Vons

«…WHY THE LOW SCORE??? WE WERE VERY WELL FED AND VERY WELL LOOKED AFTER… WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT!!!»
Early this week, we took advantage of a Groupon Deal and were treated to an enjoyable and yum 3 course Dinner at VON’S RESTAURANT & BAR in Hardware Lane, Melbourne CBD.
We had a table outside, and it was just perfect — lots of interesting people to watch, balmy warm evening…
Arthur our wait-​staffer was fab — helpful, energetic, charismatic and doting… And they were BUSY!!!
THE FOOD
Entrees:
–Garlic Bread [baguette, made with garlic and parsley butter]
–Chunky Chips [big fat crisp chips, no yucky oil smell or aftertaste]
–Chicken Kebabs with Salad garnish and Sweet Sauce [grilled, well cooked, tender, yummy]
–Mozzarella Balls with salad garnish and Garlic Mayo [deep fried, crumbed, oozey melty cheese filling]
–Salt & Pepper Calamari with Salad garnish and Tartare Sauce [looked like the real thing, but wasn’t… I know my squid… still, it was very edible…]
Mains:
–Paella [lovely earthy saffron flavour with hint of heat from chorizo, but rice could have been a little more ‘al dente’…]
–Surf & Turf with Mash & Vegetables [a beautiful looking rendition of this classic fave]
–Black Angus Porterhouse with Mash & Vegetables [good big lump of beef, devoid of fat, tender and medium, as requested]
–Atlantic Salmon with Mash & Salad [beautiful crispy skinned chunk of fish but just a little overdone… I would have liked the olive oil decanter on the table…]
Desserts:
–Crème Brulee with Berry Compote [large serving, not too sweet, lovely tart berries, very ‘bloody’ delish]
Drinks:
–Room temp House Water [if only it had’v been iced or chilled… would have made such a difference…]
–Lemonade by the glass
–Cappuccino & English Breakfast Tea [good coffee, potted strong black tea]
I saw most, if not all, dishes going back NICE AND EMPTY — This tells you all you need to know…
Okay then:
4 entrees, 4 mains, 2 desserts, 4 lemonades cost $ 95 with Voucher!!!
We spent another $ 40 on a few extras… and $ 12 for parking across the road [flat rate, weekdays after 6.00pm]
###Yet another great DINING EXPERIENCE for a very mediocre PRICE###
Visited on Tuesday 15 December 2015 for Dinner for Four.

I picked up a lunch scoopon for Von’s, 9 $ for lunch and a glass of wine. Good deal! The service was okay, staff are really nice! I had the spag bol, it was pretty good. Overall the food wasn’t that fresh, but can’t really complain for a tenner! I’ve heard the dinner is much better.

Had the lunch specials for 5 people plus 5 coffees for $ 85. Could choose from about 7 dishes and all looked great. All 5 of us thought food was great and service by 2 blokes was attentive and friendly with not being overbearing. Recommended
JohnV

Since we were just looking for a quick lunch and a nice place to sit outside on a sunny day this place worked well for us. Lunch specials were $ 10 — you really can’t beat that price. I had the beef tortellini with white cream sauce and my better half had the spaghetti bolognese. Whe shared a bottle of house red wine and enjoyed a nice leisurely lunch and watching all the people walk by.

Keep walking.
We ate at this place because it was the only restaurant in the laneway that was not hounding us to take a table. In hindsight there probably was a reason for that. Things began decently enough, with friendly service and entrees that were tasty, but the mains were another story. We had lobster and scallop linguine, which was one of the night’s specials, and a steak. The lobster was served cut into chunks with the shell on, making it extremely difficult to eat and also resulted in lots of shell fragments throughout the pasta. Both the lobster and scallops were severely over cooked. However, the ribeye came out cooked a perfect mid-​rare and was very tender. It’s a shame it wasn’t seasoned. It was served with two whole asparagus spears, gluey mashed potatoes, and a tasty roasted tomato. Our desserts were also hit and miss. The sticky date pudding could have used a pinch of salt of all things, but it was pleasant. The cheesecake, however, was nearly inedible – it wasn’t cheesecake in the slightest. It was bizarre, like a dry, savory, ricotta tart that had blueberries in it. All in all this was a three course meal that ran us $ 40 each, which seemed like a great deal… But it wasn’t.

Satisfyingly full but not the greatest experience. Sadly we had to sit inside where due to there being no heating the temperature was cooler than outside under the heat lamps. The service was okay, a mix up with the drinks was quickly corrected. Strangely my napkin was removed after the main course & not replaced when the desserts were served.
I had a pasta dish with chicken & pumpkin sauce, it was a little bland. Thankfully the sautéed vegetable were delicious & helped to make the dish more of a meal. My dining companion had steak & asked for it to be served with the seasonal greens… he was a little disappointed to find that just 3 asparagus spears constituted said greens.
The choice of desserts was enough but we didn’t feel it reflected the Mediterranean/​Australian theme of the restaurant. However, the sticky date pudding was hearty & warming & the crème brûlée was tasty but appeared to be a child’s sized portion.

Friendly service, great coffee and a big breakfast. Just what you need on a Sunday morning!

As with most places on hardware lane, each place has their salesman out front offering discounts to take a seat right away. So we did, the price was fair, the place was busy and we started with calamari which was tasty and crisp, but my fried risotto wasn’t what I expected, no taste and no love in that one. I had osso bucco which was just ok. but for about $ 70 with a glass of wine each. It was worth it.