We taste-tested Qantas’ business class hamburger

It’s early afternoon at Sydney’s domestic Qantas Business lounge, and there’s a line forming at the Panini Bar – but nobody is queuing up for the Italian-style sandwiches.

Today, and for the past few weeks, the Panini Bar has become a default Burger Bar where staff are kept busy assembling hamburgers for hungry travellers.

Pleasingly, these burgers are nothing pretentious – they’re not trying to be gourmet burgers crafted from artisanal ingredients – but like the best comfort food, they’re simply made and seem to be hitting the spot.

It all started in the middle of November, with a pop-up by chef Neil Perry to serve his award-winning Cafe Margaret cheeseburger over two days.

Several thousand cheeseburgers later, the Panini Bar put a pared-back Aussie beef burger on the menu between 11am and 7pm.

Each burger is made on demand, with burger patties pre-cooked in batches and kept warm on a hotplate, and can be customised on request.

Fancy two beef patties, an extra slice of cheese, or a generous serving of beetroot relish? Done.

(That’s where the line is drawn: don’t expect the fried egg or pineapple of your classic suburban milk bar hamburger.)

So how did I rate the Qantas business class lounge hamburger?

To be fair, I’m someone who never feels a hamburger can be great – just degrees of good (or not) – but yes, this one’s quite good.

The beef patty isn’t too dry or too greasy, and the ingredients sit well together.

The only drawback is the bun has a tendancy to self-destruct halfway through – if you opt for a double helping of beetroot relish, as I did, the outcome is quite messy.

But there’s no denying the strong appeal this burger holds among visitors at the Qantas lounge.

Qantas has done well in developing a signature dining concept for its main Business Lounges across Australia.

The Perth lounge has its pizza bar, Melbourne has the Asian-themed Spice Bar, while Adelaide’s Market Kitchen draws on fresh local produce from the Adelaide Central Markets.

Perhaps the Sydney Business lounge’s Panini Bar is more of a stop-gap solution, pending the long-awaited revamp of what should be the airline’s flagship domestic lounge, but having variations of burgers on rotation wouldn’t be the worst thing.

Also read: Should hamburgers be served in first class?