My food heaven: The Gasometer Hotel

It’s no secret that I absolutely adore The Gasometer Hotel. The menu has carnivorous, omnivorous and herbivorous options! Vegan, vegetarian and gluten free are all taken care of. The staff know which beers/ciders in stock are Vegan and double check whether you want a Vegan meal on all the menu items where it’s an option, they also have separate fryers and chopping boards and everything. The food is amazing and the atmosphere is great, but what really wins me over is the propensity for hot, tattooed, alternative people to gather there in groups. It’s like Windsor people but in Collingwood!

I’ve been there plenty of times but not nearly enough. I haven’t tried everything on the menu yet (and now they’ve changed it, drat!), and rarely have room for dessert. It’s still heavenly though.

Seitan ribs with beet & carrot salad, mac & cheeze

Oh yes, I hipstergrammed it. How’s about Seitan ribs with sides of Mac & Cheeze and beetroot salad? These ribs are possibly one of my most favourite meals ever. They taste just like any other ribs but without the greasy, stringy, animal bony bits. Seitan is quite filling though, so after this meal and a couple of beers, it’s almost impossible to fit dessert in. The mac & cheeze is more mac with olive oil and cheeze on top, it’s not cheezy all the way through, which is a shame but fairly inconsequential. Comfort food at it’s finest.

Chopped salad, leftover fries & pumpkin pie

The multi-talented and super organised Carla from Easy as Vegan Pie organised Veg*n drinks and the Radical ladies from the grocery store of the same superlative attended, as did the ever so lovely Marieke Hardy who I shared a mutual appreciation of lipstick shade with. Determined to actually fit in a slice of pumpkin pie with gingerbread ice cream, I elected to share the communal fries and ordered the chopped salad. Probably not quite enough food but I got pumpkin pie so I was happy. I love pumpkin pie a lot, and it is rare that I actually get to have it. The chopped salad was awesome too, just what I wanted and would be perfect in Summer.

Vegan Southern Fried Chicken burger

This isn’t actually my Southern Fried “Chicken” burger, but it’s a better picture than the one I actually ate. This is V’s burger, with the chipotle dressing and pickle which I was going to steal and then forgot because I was too busy with my Seitan ribs (not the ones you saw before either, but the ones below). The Forbidden Fruit apple cider that he ordered to go with said burger isn’t Vegan, just so you know. Probably an isinglass thing, which is pretty common. The burger is pretty amazing though, and is definitely one of my favourites. It even made the Top 5 burgers list in The Age newspaper.

Seitan ribs with greens & jalapeno cornbread

I had to order the ribs again, it was just necessary. They were different though. The sides weren’t in the cute dishes, which is okay, I can deal with that, but the ribs looked more like brownies that had been cut out of a big loaf instead of like the individual ribs I had last time. So loss of points for presentation unfortunately. They still tasted amazing and the cornbread was ace as well. The greens (browns) were pretty average though. I will still to salady sides from now on.  I didn’t have room for the new pumpkin pie sundae which was a shame because I thought I should probably try something on the new menu. I will be back for you, pumpkin pie sundae!

So yes, I absolutely adore The Gasometer Hotel, I love that they have Growler on tap and the bartender with the moustache who is absolutely rad. I don’t really love that Smith St is two tram trips away from my house but everything else is great. I need to go back and try the pulled “pork” roll and also order from the starters menu because I haven’t even touched it.

The Gasometer Hotel - Gasometer on Facebook - 484 Smith Street, Collingwood, ph: (03) 9417 5538.

More about The Gasometer: Vegan About Town, Easy as Vegan Pie; In The Mood For Noodles  and Where’s The Beef?