Eat Here: The BEST Burger (in the world?)

Jorge and I both grew up in the D.C. metropolitan Virginia area, otherwise known as the birthplace of Five Guy's Burgers. In fact, Jorge took me to their original location for one of our first dates. My baby treats me gooooood. I'm telling you this so that you understand our burger expectations. They are high and they are uncompromising.

Enter, the best burger in the world.

You can find this burger at the Fat Tui in Marahau, New Zealand, right outside Abel Tasman National Park.

Abel Tasman National Park is a relatively young National Park. It was founded in 1942, largely through the efforts of Pérrine Moncrieff, an ornithologist and all around badass female. Situated between Golden and Tasman Bays at the north end of the South Island, this park is especially interesting because the tide rises or falls by up to approximately 15 feet between low and high tides, changing the landscape completely.

We spent two days in Abel Tasman, and yes it was beautiful and I will talk more about the hiking some other time, but honestly the first thing I think of when I remember our time in the Abel Tasman is this burger. I'm sure every nature lover cringed at that, and I'm sorry but them's the breaks. I mean, have you ever seen a grown man THIS happy?

I wish I had been smart enough to grab a snap of the menu, but they did have a ton of different options, to include vegetarian. The buns and burgers were large and flat - maybe about the size of a salad plate and they were stacked with a lot of really fresh ingredients. That was probably what made these burgers so good. Mine was topped with thinly sliced beets, fresh slaw made with quinoa and purple cabbage, avocado and a fried egg.

It was SO good that even though we felt like we were going to puke by the time we were finished we contemplated ordering two more to go so we could have them the next day. Prudence won out, however, so we'll just have to make another trip to experience it.

If you ever find yourself near Abel Tasman, please make it a point to stop here. It's nothing fancy and you might find yourself sidled up to other tourists, exchange students or locals on a picnic bench while you have to wait 30+ minutes for your burger, but I promise it's worth it.