Andy F.
Yelp
"You can't leave Queenstown without visiting Fergburger."
The hype of Fergburger is crazy. Highly rated, most reviewed on multiple platforms, first restaurant you see when researching, frequent posts on social media showing the long lines and food, and even overhearing it from other tourists.
Yes, I did have Fergburger at the top of my list. The hype was real, but man, it felt as if this is the best burger in the entire country--the best you will ever have. A little overhyped? No, maybe a lot overhyped because I was not impressed.
Fergburger is located in Queenstown Mall, along Shotover St. It's not hard to miss as it's the place with plenty of people in line or standing around waiting for their order. There are indoor and outdoor, and inside counter seating, but not too many. Everyone is just eyeing everyone out to see if anyone is leaving their seats and see if anyone else is eyeing the same seats. Luckily, we got counter seats with a small window view of the kitchen!
I liked the variety of meats Fergburger offered such as lamb, Wild Fiodland deer, pork belly, blue cod, chicken tenderloins, chicken breast, and even falafel patties and tempura tofu for the vegetarians. Of course, having a burger, and being this is my first time, I got to order the beef!
I went with the Ferg Deluxe that comes with bacon, cheddar, and sweet dill pickles versus the regular Fergburger.
The main issue I had with the burger is the bun to meat ratio. The bun was quite big, and the bottom half of the bun was dense. It needed more toasting too! The burger patty was on the small side--closer to a smashed burger. The burger ate a bit on the dry side and was under seasoned. I was expecting a big, juicy burger that was full of meaty flavor and wonderful char taste but missed it all. The bacon helped, and the aioli sauce from the crispy and basic onion rings helped. But overall, the bun was just too big, dense, and made the whole burger bland and dry.
My wife ordered the Bombay Chicken. The ginger and coriander yoghurt was tasty and gave the chicken flavor, but the chicken was overcooked, dry, and tough. The tasteless, dense bun also did not help. Her bun was even more dense than my burger!
Watching the kitchen operate, I feel everyone is just trying to pump out everything as fast as they can because it's just so busy and it's non-stop. Get it on the grill, toss it on the bun, wrap, pack, and done. Our burgers were sloppy, but I understand.
Overall, the food was nothing special. Perhaps next time I'll order double beef, or 3/4 lb beef? Hopefully the bun is better next time? Some of the photos of the buns look fine, but some recent ones look pale and smashed like ours. We'll see. Don't feel it's worth the wait in line plus the wait for food (which takes longer!).