Takeout stakeout: Get your Geek on

Burger Geek is joining the ranks of excellent Auckland burger spots. Photo / Instagram, @burgergeeknz

Address: 175 Symonds St, Auckland
Ph: (09) 869 3467
Online: burgergeek.co.nz

IN

The online experience on the Burger Geek website is nice and smooth and easily navigable. The menu is in four basic sections: beef burgers, other burgers, hot wings and sides. There's no online ordering yet, but they say it's coming soon.

OUT

The packaging is solid and nicely designed, frequently featuring a cattle brand-style logo reading "season/sear/serve" and some nice pictures. The store is classily designed, in a fairly decrepit block on Upper Symonds St.

THE TAKEAWAY

As the gourmet burger revolution explodes across Auckland, the term "smash burger" is going to get more familiar. A method popularised by the massively influential New York burger joint Shake Shack in the mid-2000s, smashing burger patties down on the grill as you cook gives them a crusty surface and, via something called a Maillard reaction, something happens to the proteins, and you can read about all this science-y crap for weeks on the internet if you want, but the fact is, it creates a thin patty that's supposed to taste better.

Burger Geek does it with their wagyu and angus beef patties. Their Bishop burger layers two of them up with bacon that's been applewood-smoked in store and nicely charred at the edges, then served thick with jalapenos and gooey with cheese and sauce. It's heavy and densely flavoured, served on a light, airy bun and is a quality addition to the growing ranks of excellent Auckland burgers.

Elsewhere, the chips were shoestrings and didn't retain their heat on the 14-minute drive home. The buttermilk fried chicken Broli burger was fine, but a chicken burger is not why you come here; and the hot wings were very good. Burger Geek have set themselves up as wings experts, with an option of four quite innovative sauces, which is a nice way of setting themselves apart from the fast-growing high-quality burger competition.