Cheap Eats - Miel Burgers

https://www.facebook.com/MielContainer

Being a city slicker, I'm always wandering around the CBD looking for new stuff and I find it really exciting when I come across something new.  Last year I was walking to a meeting and noticed that a big red shipping container had moved into Mary Street, just around the corner from Albert Street.  I was immediately intrigued by what it meant with thoughts of some groovy (or crazy) person setting up home in a shipping container.  It wasn't long though until I discounted that as fanciful thinking (sigh), of course no one would be crazy enough to set up home in a shipping container in the middle of the city, right?

It eventually became clear that it was going to be a dining spot of some sort and I really got excited when I realised it was going to be a new burger joint.  Just what the CBD needed to shake things up a bit, sure there was Grill'd around, but I was looking for a little more from a burger joint, especially since we'd recently come back from the USA and a burger extravaganza in New York (see post here).  Being the impatient person that I can be sometimes, I didn't wait for SC and just made my way over and grabbed a burger with fries, waited a short while for it to arrive, took a few bites and walked away bitterly disappointed.  I won't get into why I walked away after a few bites, suffice to say that I really didn't enjoy it.  

My trip to New York really set my appetite for the humble hamburger alight and recently it's been Howzat Burgers (see post here) that has kept me sated and satisfied.  I've been walking past that little red shipping container a lot recently and it just so happened that the planets aligned recently.  An extremely hungry foodie, in between meetings and walking by a burger joint, there was only one possible outcome!

So, it was with a little bit of trepidation that I finally went back to Miel Container for one of their premium home made burgers.  Miel is a little bit different from most burger places around, where there's a pre-set burger menu and you just choose one of the options.  It's a build-your-own-burger approach with a step by step guide to constructing a burger just the way you like it, with options on just about every element of a burger you could think of.

I decided that I would try to make a burger that somewhat resembled a NYC burger and started off with a brioche bun, then added a grass fed beef pattie, some lettuce, tomato and onion then continued on with some tasty cheddar cheese and finally a strip of bacon.  I'm not too sure about what happened the first time I went to Miel but this burger was a beauty!  It was delivered on a piece of slate and looked amazing and I could tell straight up that it had the perfect ratio of patty to bun.  My only problem was how I was going to open my mouth wide enough to get stuck in.

There was no walking away from this Miel burger after a couple of bites.  I was really happy with the balance of flavours in the burger, with no dominating flavours and all the different ingredients working well together. The brioche bun was not overly sweet, but the lightly toasted bun was just perfect with the burger and best of all, the meat pattie was cooked medium rare!  I quickly gobbled up the burger and by the time I had finished, all previous thoughts about my first experience were well and truly forgotten!

I'd wanted to love Miel the very moment I set eyes on the amazing red shipping container and was completely mystified by all of the great reviews after my first try.  I get it now.  The burgers are pretty damn amazing and the idea of making the burger just the way you want it is a top way to go.  I know that you're probably thinking it was my choices the first time that led me to not loving the burger, but they were pretty much identical to my second visit.

I also love that Miel has a couple of smoothie options on the menu, so I was able to sit back and relax with a berry smoothie to enjoy with my burger.  

I must have walked by that funky little red shipping container a couple of hundred times in the last nine months lamenting the fact that it was all style over substance.  With that wicked red colour, Miel sure does stand out from the crowd and now that I've sampled a burger that's as good as any in town, I'm sure I'll be back for another go.  It's a bonus really....  I've now got two awesome burger joints in Brisbane on either side of my apartment.  I see many burgers ahead.

@FoodMeUpScotty

Look at that burger goodness - and the chips come along with the burger

A great burger and a berry smoothie, bliss!

I even sat around after I'd finished my burger to enjoy my smoothie and watch the world go by (before heading back to work!)

Premium Gourmet burgers in a wicked red shed

Its amazing how much seating space there is around the shipping container

Lots of nooks and cranny's for your burger enjoyment

If you get there early, you can avoid the queues

The make your own menu