james test

June 27, 2017 Our mate Kate recently suggested The Yarra Hotel as a potential venue for our book club. The two factors in its favour are that this pub has half-price vegetarian meals every Monday and Tuesday night, and room for dogs in the beer garden. We figured we'd best test the food and pooch space before our next club meeting. The menu has abundant veg*n and gluten-free options, all pretty well labelled; the veg dishes are often matching pairs to more traditional meaty ones. It's hearty fare: six kinds of burger (with a veg patty that can be subbed into any one), parmas (chicken or eggplant), ribs (pork or vegan mock), toad-in-the-hole (beef or veg sausages).  Kate was excited to see Hungarian-style cabbage rolls ($11) on the menu. The vegan version is stuffed with mushrooms, then served with pickled peas, dill sour cream, and a beetroot puree that was most unexpected and most appreciated by Kate. Michael took on the vegan hoisin ribs ($12), a thick and flavoursome wodge o...

May 7, 2017 The Snug has been promising weekend breakfasts ever since they introduced their vegan menu last year , and they debuted mornings this month! Sharp-eyed Michael noticed it from the street within two hours of opening but I kept him waiting further 23 before letting him loose on the Big Breakie ($19). This is an enormous shallow bowl with sourdough toast and margarine, two rashers of the best streaky facon, a Tofurky sausage, scrambled silken tofu, grilled mushrooms, a golden hash brown, tub of baked beans, and bonus unlisted grilled cherry tomatoes. Michael attacked it with gusto, saw the meal through, and skipped lunch entirely as a consequence. I took a little more time to choose than Michael. Fruit toast excepted, the menu is all savoury, and it's dominated by carbs and mock meats. On another day I'd be drawn to the Facon Butty or the BLAT; there's also Bacon and Eggs (facon and scrambled tofu) for those who like to mock the simple things. But I was on the look...

April 30, 2017 We used to love The Tramway Hotel, it had fancy burgers with vegan options, an open fire and relaxed vibes. The pub changed hands a few years ago and shifted direction slightly, but we'd heard good things about the new menu and have been meaning to go for ages. On Sunday arvo we had the perfect excuse - our friend's band Crop Top were playing a gig, meaning we could combine punk rock and vegan junk food. The menu is very veg-friendly, with a couple of vegan burgers and a vego one, heaps of sides and a vegan sundae for dessert. We went a bit crazy and ordered way too much food. Cindy couldn't resist the vegan mac and cheese ($12) and friends recommended the vegan mushroom poutine ($16). Foolishly, we also ordered a vegan whipper burger ($15) and the chipotle fried brussel sprouts with lime and coriander aioli ($12 - we weren't sure if the aioli was vegan or not). The poutine was out of control, with fat chips slathered in a chunky mushroom gravy and heaps...

March 10, 2017 When we're feeling lazy on a Friday evening, we're lucky to have the Snug close by. (South-siders can no longer say the same, with their St Kilda sister closing this month .) We've been pleasantly surprised to find that even as folks clock off for the week, the back garden is not necessarily packed with drinkers and smokers. Their vegan menu has stabilised somewhat since our first visit . Michael went back to the bangers'n'mash (now $26) - it's a filling but not over-the-top serve with a lovely red onion gravy. Little else on the menu looks familiar but plenty looks appetising, from cauliflower poppers to shepherd's pie, spaghetti alfredo and three mock burgers. I took on the fillet-no-fish burger ($20) - it's a really nice rendition based around the excellent Gardein fillets, with a soft-but-not-too-sweet bun, tartare sauce and salad. Chips were abundant, cut thick with the skin left on. (I should've hunted down some sauce for them....

February 4, 2017 We're thrilled to see the AFLW burst onto the sporting calendar, and made our way west for the Bulldogs-Dockers game with some friends. It was a great excuse to stop by the Rev for dinner. We really haven't made it here as often as this veg-friendly pub deserves - and with a big for-sale sign visible out front, our days to make the most of it might be numbered. The menu is four pages of deep-fried snacks, Mexican-style mains, burgers and pizzas, with a couple of desserts snuck at the end. While it's an omni spread, almost every item has a vegan option on it using mock meat and dairy; there are a respectable range of gluten-free versions too. We were in the mood for burgers! Michael took on the Big Rev Burger ($18) and was impressed by mock-beef patty. It was further layered up with vegan cheese and bacon, beetroot relish, jalapeno mustard, chipotle lime mayo, lettuce, tomatoes, onion and a pickle garnish. It comes with a hefty serve of spicy fries, too. I ...

