They've kept the burger brief simple at Ben's. The lunch and dinner menu served from 11.30am until late consists of only three – the BB Classic, BB Special and BB Veg. Breakfast burgers start with bacon, egg and cheese and stretch to the aptly named BB Elvis whose coronary-courting stack of streaky bacon, peanut butter and banana, dripping with sweet maple syrup, will certainly get you all shook up.
The BB Classic is beaut. A high-domed bun holds together a stack of quality ingredients but nothing can hold back the river of juice that escapes with every bite. The house-made ground beef pattie comes blanketed with melted American red cheddar, stacked with sliced tomato, onion, a frill of lettuce, cult-status McClures garlic pickles and squirts of ketchup, mayo and good ol' French's American mustard. Add a frizzle of candied streaky bacon for absolute perfection.
Then there's crisp fries and chilli cheese fries, a meal in themselves topped with chilli and melty cheese of course. Liquid refreshments are beer; sweet, house-made cherry cola; ginger ale with optional nips of vodka or spiced rum; or American themed milkshakes such as Chocolate Hershey's or Strawberry Jam.
Ben's home is Winn Lane, behind the Zoo, which has been made nice with AstroTurf, cascading fairy lights and cool shops selling the good things in life – magazines, books, art, jewellery, beautiful objects, and vinyl from A Love Supreme. The latter is owned by brothers Ben and Nick Chiu, the clever, on-trend duo behind Ben's.
A breakfast, lunch or dinner burger session under an umbrella in this hip Valley laneway is one of life's simple pleasures. We strongly suggest you get amongst it because Ben's Burgers are boss.
