Belted Burgers – From farm to fork

The last time I visited this Frederick Street venue it was a Chinese restaurant, Wok and Wine but it’s now been transformed into a Belted Burgers, where it’s all about the burgers and provenance is everything. EdinburghFoody was invited to join some other bloggers to find out more.

The Braveheart burger

The Braveheart burger

Hosted by Suzie, step-daughter to owner Jenny and Suzie’s father, Steve Gilchrist, we were welcomed with a rather delicious cocktail, with me choosing a passion fruit martini, before being seated at a communal table to hear more about the concept and what Belted Burgers is all about.

A passion fruit martini

A passion fruit martini

For a Monday night, this windowless, basement restaurant, which is entered from street level, was surprisingly busy with young, 20 and 30 somethings enjoying good honest grub, chat and a convivial atmosphere. I’m not sure whether they were students tempted in by the 15% off discount on food everyday promotion (and before 5pm on Fridays and Saturdays) that’s promoted at their door, but if they were, I’d like their student budget as they all seemed to be quaffing bottles of fizz with their burgers.  Most decadent!

From farm to fork

The inspiration behind the ‘Belted’ brand comes from the picturesque Galloway countryside, where a backdrop of seasonal colours is complemented by the classic black and white of the Belted Galloway Cow.

The Belted Galloway Cow

The Belted Galloway Cow

Belted Burgers ethos is simple: food with history; food with taste; fresh daily; served with style. They take Galloway raised cattle from their friends and farming partners in Dumfries and Galloway, South West Scotland, where the rainy climate is perfect for raising quality cattle. They use all the prime cuts of their Galloway-raised beef to create their unique ‘Belted’ patty.

From farm to fork - provenance is everything at Belted Burgers

From farm to fork – provenance is everything at Belted Burgers

It was evident how important provenance is to them and they are proud of the fact that their meat is traceable, and they know how the food on our plate got there. It really is a case of from farm to fork.

‘B’ is for Belted Burgers

Us bloggers got to choose from the best of Belted’s burgers, which are all named with a ‘B’.  It was a toss-up between the Bru Burger, a Belted beef burger with slow cooked pulled pork in their own Irn Bru sauce, beer battered onion rings and Scottish Cheddar, or the Braveheart burger.   I finally opted for the latter, a juicy Belted beef burger, smoked bacon, cheddar, red onion relish, haggis and neep bite and whisky mayo.

The Braveheart burger

The Braveheart burger

I’m not a huge fan of the burger bun so ended up eating mine with a knife and fork, rather than the traditional, messier way with one’s fingers but the offering of home-made coleslaw rather necessitated some cutlery. The other sides of onion rings and some more crispy, haggis and neep bites, really complemented the food, as did the little basket of fries.

At Belted they pride themselves on being able to offer a 100% gluten-free experience from food to drink, and they have a gluten-free, allergen-free bun, which is specially made for them.  They also cater for vegetarians with their Botanic burger, a Portobello mushroom, grilled red pepper, red onion and goat’s cheese creation and there’s also chicken breast burgers on offer too but with the beef being the star of the show, it would have been rude not to try their speciality.

Cream of Galloway whisky ice-cream

We finished with a scoop of Galloway whisky ice-cream, made especially for them, served with a smoky shot of Bowmore malt whisky and a rather cute little burger made from jelly. I poured some of my Bowmore over the ice-cream, my version of an alcoholic ice-cream float, and thanks to a few of the table ‘not liking whisky’ did rather well on acquiring a few extra shots to savour, with a little water, to open up the flavours.

Cream of Galloway whisky ice-cream and a shot of Bowmore

Cream of Galloway whisky ice-cream and a shot of Bowmore

We had a great evening and I can guarantee you’ll be loosening your belts by the time you’ve finished your dinner. My only complaint is that I can’t get that student discount as a 15% food discount’s definitely worth having (I really need to look into getting that fake ID as students seem to get all the good deals in the city).

Dance the night away at The Friday Sesh at Belted Burgers

However, if you do fit this bill, you may want to stop in here before you dance the night away at nearby popular student haunt, Gabribaldis, on Hanover Street. But then again, if it’s Friday night, you may just want to start and finish your night here as at the Friday Sesh, you can get some good scran, promo cocktails and a wee boogie before the night kicks off with a DJ on from 8pm till late.

Belted Burgers
57a Frederick Street
Edinburgh EH2 1LH
Tel:  0131 260 9748

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About Kerry Teakle

Working in communications during the day, by night, Kerry is a self-confessed culture vulture and foodie, and can be found lapping up anything culinary or to do with the arts.

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