Now in its sixth year, the Phuket Best Burger competition has become one of Phuket’s most-loved events. This year Phuket’s Best Burger will be getting all burgerliscious at the New Blue Tree Phuket on Saturday, March 28, when restaurateurs and chefs will all compete to see whose burger reigns supreme and become Phuket’s Best Burger 2020 under the theme “Greatness, Redemption, Glory”.
The event was a conceptualised in 2013 by Jay Leshark, while he was working with Phuket Live Radio and saving the Phuket airwaves with his weekend brunch radio show. Jay was looking for an event idea that would be something different for Phuket, something to do with food, and something fun.
“I honestly never thought it would be as big as it has become,” said Jay. “It was just a crazy idea I had which has grown over the past six years”
“It was the history of burgers that also really interested me. Burgers can be traced back to 1209 when Genghis Khan’s army needed food that could be carried on their mounts and eaten easily with one hand while they rode. Ground meat was the perfect choice, and if it’s good enough for Genghis Khan then who are we to argue.”
After Jay spent a couple of years of research – actually just going around Phuket eating burgers – and studying burger competitions around the world, the inaugural Phuket Best Burger event was held in March 2015, with Xana Beach Club claiming top honours. In 2016, Kata Rocks were declared the winner, Thavorn Beach Village & Spa took home the coveted prize in 2017 and 2018, and then last year the winner was Prime Burger, and for the new Vegetarian and Vegan prize it was Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort.
This year’s event is set to be the biggest and best ever with over 25 burgers already entered as well as other great foods from Phuket businesses who will be at the event, including California Tattoo, Pura Organic Foods and gelato from Pluto Ice Cream.
The venue at Blue Tree is fabulous and there are some awesome sponsors, some such as Class Act Media who have been with the event since the start, Peter V James motion and stills and the amazing BBQ store.
There will be live music on stage from the Two Chefs band and Possible Chaos, the house band from Blue Tree Arena, as well as some great children’s activities organised by Kids Planet. There is also rumors that superstar international DJ El Tiburón.
The biggest change for this year is the judging panel. In the past five years there has been a group of judges who taste every burger. However, this year due to feedback from many of the chefs who have entered over the years organisers have decided to do a public vote this year, with no judges. More than 1,500 people visited the event last year and hopes are high to hit 2000 this year, with every one of those people having the right to say which is Phuket’s best burger.
Green matters to Phuket’s Best Burger and all the competitors have been told to use only sustainable or recycled plates and cups, and of course there will be no single-use plastic. The event will also be giving away an award to the competitor who has the least food waste. Everyone will be given a compost bin to collect all the food scraps and this will be put into Blue Tree’s very special compost machine to be composted down for use in the gardens and the new sustainable centre opening soon at Blue Tree.
So what does the winner get? Well not only do they get bragging rights for a year and the Phuket’s Best Burger trophy, they also receive a host of other prizes already totalling over B250,000, including B103,000 of advertising from Class Act Media, B25,000 of BBQ equipment from The BBQ Shop and B40,000 of photo and video production from Peter V James motion and stills.
Mark it on your calendar: Saturday, March 28 at Blue Tree Phuket, an event for all the family!