Wise Boys Burgers Grey Lynn — Restaurant in Waitematā

Somehow, these very Wise Boys managed to read my hopes and dreams and bring back the Shrooman Show burger. I eat most things, conventional beef burgers included, but this Shrooman Show really hits the spot. Let me explain why:

First of all I love tempeh, but that combo of grilled tempeh and fried portabello REALLY hits the spot. Biting down, you get a nutty chew from the tempeh and crispy goodness from the fried mushroom, both combining into a flying kick of umami. One bite of this thing and your dopamine sensors are bouncing off the walls from MSG (naturally occuring in mushrooms). Think about that rush you get from an insane cut of steak, or a perfect plate of dumplings drizzled in chilli and soy. Then, the supporting players come to town: pickles, lettuce and caramelised onion balance out the savoury goodness, there's great chew from the bun, and it's all rounded out with a heaped portion of their trademark smokey aioli. The vegan cheese isn't necessarily needed in terms of flavour, but my god it's luxurious when combined with all of the other extraordinary ingredients.

What I'm trying to say is that this burger satisfies every aspect one could want from such a food. The texture ratio is perfect, all flavours are balanced, and MSG-loving beef burger fiends will not be dissapointed - in fact, they may never go back. Having one of these bad boys in my life tonight turned me from a weeping mess into a happy weeping mess. If you want to gain back some sense of happiness in your life, go here...

I tried wise boys twice before and I was willing to give another chance. It’s a shame that vegan food in Nz is still on this level. I just had some unbelievable experience overseas eating from three different burger joints (jerrells betr burger , bloom & hart house) and I would easily rate them 10/10 . my husband who isn’t vegan rated the same and was impressed by the quality of bun, cheese, patty and sauces. This quality is just something that the wise boys didn’t try to achieve in these few years running their business. Maybe for the first year you would expect the food needing some improvements, but not seeing any improvements after these many years with so many recipes and alternatives out there , is quite disappointing…. If there are people elsewhere capable of achieving those flavour, I’m sure that a joint that is 100% specialised in plant based burger could put an extra effort to achieve something even better , or maybe this is just the standard for nz vegans. this time I tried the wise boy , buns were dry, patty too thick for a “smash” burg and also very flavourless. Their secret sauce is pretty average and the cheese budget … Anyway, after trying three awesome burgers I was hoping wise boys could do justice , but I’ll stick to my own...

Would you like some content to go with your sauce?

Okay, ordinarily that may be a sly remark, but this is a compliment in the realm of vegan dining. At 99.9999% of places my vege burger is a sad, dry, stale tower of disappointment. At Wise Boys the sauce is delectable and impeccable and remarkable and unforgettable and -chefs kiss- it almost erases my sad dry vege burger experiences from my memory, and promotes me to feel like a valued customer with functioning taste buds. Because, vegans, like the non vegans, enjoy enjoyable food.

My experiences here confirm to me that vegans need to stick to vegan food places because they know what we want, like nobody else does!

My foodtography does not do the food justice, the burgers are beautiful in a rustic way. An honourable mention to the side dishes too. The unphotographed onion rings in particular might have lasted a solid minute before we devoured every last...