What, no beef? Manly small bar The Hold puts vegan burgers on the menu

Burgers aren’t just for carnivores. The Hold has pushed meaty boundaries to keep vegans happy.

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Manly small  bar The Hold has beefed up its dining options.

The venue now serves two versions of its burgers.

Customers can go for traditional meat patties, then there are the eco-conscious vegan options.

Co-owner Keith Skinner and head chef Johannes Egeerts say their plant-based vegan burgers, which have only been on the menu for a couple of weeks, are close to the real deal.

High stakes: The Captain Jack burgers...the vegan one has the flag; the real meat one is on the right. Picture: Braden Fastier

“We are using a blend of plant-based proteins for the burgers,” Mr Skinner said.

“It’s taken quite a bit of work to get it right. We wanted to keep vegetarian customers happy.”

The vegan burgers are made in the bar’s kitchen using an American brand, Match Meats, sourced from a Brisbane supplier.

Vegan burgers were a high protein, low carb and low calorie meat alternative, Mr Skinner said.

“They are low fat and have 75 per cent protein of an equivalent meat burger,” he said.

Head chef Johannes Egeerts said he turned vegetable plant protein into “meaty” offerings by cold-smoking the base product.

The $20 Captain Jack comes with a soy, maple syrup liquid smoke and coconut flake “bacon” substitute, a high-melt vegan cheese, an in-house vegan mayonnaise and a deep-fried mac and cheese-infused onion ring sandwiched between a vegan bun from Freshwater bakery Mrs Jones.

As well as “beef” patties, the menu has a southern fried “chicken” burger.

The Nueva Espana vegan `chicken’ burger. Picture: Braden Fastier

The vegan version of a Neuva Espana is $20 and comes with fake bacon, avocado salsa and chipotle aioli.

Mr Skinner said put together with the sauces and other condiments, the burgers did taste like the real thing. One customer paid the greatest compliment.

“We had a vegan who sent back their order,” he said.

“They couldn’t believe that it wasn’t meat.

The Captain Jack vegan burger. Picture: Braden Fastier

Mr Skinner said that the idea to serve vegan burgers came from a desire to be more sustainable.

“Our high consumption of meat is detrimental to the planet and owning a bar and restaurant presents us with an opportying to offer an alternative.”

The concept also keeps up with food trends. Vegan burgers have a following in the States. Sydneysiders can try gourmet plant burgers at Soul Burger in Randwick.

The Hold burgers are served with beer-battered steak fries. The bar also does plant-based chicken nuggets, served with a honey chipotle and bourbon barbecue dipping sauce.

Johannes Egeerts with the burgers. Picture: Braden Fastier

The flagship meat burger with fries is $5 with a drink on Wednesdays and plant-based burgers are half price with any drink purchase on Thursdays.

The Hold winter trading hours: Tuesday to Friday from 5pm until midnight; Saturdays, 3pm-midnight; Sundays, 3-10pm.