The Brewhouse at the St George Hotel, Belmore

Brewhouse beef burger and chips $10.00
with lettuce, tomato, onion, beetroot and bbq beer sauce

What is our national cuisine?

I say head straight to your local watering hole.

I'm not talking about city bars filled with suits. I mean corner pubs out in the suburbs, where the blokes have one hand constantly glued to their beer glass, and their gaze stays locked overhead to the plasma screens showing the cricket. The locals notice the arrival of newcomers, but you only warrant a glance of curiosity before their heads swivel back to the cricket replay.

The menus here are for the masses. This is everyday food for the knockabout local on any given weeknight. And the food is always cheap and cheerful. It's a teenager's dream. A hungry bloke's desire. A carb-fest which is either deep-fried to a crisp or heavy in stodginess: "comfort food" by any other name.

Out in the courtyard of The Brewhouse in Belmore, the non-stop thundering traffic of Canterbury Road can barely be heard. Veruca Salt found out about their $7 steaks some time ago from a friend. She and A have been sometime-regulars ever since.



They both have the steak, whilst I opt for the burger. The beef burger is everything a true-blue Australian could possibly want for: a thick slab of seasoned beef mince grilled to a caramelised blackened crisp, a scattering of sweet fried onion rings, a dollop of tomato sauce and a smattering of salad that includes the most-important ingredient, a sweetly vinegared slice of pickled beetroot. It's served open on a lightly toasted sesame-topped bun, a gargantuan montrosity that I don't even attempt to sandwich together.

The accompanying chips are a little disappointing, only somewhat crunchy with a mealy dry interior that begs for gravy or tomato sauce. But the burger keeps me more than occupied and A happily eats half my chips anyway.


Brewhouse special 300g porterhouse and mash $7.00
(Selection of sauces $2.00 extra)

The porterhouse steaks are cooked to a juicy pink medium-rare as requested, although the $7 bargain increases to $9 if you ask for sauce (mushroom, peppercorn, red wine, gravy, smokey red pepper, tomato or the intriguing sounding beer chutney).

Beer in Food is a proud section of their menu, the result of a collaborative effort between their brewer and chefs, according to their website. This means you can enjoy a selection of beer-imbued dishes, like: beef n' beer pie topped with mash; beer-battered fish n' chips; beer-smothered steak n' chips; or beer-battered fries with sour cream and sweet chilli sauce.

That uni-student favourite, chips and gravy can be had for $5 and armadillo chips--with bacon, melted cheese, sour cream and sweet chilli sauce-- sound like a gooey stretchy mess from heaven.

The traditional steak sandwich is there, meat pies too, and of course there's salt and pepper calamari. It's all Aussie tucker. Served with chips of course.



The Brewhouse - Belmore
St George Hotel
618 Canterbury Rd, Belmore, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9718 1219

Monday - Saturday 10am til 3am
Sunday - 10am til midnight

More GrabYourFork posts on suburban pubs:
Ashfield Hotel, Ashfield
Forest Lodge, Glebe
Forresters, Surry Hills
La Cucina, Surry Hills
PJ Gallagher's, Drummoyne
Porterhouse, Surry Hills (May 05)
Porterhouse, Surry Hills (Nov 04)
Southern Cross Hotel, St Peters
Toxteth Hotel, Glebe