Five burgers are left in the race to be crowned Burger Wellington champion for 2026 after a record-breaking public vote.
Visa Wellington On a Plate has announced Bellbird Eatery, Elemental Eats, Lazy Juan, Sushil’s Musclechef Kitchen and Café, and The Old Quarter as this year’s five finalists.
A total of 35,645 votes were cast during the competition, 13,759 more than last year, according to Wellington On a Plate.
The finalists will now face an independent judging panel at the Burger Wellington cook-off on Wednesday, 26 August, where the overall 2026 champion will be decided.
Among the finalists are Elemental Eats with What’s the Buzz?, featuring a smashed beef patty, bacon, mozzarella, onion crisps, espresso BBQ sauce and aioli.
Lazy Juan is in the final with Marites, combining a smashed beef tapa patty with ube cream cheese, rocket, sinamak balsamic reduction and calamansi honey aioli.
Sushil’s Musclechef Café has The Street Whisper, built around South Indian spiced twice-cooked chicken in Manchurian sauce with Napa cabbage coleslaw, crispy noodles and kimchi ketchup.
The Old Quarter’s Squeal the Deal features phở broth-braised pork belly, cheese, bacon, pickles and sweet and spicy honey mayonnaise, served with fries and Vietnamese beef stew dipping sauce.
Burger Wellington ran from 3 to 23 August as part of the month-long Visa Wellington On a Plate festival, which continues until 31 August.
The five finalists were determined from public ratings before progressing to the final judging stage.
Last year’s Burger Wellington title was won by Te Papa Café with its pork boil-up inspired Āhuru Kai Kōhua Poaka.
The 2026 winner will be announced following Wednesday’s cook-off.
