Best Burgers in Cairns

I have been on the search to find the best burgers in Cairns, There are plenty of great burger joints in Cairns but where do you find the best? Where here, in my opinion, are the best burgers in Cairns:

Cairns Burger Cafe

Tucked away at the back of the Cairns CBD on Aplin Street, is the unassuming Cainrs Burger Cafe. What looks like an old 1970s Milk Bar, this burger cafe in my opinion, serves up the best and tastiest burgers in Cairns!

I went for their classic Aussie burger which comes with a good quality Aussie beef pattie, cheese, bacon, egg, grilled onion, grilled pineapple, avacoda, lettuce, beetroot with tomato sauce and comes with a side of chips for $24.

There is alot going on in this burger but it all works. Even with such a loaded burger, you can still taste all the elements of the burger. You get the well seasons beef flavour, feel the creamy cheese, get the sweet hit from the beetroot and pineapple and the crunch from the lettuce. If you only get to have 1 burger in Cairns, then this is the one you should have!

Check out the Cairns Burger Cafe website.

Jimmy’s Burger & Co

Jimmy’s is definitely the coolest burger joint in town! A huge dining establishment with outdoor dinning as well as air-conditioned dining in a very well decked out dining room with loads of wooden tables and booths. At the front of the restaurant is a fully decked out bar inviting you to stay around for a few drinks and enjoy the very cool music they play.

Jimmy’s Burger & Co serve up top quality American style burgers, simple but delicious! I went for their Jimmy’s Classic burger which comes with an Angus beef patty (very tasty), cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and Jimmy’s special burger sauce. At $20,90, just for the burger, it works out a bit more expensive, and the burger is on the small side (much smaller than the burger I had at Cairns Burger Cafe). To add a side of chips is an extra $10, so $30.90 for a burger and chips puts this place on the expensive side but with great service, tasty burgers and the coolest burger joint in Cairns, they definitely deserve their place in the top 5 best burger joints in Cairns.

Jimmy’s also serve up some very tasty milkshakes to go along with the awesome burgers! See Jimmy’s Burger Website.

Hello Harry Burger Joint Cairns

Hello Harry Burger Joint is located right in the heart of Cairns, on the Esplanade, across from the waterfront. This is an awesome burger joint They do have some seriously good tasting burgers coming out the kitchen!

Trying to keep things standard, I also went for the Aussie burger at Hello Harry and was not disappointed. So much going on, so many flavours popping in my mouth. This classic Aussie burger has a nice thick juicy, grass fed beef patty, BBQ glaze, bacon, egg, cheese, beetroot, cos lettuce, tomato and mayo. I love how the egg was runny, getting the ooze of egg yolk through the burger.

This is only a small burger joint with just a few tables inside.. There are more tables and chairs out the front of the restaurant but totally undercover. Read more about the Seriously Good Burgers at Hello Harry.

Milky Lane Burgers

Milky Lane is located down the the Cairns Esplanade, across from the waterfront. The Milk Lane chain has popped up restaurants over the last few years in Sydney, Melbourne and now in Queensland and they do serve a mighty fine range of tasty burgers.

Here I went for their classic Milky Lane Burger ($19) which comes with 2 smashed beef patties, double American Cheese, lettuce, pickles, diced onion, tomato with their original burger sauce and tomato sauce. I added a slice of grilled pineapple for an extra $4, just beacuase I like pineapple on a burger and it sort of makes this an unoffical Aussie burger, minus the beetroot!

This was a very tasty burger. So much flavour coming from the well seasoned beef, the cheese, the sauce and that sweet sweet contrast from the pineapple. The only thing about this burger is that it was very messy to eat. After the first coupld of bites the burger integrity diminished and the everything started falling out of the burger onto my plate. I had to resort to cutlery to finish eating the burger but this did not impact the flavours! Still a delicious meal. A messy burger in a very tasty way! Check out the Milky Lane Website.

Ochre Modern Australian Restaurant

I went down to the Cairns Marina to try out a burger at a fine dining restaurant to compare to the classic burger joints in town. I went in for lunch at Ochre Modern Australia Restaurant and was not disappointed with their burger.

On their lunch menu they have the Ultimate Aussie burger which comes with premium beef mince, Turkish bun (not your typical burger bun but this was a pleasant change), bacon, beetroot, Mungalli cheddar,pickles, salad and bush tomato aioli and side of onion rings. The only thing missing to really make it an Aussie burger was the pineapple!

Wow what a burger! As I said above, the long Turkish bun is not what I expected for a burger but it was a very good substitute. What hit me about this burger was the awesome flavour coming from the beef. This was top quality beef and they hit it with some sound seasoning, I got a very big peppery flavour from it which worked so well with the strong Aussie beef flavour. All the other flavours from the bacon, beetroot, strong cheddar cheese made this a very enjoyable burger.

At $25 this was quite reasonably priced. Considering this is served in a fine dining reestaurant, right on Cairns Marina with this breaktaking view from my seat! It also came with chips and onion rings, bonus! Check out the Ochre Restaurant website.

Blu Marlin Bistro – Cairns Marina

Just down from Ochre, is one of the most popular cafe / bistros on the Marina – Blu Marlin Birsto. This place is always packed for breakfast, lunch and dinner so I knew they must be serving up some great food. I went in for a burger but found the only burger on the menu was a chicken burger, still a burger, and it was a very tasty chicken burger!

This was a crispy deep fried chicken breast served with cheese, lettuce, onion, tomato and a mayo sauce. I do like a nice crispy chicken burger for a change now and then!

The menu at Blu Marlin changes regularly. As I write this, I see their menu does have a beef burger now and their crispy chicken burger that I had, has not changed to an Asian Chicken Burger. I am sure both very tasty.

I enjoyed this chicken burger so much, I came back to Blu Marlin Bisto next morning for breakfast to try their big breakfast. This is another dish I can highly recommend. A top quality breakfast meal, served with a view of Cairns Marina.

Check out the Blu Marlin Bistro website for their latest menu.