RocoMamas at night

Burgers in progress

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After a boozy and food filled festive season, I was attempting to stay off the burgers during January. However, the burger Gods could not be tamed and a trip to Joburg’s trending new burger joint – RocoMamas – was in order.

The Set: 9/10

The franchise, launched in 2013, is the talk of the town and currently has 4 stores spread across northern and western Johannesburg. it is little wonder that Spur recently acquired a 51% stake in the brand for R27mn, positioning itself to ride the local burger boom and with plans to roll out many more stores in the near future.

On a Tuesday evening, the Rivonia store was packed to capacity and thankfully I arrived a little late so that my fellow burger bro had already secured us a seat. The American diner slash rock vibe goes hand in hand with the graze on offer and provides an enjoyable and laid back atmosphere.

The Graze: 

I arrived completely ravenous at RocoMamas and my burger bro and I quickly penned in our orders and soaked up the diner ambience. The pad menu or self-order concept is complemented by below market prices that lend themselves to numerous burger toppings and some sneaky side orders of ribs and wings.

The 150g ‘smashed beef’ patty provides the perfect meat to topping to bun ratio. Although, the menu is conducive to a ‘create your own’ style of ordering, we decided to opt for the preset burger combinations. The burgers are served on wooden boards and grease proof paper and are just the right size that you may consider indulging in two.

The Mushroom Swizz – this is RocoMama’s take on one of my favourite burger combinations; sautéed mushrooms and emmenthal and consequently, I wanted to put it to the test. As a cheese & bacon burger is the current standard for burger toppings; it too was put through the paces.

Cheese + Bacon burger from from the inside

The view from inside, patty perfectly cooked and toppings oozing over

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1. The Meat: 5/10

I believe that burger patty should be served medium to retain those succulent juices. The 150g ‘smashburger’ patties are prepared fresh and on site from beef mince and mine was cooked perfectly medium. However, the meat was dry and lacked any form of taste when eaten separately from its burger cave and my burgerbro agreed. This is mitigated by the fact that the ‘smashburger’ concept lends itself to burger toppings and these patties should not be enjoyed seperately.

2. The bun: 

The bun was perfectly crisped on the outside and soft on the inside, forming a snuggly cabin for the rest of the burger. It did not fall apart when squeezed considering the oil based nature of our toppings and was deliciously golden brown from the outset.

3. The Toppings: 9/10

This is where RocoMamas flexes its burger muscles. My generous portion of sautéed mushrooms were swimming in the perfect amount of emmenthal cheese on my Mushroom Swizz burger. My burgerbro’s aged cheddar went fantastically with 2 slices of crispy back bacon and was complimented by just the right amount of sweet pickle, tomato and red onion. Both burgers were not overly oily considering the various cheese toppings and fried bacon nor did the toppings over power the bun and meat. These perfect portion sizes and excellent combinations, ensure they spruce up your burger into a tasty treat. Our burgers were both served with RocoMamas’ RocoMayo which ensured a well-balanced texture between sauce and crisp.

The Trimmings: 9/10

Although our hunger tempted us into ordering a second burger each, we decided to indulge in the trimmings on offer. The buffalo chicken wings were extremely flavourful and definitely value for money at R6 each, though you may need a microscope to spot the tiny buggers. Combine these with a rack of tender pork ribs and you have some delicious variations to sink your teeth into. We rounded the above off with a large chips to share that would be more than sufficient for a table of four. The long, crispy fries were well spiced and definitely hit the spot.

The trimmings would have received a 10 out of 10 from us bros if it wasn’t for the lack of onion rings on the menu. It is always nice to go for broke and round your healthy burger meal off with some additional fried oniony goodness.

Chicken wings – as viewed through a microscope

1/4 Kilo pork ribs with one or 2 missing

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The Drinks

As we were not feeling particularly fit and healthy after detox January, nor had we completed a full Ironman challenge that day, we decided to not to splurge with a round of milkshakes. On the beer front, I would rather enjoy a second burger and a Heineken than purchase one of RocoMama’s selection of craft beers which price in excess of R40. Their selection of wine is lacking with only one white and red wine available and both only served by the glass.

The Aftermath

Treating yourself to a burger meal can sometimes be filled with regret triggered by sloth-like energy levels and discomfort in the belly region. These affects are most keenly felt 1 hour post burger demolition. However, an hour after gobbling down a substantial amount of RocoMamas’ offerings, I felt light, energized and unsympathetic for my over indulgence.