Cafe Vue at Heide, Bulleen

The Spring flowers are starting to bloom on my street. I often think ‘it’s not that cold today’ and forget to take a jacket with me. Sometimes the wind feels warm but refreshing on my face and these are all signs that Spring is slowly creeping around the corner. Winter is almost at an end. I’ve always been a warmer weather kind of person as there’s so many better ingredients to use in cooking, the air feels so much nicer when enjoying brunch outside and well, who doesn’t like a bit of sunshine?

It’s been a long time since I visited Cafe Vue on Collins St. Now that I think about it, it has probably been over 5 years. I remember I enjoyed my meal there and since I liked Bistro Vue as well, I was quite keen to try Cafe Vue at Heide when my friend Racheese invited me there a week ago. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to enjoy a bit of sunshine amongst the luscious greenery that Cafe Vue at Heide is set in.

It’s right next to Heide Museum of Modern Art so many statues and sculptures were scattered around as well, making the walk from the parking lot quite interesting.

Even though it was a Friday lunch time and Cafe Vue is pretty much in the middle of nowhere other than the museum, the cafe was still surprisingly very full. We struggled to find a free table and had to steal a chair from a nearby table to squeeze into our corner.

It seems that the lunch menu changes on a monthly basis, I’m guessing so they can use fresh seasonal ingredients. Racheese and I decided to order the August lunch box for $18 which consisted of 4 elements: 1. salt and vinegar tapioca crisps, onion & herb emulsion 2. dijon potato salad 3. Chicago hotdog, slaw, spicy mayo and 4. Apple pie. (Full photo at top of post.)

What arrived looked fairly impressive, but unfortunately, it was actually quite a let down. The tapioca crisps felt so oily that we had to give up on them half way through the bag. The herb emulsion wasn’t necessary as it was a bit too salty and we didn’t eat all of the crisps anyway.

The hotdog was very small but was probably the best tasting element on the plate, although it wasn’t all that spectacular either.

We all agreed that the potato salad was very salty as well which again we didn’t all finish.

The apple pie was just average but wasn’t bad. The biscuits bits on top were crunchy and went well with the apple puree and custard at the bottom.

Yuye was wiser and ordered the 48 hour lamb leg, yorkshire pudding, buttered mash and mint salad for $24. The lamb itself was quite tender and tasty and the mash was smooth and buttery. However, we weren’t very taken with the greens on top. It seemed like they were possibly picked from their own garden as the pea shoots were large and tough. They were also covered in dirt which made us think they weren’t washed properly. In the end we had to take all the greens off.

The coffees were also not great. Yuye and I had ordered 1 cappuccino and 1 latte between us but what came was 2 flat whites. As the waiter said ‘this is the latte, and this is the cappuccino’ to us when he brought the coffees out, I’m quite certain it wasn’t a ordering fault. The coffees also tasted slightly burnt and quite watery.

Overall we were quite disappointed with the meal. I was keen on trying Cafe Vue at Heide because of its great sibling restaurants (even though Heide doesn’t have good reviews on Urbanspoon) but I wasn’t quite expecting such all rounded less than acceptable dishes. They will need to increase quality of the food, or rather than changing the lunch menu every month, they should just create one lunch set that can wow people. If you’re in the vicinity and feel like some food and drinks, feel free to give Cafe Vue a go but it’s not a cafe I would drive far for.

The one thing that was worth gawking at was the pastries and desserts behind the counter. I should have perhaps ordered a macaron or a dessert and ordered a la carte instead of the lunch box as the macarons did look quite delicious, although there probably wouldn’t be a next time, at least not at Heide.

The only good thing that came out of it was the pretty photos I took I think. The place and the food was surprisingly photogenic.

Cafe Vue at Heide
Phone: (03) 9852 2346
7 Templestowe Rd, Heide Museum of Modern Arts, Bulleen VIC 3105
http://www.heide.com.au/heide_cafe