Café Vue CBD

Café Vue
430 Little Collins St
Melbourne
VIC 3000
Ph : (03) 9691 3888

The Vue empire consists of not one, but four Café Vues; Little Collins Street, St Kilda Rd, Heide, and the airport. It was to the first of these that I was headed, with just one thing as my goal – French onion soup.

I’d had an incredibly good one half a year ago but none in between, so given the good reputation of all the Vues, the anticipation was great.

Café Vue consists of a compact inside area with a nicely designed bench section that has privacy partitions every two seats, and a large covered outside seating area, which is where we sat.

French onion soup with gruyère croutons ($9)

Perhaps the anticipation was too great. I’d have enjoyed it more if there’d been a richer broth, more gratinee…ah well.

To go with the soup was the smoked trout brioche roll ($8.50), a delightful summery combination of a great little brioche and nice amount of wonderfully fresh smoked trout. In a way it seemed as though it was an extension of the lobster roll I’d had at Golden Fields the previous night – the same enjoyable brioche and seafood combination. Why don’t we eat it more often? I’d order this again.

My Melbournian lunch companion had the warm coconut chicken wrap with potato crisps ($10), presented on the inevitable cutting board. The in-house made crisps made seemed more decorative than anything. Reports were positive about the coconut chicken.

Café Vue, staffed by friendly professional folks, is clearly a very popular CBD location. Although I was a bit disappointed by the soup, the brioche's quality, plus the other interesting items listed on the menu, are enough to tempt me to re-visit if I am in Melbourne again.

[AP]