The Australian Hotels Association SA has held its 13th Best Pub Burger competition, with the Aldinga Hotel beating 11 other finalists to take top honours.
Although the competition was fierce and the standard was high, giving the SA’s Best Pub Burger 2022 title to the Aldinga, was a unanimous decision by the three judges.
“The Aldinga Hotel presented a really beautiful looking burger. It looked fresh, you could see all the ingredients, and it tasted great too.” said judge Christine Stephan.
“The most important things about a burger are flavour, seasoning and balance, and the Aldinga burger achieved all these things.”
Head Chef of the Aldinga Hotel, Brett Tilley, said his preference for a great burger was to keep it simple and to focus on making sure all the flavours were perfect.
His winning recipe features a beef brisket patty (with the meat ground inhouse) on a brioche bun with lettuce, tomato, cheese, bacon, aioli, and a housemade BBQ sauce.
“Winning this award is a great achievement for me and the team at the hotel,” said Head Chef Brett Tilley.
“We are a small little pub down south that has been renovated into something bigger, and this is great for us. It’s going to help let people know what we are doing down there.”
“The Aldinga Hotel is a beautiful place to come have a meal, have a couple drinks, try one of my burgers or something else off the menu, and we are only 4 minutes away from a beautiful SA beach.”
The Aldinga Hotel is a family-owned business, with the Rickett family owning the hotel since 1991.
AHA SA CEO Ian Horne congratulated the Aldinga Hotel on taking out the top honours.
“The Burger is often the signature menu item of the Hotel, with venues putting their own spin and style as a point of difference. Along with other traditional pub fare, a burger offers great value and is still incredibly popular.”
The other finalists in the competition were: Alma Tavern, Atura Adelaide Airport, Belair Hotel, Bridgeway Hotel, Feathers Hotel, Hotel Eyre, Pier Hotel Glenelg, Hilton Hotel, Hilton, Strathmore Hotel, V Hotel, Woodside Hotel.
Burgers were judged against a list of criteria, including presentation of the chef, ingredients and burger, taste, meat content and value for money.