The Gem Bar and Dining Room: 289 Wellington Street Collingwood

For something completely different, we visited the Gem Bar and Dining Room in Collingwood. This is a grungy, rockabilly, 90s esque Newtown (Sydney) bar that serves American BBQ classics, only with better produce (in my humble opinion).

I ordered the beef brisket because the last time I had brisket in Melbourne (at Meat Mother Richmond) I was so seriously drunk I thought it was the best food ever (I may have annoyingly said that ten times over while I was devouring it). Since I was drunk that is an unreliable memory that needs to be tested (disclaimer: I have never been game to try brisket in America as I am afraid of mass produced grain fed feedlot beef, but I digress).

The Gem served me brisket that well and truly lived up to expectations. It wasn't just tender and juicy, which most places these days can master, it was also rich and smoky and just yum. If all brisket tastes like this, it is amazing (I'm totally getting Senor Gringo a smoker for xmas). Coupled with home made pickles and hand cut fries, we had food gold (although I did skip the okra, that was just a little weird).

My friends had the pork brisket (also similarly smoky with seasoning you wish was one of your family secrets), the cheese burger (suitably with the jack cheese and onion rings) and the smoked eggplant and mushroom veggie burger. All of us were happy except my vegetarian friend, who thought her burger tasted too meaty (she is not one of those vegetarians that would eat mock meat products or anything that reminds her of actual animals - no fakin' bacon here).

I loved this place and not just because it was nostalgic and reminded me of the inner west in Sydney but because the food was great and it had a fantastic vibe. With a place like this around the corner I would probably go out to pubs more. It was a perfect Sunday evening.