Perth Voice Interactive

AS I walked along Royal Street in East Perth, I spotted a large group of police officers up ahead.

I thought it must be a serious incident with so many boys in blue, until I got closer and noticed they were standing outside Domino’s waiting for their lunch.

It seems in 2023, pizzas have replaced doughnuts as the bobby’s food of choice.

I was en route to East Burg, a new burger bar-cum-noodle joint on Royal St.

I had misgivings about the place as it was previously Fuku Sushi – a personal favourite which served up high quality asian food in a causal setting.

But after nine years of trading the owners decided to ditch the sushi and go down the well-trodden and slightly greasy burger route.

Does the world really need another burger bar..?

Don’t fret, East Burg still do noodle dishes and rice bowls, so you can still get your posthumous Fuku hit, but I was here to try the burgers.

The menu had a small range of American-style classics (double cheeseburger, Apollo chicken, astronomic burger) as well as some fusion numbers that paid tribute to the cafe’s Malaysian and Singaporean heritage (tempura veggie, Ramly beef, and spicy nova burger).

I went for the Ramly Beef Burger in a meal deal with chips and a soft-drink ($21.21).

A Malaysian burger brand and popular street food, the Ramly burger usually contains a beef patty with fried egg, salad and ketchup, although there are countless variations.

Around since the late 1970s, the Ramly has a special place in Malaysian’s heart and is sort of their halal Big Mac.

Its origins can be traced back to Ramly bin Mokni, who started selling burgers with his wife from street food stalls in Malaysia in 1979. They went down a storm and he quickly identified a gap in the western market for halal produce and launched his own fast food company.

Anyway, enough back story, was the burger any good?

It got off to a great start with a lovely, fresh soft bun that didn’t sit in your stomach like a bowling ball and was a joy to eat.

This was no kitchen-sink burger and while messy, you could easily pick it up and eat it without looking like a greasy glutton.

The marinated patty had good depth of flavour and was just the right thickness.

It was complemented with egg, slaw, mayonnaise and a generous drizzle of chilli sauce.

The chilli wasn’t overpowering and the slaw added a nice crunchy texture to the burger.

I’m not really a fan of egg in burgers, but this wasn’t too greasy and actually went well with the other flavours.

There were plenty of crispy shoestring fries, which were nice and light and had been cooked in fresh oil.

And the can of soft drink was well, a can of soft drink.

If you’re not into fusion dishes I recommended their Apollo Chicken burger, which I have tried previously – beautiful soft fillets of chicken and a slightly spicy marie rose-style sauce.

The meal deal was $21, which is getting up there for a burger-and-chips lunch, but the food was high quality and it was very tasty.

My first couple of outings to East Burg have been highly enjoyable, but I would like them to fully commit to the fusion concept with a larger range of cross-over Malaysian/Singaporean burgers. 

East Burg
118 Royal Street,
East Perth

by STEPHEN POLLOCK