Fresh User Reviews for Hip and Trendy in Melbourne

6 Average

Food  8      Ambience  5      Service  7      Value  4     

Dined at Sapore twice, both times had lovely experiences. Waiting staff attentive, but, perhaps, could have been a little less suffocating.

Meals were impeccably presented and flavours of each dish worked brilliantly together. Recommend the Duck and Barramundi. The chocolate desserts are slightly sparse but to die for, bring back the marquise!

May 25, 2012

4 Below Average

Food  7      Ambience  5      Service  1      Value  3     

This has for many years been my favourite restaurant in Melbourne and I have taken many visitors there over the years, however, when there on Friday night for a birthday celebration, we could not have been more disappointed, not by the food, but the service, which was surely the most apathetic, disinterested and rude in all of Australia. No one seemed to care, we had to ask for our drinks 4 times before they finally arrived, half way through our main course. What a huge letdown for such a previously great restaurant. I am sure that Cath Claringbold would be very sad indeed.

May 22, 2012

4.3 Below Average

Food  1      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  3     

Lovely location and cosy space with a mixture of couch, table and bench seating. Did get very noisy though. The service was very good. Unfortunately,m the food was terrible.

Overall there was a distinct lack of seasoning. The best thing we tried were the Chefs Choice Croquettes (Mushroom, Leek and Parmesan). On the bland side but still nice. From there nothing else impressed. The dips were flavourless and served with lumps of Turkish Bread instead of Flat Bread as described in the menu. Pork Belly was not cooked/rendered enough so was fatty and tough. The sauce tasteless.

But by far the worst dish was the Chorizo. It was barely poached in a horrible apple/mint watery gravy. I took 2 bites and could not eat anymore. Never had such bad chorizo. It should have been all caramelised, crispy and brown on the outside instead of pale with the skin hanging loosely. We didn't risk ordering dessert based on the standard of the mains. Having been looking forward to going here for ages I was beyond disappointed.

May 16, 2012

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  10     

We had a great dinner at Taxi Boat last night, the food was fresh (not greasy), nice ambience and very friendly staff. We shared an entree, 2 mains, rice and dessert with drinks and cost $35 each, great value! Chicken Pad Thai and the sticky date pudding was especially nice! Will definitely return and recommend to others.

May 13, 2012

4 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  3      Service  5      Value  4     

2nd visit (1st 4 years ago) Not very impressed unfortunately. Booked for Mothers Day, was not told when booking that it was a set menu. Arrived and was told it was 'a set' after saying that I wasn't informed when booking and not particularly happy, was told that the senior staff would come and have a chat with me. That didn't occur.

The set menu was for 2 persons based on $42.00 per person, we paid $45 person plus drinks. Admittedly didn't check the bill till after paying. There was no separate bowl of olive oil (normally served at Greek restaurants for dipping). The dips though tasty were small in portion. The octopus was not tangy with lemon as expected. Which brings me to the point of having a set menu, what if people are allergic to certain foods, or come to a lunch with a budget? If I had been told, I would have gone elsewhere.

The baklava was burnt on the bottom. The corkage $4.50 per bottle (love that as we opened and poured our own drinks, so $4.50 for the cost of a glass on the table). All in all disappointed with the outcome. The way we show a restaurant we like it is to return, sadly we won't.

May 13, 2012

2.5 Not Recommended

Food  3      Ambience  3      Service  2      Value  2     

The food is over priced for what it is but it tastes Ok (definitely nothing special) the late hours they are open is the only good thing about the place. The senior staffs come off as incredibly rude and money hungry and given we have known personally some of the staff for many years we know that this is very much true.

The staff are paid $12 per hour, have ridiculous demands made of them and are also not granted any of the liberties that are the normal saving graces of hospitality work such as the ability to give your family and close friends at least some kind of discount.

Over all if you are around the corner and desperate to go somewhere for food at 3am then there it is but we would certainly not recommend a visit otherwise!

May 13, 2012

4.5 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  3     

Came here 12 months ago and had an excellent risotto. New chef and just had one of the worst I've ever tasted. Cheap and Nasty cuts of chicken, poorly presented and over priced. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

May 09, 2012

6.5 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  7     

Went here on business trip last month. Tried the Nasi Uduk Komplit (Coconut Rice Complete package) and Soto Jakarta.

The Nasi Uduk need a bit more flavour and aroma, the combination is a bit strange, which comes with Grilled chicken, plain boiled egg, fried potato and peanut and... Mee Goreng! The soto jakarta taste similar to one of the one you can made using pre-made seasoning powder, but still taste good.

Anyway, the ambience is nice (but a bit confusing cause you have to order on the counter even if you seat on the 2nd floor), but the waitress are nice though. She's friendly and helpful with the menu.

May 07, 2012

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

Food was awesome but the only thing the service is very bad.

May 06, 2012

9 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  6      Service  10      Value  10     

Excellent value breakfast and not far from Southern Cross station and bus terminal, perfect for travellers/tourists. We had a great breakfast before catching our bus to the airport, very fresh and tasty, not the usual soggy fried food. Highly recommended.

May 05, 2012

7 Recommended

Drinks  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  7     

Nice drinks. Staff friendly. Beautiful atmosphere. Good experience.

May 03, 2012

7.4 Recommended

Food  9      Drinks  8      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  7     

We went on a gift voucher, so can only go by that! We thoroughly enjoyed what we ate for all 3 courses! Although they were short staffed, we could not complain of the lack of service, in fact I think because of that, they went that bit furthur to give us the best service. If I was paying cash, I would not like to pay the full price, but we enjoyed it, and the experience!

