Kangaroo makes a burger with real Australian character, but its leanness demands a thoughtful partner. Fatty pork shoulder rounds the edges, bastes the patty from within and lets the iron-rich game flavour stay clear rather than dry. Pepperberry seasons the blend with a slow, aromatic warmth.

A sharp beetroot relish supplies sweetness and acidity, smoked cheddar brings familiar pub comfort, and wattleseed turns mustard mayonnaise nutty and gently roasted. Cider-pickled cabbage keeps the whole stack crisp, bright and practical to eat.

A burger can borrow the rhythm of a Spanish bar without turning into a costume. Here, chicken thigh keeps the patty juicy while fresh cooking chorizo brings paprika, garlic and enough pork fat to crisp the edges. The blend is assertive but still unmistakably a burger.

Charred corn folds through a smoky, lime-bright aïoli; sherry-pickled red onions bring snap; and manchego melts into the coarse patty. Butter lettuce and a properly toasted bun keep the architecture tidy and the flavours focused.

Duck loves fruit, smoke and spice, and this burger gives it all three without wandering into novelty territory. Pork shoulder softens the duck’s minerality and keeps the patty succulent; sour cherry sharpens a glossy hoisin barbecue sauce, while black vinegar, sesame and charred scallion bring the savoury snap needed to reset the palate.

A juicy duck-and-pork patty glazed with sour-cherry hoisin barbecue sauce, layered with black-vinegar sesame slaw, charred-scallion mayo and crisp fried shallots in a toasted brioche bun.

TAGS: burger week, duck burger, pork shoulder, sour cherry, hoisin, black vinegar, contemporary pub food, Asian-inspired

This is the sort of burger that smells brilliant before it even reaches the table: toasted cumin, coriander and fennel blooming through lamb, smoke clinging to the crust and harissa onions turning sweet at the edges. Beef brisket gives the patty structure and savoury depth without muting the lamb, while sharp cumin pickles and an assertive preserved-lemon toum keep every bite lively.

A coarse lamb-and-beef merguez-style patty with sticky harissa onions, quick cumin pickles, crunchy cabbage and punchy preserved-lemon toum in a toasted sesame milk bun.

TAGS: burger week, lamb burger, beef brisket, merguez, harissa, preserved lemon, Mediterranean, contemporary pub food

This burger borrows the instincts of an Italian sausage sandwich without becoming one. Pork shoulder supplies tenderness, pancetta seasons the meat from within, and toasted fennel gives the patty a fragrant, savoury lift. It is rich, but every layer has been designed to pull it back into balance.

Burnt capsicum agrodolce provides smoke, sweetness and vinegar; provolone gives a clean lactic melt; and a loose basil-buttermilk sauce runs into the craggy edges of the patty. Shaved fennel remains cold and sharp, bringing the snap that most oversized pub burgers forget.

A serious pub burger begins with the grind, not the garnish. Chuck gives this patty its beefy backbone, brisket brings richness and short rib supplies the loose, juicy texture that makes a proper griddled burger feel almost indecent. The toppings are built to sharpen rather than bury it.

Porter onions contribute roast-malt sweetness, cucumber pickles bring a clean malt-vinegar snap, and black garlic turns roasted bone marrow into a dark, savoury mayonnaise. Smoked cheddar and a butter-toasted potato bun keep the whole thing firmly in pub territory.

There is something gloriously reassuring about a steamed pudding arriving at the table under its own little dome. This one keeps the comfort but sharpens the edges: smoked haddock and sweet leeks sit inside a light suet crust, while brown butter, cider and parsley turn the sauce nutty, bright and unmistakably pub-minded.

Pickled mustard seeds cut through the richness like tiny bursts of malt-vinegar tang, and crushed peas bring sweetness and colour. It is old-fashioned engineering with a cleaner modern finish.

Panisse has the rare gift of behaving like proper pub food while remaining entirely plant-based: crisp outside, custardy within and built for dragging through something garlicky. Here the chickpea batter is perfumed with rosemary, chilled hard and fried into generous golden batons.

Artichokes braised with wine and herbs keep the plate savoury, almond skordalia supplies silk and heft, and a burnt-lemon salsa brings bitterness, salt and heat. It is Mediterranean in its pantry, contemporary in its plating and extremely good beside a cold lager.

Calamari rewards courage: a properly fierce pan, dry seafood and barely a minute of cooking. Against slow, paprika-rich chickpeas and cool saffron aioli, those smoky curls become the sort of generous Mediterranean plate that demands bread and another round.

