Monday, May 26, 2014

The Beaufort II

Update 27/1/2019: The Beaufort has, sadly, closed down and been replaced by a pizza place.

May 16, 2014


We've enjoyed the Beaufort's succession of burger-like veg meals over the past year-and-a-bit, especially the scorching Philly Cheese Fake and gone-too-soon battered tofu. Michael caught wind of their new kitchen venture and we made sure to give it a shot within the week. While the pub is still full of salty hipster bluebeard-alikes, the pool room's had a rack shack renovation.


This means ribs. Pork ribs, beef ribs, lamb ribs and... no kidding, vegan ribs! A half rack will set you back $15, but Michael insisted we share the full rack ($28) for full review. As you can see, it's quite the spectacle, and it's not even seitan. It's made of quinoa and corn, though it's no hippy-dippy patty. A thick crust and smoky paprika basting really bring the barbecue, and the rib 'bones' are softer-hearted vegan cheese sticks.

The ribs come accompanied by a pleasant medley of pickled vegetables and slabs of crumbling warm jalapeno cornbread.


Our side salad managed to hold its own against this showstopper - a creamy, nubby, lightly pomegranate-dressed bowl of lentils, avocado and pecans ($9). I could take or leave the slug of truffle oil.


This rack o' ribs is a novel and tasty contribution to Melbourne's mock meat market, and goes a little way to filling the Gasometer-shaped hole in our hearts and stomachs.
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You can read about our first visit to the Beaufort here.
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The Beaufort
421 Rathdowne St, Carlton
9347 8171

Accessibility: The Beaufort has a single step on entry and notably spacious table arrangement - mostly at standard height and with few tables at tall bar height. The rack shack is a little more crowded and includes an additional step up. The lighting's dim and the music is loud. Ordering and payment happens at a high bar, though food is brought to the table. We didn't visit the toilets.

11 comments:

  1. You do realise Gasometer has opened again?

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    1. Not only do we realise it, we've already blogged it: http://herestheveg.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-gasometer-hotel.html. Sadly, the new owners have steered away from the mock Americana that we loved so much.

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  2. Sometimes I feel like all I need in the world is ready access to cornbread.

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    1. Sweet and savoury and carby and filling - you might be onto something there, Hannah.

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  3. Is it really called rack o' ribs? That might be the make or break when it comes to me deciding whether or not to try them, ha ha...

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    1. veganpolous - it's vegan ribs from a rack shack so close enough, right?

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  4. Replies
    1. Hi Eat to Live! I was really quite impressed - hopefully it'll live up to your expectations.

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  5. Holy crap! That is something! I will have to take the boy there for this!

    We went to the Beaufort a couple of weeks back for the first time, and tried the vegan philly cheese fake - I thought it was okay but lacked a little texture - needed some chewy mock meat or something (it was full of capsicum in a cheesy sauce). Looks like they have sure made up for the lack of mock meat here though! Ha!

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    1. Hey littleveganbear - I've burned my mouth terribly on those tasty Philly cheese fakes more than once. The mushrooms worked for me!

      Hopefully you'll like these even ribs more.

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  6. Wow those vegan ribs certainly catch the eye - you definitely couldn't tell at first glance that they're not 'meat' ribs.

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