Vie Restaurant & Bar

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  9     

This is an outstanding restaurant in the heart of the Versace hotel. Service is efficient, although being such a busy Saturday night, not as friendly as it could have been and the ambience is comfortable and stylish. And as usual, there was a good crowd, so you won’t ever be alone in this restaurant.

Four of us dined and, our bill came to a reasonable $360. For that, we got four starters, four mains, two mmmm desserts, and a couple of drinks (good wine from the best wine list). That’s not bad value for a first class restaurant.

All the food, was fresh and tasty, but I would have preferred it if portions were a bit bigger. Still, I guess it’s prudent to go easy on the rich and tasty food. Being Versace on a busy Saturday night we struggled to find parking. If coming from Gold Coast, best option is to try and find something in a nearby residential side street.

This is the kind of place you can visit again and again and you’ll be assured of a good meal in pleasant surroundings for a reasonable price' (although always preferable if you have a voucher!)

You won’t be disappointed. Value-wise it’s first class. Highly recommended. Any night of the week, you’d be advised to book.

Oct 25, 2011 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

The Restaurant 'Vie'... in French meaning 'life', is certainly a lifestyle that I could get used to. A lifestyle that ticks all the proverbial boxes. If you have a penchant for ambience coupled with a palate that demands excellence, such is Vie. The views are remarkable. The restaurant sits at the southern side of the palazzo and looks out onto the Marina Mirage. There is a plethora of fish surrounding the wharf, that kindly await your wonder to see what happens if you throw bread into the water and the gentle sound of waves lapping against the pylons.

The service is excellent and the waiters are friendly and accommodating. Try the mixed entree of consommes and mezze, Remarkable.

Oct 09, 2010 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

Have just returned from my annual pilgrimage to the GC and thoroughly enjoyed lunch at Vie, for the third year in a row. It was very difficult to not return during the one week I was on holidays.

Feb 01, 2010 

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  9     

One of our favourites on the Gold Coast, especially since we stay at The Palazzo Verscae. Love the food the ambience and the attentive team at Vie. A must do for the long lunch on a sunny day. Do not miss the antipasto, to die for. So much so we always order two.

Jan 15, 2010 

7.5 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  7     

I went here for lunch with 4 friends. It was a quiet Thursday. The wine list direct from Vie was very limited, however, an extensive list was available from the hotel. We enjoyed a bottle of Champagne to start, but I was concerned that the pricing was over $150 different between the same wines on the different lists. Not good, would be ok if they were a different vintage, but the same wine?!

We did, however, continue to explore the larger wine list and were pleasantly surprised with the options. Pricing is above average, but acceptable considering the scope of the list. On to the food. We started with a Kingfish Carpaccio which was divine, dressed with lime and chilli oil, it was cool, smooth and finished with bite. YUM!

Next came the Oysters 3 ways, Natural with pepper and lime juice, Tempura and with Frozen Margarita. There was a little too much pepper on the first, the tempura was light and fluffy and very nice, the Frozen Margarita Oyster was both novel and fantastic, what a texture and flavour combination!

Next came the seared sesame tuna and Asian greens, the Tuna was well cooked, however, a little dominated by the sesame seeds that it was rolled in. The Asian greens were nice in isolation, however, the dish whilst very nice did not totally work. For main I had the Fragrant Beef Cheek Curry, this was very very well cooked, fragrant, spicy and well balanced.

Dessert was a Jaffa mud cake which was served with chocolate ice cream. The cake was a little too dense but the Jaffa made up for it. I would personally have replaced the Chocolate Ice Cream with Vanilla or Orange for a better combination.
Finished with a well made Short Black.

Overall good food, service was a little well underwhelming, the Sommelier was a bit lacking, and the waiters were not bad just not good. Overall the food won the day, and I would consider going back, but with so many other good options it may be a while.

May 26, 2009 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

I enjoyed a very pleasant long lunch here with a friend recently, and can't fault the casual elegance that Vie offers. Perched on a simply presented table overlooking the Broadwater, we skipped our way through a leisurely three course lunch, and left very impressed with the food, wine, service and ambience.

