Meat District & Co.

There's a new contender in the ring for champion burger of Sydney. And with it, Meat District & Co. add a modern Sydney meets LA upbeat to the King Street Wharf restaurant and bar precinct.

The MDC beef patties are generous and well seasoned, on soft buns and with decent chips. The wooden platter burger offerings range from a Cheese Burger, with beef patty bacon aged cheddar, caramelized onions, mixed greens, tomato, pickles and house sauce; or another cheese offering the Brie Burger, where double cream brie, cranberry sauce, radish, rocket and horseradish mayo top the beef; to Surf & Turf Burger with a chill crab and prawns combo dressing the beef, greens tomato and lemon caper aioli; to a truly terrific Vegetarian Burger - root vegetables, oats, almonds, sunflower and pumpkin seeds in a patty, with mushrooms, greens and hommus. Yum!

It doesn't have to start with the burgers though. Grilled Artichoke with Gribiche Sauce is simple and classic. Beet Salad and Goat Curd is uplifted by the contrasts of roasted apple, radish, watercress and walnut pesto. The summer show stopper Compressed, Grilled Watermelon Salad, Sumac, Goats Cheese and Hazelnut takes the prize for its smoky overtones.

Cocktails pop from one bite canapé cocktail balls through to more traditional servings in a glass.

Opening day, and we got more than the burgers and the booze, the sunshine of a glorious early start to Sydney summer, fresh air and open windows, and the panaroma looking out over King Street Wharf and stretching across the beautiful blue sky. On top of all these bounties, opening day brought a bit of Underbelly celebrity spotting at the next table.

Meat District & Co. is young and hip and we predict the new place to be seen. As those boys at the next table showed us. We tried the burgers and cocktails. They tried the ribs with beers. We'll be back!