10 out of 10 for chicken-less burger!

It was the news meat and dairy lovers didn’t want to hear – and I was one of them. In one of the most comprehensive pieces of data analysis currently available, it has been officially declared that avoiding meat and dairy products is the single biggest way we can help heal our environmentally-ailing planet.

As someone who really does care about global warming but who can’t imagine life without roast chicken and cheesecake, it was a dark day. Fortunately, the release of the news coincided with a visit I was making to Auckland, home to a newly established Jervois Road restaurant which the friend I was staying with said I absolutely had to see for myself. As she promised me a chicken burger when we arrived, who was I to refuse? There was just one drawback, the restaurant, ironically called ‘The Butcher’s Son’, served only vegan food. I opened my mouth to object, but we were already on our way.

Opened just 4 months ago, this casually up-market eatery isn’t your usual hippy café. With excellent service, a range of juices and alcoholic drinks including craft beers and excellent wines, it offers a menu that features everything from cheese-melt nachos and tasty pizzas to root vegetable stacks and – you guessed it, ‘chicken’ burgers and cheesecake!

We sat down just before lunch and in the short time we waited for our orders to appear, the place filled up with customers ranging from young mums and babies (who took advantage of the cute in-house range of wooden toys) to suited men and women intent on business lunches.

I couldn’t wait to see my friend’s meal (after all, I smiled at her, who ever heard of vegan cheese that melts!), and I had grave doubts about the chicken-ness of my burger. However, I soon had to eat not only my words – but also every delicious crumb of my lunch.

My burger bun was a light sough dough ciabatta number filled with a piquant tomato salsa that perfectly complimented the tastiest, crispiest barbecue ‘chicken’ fillets you could ever hope to find this side of the black stump. Don’t ask me how they did it, but this was ‘chicken’ that not only tasted like the real thing, it had the texture of meat, too.

I was so busy enjoying it I almost failed to check out the melted ‘cheese’ but, sure enough, it looked completely like the real McCoy. If you enjoy a cheese with a spicy bite (not unlike a cheddar infused with cumin seeds), then the Butcher’s Son’s nachos are for you.

My chicken burger was accompanied with a fresh, green salad, chunky fries and a creamy mayo which left little space for the coffee cheesecake my friend and I decided share. A cheesecake connoisseur, I found the desert just a little on the oily side, and the texture firmer than I would have expected, but the flavours were pretty much perfect – and I have absolutely no idea how it was made without the use of any dairy-based ingredients.

If, like me, you don’t want to give up the taste and texture of meat and cheese, but caring for the planet is a priority, I encourage you to head to Ponsonby’s The Butcher’s Son to find out just how palatable becoming vegan might turn out to be!