I was a little surprised to see the lukewarm to bad review on this place since every time I go by Royale Brothers it is packed. I stopped in and ordered a spicy royale which has, in additional to cheese, regular veggies, and a royale sauce an additional jalapeno sauce. The burger was very good. Cooked well with a delightfully fluffy bun that never got soggy. It wasn't that spicy, but I did like the little bit of kick the spicy sauce gave.
Their fries are also surprisingly good. In my experience, there are two kinds of fries or chips served in Melbourne/Victoria/Australia. One is what we in the US of A would call "steak fries." Basically thick cut potatoes that are, typically, under-cooked and soggy. They require huge amounts of Ketchup/mayo/HP Sauce to be edible and, really, why not just eat a baked potato? Many pubs, unfortunately, have these kinds of chips/fries.
On the other side are Belgian style fries or classic french fries that are thinly cut and, at their best, double fried (in duck fat preferably) to cook the inside and then crisp the outside without over or under doing either part. Royale brothers had an intermediate fry/chip that was both on the large end (but not huge) and very crispy and well cooked. They were also seasoned well with a choice of a variety of dipping sauces.
There is no indoor seating so you are eating outside or taking it home. For my purposes that is usually fine as Royale Brothers is located at an attractive end of Church street and it is nice to sit outside when it is not raining.
Verdict: nothing to complain about and I will be returning. The only reason I didn't give it 4 stars is that the burger, while the best I have had here, did not blow me away. I will be going back and sampling some of their other options in the future, though and that may increase my score. read more