Carrots rarely get cast as the main event, but roasting concentrates their sweetness enough to carry toasted wattleseed, cumin and lentils with confidence. Smoked labneh brings cool richness, while tart quandong and saltbush dukkah give the plate unmistakably Australian edges.

Mussels love bold, aromatic fat, and ’nduja turns their briny cooking liquor into a sauce with real swagger. A smooth cannellini cream softens the chilli while charred fennel and garlic-rubbed sourdough bring sweetness, smoke and crunch.

This is the pub roast re-cut with Australian edges: saltbush seasons the pork’s rich layers, sharp Davidson plum reins them in, and tea-smoked potato turns mash into a crisp, golden cake. Kohlrabi pickle keeps every mouthful bright.

Venison deserves the same confidence as a great pub steak: hard sear, careful resting and a sauce with genuine backbone. Juniper, cider and blackberry keep the game flavours bright, while black garlic turns traditional bread sauce into something darker and more compelling.

This is vegan cooking built on generosity rather than subtraction. Roasted eggplant wraps a bright almond ricotta, smoked tomato sugo supplies depth, and Sicily’s sweet-sour instinct arrives through capers, raisins and vinegar.

A vegetable-led main should never feel like the consolation prize. Here, salt-baked beetroot is lacquered in sharp caramel beneath crisp pastry, then balanced with cool goat’s curd, tart native quandong and a savoury walnut crumb.

Sticky date pudding earns its place on a pub menu by being shamelessly comforting. Malt deepens the sponge, burnt caramel stops the sauce becoming one-note, and orange brings just enough bitterness to keep the second spoonful as compelling as the first.

This is pub comfort with the volume turned up: meaty mushrooms stand in for steak, rarebit brings the savoury swagger, and cider onions cut through all that cheese with bittersweet acidity. It feels generous, but every component has a job.

Australia’s clean ocean fish and native pantry meet classical French sauce work in this assured dinner-party plate. A coarse macadamia crust protects the blue-eye, while lemon myrtle gives the beurre blanc a lifted citrus perfume rather than obvious sweetness.

Beef cheek is pub cooking at its most persuasive: an inexpensive working cut given enough time to become spoon-tender and deeply savoury. A tall horseradish Yorkshire pudding catches the porter gravy, while burnt shallots and a sharp parsley-caper relish keep the plate from becoming too polite.

Pumpkin is at its best when treated like a roast, not a side dish. Thick wedges are seasoned with smoky harissa and cooked until the edges are almost candied, then set over lemony white bean skordalia with a sharp-sweet pomegranate glaze and crisp sage.

Roast chicken earns its place on a pub menu through crisp skin and proper gravy, not novelty. A short cider brine keeps the breast succulent, while bubble and squeak is pressed into a bronzed rösti and the leeks are cooked dark enough to become sweet.

King prawns rarely need much interference; they need heat, butter and the confidence to leave the shells on. Here they meet sweet corn, bright finger lime and the resinous warmth of native pepperberry for a plate that tastes unmistakably Australian without turning the pantry into a souvenir shop.

Cabbage has spent long enough loitering beside the main event. Roasted hard until its edges turn sweet and smoky, then set beside crisp potato terrine and a dark onion-miso gravy, it earns the centre of the plate without borrowing a single thing from the butcher. A deeply caramelised cabbage wedge with crisp layered potato, silky parsnip cream, charred baby leeks, onion-miso gravy and sharp pickled walnut gremolata.

A lamb cutlet needs little persuasion, but a fistful of herbs and a lick of flame never hurt. Here, chermoula does the heavy lifting while smoked eggplant, nutty freekeh and blistered grapes turn a familiar grill plate into something built for a long Mediterranean lunch. Herb-crusted lamb cutlets with silky smoked eggplant, lemony freekeh tabbouleh, charred red grapes and a sharp, glossy lamb jus.

These are fishcakes with their boots on: deeply crisp outside, generously packed with hot-smoked trout and sweet leek within. Brown-butter peas, sharp celery pickle and malt-vinegar mayonnaise turn a familiar British pub plate into something brighter, cleaner and decidedly moreish.

Soft ricotta gnudi make a luxurious but light centrepiece for peak spring greens, sharpened with lemon myrtle and preserved lemon. Charred asparagus, a vivid pea-and-mint broth and buttery macadamia pangrattato give the plate freshness, smoke and proper crunch.

This sunny, savoury bowl treats Sardinian fregola like risotto, building layers of saffron, wine and good vegetable stock into every pearl. Crisp-edged artichokes and chickpeas bring substance, while charred lemon and briny olive pangrattato keep the finish bright and textural.

