5 Boroughs

Walking around the Stone's Corner Christmas markets, it was late afternoon and we were feeling like an early dinner but not sure what to have.  5 Boroughs was packed out and we decided that's a good sign.
We got a table straight away and the service was already very efficient.  It all smelled very good.  We decided on 2 of their new burgers, the Cheese Royale and Aloha with a side of fully loaded fries with chilli shredded beef, sarspiralla and lemon, lime and bitters.  Yuuuuummmmmm!  Excellent prompt service, very tasty and the burgers were piping hot!  Definately going back

I liked it! Service was friendly, food came quickly and was quite tasty. Thick shakes are amazing. Relatively cheap and cheerful. Good music!

Looking and feeling like a burger, we decided to go local and close by visiting 5 boroughs. After looking at the menu online decided, parking was easy just park in the aldi carpark at the back and walk. We ordered the 1/2 ribs, new yorker and fried chicken burger. Service was nice and friendly she looked after us really well.

The ribs were spot on, tender and fall off the bone, maybe just a little extra sauce. The fried chicken burger my wife really enjoyed and the made on request changes to the burger with no fuss. The new yorker, enjoyed but not one i would order again.

All in all, for a quick burger with no fuss then check this place out. I would go back again.

I came here on a Friday night and the restaurant was surprisingly empty, but they were smashing the takeaway orders. It also seemed like a rather long wait for somewhat average burgers. Feedback on the burger itself, this me being nitpicky, but I think the burger was a bit of a let down as the patty (and bacon) on my burger were not grilled enough, it did not have that "char grilled" taste I usually look forward to in a burger. The sauce on the burger was tasty though. The highlight of the meal was the criss-cross fries, they were deliciously crisp and well seasoned with a tasty dipping sauce.

Having jumped upon two trends in Brisbane - one being the renovation of Stones Corner, and the other being the proliferation of American cuisine - 5 Boroughs has slowly become one as of late to continuously visit. It is almost always got a few people there, and the perspective about it is mixed at best. One thing is for sure and that it is taking a different aspect of the cuisine to normal, and that is to be commended.

I had recently signed up to UberEats, taking that final step and getting to finalise it before the next PPV event was showing live on the WWE Network - the classic Elimination Chamber. As it has already been mentioned or implied before, that often makes it around Monday lunch time that it shows where I am - and that becomes the most odd time for whether eateries and restaurants are open, especially the delivery services. Nevertheless, to christen (heh!) the account I went to settle it on somewhere new - it had to be. The funny thing about this place ...

My dining buddy is a big fan of American cuisine, as am I, so a real treat is when the two of us are at an American place it is like hog heaven. Also, add onto that the not-so-hidden factoid about how well Stone's Corner is doing with regards to eating options and all that. From a trip some time back that he did with his to-be son-in-law, the two of them tried out here and it was apparently not so good. For that reason, I was basically reluctant to eat there (and good luck convincing him to return). After going back and forth about the right choice, I did eventually settle on it - since it is ultimately best to make up your own mind.

Let's just say the UberEats speaks for how the service is going. Beforehand I have used MenuLog which has a decent batting average when it came to delivery, but it was not without faults. Mostly from not showing up on time but those were few and far between. You don't have to worry much with UberEats, so just as a one-time mention being able to see the tracking of it whether it is on its way, or about to arrive, the wonderment of where the food is is no more. The food arrived all well and good, closer to the end of the chosen time bracket (from memory), but what makes it not get such criticism is that you know it is on its way, being cooked and everything which includes and expected time of arrival.

We are again, in the next instance in a short while, at a place that is essentially American bar food again. This time, the influence travels north of the Mason-Dixon line, and getting into the New York area. The menu has several kinds of burgers more or less using a simple design of building upon a classic beef, and a few others to appease the crowd. These are also available as sliders, and there are several kinds of specialty burgers on top of that as well - these are served with fries by default.

As well as, or just for some nibbles, they have "drinking food" which is a few of the standard items expected from a bar on the other side of the world. Then there are the hot sandwiches - again, the classics - plus the usual ribs and such. As well as being simple, greasy and to-the-point, the next best aspect about the food here is that it can be easily shared which is what 5 Boroughs is aiming to do.

Getting onto the drinks, they have such the variety here - not much allowed for the delivery, nevertheless that doesn't matter. Several kinds of beers by tap, many beers by the bottle (including a ginger one), and all sorts of bottled cider. They also have wines, cocktails, bottomless iced tea, sodas, juices, and milkshakes (stepping away from the tired standards), then a good chunk of liquors there. So basically you are not bereft of options here.

So let's get started, shall we? For the inaugural delivery order, the items were the classic Cubano sandwich (toasted leg ham, slow-cooked pork, Swiss cheese, dill pickles, and mustard), an order of onion rings plus some chicken wings. There was no need to worry about a minimum order amount either, which is another plus to UberEats.

Getting the meat of the meal out of the way it is the Cubano. I have grown to really like this sandwich as a whole, and there have been some fantastic takes on it. In being fair to this one, it was pretty good on its own merits. The layer of ham and cheese on it was very thick, and the bread was lightly toasted which made this sandwich delicious. If anything, maybe a bit longer on the press would have been good to melt the cheese. Both of the meats were good and tender, with a strong distinct flavour coming out, the occasional pickle added a note of vinegar to it overall, plus the style of mustard was American style - not really my favourite to be honest. All this combines together to make arguably the finest sandwich in any part of the world.

As for the onion rings, they are more or less onion rings. These were quite tasty, with the batter being fairly light but a notch above tempura-style. Of course, inside of the batter the onions were the sweet and at just that right texture of being cooked. Plus, they were pipping hot and a great little addition for on the side.

For the flavour of chicken wings that I got, what is always worth it to me is getting one that is unique, or at least not available at other places, or even so one that sounds strange enough to see how it might work. That third situation was the case in getting a ginger, pepper, caramel. Suffice to say, this one worked as a flavour and the wings might have been the most enjoyable aspect of the whole meal.

These were definitely fried which is the preferred way of cooking wings. They were small, and had the big crunch around each portion which was met with tender meat in the middle. Each one was much like this. As for the sauce, it was also quite good. It was vicious, sticky and had a bold flavour throughout - the sweetness of caramel, and the distinct bite of ginger was an interesting flavour and it definitely recommended. So the chicken wings are a winner right here.

So my thoughts on it? It is not too bad. Nothing that is going to be memorable down the road - and will fall short when compared to some of the greats I have had over the years - but on the other hand, it definitely could have been much, much worse. For what it was, a decent and filling feed, it more or less went and did its job. And for that, I will give it a fair enough pass mark.

TL;DR: 5 Boroughs brings some wholesome bar foods to the table, in what is an uncomplicated setting with a casual atmosphere and some tasty fare. It is all hot and fresh, the portions are decent and overall, I thought it was good enough. Compared to some other places that I have visited, I won't quite be crawling back but certainly won't avoid returns if it so happens. For this meal, I was satiated.

We got some food from 5 boroughs delivered by deliveroo to the hospital last night. The lattice chips and Chipotle sauce were divine and the burger was epic.

5B has a really good range of drinking food and we were served pretty quickly. We tried the fried pickles and wings to start which were better than the burgers that were fine but a little bit soggy.