Bush, Redfern

Kangaroo curry puffs, all day pikelets and Sydney's best cheeseburger? Bush by chef owner Grant Lawn in Sydney's Redfern has established a strong following since it opened just over a year ago. And in today's tough new Covid world, it's still drawing in (socially-distanced) fans.  

Cheeseburger $15 with chips $6

The Bush cheeseburger is legendary and with one bite you'll know why. The bun is soft but not too doughy nor sweet. The blanket of bright yellow cheese oozes seductively. There's a good hit of tang from the thick sliced pickles and a generous splodge of burger sauce. But it's the beef patty that brings it all together, a reassuringly unevenly shaped patty that's charred and caramelised in all the right places. It hits all the right notes of an American cheeseburger executed oh so very well. 

Is this Sydney's best cheeseburger? It's definitely a front runner. Make sure you get chips too. Here they're old-fashioned crinkle cut chips, fried to a golden ridged crunch.

Nan's sausage roll $7

We're thwarted by last night's diners who ate the last of the kangaroo curry puffs (noooo.... shakes fist) but console ourselves with Nan's sausage roll. What the sausage roll lacks in length, it makes up for in girth, a hefty slice served with tomato sauce on the side.

This is a classic sausage roll made with beef mince, soft and juicy in the middle, encased in flaky pastry. 

Dirty vegetables $14

Dirty vegetables will balance all the fried food, right? Crisp iceberg lettuce and crunchy fresh cucumber slices are dressed with vinaigrette and pistachio smithereens, an assembly that tastes much cleaner that its namesake would suggest. 

Courtyard seating

We're seated inside but there's a cosy looking courtyard out the back too. An Australian bush theme extends throughout, from the Aussie fauna plush toys dotting the dining room to the beautifully raw timber tables, tree stump stools and native floral arrangements. 

 

Pikelets with assorted toppings $14

Fairy bread and butter pudding is one of their signature desserts but we skip this in favour of their all day breakfast pikelets served with a choose-your-own adventure assortment of toppings. 

Pouring salted caramel sauce onto pikelets

The salted caramel sauce is particularly good, its salty sweetness tempered by a caramel pushed to a satisfyingly bitter edge.

Pikelets with toppings

Classic honey with butter is great but the wattle seed cream is even better, topped with a rubble of crushed pistachios. 

Native Australian ingredients pop up throughout the entire menu, including wattle seed damper (sold out when we dined) and desserts that that use lemon myrtle and strawberry gum.

Bush

55 George Street, Redfern, Sydney

Tel: 0403 780 067

Open Tuesday to Saturday

Breakfast 7am-3pm

Lunch 12pm-3pm

Dinner 5pm-10pm

Takeaway is available. Call 0403 780 067 

Huxtaburger, Redfern

Burger fans rejoice. Melbourne's Huxtaburger is now officially flipping burger patties in Sydney. They're the second Melbourne burger lord to head north, hot on the heels of 8bit which opened in Darling Square in May.

Huxtaburger's first Sydney location is a clever one, sitting at the base of a recently completed student accommodation tower and only a stone's throw from Redfern train station.


Huxtaburger dining space

While Huxtaburger had an official open date of Saturday September 15, we acted on a hunch they were trading beforehand in soft launch mode. We rocked up and strolled right on in.

The dining space design is inner city grunge mixed with industrial chic. The vibe feels a little forced and over-stylised though, especially when the graffiti-covered walls are overlaid with feel good motivational messages like "Smash a burger. Smash Life" and "Every human is equal". Mmmkay.

Otherwise the menu reads much like its Melbourne counterparts. Burgers cover brekkie, beef and chicken. Vegetarians and vegans get to choose between the kale, zucchini and quinoa patty or the spicy bean and quinoa patty.


Cheesus beef burger $14

Out of the 8 variations of beef burger, we find Cheesus. The double grass-fed beef patty with double cheese and cheesy mayo isn't as hefty as you'd expect, but the melting puddle of cheese is pretty spiritual.


