  The fact they refuse to cook it more than medium shows they have a clue what they are doing, I prefer medium-rare myself.  This steak was juicy, tender, succulent and you got a choice of sides and sauces (I personally went with a hearty gravy but the garlic would have been good too).  At well under $40 you are definitely getting your money’s worth.  Eat this steak!  Eat it because it’s tasty, eat it to prove to yourself you can, eat it to impress your friends, but most of all… eat it because it’s the right thing to do.

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So in a nutshell this restaurant is well worth visiting.  The food is tasty, the beer cold and the meal portions are beyond reproach!  Go get yaself a a gut-full right now!

 

A link to the Kings Hotel can be found here: http://kingsongeorge.com.au/kingstable/