After the World Curry Festival's chilli eating competition on the weekend, we'd imagine the tastebuds of a few Canberrans are still searing. But for the rest of us foodies, we're in prime position to enter the world of competitive eating.
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We don't mean competitive eating as in trying to find a car spot in Braddon for dinner or attempting to survive a night out without hitting up Zambreros, we mean eating to WIN. Eating to a time limit. Eating not for nourishment or sustenance, but for glory. For indigestion.
Shorty's mega burger challenge
Every Thursday, Shorty's hosts its mega burger challenge.
"The monster burger started off as a bit of a joke between a couple of the kitchen staff. From memory one of the chefs claimed that they could eat a burger as big as their head, and it snowballed from there," Shorty's head chef, Wayne Alger, said.
The challenge includes one Shorty's monster burger, a bowl of Shorty's chips and a pint of beer to really sludge it all down. The burger consists of a 1.5kg beef pattie, cob loaf bun, quarter lettuce head, five tomatoes and four cheese slices.
"The burger and chips weigh a total of 2.5kg, with the patty weighing 1.5kg. The patty is ground in-house using 35-day dry aged whole cuts of beef, which makes it a tad richer than most burgers."
To understand just how large and in charge this burger is, Shorty's will add 15 extra minutes for competitors to finish the challenge. Why, pray tell? So far there have been no local winners.
"The challenge has seen about 60 people attempt it and has been running for around six months, with only two competitors completing the burger within the allowed time frame. The guys that completed the burger have a habit of eating excessive amounts of food and travelled from Sydney to check out the burger.
"Most people that have attempted the challenge have been overly confident, with a few more cocky than others. The competitors that fail are usually pretty quiet when they leave."
The competition costs $40 to enter, but if you demolish it within the 45 minutes you shall dine free and probably not have to eat another meal for weeks. You'll also make it onto the wall of champs.
Book one day prior by calling 6230 7692.
Burger Hero challenge
The challenge, which has been on the menu since Burger Hero opened in 2015, includes a burger, waffle-cut fries and a drink. The burger is made with 800 grams of fresh hand-smashed grilled patties, four American cheese slices, four rashers of streaky bacon and sea salted dill pickles.
"The challenge is timed and our current high score is 5.07 minutes by Randy Santel, a professional food eater who visited us last year," head chef, Teja Bhagwat Sethi, said.
"We have had many competitors over the years, with many different techniques on how to finish the challenge. Interestingly, it’s about eating the burger sideways and alternating between the chips and drink."
You can win the usual perks: the burger free, a spot on the "survivors" board and of course, glory. If you aren't successful, it'll be $25 for the tasty honour.
Mad Mex's big burrito challenge
Every burrito lover knows there should be no legal cap on the amount of beans, rice and guacamole one person consumes. But in one sitting? 1kg might be pushing it.
Mad Mex, located in the downstairs food court of the Canberra Centre, is "separating champs from chumps" with its big 1kg burrito challenge.
That's essentially the weight of half a newborn baby! Had to google those stats. When it arrives at your table it looks sort of like a swaddled newborn anyway.
Attempt the challenge any time during the month of May for $24. Up for grabs is once again, glory, as well as an authentic Lucha Libre mask or limited edition Big Burrito cap.
Know of any other eating challenges in Canberra? Or perhaps you run your own backyard eating comps? Tweet us at @CanberraTimes.
