Another week and another Braddon eatery opening! The latest addition to the Braddon precinct is Grease Monkey with ‘burgers you’ll go apesh*t over‘. Grease Monkey is an American burger joint and bar offering 6 types of burgers (with complimentary chips), greasy fried chicken, milkshakes and dessert. There are also 2 breakfast options (with bottomless tea and coffee) available from 7am Monday to Fridays (surprised it’s not available on weekends). With the entrance on Lonsdale Street, I first see the bright red gate leading into the beer garden with ‘Beware of Monkey’ signage. 
The beer garden has quote a lot of seating with a mix of picnic benches and bistro-style dining on faux grass. There are heaters installed above and PVC blinds to keep the warmth in. Each table is equipped with paper towels, ketchup and mustard. 
Cheeky monkey wall art puts a smile on everyone’s faces. 
Unfortunately I was not allowed to take photos of the inside of Grease Monkey but it looked very retro-cool with the bar made of timber and metal cladding, and bar seats along the front window (inside and outside) combined with some modern touches of burger wall art depicting each layer in Grease Monkey’s burgers. We ordered some drinks – the Lemmy organic lemonade and the Karma organic cola (both $5 each). 
I was tempted by the Double Deluxe burger but I knew I wouldn’t finish it as I wanted some dessert later on. Instead, I ordered the more Aussie style Full Service ($17) filled with a beef pattie, bacon, egg, cheese, pineapple, lettuce, tomato, beetroot, onion and GM (Grease Monkey) ketchup. This was one very tall burger (though small in width) with all of those ingredients crammed in. The soft milk bun is extremely light, like a heavenly puffy cloud that’s been glazed on top and sprinkled with sesame seeds. I appreciated the thick beef pattie that had been smothered in melted cheese. The pattie was very meaty, something I could really sink my teeth into, but had no herbs mixed in (not that that’s a bad thing and the other ingredients made up for this). The bacon was a bit soft and flimsier than I’d like (I prefer crispier bacon). The thick slice of pineapple added a sweet juicy factor to the burger. I couldn’t actually eat this burger with my hands as it was just too big to take a bite out of, so I used a knife and fork to assist. The chips were delicious and not your plain chips sprinkled with salt. These chips were seasoned with a few different spices like paprika to make them stand out on their own, and not just as a side dish. Best of all, chips are crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The chips here remind me of Urban Bean‘s amazing chips with similar spices, but Urban Bean still wins hands down for the best chips. Though I was impressed with the serving size and all of the ingredients were cooked fabulously, I can’t help thinking that the Brodburger wins in the burger stakes (bigger in size and greasier). Perhaps it’s the aioli that I love and is missing from the Full Service. Either way, with all of those ingredients, this burger meal should fill most and will leave you satisfied. 
A friend ordered the Dirty Bird ($15) with Southern fried chicken, lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese and Greasy’s sauce. She loved it and I was happy with the size of that piece of chicken. 
Another friend who is vegetarian ordered the only vegetarian meal on the menu, which was the Nimbin ($15) consisting of crumbed portobello mushroom, lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese and Greasy’s sauce. She enjoyed her burger too and I was impressed with the crumbing action around that mushroom. 
Bringing back old-school dessert with a modern twist, the three of us shared the ice cream sandwich ($7) with salted caramel. I actually thought the salted caramel was a scoop of ice cream when it first came out as it looked so full and scoop-like. But no, it was a very thick and rich salted caramel. The ice cream sandwich itself had vanilla ice cream in the middle of a soft chocolate sandwich. I thought this was a light dessert with a very generous scoop of lusciously thick pure salted caramel. You could go to town eating the salted caramel but I enjoyed small portions of it with the ice cream sandwich. Yum. 
Orders are taken and paid for at the bar where a table number is provided. Alcoholic drinks can only be had inside at this point in time as there is no liquor license for the outdoor beer garden just yet. Prices for burgers with chips are on par with Brodburger, and desserts are reasonably priced at $7. Gluten free buns are available for an extra $1.50. It was relatively loud inside but quiet outside (for the moment). Although I did enjoy my burger, I felt like something was missing. You know how you bite into a burger that you know is so bad for you but you want to devour it anyway? I didn’t really have that reaction with the Full Service. Nevertheless, I’m keen to try the fried chicken and some of the other burgers. Service was friendly and there were a few staff hovering around to collect our empty plates. One of us received cutlery with our burger, while the other two had to ask for cutlery so I’m not sure if we’re meant to collect our own cutlery or if it’s part of table service. But they are probably still trying to figure this out themselves as the eatery has only been open a couple of weeks.
I’m not certain of Grease Monkey’s opening hours but I think it would be seven days a week. Bookings are not taken so you’ll need to walk in and try your luck. Remember that take away is available.
Foodgasm 6.5/10
Value for money 7/10
Service 7/10
FPJ score 20.5/30
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