Double grass-fed beef patty cross-section inside the Cheesus beef burger

The beef patties are tender but they do have a somewhat spongy consistency. There isn't a great deal of caramelisation either, but there's a consolatory sweetness from the tomato sauce and pickles.


Britney chicken burger $13.90 

I'm a bigger fan of the Britney chicken burger, a towering assembly of fried chicken (you can also choose to have it grilled) with grilled bacon, aioli, cheese, lettuce, tomato and smashed avocado.


Hello bacon 

The chicken thigh fillet is impressively juicy, coated in golden fried breadcrumbs. And while the bacon could probably have been cooked to a darker crisp, there's a overall sense of harmony to this burger, the fried chicken and grilled bacon balanced out by crisp iceberg lettuce and creamy avocado.


Onion rings $6.50 

You can order chicken tenders, chips, hash browns or tater tots (called hash bites on the menu) as sides. We're all about the onion rings, their sweet translucency sheathed in crunchy batter.


Furphy ale $8.50 ($5 during happy hour 4pm-7pm everyday) 
and Shit The Bed hot sauce

Little self-serve condiment trolleys are situated at the front and rear of the store. From these you can help yourself to tomato sauce, salt and Shit The Bed hot sauce that really does stand up to its heat rating of 12/10. A liberal use of Scorpion chillies means this sauce has a Scoville rating of 35, 000 units. I'd recommend cautious dipping your food into this sauce rather than committing to a dangerous pour over.

And yes, Huxtaburger is licensed too. Choose from six beers, an apple cider or whisky and dry ginger ale. Wine drinks get just one red, one white and one sparkling. Happy hour (4pm-7pm daily) offers $5 Furphy ale, white wine or red wine. They also do milkshakes, soft drinks and Nespresso coffee.


Ice cream burger with chocolate sauce $3.95 

There's only one choice for dessert, the ice cream burger with chocolate or caramel sauce. Ours is missing the Huxtacrunch (crushed feuilletine?) promised on the menu but we're hoping this was just a soft launch glitch.

Keen to try the burgers yourself? Get there for their opening day party on Saturday 15 September for $1 Huxtaburgers from 12pm to 8pm. Expect craaazy queues. 






Huxtaburger
Shop C, 66 Regent Street, Redfern, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 8591 1108

Opening hours
Sunday to Thursday 10.30am-9.30pm
Friday and Saturday 10.30am-10.30pm


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Superior Burger, Wakeley

Superior Burger, Wakeley

Never before has Wakeley been searched so often in Google Maps. The reason? It's the home of Sydney's newest burger joint, the first standalone venture by Jovan Curic of burger fan favourite Pub Life Kitchen.

Let me save you the trouble. Wakeley is next door to Fairfield West. Curic - who grew up in nearby Carramar - has taken up residence in a nondescript strip mall complete with a massive car park. Forget about public transport to this neck of the woods. You'll need to drive.


Best in the West

The former takeaway shop has had its original timber panelling and glassed-in display cabinet retained. All that's missing from my childhood are a couple of arcade games in the corner. Double Dragon and Wonder Boy anyone?

The most obvious addition here is the Best in the West signage in neon, already beset by a flickering tube like every Hollywood movie you've seen.


Superior Burger menu board

Six different burgers dominate the menu. The grass-fed beef comes direct from a farm in the Hunter Valley. It's then salt-aged by Curic with patties made daily by Curic's dad, who himself opened Belgrade's first burger shop in the 1970s. Vegetarians don't miss out either, with a confit field mushroom burger sandwiched with cheese, slaw, mayo and smoked barbecue sauce.


Burgers up

There's more work behind the scenes than the menu lets on. The housemade sauce is made from roma tomatoes and garlic that is smoked in the alley out the back.


