Kangemu burger? Some just love the taste, but others go hopping mad

IT'S 80 per cent kangaroo and three per cent emu - but will this meaty ultimate Aussie burger fly with customers? So, would you eat it?

Kangemu

IT'S 80 per cent kangaroo and three per cent emu - but will this ultimate Aussie burger fly with customers?

Made with meat from the animals that grace our national emblem, the Coat of Arms burger goes on sale today and boasts an all-Australian list of ingredients, from bush herbs to quandong.

After a taste test this week, locals and tourists gave it the lick of approval - before they knew what was in it.

"I think it's great," said Tasmanian tourist Grace Eaton, 20, who had a mouthful before being told what was in the $14.50 burger.

"Wow! I probably wouldn't have eaten it if I knew what it was," she added.

"I really like the meat," said her friend Avril Bailey, also 20.

US tourists Connor Sentz, 23, and Cory Fillingim, 24, both in Australia on a working holiday from Seattle, were thrilled to sample roo and emu for the first time.

"It has a distinct flavour. I thought it was lamb," said Mr Sentz. "I want another bite."

But the "kangemu" burger has left a bad taste in the mouths of some.

National convenor of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy, Professor David Flint, called the use of a national emblem in fast-food marketing "wrong" and "inappropriate".

"I think these symbols of the nation should be respected," Prof Flint said.

Australian Monarchist League chairman Phillip Benwell added: "The coat of arms represents a nation and using it in a marketing campaign rather demeans the coat of arms and ridicules it."

Luckily, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the use of the coat of arms symbol by fast-food chain Grill'd was enough of a departure to avoid a bun fight.

Grill'd founder Simon Crowe said the recipe was the result of nine months of research and development.

Using home-grown produce and native ingredients, the burger is layered with goat's cheese, a native wild peach or quandong, bush tomato relish, native thyme mayo, plus beetroot, mesculin lettuce, tomato and caramelised onion, on a traditional bun or not-so-traditional panini.

The burger will only be on sale in one store per state and limited to 50 a day over its two-week run.

In Sydney, fair dinkum foodies can get their teeth into one at Grill'd in World Square.

The Coat of Arms burger may leave you feeling patriotic, but it will do nothing for your waistline.

Nutritionist Susie Burrell said it was high in kilojoules and was 40 per cent of the daily fat intake for an adult.

"It's quite energy-dense and you'd need a good hour in the gym or a 30- to 40-minute run to work it off," she said. "If you had chips with it, it's going to bump it up again."

Grant Jones' review

The Coat of Arms burger comes in a high stack, bamboo skewer holding it all in place, served on a wholemeal, plain flour bun or panini, both of which crumble under the pressure of a knife.

Opting for no knife, the burger is unbalanced with the pattie near the top. It's a delicate operation to get your laughing gear around the whole thing without all the bits spurting out. While many of the ingredients are strong in flavour, like the wonder of all burgers, a single bite melds them together.

But both roo and emu are very lean meats, with distinct flavours, so it takes the relish and thyme mayo to add moisture. You also get the tang of goats cheese, sweet-sour quandong, bush tomato relish, mayo, plus slippery beetroot, lettuce, tomato and caramelised onion. But therein lies the rub. The subtle flavour of the meat lost amid a melody of other ingredients.

The Coat of Arms burger will be available from January 19-31 at Grill’d Little Bourke St, Melbourne