With fresh light flavours, and the occasional pleasant surprise, the menu was a testament to local produce. The seared scallops were a stand-out. Whilst limited, the wine list provided some perfect matches with keen assistance from our friendly waiter.

We arrived as stressed out urbanites, and left in virtual sarongs and flip flops. With bling of course. Very Main Beach, and highly recommended.

Sep 19, 2008 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  9     

Went here for my birthday recently. Service was a stand-out, attentive with being obsequious. My dish, grilled reef fish had a wonderfully "fishy" taste too often missing in seafood. Excellent desserts and a good view. Compared to the prices other Gold Coast venues charges, I think the small amount of extra money required of Vie makes it great value.

Jun 13, 2008 

8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  8     

Vie was a good restaurant - not a standout. For some reason, I had higher expectations than it delivered. I'll go through the good points and the room for improvement below:

Good:
1. The food. The entree of oysters 3 ways was excellent. Extremely fresh and tasy oysters, and flavoursome combinations. The beef fillet main was good (above average, but not a standout), and the pork sirloin was excellent - particularly well matched with the pumpkin and maple puree.
2. The service. The service was friendly and efficient, not much else to say there.
3. The fact that there is a taxi rank right outside the hotel is a plus - the concierge will happily beckon one for you when you're ready to go, and you're out of there in minutes.

Room For Improvement:
1. The ambience. My partner and I went on a Sunday evening. It was cool and dark by the time we got there, and we didn't get one of the few tables along the end of the restaurant - however we were still outside - so the broadwater location was lost on us, and we felt a bit like we were the second class citizens of Palazzo Versace, dumped outside the resort in the dark, back corner.
2. The wine list. It is VERY short, ranging from roughly $70 to $250 (from memory). A few good labels in there, but not a very broad selection at all. There is the option of browsing Palazzo Versace's cellar list - but I don't know why this doesn't form part of the standard wine list to at least demonstrate some depth.

Price:
For my partner and I, a round of pre-dinner drinks, a shared entree, a main each, and bottle of wine, we paid $210 (excl tip). I felt as though I'd eaten at better restaurants for the money. We spent $320 the next night at Absynthe and I felt better about that than I did about $210 at Vie.

Feb 14, 2008 

2 Not Recommended

Food  3      Ambience  3      Service  1      Value  1     

Our group of 6 friends from Sydney enjoyed a time on the Gold Coast last weekend, and overall had a fabulous break. Unfortunately, we decided to go to the Palazzo Versace for dessert and coffee on Saturday night. We arrived at approximately 11:00pm, much to our waiter's dismay. We weren't greeted or seated, so we found a table outside beside the pool, as outside was the only option if we wanted to hear what our friends were saying without conversation being drowned out by the music in the hotel's lobby and the hysterical laughter of middle aged women dancing to the same.

Eventually we were given menus, and our orders were taken. Our rude waiter did not smile at any point throughout the evening, nor did he get our order correct. Moreover, when a member of our party asked about non-alcoholic cocktails, all the waiter was willing to offer was a mixed fruit juice of orange and pineapple and was assured this was "all they could do" although the bar was full of exotic fruit, ice and grenadine.

Our chocolate pudding was stone cold, although $18.00 and our short blacks were cold, although $6.00. We would have been much much better off staying where we ate dinner, at a gorgeous Italian restaurant on Hope Island! Never again!

Nov 25, 2007 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  8     

One of the best meals I've eaten out in a long time! My boyfriend and I went here while up the coast, because of the reviews below me and they were right on the spot! I had the salmon, and my boyfriend had the lamb. Both were cooked to perfection, and tasted divine.

We shared the chocolate tart, and it was beautiful. Besides the water being $12 a bottle, we thought everything else was value for money. Service was wonderful, attentive without being overbearing. Wishing this place was in Sydney!!! A must try if you're in the gold coast!

Oct 24, 2007