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 creme brûlée was tasty but appeared to be a child's sized portion. read more

Looking for somewhere for dinner on Saturday night we decided to try hardware lane, and as we have tried most of the other restaurants in the lane we gsve vons a shot. We left satisfied, but not blown away. I chose the Spanish paella which resembled more of an italian risotto with chorizo and seafood rather than a paella, and i found the serving size quite small considering it was one of the more expensive choices on the menu (although i am a tall young man, so most servings i find are too small). But overall i would give the mean 8/10 My partner ordered the creamy mushroom gnocchi, which again i found to be a small serving size (although she was unable to finish it). I thought it was quite bland from what i tasted, although she seemed to enjoy it. I was pleased that we were able to walk straight in to a table on a saturday night, and the service was spectacular especially when our trio of dips was given a slight discount for an unknown reason. read more

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

Vons - The kings breakfast, probably not big enough to be for a king...maybe dub it - the princes breakfast. - Australian Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

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. read more

Sensational. Definitely will be back. Great food for such a great price. Scotch fillet and lamb shanks were cooked to perfection. Thanks for a great family night out. read more

Located in Hardware Lane, one of Melbourne CBD's hotspots, Vons Restaurant and Bar serves a fusion or medley of modern Australian and Meditteranean cuisine. Shopping in the vicinity, we stepped into the very busy Hardware lane at about 7.00pm in search of a good dinner. There are plenty of little cafes, restaurants and bars along this lane and we snaked our way through hoping some place would catch our attention. We were suddenly stopped in front of Vons by a middle aged man (presumably, one of the owners?) who promised us the most delicious bowl of pasta. He even offered special kid-sized meals, noticing the kiddos with us. And that's how we came to eat at Vons! Vons shares the same ambience that you find in most of the city restaurants located in such busy lanes. There is a hub of activity, conversations, glasses clinking, laughter and merriment. Not the place for a silent, romantic dinner! But I love this bustling energy and Vons appealed to me. The seating space inside is decent and there is an al-fresco area which is likely to be crowded always. If you are aiming for the al-fresco space, then a wait might be necessary though you are likely to find an empty table or two inside at most times. The first thing that struck me on entering is the beautifully stocked and done up bar. Loved the bottles of preserves lining the shelves along with the wines and alcohol. The hostess was prompt, cheerful and with a smile at all times. Lovely service.... So far, so good...and with the promise of a good meal ahead, we began browsing the menus. For drinks, my husband ordered the classic margarita and I ordered Zeppelin Riesling (Eden Valley, SA) which the waitress recommended would go with the seafood main that I had in mind. And true to the promise, the wine paired beautifully with the meal. The margarita was not enjoyed much; he felt that it lacked the classic refreshing flavour and punch of a real margarita. For starters, we chose the Chermoula chicken kebabs. Disappointing...the kebabs were under seasoned and there was no real chermoula flavour. Totally lackluster! For my son, I ordered a Penne with chorizo and Napoli sauce. The flavours were just average; the pasta was cooked perfectly but the sauce lacked punch. It was just an average Napoli sauce and not the best bowl of pasta I was promised! I ordered a pan seared snapper fillet with risotto porcini and creamy orange sauce for mains. The best dish of the day, in comparison to others. The snapper was cooked perfectly, just flaking over the delicious orange sauce. The risotto had a good porcini flavour and was enjoyable but I would have preferred it to be slightly creamier. The next main we ordered was the Osso Bucco; one that we all eagerly awaited. But this one turned out to be the biggest disappointment of the day. The meat was not cooked enough, under seasoned and the sauce that accompanied was so plain and bland. There was absolutely no flavour in the dish, thoroughly dissatisfied. The next dish was the risotto porcini with smoked duck. The same risotto served with the snapper and a few pieces of smoked duck on top. While the risotto was enjoyable, the smoked duck lacked seasoning and did nothing to add to the dish. The final dish for the evening was the smoky lamb ribs. The ribs were soft, falling off the bone and seasoned well. The sauce was good but definitely lacked the smoky flavour or deep richness that you would normally expect from a dish like this. Didn't bother with desserts as we were all pretty much disappointed by the end of the meal. The service was really good but the food as such, quite disappointing. Though prices were affordable, considering the quality, I would say on the higher side especially for a family. Don't think I will be going back, unless by chance. read more

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. read more

Vons - Salt and pepper calamari - Australian Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

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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. read more

Vons - Osso bucco at vons on hardware lane, Melbourne Australia - Australian Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

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. read more

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 read more

"...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: -Creme 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. read more

It's Saturday night and we are walking down the very busy lane. We come across VONS via a high pressure sales guy standing out front. He promptly went over the menu and offered a free glass of wine with dinner so we accepted. It was very busy so he had us seated at an outside table, which was nice, but was not yet cleaned from the prior guest. Within a minute of being seated, the waitress removed the previous glasses etc from the table but didn't clean the table before setting our water glasses on the table face down. We ordered a bottle of wine, which we later found was out of stock. The food was fair, I would say no better than "Olive Garden" in the states. We ordered a salad which came out at the same time as our dinner. Not impressed with the food or the service. The couple seated next to us was seated and within a couple of minutes asked if they were ready to order. They asked for five minutes and within two minutes one of the high pressure sales guys came up and took their order. They are clearly more concerned with turning around tables than providing their guests with a good experience. Poor Australian service aside, this place is mediocre! In fact, the best part of this whole experience was the amazing Italian music from live musicians from the restaurant next door! read more

Lobster linguini was amazing, impressed by the large portion of lobster included. Pumpkin risotto was a little bland. But overall dinner was a success and Great value. Had an appetizer, 2 drinks, a bottle of wine, 2 entrees and dessert for $100. read more