FERGBURGER

Even before we reached the South Island, Jasmine had been telling me about this famous burger joint in Queenstown that everyone says has some of the best burgers in the world. For me this is a rather incredible claim. Although I love my lamb burger, most of the burgers here in New Zealand don't quite stand up to what can be found in the greasy spoons back home.

So we stopped by the Ferg a couple times and tried a few different burgers. Here is our experience:

On the weekends, the first thing you notice about Fergburger is a little park across the street where you see a ton of people eating BUS's (Burgers of Unusual Size) out of unassuming brown paper bags. The second thing you notice is the crowd of people standing in front of the door.

We brought our camera on a second visit when things were less crowded

During the rush, it can be a little confusing because everyone who is milling about is either still pondering the menu or has already ordered. This can lead to people waiting in line behind people who aren't in line, but the staff does a good job managing the crowd by passing out water, handing out takeaway menus, and shuffling people along.

Once the customers get their orders, they make their way to the grassy patch across the street or wherever they are headed to next. For us, our next stop was St. Omer's Park, not far from where we parked.

 The Big Al

The Big Al is a half pound monstrosity. It contains two quarter pound patties of beef topped off with the standard cheese, lettuce and tomato you would expect; but wait, there's more: a thick side of bacon, two eggs, a few slices of beetroot, red onion, relish and aioli. All for about $15 USD.
 

Left: Yes, it's almost as big as my head. Right: On the last bite I thought to myself: "This must be how the Man vs. Food guy feels after he wins."

Fergburger w/Cheese

Jasmine had the standard house burger with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and aioli. She reported that it was very tasty and was up to the task of taking it down.

The next time we stopped by Fergburger, I decided I wasn't hungry enough for another Big Al so I went with a double Fergburger with cheese. Jasmine picked up the Cockadoodle Oink (pictured below). There were a few other interesting items such as: Holier than Thou, The Codfather, Chief Wiggum, Little Lambi, Sweet Bambi and a few others featured on the menu here.

On the whole we really enjoyed our fergburgers. As I would with anything else, I hesitate to declare it the best in the world. However, after being without a good burger for some time, I would be willing to agree that Fergburger has the best burgers south of the equator. ^_^