23/03/2017: Unfortunately the St Kilda Snug is now closed ! You can still visit them in Brunswick. December 10, 2016 We had a good time checking out the new vegan options at The Snug in Brunswick and heard rumours that the St Kilda branch was even more impressive. Cindy and another friend scheduled their big joint birthday dinner there so we could check it out - we filled up a couple of the outside tables on a busy Saturday evening. The menu is ridiculous - more than 50 vegan or veganisable dishes with an emphasis on mock meat and fried food (although there are a handful of healthier options if you're that way inclined). Think The Cornish Arms with a bit more traditional Irish pub food. We kicked things off with a round of fried treats for the table. The battered sausages ($10) are more batter than sausage - gloriously oily lumps of fried that are not for the faint hearted. I ate more than my fair share of these, which left me struggling by the time the meals came out later. Thin...

Cheap Eats 2006, a decade on November 22, 2016 Hotel Lincoln (now called The Lincoln) has had several changes in management in the decade we've known it. This has meant a few makeovers in look and menu, although I think the atmosphere has been pretty consistent. The front bar has the typical Melbourne pub feel, while the dining room out back is much fancier. There have never been more than a couple of vegetarian options available, although we've enjoyed the ones we've had. When we visited as part of a large group recently, we were happy to order their set menu (The Half Lincoln, $45 per person) and let them show us how broad their vegetarian options really were. The appetisers were light and fun - individual crackers piled with pink pickles, and kelp-salted edamame that kept our hands busy as we chatted. One of the meal's high points was the shared entree of roasted cauliflower with a medley of buckwheat, pomegranate seeds, currants and mint. The puffed-up crunch of the...

October 19, 2016 I was pretty shocked when I read Faye's post about the vegan options at St Kilda's version of The Snug Public House - the Brunswick branch has always seemed quietly charming but very, very meaty. Luckily for us though, the St Kilda vegan menu seems to have gone well, prompting the owners to start rolling out vegan options out near us. We dropped by with a couple of friends on one of their first vegan-friendly nights to check things out. It's a small pub, with just a handful of tables inside and a few more in their cute little courtyard.   They were still sorting out the menu when we visited - there were just four dishes on offer and things were still changing from night to night. They're promising that a bigger menu is on its way, including vegan options for weekend brunch. Exciting times! The kitchen got us started with Guinness bread and Nuttelex while we workshopped our options. In the end, with four dishes to choose from and four people eating, it ...

July 4-6, 2016 This year I was in Washington DC for the 4th of July. Lodged in a hotel just blocks from the US Capitol, I anticipated garish, crowded celebrations and mawkish patriotism. I found little of it, just the floats pictured above and a glimpse of the evening's telecast. At this time of year the National Mall actually hosts a Folklife Festival that casts a spotlight on another country and culture. In 2016 the festival presented Basque culture. We witnessed metalsmithing, pottery, stone-cutting, boat construction, weaving, painting, cheese-smoking, sports, singing and some truly unique performance. It was tough to imagine what was to come as we watched a troop of men (pictured above, click to embiggen), in what looked like petticoats and soft dancing shoes, lacing each other into furry coats as if they were corsets and strapping enormous bells onto their backs. Joaldunak proved very entertaining, and gave a friendly, generous translated interview about their village tradit...

January 14, 2016 We headed down to Hobart on Thursday for our annual pilgrimage to the wonderful MOFO festival . With no gig-going planned for our first night in town, we met up with some friends to suss out some bars around Battery Point. We started off at the cute and difficult-to-find tiki bar South Seas Cocktail Lounge , which got us started with some lovely cocktails. The cocktails left us keen to find dinner somewhere close by, so we ducked around the corner to Preachers , a burger-focussed pub that we knew had a few vego options. The wind had kicked up too much for us to enjoy the beer garden (complete with school bus), so we huddled inside and looked over the menu. It's surprisingly veg-friendly - there's a vegan pumpkin and mushroom burger and a vego felafel one, plus a good array of fried small plates and a salad. I was pretty psyched to try the vegan burger, but Cindy returned from the bar with the surprising news that Preachers had somehow run out of burger buns at ...

October 31, 2015 The latest incarnation of the Gasometer has been open a year and a half, offering a steady stream of gigs and gastropub meals ... except that the kitchen's just been rebranded Gas-Light Izakaya! We stopped in early for dinner before swinging around to the band room for Dan Kelly's album launch . The menu doesn't pay much mind to special dietary requirements - there are more than enough dishes to sate vegetarians, but vegans and coeliacs are likely to have a tougher time of it. The fried cauliflower florets ($9) were huge and hard to maneuvre with chopsticks, but had the right balance of crunchiness and tenderness. The accompanying sweet and sour sauce only left us hankering after the spicier version we've made at home. The jalapeno and cheese korokke ($5, foreground) was also expertly fried, though we were ambivalent about the warm mushy filling ( Smith & Daughters has really spoiled us for any other croquette!). We were more taken with the tofu ...