No.7 Balmac Dunedin: Wood-Fired Burgers, Owner and Full History
Who runs the Māori Hill bistro, what its two apple-wood burgers cost in October 2026, and how it fits into the burger scene in Dunedin, New Zealand.
No.7 Balmac in Dunedin is a wood-fired neighbourhood bistro at 7 Balmacewen Road in Māori Hill. Restaurateur Katrina Toovey founded it in 2009 and still owned it when it turned 15 in October 2024. It is not a burger joint. It serves breakfast, lunch and dinner from a seasonal menu, and that menu includes two wood-fired burgers. One is the Balmac Cheeseburger at NZD 29 on the day menu. The other is a crumbed Eggplant Burger at NZD 27 on the day menu and NZD 30 at dinner (official menu, checked 11 October 2026). Go for the apple-wood grill and the garden produce. If all you want is a burger, Dunedin’s burger specialists are a better fit.
How I built this profile. I haven’t eaten at No.7 Balmac yet, so this is a sourced profile, not a review: no tasting notes and no score from me. The facts come from the restaurant’s official website (menus and hours read on 11 October 2026), the Otago Daily Times, Cuisine, Metro, NZ Woman’s Weekly Food, Restaurant & Café and Denizen. Each source is dated where I use it, and where the sources stop, I say so.
No.7 Balmac Dunedin at a glance
No.7 Balmac is a wood-fired all-day bistro in Māori Hill, a short drive uphill from central Dunedin, and it held one hat in the Cuisine Good Food Guide 2023.
| Detail | No.7 Balmac |
|---|---|
| Address | 7 Balmacewen Road, Māori Hill, Dunedin 9010, New Zealand |
| Phone | 03 464 0064 (+64 3 464 0064 from abroad) |
| restaurant@no7balmac.co.nz | |
| Hours (official site, 11 Oct 2026) | Mon–Fri 7am–late, Sat 8am–late, closed Sundays and public holidays |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Owner | Katrina Toovey (confirmed up to October 2024) |
| Style | Wood-fired bistro: breakfast, lunch and dinner |
| Grill | Texan-style wood-fired grill fuelled with Central Otago apple wood |
| Burgers | Balmac Cheeseburger (NZD 29, day menu); Eggplant Burger (NZD 27 day / NZD 30 dinner) |
| Critic rating | Cuisine Good Food Guide 2023: one hat, 17/20 |
| Website | no7balmac.co.nz |
Map: No.7 Balmac at 7 Balmacewen Road, Māori Hill, Dunedin 9010, a short drive uphill from the Octagon. Alt: Map of No.7 Balmac’s location at 7 Balmacewen Road, Māori Hill, Dunedin (Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0 (iframe embed, needs a local static poster image))
Who owns No.7 Balmac? Katrina Toovey, founder since 2009
Katrina Toovey founded No.7 Balmac and is the only owner named in any coverage. She opened the restaurant in 2009 after five years away from hospitality. Before that she had owned Nova Cafe in the Octagon, the heart of central Dunedin (Otago Daily Times, October 2024, a sponsored feature).
Her ownership turns up in coverage from 2018 (ODT), 2019 (NZ Woman’s Weekly Food) and October 2024, when the restaurant marked 15 years. I couldn’t find a source dated after October 2024, so treat her ownership as confirmed up to then. In 2018 she also owned The Esplanade, a restaurant in St Clair. I haven’t seen anything confirming she still owns it in 2026.
The No.7 Balmac timeline: 2009 to today
No.7 Balmac opened in 2009. A fire shut it in 2018, it reopened in 2019 with a new interior, and it turned 15 in October 2024. No other source I found puts the whole sequence in order, so here it is.
