Burger heaven in heart of New Plymouth
One of my first big overseas trips was to New York, though it wasn’t to see the Statue of Liberty, skyscrapers or even Central Park. No, I wanted to taste the best burgers in the world. So we dutifully mapped a battle plan with a list of highly rated burger joints around the city, then ate our way through the boroughs like a military operation.
It was worth every cent.
I returned home satisfied I had eaten the best burger in the world, at a place called 5 Napkin Burger.
That was until a recent trip to Taranaki. Tucked away in central New Plymouth is one of the country’s best foodie secrets, known as Liardet Street Projects.
You enter the courtyard to find a series of food trucks, with everything from Spanish treats, poke bowls, Californian-inspired pizza, extraordinary South Indian, and a popular Vietnamese option.
You can eat your way around the world in just a few steps.
If you are a burger lover, you will need to pay a visit to Gamma Ray’s.
This food truck is overflowing with sci-fi puns, evident the moment you arrive with a sign promising the ‘‘best burgers in the galaxy’’. And it isn’t an exaggeration.
This is no McDonald’s. It is the kind of place that cooks your meat medium-rare – no generic patty stuff.
The shop is owned by one of the city’s top chefs, and it shows.
Jonny Marinovich has worked at some of the most popular restaurants in town – as well as enjoying stints in Melbourne and London – but can now be found making magic in his food truck.
Although the chicken burger, called Robot Chicken, is the most popular, I couldn’t get over the Take MOO to Your Leader.
It has 160 grams of Taranaki beef, cheese, pickles and Gamma Ray sauce, all inside a delicious locally made brioche bun. It is essentially a cheeseburger with exceptional taste. It is the best burger I have eaten.
Make sure to also get a side of the loaded fries, which almost has more topping than fries.
The Teleporker, topped with a hearty amount of pulled pork, sour cream and cheese, is out of this world.