So my friend V and I decided to go out for a movie tonight.  However, she finished work later than expected and as we were both quite tired we just decided to go to dinner instead of a later movie as well. V suggested Burger Liquor.  I have walked past this place a few times and was interested by the menu so I thought why not.

When we walked in we were greeted immediately and we were shown to our table.  The menus, napkins and cutlery were in a holder on the table.  The menu is basically burgers with entrees and sides.  For me personally I thought the menu was a bit all over the place and too much variety with the burgers; two beef burgers, one fish, one venison, one duck and two different vegetarian options, too many options for different patties.

So I ordered the Buffalo wings, and the Duck burger, while V ordered the Onion Rings and the Chicken Burger and the Salted Caramel Milkshake.

Buffalo Wings

IMG_4581Firstly I do not understand why so many places in Wellington say they have buffalo wings on the menu but have it marinated in a bbq sauce or something else and have a dipping sauce that is just not blue cheese ranch dressing.  Burger Liquor is more genuine to the American style, but I am not entirely happy with it.  The wings are lightly cooked and have no crispy skin on them, the sauce is a hot sauce but not overly hot.  The thing that did annoy me the most was that there was no blue cheese ranch dressing.  It was just ranch dressing and just did not work for me.  I do not know why Wellington eateries cannot get buffalo wings right. I feel if they are going to label their wings as buffalo wings it needs to be the real way to have them.  If you are going to make a variation that call it Restaurant’s name buffalo wings or call then bbq wings.

Duck Burger

IMG_4583This burger was alright, but nothing really to rave on about.  I ordered it because the waiter talked it up and I did not really want a beef or chicken burger.  When it arrived I was surprised by the size and not in a happy way.  It came as an open bun and had pickled carrots on one side of the bun and then Duck meat, crispy duck skin, spinach, and it’s sauces on the other.

Firstly why serve an open burger, I do not understand. I do not think there was something to show off.  They didn’t do it for V’s chicken burger. Also the tables on each side of me ordered the duck burger and they ate all the ingredients separately. I just do not understand.  Also when I closed the burger.  It was not an easy thing to do as the carrots fell out of the burger.

Secondly, I was surprised to see the burger bun more brown than usual on the outside and was not really a good look.  Also I felt the bun was too dry and they tried to grill the bun to make it more soft but over grilled it and was more like toast.  The ingredients inside the burger; The duck meat was cooked alright and the skin was more on the burnt side and tasted like it.  Also who puts spinach in a burger?  The sauces were alright with mayonnaise and the other sauce, I presume was hoisin sauce.  The burger just had so much potential but the skin was burnt, the bun was more like toast, and the burger needed the crunch and moisture from lettuce.  The one thing the burger had going for it was the pickled carrot.

I also tried V’s onion rings and they were not bad, I also tried the salted caramel milkshake and it was just far to sweet for me and was a real disappointment.  It was sweeter than a pixel caramel or a salted caramel macron.

Overall I do not know how long this place will stay open.  There is just so much competition in Wellington in terms of places to eat.  However, they are the only burger joint on the town side of Te Aro.  One other thing is they charge a 2% service fee on all credit cards, the first time I have seen it at a Wellington eatery.  Who knows only time will tell how long this place will stay open, but I know I will not be going back any time soon.