Top 6 Gluten-Free Bars to Unwind in Fitzroy

Zoe Marshall

Full disclosure I was never vegie bar’s hugest fan as the food for me has always been largely average in quality so even as a vegan I haven’t eaten here for years. However when it was one of my friends turn to choose a restaurant for the three of us he chose this one (he has a proven track record for not choosing well). I was determined to give it another shot and, I’ll give them their dues, the staff were overall quite friendly and the restaurant does have a pretty interior. The gnocchi was pretty decent and was even gluten free, one of my friends got one of the pizzas which he said was good however, the other got the laksa which she reviewed as largely lacking flavour and fairly one note. The mulled wine was sickly sweet (I am a massive fan of mulled wine and this was the most shocking imitation I have ever tasted though to be fair they did list sugar as an ingredient I just hadn’t realised how much prominence they’d give that ingredient). When it came time for dessert my friend was informed that they didn’t have the citrus tart so decided upon the special which was apple pie with ice cream, my other friend got a sundae, I asked the waitress what she would order between tiramisu and carrot cake, we landed on carrot cake. A few minutes later, she came back to the table to inform us they were out of both the carrot cake and tiramisu so I also opted for the apple pie. This is where the night really went south. Whilst my friend with the sundae enjoyed it, the apple pie was a textural nightmare for my other friend and myself. The pie casing (because I refuse to call it a crust) had the texture of kinetic sand and seemed determined to coat the entire mouth like glue when eating. It was very sweet but lacked much flavour apart from a hint of cinnamon which was buried beneath mounds of sugar. The friend that introduced us to this grim experience thought we must have been being dramatic - which to be fair “this is the worst thing I’ve had in my mouth this week”, whilst true was dramatic -tried the pie and immediately agreed that it was in the top 50 worst foods he had eaten in his life. I have no idea how this became a special, perhaps the chefs were trying for something, failed and then the owner still put it on the menu as they didn’t see any sense in throwing it in the bin and writing off the cost of the experiment gone wrong, if this is the case next time I beg you to just write off the cost! It’s fitting that this dinner was in the month of Halloween as the experience was truly haunting!

Julide Ersoy

Went in for dinner with my husband; we have always wanted to try this Japanese restaurant along the beach and THANKGOD we did not go for a special occasion. We were presented with the menus with limited gluten free options. The GFO is the chef just taking off an ingredient and adding more sauce. After voicing my concerns of having some sort of replacement on the Donburi “pickle” that wasn’t gluten free they presented this small ramekin of pickles. We ordered two Donburi and why was there one ramekin? Honestly couldn’t be bothered voicing my concerns again. Around Melbourne you can find a Donburi with the protein rice and even some four leaf salad, but the one I was presented with was similar to a frozen meal from the supermarket. Rice was chalky and I felt forced to eat it because it was $28. Moving along to the “spicy cauliflower” which was unseasoned, meaning No salt. As a chef you salt fried food as it is pulled from the fryer. This unseasoned flavour left the after taste of oil, oil, oil. Hey don’t get me wrong I love fried food but come on when you pay for $18 fried cauliflower you expect it to be immaculate. Guys all I can say is if your planning on coming here don’t plan a special occasion or first date. Honestly just leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Service from waiters were good, and atmosphere was nice, but that’s not the reason someone goes to a restaurant. They go because they are HUNGRY and want to be Satisfied. Sorry team please work on the future menu.

arianna azuan

Best vegan mexican food i’ve had in melbourne! Good gluten-free options too. Our waiter Hayley was also very pleasant and friendly! 10/10 would recommend

Jo Nat

We had an early lunch at 12 all gluten free and very delicious. Service is excellent.

sarah dawson

The pizza was good- the gluten free base was yum! And our mocktails and wine were good! TJ was our server and he was so nice!

Anabell

Amazing tasting menu! The food is very much made with love. No issues with getting our friend a dairy and gluten free version. Very much appreciated that! Thank you very much.