Best Sunday Roast in Melbourne - Contender # 1 The Gem

As winter rolls in my appetite for hearty warm meals grows. And so, my search for the best Sunday Roast in Melbourne begins. I estimate that I have at least 3 months worth of cravings up my sleave, and an eating partner with an insatiable taste for roasted meats.

The search begins at The Gem, 289 Wellington Street, Collingwood. The Gem is a little rough around the edges. The walls are plastered with gig posters and the pool table is missing a ball. All these things add to the warm, no bullshit atmosphere of the pub.

Onto the meal. For $18 you have a choice of roast pork or lamb, with veggies and Yorkshire pudding. The lamb is a good size meal, with juicy meat, gravy, roast potatoes, parsnip, carrots and peas. Best of all is the yorky pud. Yum, yum, yum. My fellow dinner says in summary, "at first I was mad that the pudding was soaking up all my gravy, then I took a bite and I was in heaven. Gravy heaven. I would come back for the gravy alone".

Now I don't know if the Gem is going to be the best roast in Melbourne, but for the first cab off the rank, the standard has been set. My only critique is that the potatoes could have been better roasted, and I am not a fan of frozen peas, ever. At $18, the Gem represents good value.

Have you eaten at The Gem?

North Fitzroy Arms

296 Rae Street, 
North Fitzroy 

Jeff and I have driven past the North Fitzroy Arms about a hundred times in the last few months. Every time I say 'Oh we should go there!' It's getting old, but tonight we finally remembered to check it out! 

Tucked away in quiet Rae Street, the Arms is a sweet little local with a bar at the front, a restaurant out the back and a pretty good menu. There are plenty of gluten free and vego options and heaps of wine by the glass. 

Tonight I had a seafood spaghetti with chili and a glass of Mornington Peninsula Pinot. 

Jeff had the fish of the day which was Atlantic Salmon on a light tomato risotto.

Both dishes were excellent. My seafood pasta was light and fresh tasting, the prawns and mussels were juicy and the chili really lifted the white wine sauce.

The service was friendly and the atmosphere was relaxed and warm. Its seems like a place that a lot of people love, people seem at ease here.

Both our mains and a glass of wine each came to $66. We really loved the Arms and were talking about what we wanted to order next time.

The Railway Hotel

I've been travelling past the Railway Hotel in North Fitzroy every weekday for around 4 years now, and I have never really been tempted to go inside. One rather peculiar visit to the bottle shop put me off going back. The mixture of stark white linoleum, old men and decor which hasn't been updated since 1975 made me feel like I was invading a sanctum of sorts. It didn't really have the welcoming vibe.

Now, I'm going to put this out there, I'm kind of looking for a new local. Its been a few months since I have been located across the street from the Lomond, and the promises I made about always going back have been  broken. A recent visit to the bottle shop saw Jeff confessing to James how much he misses him...and I realised that I also have a gaping hole in my heart!

This review by the Age and a few reassuring words from my old neighbour were enough for me to coerce a few friends to have a pub meal on a Thursday night. Maybe the Railway could be the one...the Empress had failed me, maybe her homely neighbour could be the place for me....I was gunning for the Railway from the start. I WANTED it to be good.

I wanted it so bad that I wasn't put off by the kitchen closing at 8:30pm. And I wasn't put off by the Fluor lighting, or the lack of music...or the weird old guys ogling my girlfriends legs...I only saw $15 parma and $15 jug of beer and the hipsters lurking on the tables at the back of the restaurant. In retrospect, maybe this wasn't such a good sign.

Without going into to much negative detail, the parma was ok- nothing special. The wiener schnitzel is defiantly not top quality veal (and possibly not veal at all) and the chicken cacciatore was reportedly like eating a greasy pigeon. Not the good kind...the diseased kind that live at Flinders St Station. 

HOWEVER, I am not giving up on the Railway. It's certainly not going to take the place of the Lomond in my heart, but the pool table and beer garden look pretty appealing for a causal weekend afternoon. The beer garden is pretty impressive, and the beer is served cold.

Lomond Hotel

225 Nicholson St Brunswick East

I feel really odd writing a review about my local pub. Obviously I like the place, I have been going there on a semi regular basis for 3 years. But I feel that this steak is worth talking about...seriously its an excellent piece of meat.

The Lomond Hotel is situated at the end of the 96 Tram line, conveniently located across the road from 3RRR Radio Station and a minutes walk from my home. They sever counter meals in the front bar, and have fresh flowers and white linen table cloths in the restaurant. Its a pretty stunning contrast, but it seems to work exceptionally well. 

Our visits here are pretty routine these days. A bottle of wine, the eye fillet with sweet onion jam and potato gratin, medium and a porterhouse with mustard, medium/rare. Occasionally we will order the oyster killpatrick. The steak is without question, the juiciest, best tasting beef I have had anywhere else in Melbourne. It is always cooked perfectly, and I am rarely disappointed. I will almost never order a steak at another restaurant. The only rival  I have had was at Punch Lane in Little Bourke St over a year and a half ago. This is the kind of consistency that makes a local so special.

Besides the steak, the rest of the menu is pretty top notch, but does lack in vegetarian mains. You could have a herb crusted rack of lamb, a Roo fillet, pork belly or chicken wrapped in prosciutto with sage butter. The wine list is also worth a mention, there is a good range of local and NZ wines and are generally priced between $26-$45. If you don't know what to choose, ask for a recommendation from James.

The Lomond is like the little place that could. Its not the fanciest Pub out there, but it give the local community what it asks for. There might be a few undesirable characters lurking out the front or in the bar, but this is Brunswick! These are the people that live here. If you give this place a miss because you don't like the look of the guy smoking out the front, you are only cheating yourself, because he might be eating the best steak this side of the Yarra.

I don't want to rate the Lomond, but I will give it the honour of being my Local.

Mrs Parmas- Melbourne

25 Lt Bourke St Melbourne
www.mrsparmas.com.au

At Mrs Parmas apparently size does matter. Your Parma will weigh no less than 230g and will be lovingly hand crafted by a Chef trained in the mysterious art of Parmology. I like a good Parma as much as the next person, but apparently not as much as some.

Days before visiting Mrs Parmas, my work colleagues had been talking up a storm about the place. Who could finish the whole thing? what flavor are you having?? I heard there is one called Parma'geddon? Indeed there is.

I once lived with a nice Kiwi chap who didn't really get what all the fuss was about, "Isn't it just cheese and sauce on a schnitzel?" he asked? Well yes, it is.

However, At Mrs Parmas the concept has been taken into an whole other stratosphere. There are no less than 10 different toppings, on either chicken, wiener schnitzel or egg plant. And salad and chips are always served on the side, not UNDER the parma. Geeez, now its getting complicated.

Good news for those who don't wish to have a heart attack on the way back to the office, there is a menu offering bistro classics. The Polenta salad didn't look to bad, and the token vegetarian reported that it was edible.

Not only is Mrs Parmas a haven for those who love the deep fry, it is also a beacon for those who like a micro brew. In particular, a Victoria one. I really like this concept, and went for a Coldstream Cider. It was marvellous.

While the idea of devouring a parma the size of a dinner plate for lunch doesn't get me as revved up as some, I must say, it was pretty good. It is obvious that quite a bit of love has going into the operation of this place. Considering I dined in a rather large goup of 20, including gluten free and vego's, the service was efficet and friendly.

I probably wouldn't return to Mrs Parmas for a causal meal, but I just might pop in for a cider, or a Mildura Storm Cloud Ale. One this occasion I offer 14/20.