The best hamburger in Melbourne, the almighty Cathedral burger wins again!
I heard the legend, I drooled at the description, I pondered my manliness, I had to try the famous, no wait, infamous Cathedral burger at the Igloo Roadhouse. Kym did not take much convincing. The lure of a road trip with greasy food was easily enough to bait her hook, line and sinker. After all, she is a fun loving girl! But more accurately she did not want to feel like she was missing out on my adventure to validate myself, and anyway, she could always point and laugh if I failed.
So off we went: zooming down the Maroondah Highway; coasting through the Yarra Valley and the obligatory Hot Air Balloons; salivating through Healesville at the thought of the almighty burger; winding through the Black Spur and the trees that make you feel two feet tall; and finally speeding into Buxton in an attempt to stop our hungrily grumbling stomaches.
So there we were standing outside the Igloo Roadhouse in Buxton, a little overwhelmed at the gravity of the situation and what we were about to attempt. Carefully entering the esteemed establishment, both Kym and I took a while to take in our surroundings. Like a predator stalking its pray we stealthy glided up to the counter to order, ‘one Buxton Burger and a Cathedral thanks’. Silence… Maybe us city slickers cannot be in these parts. As I mustered up the valour to ask again we heard ‘nice one mate!’ from the cook behind the counter as the kitchen began to fill up with smoke from the sizzling onion, egg and pineapple.
We had done it. We were waiting in a roadhouse for our destiny to appear from behind the glass counter. There were many questions, ‘will I pass out from an overload of mince?’, ‘what happens if my egg yoke oozes onto my fingers?’. When the two glorious specimens of Australian roadhouse dinning finally arrived there was no time to think. Instinct took over and we chowed down like it was 1959. Just one moment to digress if I may, for those uninitiated in the adventure sport of big burger eater to help overcome the shear girth of the three hamburger patties use both hands to squish it down like a pancake and leave the wooden skewer in as long as possible to avoid the inevitable rear end meat and salad explosion. Done, finished, my childhood dreams realised, all I could see now was a large plate where once the beast had been as I drifted in and out of consciousness in a haze of burger goodness.
Triumphantly leaving the roadhouse in a cloud of dust behind us from my 1989 Ford Laser we decided we needed to walk off the massive amount of grease we had just ingested. So we headed through the mist to the Cathedral Range State Park. Incidentally for those of us who love massive blocks of chainsaw carved tree trunks, Dean Smith Dancing Bear Sculptor is worth a visit, even if it is only a fleeting one. After an hour and a half an uphill hiking, we reached the Cathedral Peak to be meet by an amazing view of far reaching mountain plains and a valley soaked in mist. With our bellies full and our harts and minds rejuvenated we bounded back down the hillside and drove off to the Healesville pub for a rewarding beer and an end to a fantastic adventure.
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Technorati Tags: Burger, Hamburger, Igloo Roadhouse, Road trip, Cathedral Rangers, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
July 26th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Hi James
Just wanted to let you know how impressed we were with your burger blog!! I’m one of the owners of the Igloo Roadhouse and probably was one of the people who prepared the burgers for you. Thanks so much for enjoying it in superb style - you ‘city slickers’ are welcome at the Igloo anytime!!
Cheers Mate
Barb
August 19th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
You got me all worked up and salivating for a trip to a Melbourne burger purveyor. However, Healesville is over 50km from Melbourne
Anyone have any tips on the best hamburger *in* Melbourne, or at least a quick bicycle trip from the CBD?
August 26th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
@Barb, no problems thanks for the almighty cook up.
@Bignose: it is worth the trip, trust me. I will write a follow up to a CBD based burger soon. Stay tunned.
January 22nd, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Beer DeLuxe at Fed Square does a pretty awesome burger
May 6th, 2008 at 1:43 am
The Caravan Cafe In Seymour Has The Best Burgers. Has Been Open For Over 50 Years Never Put Adds In Papers Just Word Of Mouth. So Now you All Know Where The Greatest Burger Is.
May 29th, 2008 at 1:30 am
[…] James Oppenheim claims the Cathedral burger from the Igloo Roadhouse in Buxton is tops […]
June 4th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Hey,
My names Remy i’m Twelve and live in victoria last year i ate the buxton burger it was delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 4th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
[…] In these days of rising petrol prices an unnecessary road trip to indulge in the mouth watering Caravan Cafe burger seemed the perfect antidote to any well thought out savings plan. The Caravan Cafe burger came highly recommended and what’s more I can’t resist a challenge, so both my girlfriend and I thought a quest was in order. […]
July 6th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Thanks for the roadtrip inspiration in search of the “animal chin” of burgers. One of our recent prized burger discoveries can be located in Blackwood (near Trentham, Daylesford, etc) at the General Store. Well worth the 1hr (give or take) drive from town for both fine burger fare and some of the most awe inspiring Great Dividing Range views. All of this coupled with the comfort of the roaring pot belly stove and the new resident pooch, Tyson.
