Best Burgers in Belfast: Pastie Bap and Beyond

The best burgers in Belfast cluster in the city centre and the Cathedral Quarter, around the university streets of the Queen’s Quarter, and along the Lisburn and Ormeau roads to the south. Look for burgers made with Irish grass-fed beef and, in the chip shops, for the pastie bap, Northern Ireland’s own cousin of the burger.

A Belfast pastie is not a baked pasty. It is a round of minced pork, onion and potato, shaped like a patty, dipped in batter and deep-fried next to the fish. Served in a soft white bap it becomes a pastie bap; with chips, it is a pastie supper. You will rarely find one outside Northern Ireland. At the weekend, St George’s Market, a Victorian hall a short walk from the River Lagan, is the place to graze on street food from local traders.

Burgers in Belfast: key facts

• Neighbourhoods to explore: Cathedral Quarter, the city centre, Queen’s Quarter, Lisburn Road, Ormeau Road and Titanic Quarter.
• Local specialty: the pastie bap, a battered pork and potato patty in a bap.
• Local beef: Irish Grass Fed Beef has been an EU protected geographical indication since 2023, covering the whole island.
• Sterling with a twist: prices are in pounds (GBP), and Northern Irish banks print their own sterling notes.
• Getting around: the Glider rapid buses link east and west Belfast and the Titanic Quarter with the centre.

Every guide we publish on Belfast is dated and lists only venues, addresses, prices and ratings we could verify. See how Belfast compares in our city-by-city burger restaurant guides.