Belfield on Botany

The first thing people will question at Belfield on Botany is the Vegemite mayo. It is used on Belfield’s signature burger with a cheese-topped beef patty and rocket. It’s a subtle iteration of the flavour in a burger that is surprisingly simple and easy to enjoy.

The venue’s four owners all grew up in the inner west. Another schoolmate, Maurizio Giraldi (Pendolino and Guillaume), was brought in to design the menu.

The pork burger has a pork-mince patty infused with peanut butter that’s topped with fresh slices of Granny Smith, kimchi and the house mayo. It’s less radical than it sounds. The peanut butter is slight, the apple crisp and the kimchi tart, and with a juicy pork patty it makes for a well-balanced burger.

The non-burger items on the menu include chicken wings, deep-fried mushrooms and tater tots. The Belfield version is crunchy and dusted with a peppery spice mix. It’s not the only ’90s throwback in the restaurant. The restaurant is covered in hip-hop insignia and what people used to call “urban graffiti”. Just beyond the entrance is a turntable with a seriously professional speaker set up that switches between Biggy Smalls, R. Kelly and more Biggy Smalls.