Walk the burger off with a short bushwalk along a section of the Great Dividing Range Trail (you can start at the General Store) http://www.gdt.org.au/trail/lerderderg/index.html# and finish off with a cold one at the local pub.
View Larger Map
Blackwood General Store
21 Martin Street
Blackwood VIC
03 5368 6525
Daily: 8am-6pm
October 23rd, 2008 at 9:53 am
Hi,
i often eat at the Igloo. They are defiantly the best burgers in and around melbourne. I would say the best burger i have ever eaten was at the igloo. The Buxton burger is the burger for me. Cathedral is too big.
If you are hungry stop in. (They also sell normal sized burgers).
Richard
May 25th, 2009 at 2:27 am
i went there and got a burger it was the worst burger i ever had it was sloppy as fuck and the bun was way to big
June 1st, 2009 at 11:01 pm
i went there with my family and got a Cathedral burger and i did not think it was sloppy at all im from queensland and the burger completed my trip i think its the best burger in Australia
August 22nd, 2009 at 11:48 pm
i agree i went to the buxton burger and my whole family ate there and really liked it it was not sloppy at all the only problem was that i did not have enough room in my tummy for one more burger it was really nice i suggest to go there
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:01 pm
What Adam said is compete rubbish, i have been going there quite often for the last 10 years, I have never had a better burger anywhere and I have never had a bad burger there. If you listen to Adam you are probs. listening to the owner of a failing McDonalds francise. If you are driving through Buxton you should stop by and have one, i would even change my travel route to get one. The Igloo is more than 100km from my house and I still go there and like i said before in a previous comment, it is the best burger in Oz
December 7th, 2009 at 9:49 am
the buxton hamburger is nowhere near the quality of t6he blackwooood burger. the blackwoooood burger has home made beetroot , the buxton betroot hails from a can. yes the buxton burger is a goodie but for the best hamburger…go to the blackwod general store, all the ingredient is top class!
January 12th, 2010 at 11:18 am
great burgers me and my 2 mates ate there i got a burger with the lot and so did my friend but my other mate got the Cathedral burger he ate it all and next time we go there he is going to try a double Cathedral burger and if he eats it all i pay for it and by him a six pack no joke ill leave a comment when he does it.
January 12th, 2010 at 8:34 pm
@Chris - wow two in one, that would be awesome. Let me know how he does.
March 15th, 2010 at 2:49 am
If size is the contributing factor to what you call the “best hamburger” then a visit to Captain America’s in Ferntree Gully should be high on the agenda. Whilst reasonable pricing is not at the forefront of their business plan, it is a matter of you get what you pay for. Tipping the scales at a whopping 1kg (yes 1000 grams of artery clogging goodness) along with a side of chips weighing 600 grams, the idea of dessert should be left for a day or 2. Having somewhat of a “cult following”, an honor board was implemented where any lucky participant who down’s the burger in under an hour has their name scribed forever as a testament that your not only insane but you also lived to tell the tale. Beat the quickest time and the meal is on the house! Now how’s that for good value? Get your tastebuds fired up and your stomach’s prepared…
http://www.captainamericas.com.au/challenge.htm
December 28th, 2010 at 5:19 pm
THE BLACKWOOD BURGER HAS HOME MADE BEETROOT AND ALL THEB INGREDIENTS ARE FRESH, NOT FROZEN AND DEFROSTED AS IN SOME OF THE OTHERS TOUTED.THEY NOW ARE OPEN ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY 11AM TO 11 PM…..AND THEY NOW HAVE GOURMET PIZZA AS WELL!!!
December 28th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
THE BLACKWOOD BURGER HAS HOME MADE BEETROOT AND ALL THEB INGREDIENTS ARE FRESH, NOT FROZEN AND DEFROSTED AS IN SOME OF THE OTHERS TOUTED.THEY NOW ARE OPEN ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY 11AM TO 11 PM…..AND THEY NOW HAVE GOURMET PIZZA AS WELL!!!REALLY WORTH THE DRINE …THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST KEPT SECRETS AROUND.
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July 10th, 2011 at 2:35 am
i was there last week with my 4 mates we all got a burger it was so nice i got 3 slices of cheese on mine i could have eatin 2 of the burgers they are so good i really suggest to go there
August 10th, 2011 at 2:57 pm
You could check out Melbourne’s Best Burgers
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