Toasting buns on the grill

Just like the old takeaways of yore, you can watch your burger cooked and assembled in the open kitchen - everything from your buns being toasted...


Melting cheese on beef patties

to watching cheese melt on beef patties over the grill.


Burger line

By 7pm on a Friday night, the place is packed. Takeaway trade is heavy. At 8.30pm, a cavalcade of 20 motorcyclists rumble in.


Superior Burger $15 + $4 for double smoked bacon
Beef, cheese, tomato, lettuce, superior sauce and pickles
Cheeseburger $14  + $4 for double smoked bacon
Beef, cheese, McClures pickles, onion, tomato sauce and mustard

It takes 20 minutes for our order to arrive. We go with the Superior Burger and the cheeseburger, both with added double-smoked bacon. The patties are cooked to a juicy medium with a beefy meatiness that carnivores will relish. There's no gumminess or sponginess here; and no greasiness either. The buns are perfect too - not too soft, buttery nor sweet.

We find the Superior Burger a little on the salty side. The cheeseburger is my clear favourite, with that satisfying tang of pickle (McClures, if you will) and mustard.



Beer battered potato scallop $1.20 each
Regular fries $4

Fries come wrapped up in butchers paper. Tearing that bag open brings back all those childhood memories.


Mash 'n' gravy $8

Mash 'n' gravy is a hefty portion, a mountain of creamy mashed potato drowned in gravy. You'll be wanting to dunk those fries in the gravy too.


Hot 'n' sticky wings $10 for 4
Beer battered potato scallop $1.20 each

The hot 'n' sticky wings are definitely for sweet tooths. We found these super sweet and not at all spicy. I did end up dipping my fries in the puddle of sauce at the bottom though.

And the traditional milk bar favourite of potato scallops are here too. The beer batter is a little heavier than we expect - and one of ours wasn't fully cooked through - but a few tweaks could make these a glorious throwback to yesteryear.


Fried chicken 'n' pickles $6 for 2 pieces

And you score a hefty portion of a thigh on the bone and a chicken leg in your fried chicken 'n' pickles combo. The crunch of that batter is deafening, and the flesh is super hot and succulent. Forget about two pieces. Pass me a bucket of these.


Cheeseburger with added double smoked bacon

We had no room for dessert - a rotation of flavours of soft serve and an ice cream sandwich. But we'll be back. They should have their alcohol license soon too - Coors on tap. Sweet.


Burger on the pass 


Pink flamingoes in the kitchen






Superior Burger
Shop 5, 30 Bulls Road, Wakeley, Sydney

Open daily 12pm-10pm


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Butter, Surry Hills - Fried chicken, sneakers and champagne

Let's make one thing clear. Butter is not for the fainthearted. Sydney's first fried chicken and sneaker store is unapologetic about calories, music and photos of lascivious young women posing with food. But you know what? The fried chicken is amazing, fat pieces of juicy flesh covered in a rubbled armour of golden crunch. Who cares if you lose an artery or two over dinner? Priorities.


Sneakers in the display window

You'll probably hear Butter before you see it, the throbbing base of its hip hop soundtrack sounding more like a nightclub than an eatery. And then there's the wall of kicks in the front window. Word is they'll be setting up their online store soon, but for now you can only recreate Audrey's Breakfast at Tiffany's scene, swapping a croissant for fried chicken.


Pabst Blue Ribbon $8 
Butter as F@#k slushie $12

The dining area is bigger than you first expect, a total of 42 high stools clustered around long benches, along the counter and tucked around smaller tables along the wall down the back. The butter logo in neon blue is hard to miss in the dim surroundings. The vibe is reminiscent of Eddie Huang's Bao Haus in New York - the only thing missing is a wall of graffiti.

