Cafe Vue at 401
The other weekend Gerard and I caught up with some friends for a Sunday brunch and found that the most central location was somewhere around St Kilda Road. Now there’s not a lot on St Kilda Road as far as food (or anything other than 80s office buildings) goes, especially on weekends. We were going to organise to go somewhere else when I remembered Cafe Vue at 401.
I’ve been to the Cafe Vue in the city for lunch a few times. The food has always been good but the serving sizes are on the small side and the prices on the high side (for what you get). I’ve never been there for breakfast though and after stalking the menu online I wanted to check it out. The cafe was nice, especially for St Kilda Road, but the fit out wasn’t as great as the pictures I’d seen online made it look. I was a little disappointed. The food though, was good and more reasonably priced than the lunches. I hopefully won’t be heading back to St Kilda Road very often but if I’m in the city looking for more than a cup of yoghurt for breakfast, I’ll definitely keep cafe vue in mind.
We ate:
I went rogue and opted for a sweet breakfast for the first time in ages. I used to be a huge french toast/pancakes kind of girl. Recently I’ve been far more into savoury breakfasts, probably because these days I’m more likely to go out for brunch at what ‘normal’ people might call lunch time. I ordered the caramelised brioche with maple syrup, honey and poached pear ($13). When it first came out and I saw my solitary slice of brioche I was disappointed. When I started eating it I realised I’d be lucky to make it through one piece. It was tasty, but ridiculously sweet.
Gerard and my best friend both ordered the breakfast box ($15) which included bircher museli and yoghurt, a small croissant, poached pear and a small brioche filled with egg, bacon and hollandaise.
My best friend’s boyfriend-who-gave-her-diamond had a croque-madame with kurobuta ham hock and egg ($13). After a lot of late nights/early mornings at Supper Club I have a huge soft spot for croques (monsieur an madame). I don’t think I could have one for breakfast though, in daylight I might realise how hugely unhealthy they are.
Colin Hill had the scrambled eggs, toasted sourdough and fricasse of wild mushrooms ($15) with a side of sausage ($4). It looked pretty good.
Finally the Doctor had the smoked ocean trout, poached eggs, toasted brioche muffins, hollandaise and watercress ($16).
Wrap it up
Nice breakfasts, not huge serves but also not hugely overpriced. The cafe itself is not as fancy schamncy as you may expect but it is definitely a good find for St Kilda Road.
Price range
We all spent around $15 – $20 for a breakfast and coffee/coffee alternative.