Should add, that the location was not easy to find, and that they do need to open it up more some how to draw attention!

Apr 29, 2012

1.8 Not Recommended

Food  3      Ambience  1      Service  2      Value  1     

I was not a fan of this place.

Our group was placed in the back corner, with poor lighting. The rest of the restaurant was illuminated, whilst we were in very dim lighting. It was that dim we couldn't even see the colour of our food.

We were also told they had no gyros meat. How on earth does a Greek Restaurant not have gyros meat! If we had known there was no gyros meat, we wouldn't have eaten there.

They forgot one of our platters, and we had to wait 20 minutes for it to come out, by then nobody wanted any. We were told it was only going to be 5 minutes.

Service was also poor. The food is extremely overpriced, with little value.
We will never return to this restaurant, next time we will go somewhere else, which we know has amazing Greek food and service.

Apr 23, 2012

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  8     

We arrived late for our booking and the staff were really friendly and easy going about it and even ordering our food they gave us space and enough time. The waitress had a vast knowledge and was great help when choosing drinks and food as this place has qite the variety to choose from. Food was delicious and the portion sizes were done really well. A all round good place to eat then down stairs to charlies bar to keep drinking.

Apr 22, 2012

4.8 Average

Food  4      Drinks  7      Ambience  7      Service  3      Value  3     

I went here with my partner for our anniversary. The interior design was very glamourous, but that was about it, under the facade there was no depth. The wait staff were quite aloof and lacked personality and friendliness.

The oysters were under sized and not fresh, you had to scrape them out of their shell and they would shred into mush.

The waiter forgot our complimentary bread, and when we asked for it in the middle of service, it still never came. The eye fillet was quite small, and for the size was over priced. Mid way through eating our steaks, we then received the selection of mustards to accompany our meal but it was too late, my partner had nearly finished his steak. The steak was not as tender or juicy as expected, and although had flavour, was not "amazing" as was expected for the price.

If you want an "amazing" steak everytime, go to Charcoal Grill on the Hill in Kew, or Ian Curly's restaurant The European, they are sure winners every time, and both places have the freshest, juiciest oysters and produce.

This place you are paying for eating in South Yarra, but you're not getting the quality, or love. Very disappointing.

Apr 17, 2012

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  9     

My partner and I had breakfast on Sunday. The coffee was great, silky smooth and at the perfect temperature. The staff were bubbly, efficient and attentive. We had an eggs benedict and a big breakfast. The eggs were soft poached, and beautifully runny inside. I am very particular about how an eggs benedict should be cooked, and I found it above standard. The food was fresh and flavoursome. The atmosphere was warm, rustic and modern. A recommended breakfast venue in a relaxing environment.

Apr 17, 2012

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  6     

I think this is my favourite venue in the city. The floors practically burst with personality, and the staff are always eager to give you the lowdown on what each room was, and is designed to be.

I think the food has been better in the past, which isn't to say it isn't lacking a punch now, more that it has stepped back from chefs hat aspirant to comfortable 14.

Service is great, but I feel sorry for the staff member running food up and down stairs all night!

Apr 15, 2012

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  7      Value  6     

Despite the initial 'not Another tapas place" the food was enjoyable and well prices. Service polite and friendly. I would go back if I was in the area again
Thanks.

Apr 15, 2012

3 Below Average

Food  3      Service  3      Value  3     

Vegie Bar looks like a great restaurant from the outside.

Unfortunately, the food and service didn't match our expectations. I had the lentil burger and my wife had the grilled mushroom with quinoa.

I thought the idea of a beet root on a lentil burger was good, unfortunately, the curry sauce drowned out the flavour of everything. I wish I could have tasted the burger, because it is probably good on it's own. The worst part was the bun which was definitely stale. It was inedible and certainly was more than a couple of days old. Stay away from the regular buns, I don't think they check the dates on their breads very well.

My wife's dish was okay, but again the key ingredient of the dish, grilled mushrooms, was drowned out by the pickled olives in the sauce. The food seems to be a big mish mash of trendy ingredients without much thought to how they combine.

I would have ignored the whole experience, but on the way out of the restaurant, our waitress asked us how our meal was. I told her it wasn't so good, so she suggested we tell the senior staff because he would help us.

I told the senior staff, that the old bread crumbled in my hand. His response was, "Yeah, that is a difficult burger to eat." I then told him the bread was stale. He said, I should have mentioned it earlier.

The senior staff suggested that the next time we come to the restaurant, we should complain about the food earlier. I assured him there wouldn't be a next time. So much for complaining to the senior staff.

In our opinion, Vegie Bar offers mediocre food with a senseless person. We won't be going back there again.

Apr 06, 2012

1.8 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  2      Service  2      Value  1     

We found the venue on the web and going from the menu were quite impressed.
Upon arrival, great building but the mediterranean theme was lacking. We decided on the thursday special Tapas for 2 with Sangria, for a start it was 8pm and were told they had run out of Sangria we were offered another drink.

Service was extremely slow for a small venue with 3 floor staff who were all over the show with there service. The amount of time between tapas was long portions were very small for the price for 2 people. The food was bland, the meatballs lacked any flavour. A shame as the Venue could be so much better with some more thought into food, service and ambience.

Apr 06, 2012