Flaming Onion (Northcote, North Shore City, New Zealand)

Have I told you before that the best burgers can be found in New Zealand? I am pretty sure about that since I had tried many burgers in my life, from different cities worldwide, I don’t want to boast about my travels (personal and work) but to assure you of that statement I was lucky enough to have visited 34 countries and roughly 150+ cities to date, of which I try to sneak in some burgers here and there. While there are good burgers in those countries, I still find the ones in New Zealand way much better, not all of them of course and this regardless of how cheap or how expensive they were, honestly some cheap ones are better than your $100+ burgers. I even tried McDonald’s quarter pounder and Burger Kings whopper range in most of those countries and nothing compares to our quarter pounder and whopper here. Do I rest my case? I hope some well-travelled follower that had tried New Zealand burgers stand by me and comment below.

So what does the New Zealand burgers have that others might not have? Well first New Zealand is blessed with an amazing produce, like our world-renowned beef and dairy (cheese) plus our great selection of vegetables which are all grown locally. Add to that the amazing talents of chef with a multi-cultural experience through their colleagues and customers definitely there is only one output, great food. One prime example of that is this place we are featuring today, the Flaming Onion.

Flaming Onion has been in the burger business for around 8 years and this humble Gourmet Burger Restaurant and Takeaway joint had won many awards. The premises is like your typical New Zealand takeaway shop so don’t expect a nice spacious restaurant like your big giant burger chains. What they lack in shop fitout, they make up in their amazing burgers. This place was one of the first places dined in after the New Zealand lockdown and it was the perfect place to have your first burger after a long quarantine period.

During our visit we grabbed three of their burgers. First was the Diablo (NZ$15.50) made with NZ Premium grass-fed Wagyu beef, Manuka smoked bacon, Swiss Cheese, Truffled Wild Mushroom, Spicy Tomato and Chilli Relish with Lettuce on our toasted gourmet bun.

Next was The Smokey One (NZ$15.50) made with NZ Premium grass-fed Wagyu beef, Manuka smoked bacon, Swiss Cheese, Smoked Chipotle Aioli, Smoked Bourbon BBQ sauce with lettuce and tomato on our toasted gourmet bun.

And the third was The Bronx (NZ$15.50), and yes, it is made with NZ premium grass-fed Wagyu Beef, Manuka smoked bacon, American Smoked cheese, Chipotle Aioli, Spicy Tomato Relish and Onion Jam with lettuce and tomato on our toasted gourmet bun.

If you would have noticed patties are all made with NZ premium grass-fed Wagyu Beef and served on a gourmet bun, and those two elements is what makes this burger joint amazing. No doubt the patties was amazing, it was so soft and meaty, thickness was perfect, not to thin and not too thick. The bun was great as well, brioche like that is soft and fluffy, not to bready and with a slight crisp outer shell. Then it all differs with the ingredients that are added to it. Diablo was the hot and spicy one but remember this is not Asian spicy, its Kiwi spicy, so it’s just right. The Smokey One like the name suggest will taste smoky thanks to the smoked bacon, smoked Chipotle Aioli and Smoked Bourbon BBQ sauce. Then the Bronx which represents a New York style burger.

Everything was great, all well-seasoned and cooked to perfection. Serving size was good was well, it’s not absurdly large, just enough to fill you up without the challenge of finishing it all. While the patty has a good thickness on it, because of the light bread, it does not feel a burden finishing this burger. Size is probably a bit larger than a whopper.

This for me is one of the best burgers I tried in New Zealand, which means one of the best I tried in the world. Its reasonably priced, reasonably sized but excessively delicious, this is how a burger should be, a simple nice light bun, juicy and perfectly cooked good quality patty, plus just a few fresh ingredients to accompany the meat and not overpower it.

The Flaming Onion
Address: Shop 6/1 Lydia Avenue, Northcote, Auckland 0627, New Zealand
Phone: +649 419 0325
Website: https://www.theflamingonion.co.nz/