On Monday, I went into the city for two main reasons.
The first was to pick up some back issues of a few comics that I'd missed due to work commitments. It turns out that they are somewhat popular and had increased in value before I got them. Definitely ones to keep.
The second was to go to the open mic night at the Rhino Room that is held every Monday night at 7:30pm.
In between the time the Adelaide Comic Centre closed and the Rhino Room opened, 2 hours, I chose to walk around the city and came across the Grill'd burger restaurant's menu on the side of their property.
The Magpie Crow Eater burger's ingredients looked amazing, and I walked in.
Sitting at table 17, I scanned their barcode ordering system with my phone. A neon sign on the wall bathed everything in a pink glow, making photography difficult where I was sitting.
The bar code linked to a website that was so awfully designed that I just gave up, got up and walked to the front counter to place my order.
The beauty of Grill'd is that you can choose the bun for your burger, so if you have gluten allergies or prefer reduced carbs, they can cater for you.
After placing my order, I was given a little packet that said "Local Matters" on the front and a locally branded bottle cap inside.
The bottle cap is to be placed into one of three big jars via a slot in their lids, each jar representing a local charity.
They count the caps and the jar with the most caps at the end of the month gets a large donation. It's a pretty cool idea.
I came back to my table to see someone sitting there about to place an order on their phone. I seriously couldn't have been at the counter for more than 2 minutes.
He got up and left and I sat waiting for my my meal to come.
He corrected his order at the counter and sat elsewhere, with his family seemingly already at another table.
I read more from my self help book (mentioned in a previous post) and before long, my meal arrived on a foot long rectangular plate, with raised / grooved sections designed to capture adventurous sauces and any other loose ingredients attempting to flee the meal and onto the table.
The hamburger was held together by a skewer with a red flag that had the Grill'd logo on it through the centre of it.
The photo of the hamburger was taken with a flash, to counter the inescapable pink ambient light, which made the people at neighbouring tables a little suspicious of me for a few seconds.
I was taking photos of my food after all; it's strange social phenomina even now in the Instagram era.
The term "crow eater" is a reference to South Australians, as part of a tongue-in-cheek interstate rivalry.
This particular burger contained, according to the menu, a grass-fed beef pattie with crsipy bacon, a free-range egg, tasty cheese, beetroot, cos lettuce, tomato, Spanish onion, relish and herbed mayo.
I removed the flagged skewer, and picked up the burger with both hands. Opening my mouth as wide as possible, I just barely managed to sink my teeth into both buns because the hamburger was so large. Herbed mayo spilled slightly onto the plate and into the raised grooves on the plate as intended.
I put the burger down to inspect it further, before having another bite.
While not exactly cheap, it's probably a better option than what the other big named burger franchises are offering.
They also do sliders and range of other burgers as well.
The waiter came and asked me if I enjoyed my meal and i said that I did.
My phone rang and it was my Uncle on my Mother's side. Why he was on her side is beyond me, but I digress.
I was so distracted that when I went to put the bottle cap in the charity jar, I didn't take a photo or take note of the options available.
We spoke for a while, and I headed to the Rhino Room.
It got there around 7pm, thinking that I needed to be there early. It rained heavily and I recorded a video for TikTok here.
The Rhino Room didn't open until 7:30pm, but I got to speak to some people also hoping to get a spot on stage before they did. Among them was a relatively new female comedian to the scene named Jazz King.
We had an interesting conversation regarding each other's comedy material, pre stage jitters and our methodologies.
I was asked if i wanted a spot at the same time she was, she said yes and I said no, backing out because I realised I needed more rehearsal time.
I then turned to her and asked her if she'd be here next week, she said maybe, and I said if I say no to a spot ever again to give me a rap across the knuckles because I needed to be on stage.
When it was her turn, she did really well. I hope she keeps going because I think she's really talented.
Tomorrow, I am going to practice for an open mic on Saturday at the Legend's Bar.
Until next time, see you in the kitchen!
Thank you for reading.
Shaidon
