The burgers here are “kick-arse,” says Eater, which ranks Tuck Shop Takeaway at #2 on its ‘38 Essential Melbourne Restaurants’ list. This is a place that “stands out from the crowd with its collection of old-school furniture, hip-hop on the stereo, soda counter, and nostalgic soft serve flavours like Hubba Bubba and Honey Joy,” says Eater.
Part of Tuck Shop's appeal is its nostalgic makeover – “an old bubbler as the water dispenser, a chalked hopscotch grid as the welcome mat, and a Peter's ice-cream cone light,” writes Nina Rousseau in Good Food … “The triple-cooked skin-on chips are magnificent - crunchy, fluffy, and crispy in all the right places - cut from desiree potatoes … Noisette supplies the buns, linseed-dotted milk brioche, not as sweet as standard brioche, which are grilled with clarified butter. Inside is iceberg lettuce, tomato, blanched onion, tart dill pickles, American cheddar, and 'Tuck Shop sauce', a home-made tomato sauce-mayo-sweet mustard combo. 'The Major' also comes with a free-range egg and Otway bacon.” The husband and wife duo who run it, explains The Hamburger Adventure, have a resumé between them that includes Fat Duck, Attica and Vue Du Monde - which may explain “the queues and hype as they offer their version of the local shop of yesteryear.”