| Date | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Katrina Toovey opens No.7 Balmac with a Texan-style apple-wood grill in the kitchen from day one | ODT (Oct 2024); Denizen |
| Before 2019 | Billy Allan cooks there as chef and co-owner | NZ Woman’s Weekly Food (Aug 2019); Metro (Oct 2019) |
| Weekend of 18 Aug 2018 | A fire starts in the grill’s extraction flue; that night’s dinner bookings move to The Esplanade in St Clair | ODT (20 Aug 2018) |
| 2018–2019 | About 10 months closed; a pop-up café runs in the Octagon meanwhile | Metro; NZ Woman’s Weekly Food |
| 2019 | Reopens with an interior redesigned with Cheshire Architects; Penny Allan is head chef | Metro (23 Oct 2019); NZWW Food (19 Aug 2019) |
| 2021 | Greg Piner becomes head chef | Restaurant & Café (Jun 2022); Cuisine (2021) |
| 2023 | Cuisine Good Food Guide: one hat, 17/20 | Cuisine |
| Oct 2024 | 15th anniversary; Logan Wilson named as a chef | ODT (Oct 2024) |
| By Dec 2025 | Greg Piner has left to become head chef at Charley Noble in Wellington | Cuisine (Dec 2025) |
The corner of Highgate and Balmacewen Road in Māori Hill around 1975, with the Bulgers A1 Food Centre. This is the same street where No.7 Balmac opened in 2009. Alt: Historic photo of the corner of Highgate and Balmacewen Road, Māori Hill, Dunedin, c. 1975 (Photo: Dunedin City Council Archives (Photo B/41B), CC BY 2.0 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/95014006@N04/24673775480), 1024×700)
The 2018 fire and the 10-month closure
The fire started in the extraction flue of the wood-chip grill. It spread through the ventilation and the ceiling space on the weekend of 18 August 2018, which was also a University of Otago graduation day. Dinner guests booked that night were sent to Toovey’s other restaurant, The Esplanade in St Clair. The first estimate was a three-month closure (ODT, 20 August 2018).
It actually took about 10 months, and a pop-up café kept the team working in the Octagon in the meantime. I couldn’t confirm the exact reopening date or the pop-up’s address.
The 2019 Cheshire Architects redesign
No.7 Balmac reopened in 2019 with a dining room redesigned with Auckland firm Cheshire Architects. Metro described a red marble bar, mid-blue walls, oak and a raised ceiling.
The chefs behind the wood-fired grill
The owner hasn’t changed since 2009, but the head chef has. Four names come up in the coverage, all cooking over the same apple-wood grill.
- Billy Allan: chef and co-owner before 2019.
- Penny Allan: raised in Sydney. She started as pastry chef and was head chef by 2019, adding Middle Eastern influences. In 2019, Penny and Billy Allan held a share in the business (NZWW Food, Metro, RNZ). I couldn’t confirm whether they still do.
- Greg Piner: head chef from 2021, cooking Spanish and Mediterranean flavours over the apple-wood Texas grill (Restaurant & Café, June 2022). He later moved to Wellington to run the kitchen at Charley Noble (Cuisine, December 2025).
- Logan Wilson: named as a chef at No.7 Balmac in the October 2024 ODT feature. His title and whether he is still there are unconfirmed.
I couldn’t find a published name for the current head chef as of October 2026. Until the restaurant confirms one, the dishes below are credited to the kitchen team.
What makes the food different: apple wood and a 1,000 m² garden
Two things set No.7 Balmac apart: a Texan-style wood-fired grill burning Central Otago apple wood, and about 1,000 m² of garden on site. The grill has been in the kitchen since opening day (ODT; Restaurant & Café). The garden faces north towards Mt Cargill and has beehives. It supplies herbs, vegetables and fruit, and garden produce also goes into the house sodas and spirit infusions. NZ Woman’s Weekly Food also mentioned a grapevine and pear trees in 2019.
That’s why I file it as Dunedin’s bistro burger rather than a burger-bar burger. The beef goes over fruitwood, and the menu lists the rocket as garden rocket.
