“Perceive that which cannot be seen with the eye” Miyamoto Musashi

I’m a menu reader. It’s just what I do. Some find it irritating, others will never notice.
If you ever have the pleasure of dining out with me you may notice that I read each and every item on the menu. It’s not just a skim or glance, I read the full description. This not only gives me a pretty good indication of the level of dedication, creativity and culinary prowess of the kitchen (hopefully), but it gives me an idea of how many ingredients they’ve got going on, the different methods of cooking, how much effort and forethought goes into creating the dishes, and most importantly it means that I can make an educated choice on what I would like to order. It can also often be outrageously funny when eating food from non-English speaking cultures! 
Once I’ve had a preliminary read I can usually narrow my selection down to a few dishes. This then calls for a second read through and a process whereby I create and taste each of the options in my mind. I roll the flavours around my mouth, I explore the textures, the freshness of ingredients, I sit with the after tastes, the body feelings, I determine if I need more information and ready myself with final questions for the waiter/waitress, and once these are satisfied my decision is generally made.
*Please note that I am also capable of making super fast spontaneous decisions when the moment calls for it! 😉

This week I had the pleasure of eating out at the newly opened BurgerBar in Mooloolaba. There are some pretty interesting options on the menu, but I narrow it down to three…
1. House of the Rising Bun
2. JP Frenchy
3. Uneedaburger

So let the mental tasting begin… but wait… how the? what the? huh??
In all honesty no amount of imagination is helping me with The House of the Rising Bun…

“premium wagyu beef, japanese teriyaki sauce, pickled ginger, japanese mayo, wasabi, kimchi, roasted red peppers, lettuce”

Thankfully the manager is on hand to answer questions and is the first to tell me that this is actually his favourite burger. He agrees that it sounds like it has the potential to completely screw with your brain-mouth friendship but reassures me that he has had many a chef in to eat who have also told him that that burger shouldn’t work. It shouldn’t work.
But by God it does!

Everything about this burger is amazing, every single mouthful is different, a different explosion of flavour combinations. The pickled ginger is sharp and fresh and every time the wasabi starts to sting the sinuses the ginger seems to just peg it down a notch, the kimchi is quite mild compared to what I’m used to so is actually quite refreshing, the mayo and the teriyaki mix so well imparting a sweet, saucy richness and the smokiness of the red peppers is perfectly balanced by the lettuce and I swear to you I don’t feel like I’ve eaten a pretty big burger by the end of it! My mouth is zingling with glee! YUM! I could totally do that again. And my dinner buddy has total food envy so I’ve definitely hit a winner.
The only problem now is if I will ever get to try the other 2 options or if I will just keep coming back for more!!