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