A cook working a restaurant kitchen grill. At No.7 Balmac, the Texan-style grill burns Central Otago apple wood and has been in use since 2009 (illustrative photo, not taken at No.7 Balmac). Alt: Chef cooking over a restaurant wood-fired grill, illustrating No.7 Balmac’s apple-wood grill in Dunedin (Photo: Negley Stockman, Unsplash License (https://unsplash.com/photos/LlVeX-d-2EI). Illustrative: an original photo of the apple-wood grill and the 1,000 m² garden with beehives is still needed)
No 7 Balmac menu: the burgers and their prices
No.7 Balmac has two burgers on its October 2026 menu: the Balmac Cheeseburger (NZD 29, day menu) and the Eggplant Burger (NZD 27 day, NZD 30 dinner). Chips cost NZD 6 extra. The menu changes with the seasons, so these are the prices on the official site on 11 October 2026 and may change.
| Burger | What’s in it | Price (NZD, 11 Oct 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Balmac Cheeseburger | Wood-fired beef, pickled beetroot, charred onions, garden rocket, mustard, milk bun | 29 (day menu); chips +6 |
| Eggplant Burger (vegetarian) | Wood-fired, crumbed and fried eggplant, chermoula cabbage slaw, mozzarella, pickles, green chilli sauce, mayo, milk bun | 27 (day menu) / 30 (dinner) |
No.7 Balmac burger prices on the official menu, 11 October 2026: Balmac Cheeseburger NZD 29 (NZD 35 with chips), Eggplant Burger NZD 27 at lunch and NZD 30 at dinner. Alt: Bar chart of No.7 Balmac burger prices in NZD, October 2026 (Chart: Burger Breton, from the No.7 Balmac official menu (no7balmac.co.nz, 11 Oct 2026), rendered with QuickChart, 1600×900. Localize the labels per locale and host it locally)
The Balmac Cheeseburger
The Balmac Cheeseburger is a wood-fired beef burger with pickled beetroot, charred onions, garden rocket and mustard in a milk bun. The beetroot is the most Kiwi thing on it. It’s a fixture of New Zealand burgers, and pickling it should push it from sweet to sharp. With chips, lunch comes to NZD 35. The website lists it on the day menu only, and I couldn’t confirm whether it’s also served at dinner. If you’re going in the evening, ask when you book.
Beetroot in a beef burger, the Antipodean classic. No.7 Balmac’s version pickles it and serves it with charred onions, garden rocket and mustard (illustrative photo taken in Melbourne, not No.7 Balmac). Alt: Beef cheeseburger with beetroot, like No.7 Balmac’s Balmac Cheeseburger in Dunedin (Photo: Alpha (avlxyz), CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/10559879@N00/4120172855), 1024×686. Illustrative: an original photo of the Balmac Cheeseburger is still needed)
The Eggplant Burger: the vegetarian option
Yes, No.7 Balmac has a vegetarian burger. The Eggplant Burger has crumbed, fried eggplant finished over the wood fire. It comes with chermoula cabbage slaw, mozzarella, pickles, green chilli sauce and mayo in a milk bun. It’s the only burger the website lists at both day service (NZD 27) and dinner (NZD 30). The chermoula and green chilli match the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean influences earlier head chefs brought to the kitchen.
A crumbed eggplant burger. No.7 Balmac’s vegetarian Eggplant Burger adds wood fire, chermoula slaw, mozzarella and green chilli sauce (NZD 27 day / NZD 30 dinner) (illustrative photo taken in Sydney, not No.7 Balmac). Alt: Crumbed eggplant vegetarian burger, like No.7 Balmac’s Eggplant Burger in Dunedin (Photo: insatiablemunch, CC BY 2.0 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/48041244@N05/23916058261), 1024×683. Illustrative: an original photo of the Eggplant Burger is still needed)
How No.7 Balmac compares with the best burgers in Dunedin, NZ
For a seated, all-day meal where the burger is one wood-fired option among many, choose No.7 Balmac. For a burger-first stop, Dunedin’s specialists are the better choice. Two of them, Good Good and Re:Burger, were ranked #3 and #9 in a ‘25 Best Burgers in New Zealand’ list reported by the Otago Daily Times. I couldn’t verify that list’s publisher, year or methodology.
