They don’t come much more carnivorous than renowned blogger and Southern foodspert Burger Mary (A.K.A Jess Pryles). She’s a maiden of meat, a sorceress of steak and she makes all burgers her bitch. You’ll find her slathered in sauce at her protein-packed partnership with Red River BBQ (at The Workers Club on Wednesday nights) and challenging anyone who thinks her appetite is manly by baking cupcakes at Sugadeaux. Agenda asked her to share her top five meaty Melbourne experiences with us. Have a read and let it marinate for a while.

Station Hotel – 59 Napier St, Footscray
thestationhotel.com.au
With eleven steaks on the menu and an “epic burger with bacon and gruyere”, people feel the pressure when ordering at Station Hotel. Once, Burger Mary witnessed someone devour the burger and then order a steak to follow after suffering some serious food envy.

Huxtaburger – 106 Smith St, Collingwood
huxtaburger.com.au/
Yeah, yeah. We know. Huxtaburger is brilliant. The reason we hear about it so much is because it’s true. According to Burger Mary, “this is how burgers are supposed to be: cheap, easy to eat with one hand and satisfying, without any compromise on flavour.” She would know.

Bistro Thierry – 511 Malvern Rd, Toorak
bistrothierry.com/
At Bistro Thierry, you can pretend you’re in Paris while the French waiters “deliver in the meat department”. We don’t exactly know what Burger Mary gets up to with those mustached marvels, but we do know she rates their steak tartare and traditional Le Steak-Frites highly.

Amsterdam Street Café – 1 Amsterdam St, Richmond
If you’re a true carnivore, you’ll incorporate meat into all three meals. Burger Mary recommends Amsterdam’s “ultimate weekend indulgence” of brioche French toast, dusted with cinnamon sugar, splashed with maple syrup and, of course, with extra bacon.

Red River BBQ ShortOrder – Wed 6-9pm, The Workers Club, 51 Brunswick St, Fitzroy
facebook.com/RedRiverBBQ
Do we sense a touch of bias? Perhaps. But Burger Mary will vouch for Red River. We didn’t just take her word for it; we popped down to check it out. After trying the pulled pork sandwich and the crispy fried habanero hot chicken wings, we can see why it’s in her top five.

More info at www.burgermary.com