A salty-sweet glaze gives the classic pub pork chop a distinctly Australian edge, balanced by smoke, orchard sharpness and a deeply savoury crunch. Juicy bone-in pork, charred Savoy cabbage and silky apple-mustard purée are finished with crisp pork-rind and sourdough crumbs.

A glossy marmalade lacquer gives properly rendered duck breast the bittersweet edge of a very good pub roast. Crispy pearl barley, smooth parsnip cream and a sharp cider jus turn it into a composed plate without losing the comfort that makes it worth ordering.

The Italian saltimbocca idea gets a coastal turn here: sweet flathead, sage and prosciutto cooked until crisp-edged and savoury. Crushed peas keep the plate fresh while Marsala-lemon butter ties everything together in a polished main that still feels generous.

Firm pears are poached slowly in stout, brown sugar and winter spice until lacquered, then served with a cool burnt-honey custard and salty oat praline. It has the familiarity of a pub pudding without the weight: bittersweet, fragrant and make-ahead friendly.

Lean kangaroo loin is rubbed with native pepperberry, seared hard and served rosy over sweet roast beetroot, silky macadamia cream and a dark juniper jus. It is a confident modern Australian plate that treats a powerful ingredient with restraint, balancing mineral depth with smoke, acidity and gentle richness.

A thick celeriac steak is simmered until tender, crumbed with nutritional yeast and fried until properly golden, then paired with warm mustard lentils and a sharp apple-caper relish. This is vegan pub food with crunch, heft and enough acidity to keep every forkful lively.

Tender octopus is gently braised, hard-charred and laid over smoky tomato-braised butter beans with saffron aioli and sweet-sharp sherry raisins. It is Mediterranean cooking with proper pub generosity: bold, burnished and built for bread to mop the plate.

Toasty oat-and-coconut Anzac crumb runs through a silky frozen parfait, finished with coffee-scented wattleseed caramel and hot, lime-bright pineapple. Familiar Australian flavours land as a confident pub dessert: make-ahead, dramatic on the plate and generous without becoming heavy.

Deeply caramelised mushrooms, sweet chestnuts, thyme and brown ale are wrapped in burnished all-butter pastry, then paired with a glossy charred-onion gravy. It is a handsome vegetarian centrepiece with all the generosity of a proper pub pie and the polish of a dining-room main.

Sweet pumpkin is roasted until its harissa glaze catches at the edges, then set over lemony white-bean skordalia with crisp chickpeas and a sharp preserved-lemon agrodolce. This is a fully plant-based pub plate with enough richness, crunch and acidity to stand as the main event—not a compromise beside it.

Boned chicken Maryland is rolled around a punchy green-olive and herb stuffing, roasted until crisp, then served with golden polenta, blistered grapes and rosemary jus. It has the generosity of pub food, sharpened by Mediterranean flavours and a restaurant-style finish that remains practical for a confident home cook.

A polished pub plate of crisp ocean trout, smoked paprika potato cream, wilted warrigal greens and a sharp Davidson plum glaze.

Fast-cooked prawn skewers seasoned with saltbush and native pepper, served with a vibrant charred corn and avocado salad for relaxed summer entertaining.

A generous coastal pasta of Moreton Bay bug meat, cherry tomatoes, saffron and chilli, lifted at the table with fresh finger lime pearls.

Rich kingfish is marinated in white miso, roasted until lacquered and balanced with a sharp-sweet quandong glaze and crisp cucumber salad.

A crisp macadamia crumb protects delicate coral trout while brown butter, lemon myrtle and charred seasonal greens give the plate warmth, fragrance and distinctly Australian character.

A soft date sponge and plenty of warm sauce: a pub dessert that earns its place on the menu.

Roasted cauliflower folded through a punchy Cheddar and mustard sauce, piled onto toast and grilled until bubbling.

All the pleasure of fish and chips, with a crisp breadcrumb coating that is manageable in a home kitchen.

A thick pork chop gets a proper pub treatment: a hard sear followed by a quick sauce of cider, apple and sage.

A crisp, golden shell around sausage, black pudding and a soft-set egg, served with sharp mustard mayo to cut through the richness.

Slow-braised beef cheek, dark ale and glossy gravy beneath a burnished pastry lid — pub comfort with proper depth.

Crisp-skinned barramundi settled into a fragrant red curry with coconut, lime and the bright lift of Thai basil.

Crisp crackling, tender rolled pork and herbs in the heart — a Sunday roast made for long tables and generous glasses.