Dandenong Pavilion

On a Saturday night, D, R, this (hungry) little piggy, A, Bobo and I wandered into a different side of town. We visited Dandenong Pavilion for some burger action. My sis had told me about the fabulous burgers this place offered on a number of occasions, so I decided it was time that I finally try it. I am one of those people who is an attracted to a good burger like a fly to a light; sadly it's not part of the healthy eating diet. Lucky Pavilion was worth my cheat day.

When we arrived we were greeted warmly by the staff. The venue appeared to be a family/pub styled restaurant and was buzzing with people as it was a full restaurant. The others knew we were there for the burgers, but didn't know about the secret burger menu (on the actual menu there are only two burgers). Even when I told them, they were a bit puzzled and didn't believe me. However when I asked the waitress, she came back with this special menu, we all got excited.

For starters we got Jalapeno poppers and the Buffalo wings. The peppers were crumbed and crunchy on the outside with a cream cheese stuffing inside the pepper. It is not too spicy and great if you like Jalapenos. The Buffalo wings weren't too over powering but had just enough kick to make you sweat a little. The meat was juicy and well cooked.

R got the Jiro, which was made up of: beef patty, lamb, swiss cheese and truffle mayo on a white bread roll. The hero in this burger was the truffle mayo, it gave it the sophisticated edge compared to your average pub burger. The patty and lamb was also divine.

A, K and myself got the McDowell with added bacon. This was the best burger out of the lot. It had 2 pattys, generous amounts of swiss and cheddar cheese, lettuce and their special sauce. The only way I can describe this burger, is that it taste like a big mac but 100 times better. The cheesiness with the juicy patty, and that sauce (drool...). Everything about this burger was just done so well. If I was to rate this burger alone I would give it a 9.5/10. It was the first time I ever walked away from such a big burger and still had burger cravings for the rest of the week! I did have difficulties finishing it towards the end, but I blame it on my greediness for wanting the extra bacon. (This photo, doesn't do the burger justice)

D got the General which also had 2 pattys, pickles, jalapenos, mustard served on a brioche bun. This burger is great for those who like their pickles and jalapenos. Normally I am not a pickle person but I found myself happily taking bites of this burger.

Bobo decided to be different and picked the Senor Chile burger from the daily specials menu. This had a beef patty, chilli con carne, cheddar cheese and pickles on a brioche bun. The chilli con carne was a good twist to your regular burger fillings. The cheese was nicely melted into the patty and con carne. I think this burger would have been a real winner if I hadn't also tasted the McDowell in the same meal. If I didn't know the McDowell existed and I ordered this burger, I would have been very happy.

All the burgers came with a side of chips which were well seasoned and crunchy yet fluffy inside. There isn't much for me to fault, except I wished the tomato sauce was in squeeze bottles rather that little sachets. I say this for 2 reasons: a) It looks out of place on the plate, since I am sitting down eating and not taking away and b) if someone was to be a tomato sauce dipper for their chips, that single satchet would not be enough. Also, I wish there was a side of the special sauce for the chips.

When it came to dessert time, we were all really stuffed but K, Bobo and I spotted the word Nutella on the menu earlier. The boys were ready to throw in the towel and said we could only have 2 to share between all of us. However there were 3 that we wanted and had difficulty deciding. When we asked the host which 2 were the best out of the 3, he was nice enough to let us order 2 and he threw in the last dessert on the house.

Our first dessert was the nutella doughnuts. This came out warm and nutella oozing out of a soft doughnut. I would have preferred the doughnut to be more soft and fluffy on the inside but it was an overall good doughnut.

Next was the Ace of Spades, this was a nutella parfeit with marshmallow and nutella ice magic. The nutella ice cream in the centre was soft and not too sweet, the marshmallow was just enough and the chocolate shell, finished it off perfectly. I expect to see this dessert at a fine dining restaurant and was honestly surprised and pleased to see this being served up in a family restaurant. You can probably guess - this was my favourite dessert.

Finally was the bananarama which had banana ice cream, layered with fresh bananas, vanilla custard, meringue and nutella. This was seriously banana-y in a good way. Compared to all the other things I had in this meal, this was the least guilty dish. The components all went well together, the only thing was, I couldn't really taste the meringue, so it would have been good if there was more meringue in this dish.

Overall 17.5/20 I walked out holding my belly, surprised, impressed and wanting to come back for more. Dandenong Pavilion sets the bar extremely high for burgers, and family restaurant dishes in general.  I just wished I had a bigger stomach, I will be definitely going back to try the other 2 burgers on that secret menu.