Garden View Cafe

I will automatically give a star for this place opening on weekends and being one of the rare places in the area for doing so. It has on paper an awesome array of menu items and seating inside and out, which maybe got my expectations a little high. Customer service was not bad, but it wasn't flash.  Just people doing their job. I went two days in a row and ordered the following: Day 1: Chicken Schnitzel Burger & Sausage Roll. Day 2:  Beef Burger and chips. Here is my thoughts: Chicken Schnitzel Burger: Not the best schnitzel and certainly in the lower end of the scale.  Roll was fresh and thank god for my added chilli sauce and mayo to provide some flavour.  I didn't ask for any salad.  There was poor attention to detail as it was just slapped together, like they couldn't even cover the whole role with mayo spread. The sausage roll was microwaved and soggy, I wouldn't rate it very high. Beef Burger: It doesn't or didn't look that impressive but was not to bad at all.  I would get it again. Chips, were those fish and chip style that overall I am not a fan of and wasn't impressed. I really would only go there again as there is not much option around.

The Garden View Cafe is an unpretentious and old fashioned cafe with a prime position across from the Exhibition Gardens. Not a bad view at all from the front window. There’s a broad range of fairly predictable snacks and dishes on offer here. Service is brisk, attentive and very polite. We might be in Fitzroy here but trust me when I say it’s a long long way from Hipsterville. The emphasis here is on getting hearty food out quickly. My smashed avo and bacon looked mighty prosaic when it arrived at the table. It had a very ordinary look. The least amount of anything on the whole dish was the avo itself. There was quite a small amount smeared on one of the pieces of bread. The poached eggs looked pretty ordinary but they were actually done really well. The tomatoes too looked chunky and most awkward. The amount of bacon was terrific - four largish slices - and very nice bacon it was too. The bread was barely toasted. I had specifically asked for multi grain bread too but got wholemeal instead. Despite the quirks and errors, I actually enjoyed the dish. It was ok value for $14 and it was tasty to eat. My long black though was barely acceptable with minimal taste. There are no culinary pretensions here. It’s part of why I liked the experience.