Place your order at the bar. The impressive drinks list includes a handful of wines as well as an international roll call of beers (Mexican Tecate, American Pabst Blue Ribbon, Japanese Sapporo, Korean Hite, Kiwi Yeastie Boys Bunnamatta and local brewers Young Henry's and Batch Brewing. Half of the drinks menu is devoted to bubbles and champagne, everything from a Chandon Brut Rose from the Yarra Valley at $11 a glass to a bottle of MV Krug Grande Cuvee at $450 for maximum baller level.

There are usually three slushies on the go too - two alcoholic and one alcohol-free. The Butter as F@#k is a pink grapefruit and butter combo that is bewildering and refreshing, its echo of butter menthol lollies continuing long after you've finished drinking.

Butter isn't just a slick name for the business, we soon find out. It pops up as an ingredient everywhere.


3pac - 1 thigh, 2 tenders naked and a side of slaw $16
Extra thigh with hot AF sauce $4

There are three main staples on the menu: the chicken sandwich, the 3pac and fried tofu nuggets (all your vegetarian friends can join in the fun!). The 3pac yields one thigh and two tenders with a side of slaw. We throw in another thigh for $4 because I want the hot AF sauce, served on the side which turns out to be a godsend. That sauce is crazy hot, the kinda peppery insanity that tickles the back of your throat and infiltrates every crevice in your mouth. I dip the chicken in cautiously, take a bite and feel my pupils dilating as I start to sweat.

If you prefer to keep your tastebuds functioning throughout your meal, you can elect for lesser grades of hot, OG and naked (complete wimp out). They also do sauces $2 each. The smoked aioli feels a little OTT dipping fried into garlic mayo, but the buttermilk ranch is my favourite, especially if you combine it 50/50 with the hot AF sauce. Perfect.


Rubbly batter

But seriously. That chicken. It's an impressive feat, the batter providing a relentless rat-a-tat-tat of crunch. Chicken fillets make for easier eating, and yet there's still that succulency without the support of bone to keep in the juices. That's where the buttermilk comes in, soaked so the chicken maintains maximum moisture.


The chicken sandwich $16
with pickles, dashi butter and a side of slaw

The chicken sandwich looks innocuous enough, but take one bite and prepare for the river of dashi butter flooding your mouth. It's a scientific feat as to how they managed to drench such a soft milk bun with so much butter.

Just like the 3pac, you score a side of coleslaw smothered in mayo. Don't expect any relief on your arteries. The onslaught is hard and fast.


#sojuicy

Don't believe me on the juiciness of the chicken? Here's the proof.


Miso corny $4
Corn on the cob with miso butter

We skip the shoe string fries ($5) and go with the corn. You know what it came with. Butter. Every nook and cranny of this cob is slathered in miso butter. It's a marvel that the stuff hasn't melted and dripped onto the plate.

Head chef Julian Cincotta (ex-Nomad, ex-Rockpool and winner of the 2015 Josephine Pignolet Young Chef of the Year) laughs when we ask him. "It's all about the temperature of the corn when you butter it", he says with a knowing nod. He's right. The corn isn't hot but warm, and the miso butter - faintly salty but not overly strong in miso flavour - is the same temperature as well.


Size 13s $60
4 thigh pieces, 9 tenders, 2 sides of pickles, 2 sides of slaw and 3 sauces

For the true baller experience, you need to order the size 13s, a party pack of 13 pieces of chicken with pickles, slaw and sauces all packed up in a... wait for it... size 13 shoe box. The attention to detail with the shoe box label on the side is commendable. They also use the boxes for takeaway orders.


Peanut butter soft serve with Milo crack rock $6

The soft serve machine will run through different flavours each week. Tonight it's a creamy and smooth peanut butter with Milo crack rock sprinkled across the top. On other rotations expect salted caramel, strawberry and, you guessed it, butter.






Butter
6 Hunt Street, Surry Hills, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 8283 1329 (no bookings)

Opening hours:
Monday to Thursday 11.30am-10pm
Friday to Saturday 11.30am-11.30pm


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