IF you’re a fanatical sports fan, boot it to Hale + Mary in Kingston. With wall-to-wall, high-quality sports screens (fabulous resolution) you won’t miss any game, across any sport.

I hear there’s more than 20 flat screens. You can even see sports, sports, sports in the reflections of the windows.

The bar is well stocked with local, national and international wines and beers so you won’t die of thirst waiting for your favourite team to score that top goal.

It’s an American sports bar-inspired menu, so the line-up of burgers is no surprise with choices from house-made sour dough, charcoal or a cornbread bun. We asked what the charcoal was and were told: “Ordinary bread, but black”. A bit more staff training needed?

Undeterred, we explored the burger options ($18 to $24), intrigued by the one featuring a chickpea pattie topped off with a sweet chili sauce, fried haloumi, baby spinach, onion jam and a balsamic reduction.

My maple-and-soy-cured salmon burger was beautiful and the sweet, crunchy and fresh apple slaw, and hot sauce mayo, delightful. My only recommendation would be to crisp up the salmon skin (I removed it). The salmon was succulent; I had backed a winner.

My friend ordered the “Hale + Mary Burger”, motivated by the three-line description of ingredients. It’s a double beef, bacon and tater tot burger (deep-fried, grated potatoes). You’ve gotta brace yourself before diving into this one. The tater tots were bland, but the remaining ingredients made up for it – smokey tangy relish, pickles, aioli, melted cheese. The only bummer was that I felt the patties were dry.

Burgers come with salad or chunky chips. We opted for chips, but next time will order salad. The seasoning was great, but the chips were a bit limp.

Other American-inspired dishes include smokey barbecue ribs that looked finger-lickin’ good (a serve passed by us) and Kansas wings.

The venue has been overhauled and serious thought put into the theme, including the massive colourful mural of a nun with striking blue eyes (and the most immaculate eyebrows ever), holding an American football.

Hale + Mary prides itself on being a restaurant, with full service. Tables are set with water and wine glasses and gold (yes, gold) cutlery.

While the staff are super keen and friendly, the service was erratic. My bet is it would be better to order at the bar, grab a number and enjoy streamlined service that way. We waited for some time before we could flag someone down to order a second glass of wine and then had to grab someone to get our bill. Then we waited too long for the privilege of paying.

Hale + Mary, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, seven days. 9/15 Tench Street, Kingston, call 6239 4455.