| Venue | Format | Area | Why go |
|---|---|---|---|
| No.7 Balmac | Wood-fired bistro, breakfast to dinner | Māori Hill | Apple-wood grill, garden produce, two burgers on a seasonal menu |
| Good Good | Burger truck inside a warehouse | 22 Vogel St, Warehouse Precinct | Burger specialist, #3 in the ODT-reported NZ ranking |
| Re:Burger | Burger restaurant | Albany St | Burger specialist, #9 in the ODT-reported NZ ranking |
| Patti’s & Cream | American-style burgers | Dunedin | Classic American-style burgers |
Map: Good Good, the burger truck at 22 Vogel Street in Dunedin’s Warehouse Precinct, about 2.5 km south of No.7 Balmac. Alt: Map of Good Good burgers at 22 Vogel Street, Warehouse Precinct, Dunedin (Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0 (iframe embed, needs a local static poster image))
Sources for the specialists: Neat Places and Cuisine, ‘Dunners, you’re on’. Our Dunedin burger guide gathers the city’s burger venues as we cover them.
Is No.7 Balmac worth the trip to Māori Hill?
Yes, if you want a polished, relaxed meal built around wood fire and garden produce. Cuisine Good Food Guide 2023 gave it one hat and 17/20, calling it an ‘Ōtepoti all-rounder that ticks many boxes’, and mains were NZD 23–44 at the time (Cuisine). I couldn’t get a newer rating, so that 2023 score is the latest I can cite.
The weak spot for burger hunters is choice: two burgers, prices that move with the seasons, and no named head chef in 2026. My position: go to No.7 Balmac for dinner and order from the grill, burger or not. I wouldn’t cross town for the burger alone. For that, Vogel Street is closer to the point.
FAQ: No.7 Balmac Dunedin
Who owns No.7 Balmac in Dunedin? Katrina Toovey, a career restaurateur who founded it in 2009 and previously owned Nova Cafe in the Octagon. The ODT confirms her ownership up to October 2024; I found no later source.
Who is the head chef at No.7 Balmac now? No current head chef has been publicly named as of October 2026. Greg Piner, head chef from 2021, left for Charley Noble in Wellington before December 2025. Logan Wilson was named as a chef in October 2024, but his title and whether he’s still there are unconfirmed.
Does No.7 Balmac serve burgers, and how much is the Balmac Cheeseburger? Yes. The Balmac Cheeseburger is NZD 29 on the day menu, plus NZD 6 for chips (official menu, 11 October 2026).
Is there a vegetarian burger at No.7 Balmac? Yes, the Eggplant Burger: crumbed, fried, wood-fired eggplant with chermoula slaw, mozzarella and green chilli sauce. It’s NZD 27 on the day menu and NZD 30 at dinner.
Is No.7 Balmac open on Sundays? No. The official site (checked 11 October 2026) lists it as closed on Sundays and public holidays. It opens Monday to Friday from 7am and Saturday from 8am, until late. Some aggregators and a 2024 article still show Sunday hours, but they’re out of date.
What happened to No.7 Balmac in the 2018 fire? In August 2018, a fire started in the grill’s extraction flue and spread through the ventilation and ceiling. The restaurant closed for about 10 months, ran a pop-up café in the Octagon, and reopened in 2019 with a new interior designed with Cheshire Architects.
What makes No.7 Balmac’s food different? A Texan-style grill burning Central Otago apple wood, in use since 2009, and a 1,000 m² on-site garden with beehives that supplies herbs, vegetables, fruit and the house sodas.
Do you need to book at No.7 Balmac? I couldn’t find a published booking policy. Bookings are taken through the official website or by phone on 03 464 0064 (+64 3 464 0064 from abroad), and booking ahead for dinner is the safe choice.
Where are the best burgers in Dunedin, New Zealand? For burger specialists, try Good Good on Vogel St and Re:Burger on Albany St, both in an ODT-reported national top 25, plus Patti’s & Cream for American-style burgers. For a wood-fired bistro burger, go to No.7 Balmac in Māori Hill. See our Dunedin burger guide for the full list.
More New Zealand burger guides
No.7 Balmac is part of our New Zealand coverage. Read our BurgerFuel Wellington guide to locations, menu and prices, browse the burger guides for Queenstown, Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland, or explore every city on the Burger Breton restaurants hub.
