The Gem - Melbourne

The Gem lives up to its name! We came for my friends birthday dinner where we ordered the all you can eat BBQ Banquet.

I always loved the Gem for a drink in a comfortable neighbourhood feel bar when it was a mere 10 minute walk from my house, but with the addition of their

Well, with something live 35 reviews this place certainly seems to be a really popular place, but then again I worked that that the few times I've been here

Dropped in here for a pre dinner drink. The service was excellent from the barman. He was friendly and chatty.<br/ <br/ We ordered a Pirate Life Cherry Sour beer which was delicious. It was one of the best sour beers I’ve had.<br/ <br/ And we also had a Pirate Life Australian Pale which was equally as good. They have live bands and you may see the pic of it’s not moderated lol.

We recently went in a group of six. We booked for 7 but changed down as one person hadnt confirmed with me and the Gems confirmation said due to catering that unless full numbers attend $20 per head could be charged. Be aware if you book. <br/ <br/ The staff member we had was an upbeat guy who was friendly and helpful. He was the only waiter on a not incredibly busy Thursday Halloween night though we occasionally had to wait to grab him. The back dining room is just one of the options where you can be served a meal in the hotel you can eat in the bar which has some big tables or l believe upstairs is an option too but the dining room is a comfortable size and each area is air conditioned so important for summer visits.<br/ <br/ We all had the smoked brisket bun variations with gems or chips though l think we had one chicken burger order. All were about 16/17 bucks with $5 for added chips or gems. Not really cheap but not a terrible price as these are eat in prices. We also had a large mac and cheese to share $12. Absolutely nothing wrong with the sangas. Mine was great with the brisket being moist and tasty captured within a soft bun and l added jalapenos and cheese on mine. My gems were nice and crispy and the Mac and cheese was all the runny goodness of cheesy heaven youd expect. Our group concurred that they were all satisfied with their meal and nothing was left on the plates confirming it. I cant recall the beer on tap l had but it was good.<br/ <br/ Though if youre coming here it really does have to be a special occasion to splash out $40/$50 a head on the meat platters but for casual eating out the brisket bun gets you some of their best meat for cheap. For what we had we were satisfied.<br/ <br/ <br/ 2016 review. 3 rating<br/ <br/ We visited The Gem dining room recently. We ordered the 5 meats with 5 sides chefs choice tasting plate. Problem was when it came it turned out we had been served the 2 course taster. Fail badly lose points for not being able to take a simple order esp since it wasnt busy. We accepted the meal and had brisket and pulled pork with a bean dish and some slaw. We ordered corn bread as well as a side.<br/ <br/ The bean dish was flavoursome and surprisingly good. The slaw was just fine. The brisket was the star of the show being soft and tasty. The pulled pork was too dry and was sub par. Avoid it for sure.<br/ <br/ Overall a good meal and will be back to try some more meats.