St Cloud

A very busy restaurant that takes pride in providing an enjoyable experience. We started with drinks upstairs on the balcony which was enjoyable albeit a tad ‘fresh’. From the time we were escorted to our table to the time we left, I can say that we were well looked after and the food was very yummy. He waitress helped us with our selections and gave enough information for all to make their choices. Even though this is a Vietnamese restaurant, the food was cooked with a western influence which was well received by all at the table. Can highly recommend for a great atmosphere and a good eating experience.

East meets, well, the East at Hawthorn’s newest all-​day dining destination. St Cloud prides itself on its honest, healthy, fresh and home-​style Vietnamese food.
St Cloud’s design is sleek. The white painted brick exterior carrying through to the interior with its contrasting white ceiling, black concrete floor and black tiled bar and counter areas. The furnishings also follow a white/​black mix. Hanging light bulbs and large folding windows fill the space with light, though just enough light to keep the lower level intimate.
The restaurant is split across two levels; the downstairs dining space with small tables and benches and the main bar, and the upstairs dining space with larger group tables, a second bar and an outside deck with more small tables and a long bench.
Hanging and potted plants are scattered throughout to add a splash of colour and the upstairs deck’s long bench doubles as a lush planter box.
The food menu is split into two halves, lunch and dinner, with each half further divided into various sections. Lunch dishes include street food, such as banh mi, spring rolls and chicken ribs, rice paper rolls, phở, salad and noodle bowls and desserts. The dinner menu follows the typical Asian fusion-​style of small dishes and large dishes. Rice paper rolls and salads are also on offer. Small dishes include banh knot pancakes and BBQ scallops. The large dishes are the highlight with giant sharing portions of pork belly, lemongrass beef short ribs and claypot curry.
There is a banquet menu option with a random selection of dishes for those that cannot decide what to choose. Dessert options change weekly are not printed on the menu.
This visit featured the beef short ribs which were incredibly tender and flavoursome. Carrots, potatoes and herbs are tossed into the large tray that the dish is served in. A selection of small dishes were also ordered and included the prawn and pork spring rolls, chicken wings, banh knot and chicken peanut rice paper rolls.
The dishes were all of a good quality with a mix of flavours, however many of the small dishes included the same sides of beanshoots, lettuce leaves and dipping sauce, which felt a bit over-​repeated.
Dessert on this visit was a little spectacular; lime and coconut panna cotta with lychee, plum and meringue. A wonderful dish with tropical, citrus and sweet mix of flavours combined with contrasting creamy and crunchy textures.
The drinks menu is plentiful with a range of beers, wines, cocktails, slushies and juices. Coffee is from St Ali, hot chocolate from Elixir and tea from Larsen and Thompson and Matcha Maiden.
Service was great during the Saturday night dinner period, which was surprisingly busy at 6pm.
Hawthorn has had quite a few quality openings recently and St Cloud is a welcomed and already popular addition to the neighbourhood.

Super helpful waitress — we have a child with a peanut allergy and the staff were wonderful preparing a dish he was able to eat. The cucumber and lychee slushie was delicious as were my rice paper rolls. The only downside was the close proximity of other diners to us and the music being really loud…

So this was disappointing… and it looked so promising on the surface. Had the vietnamese coffee, good job to cool down after dodging the sun like a vampire. Then a chicken slaw salad… initially nice, not great, just nice. But tasted a few bits that were undercooked chicken and plucked out the other uncooked bits as I could see they were getting busy. The after tatse was uncooked chicken… gross. I went to chase the taste and noticed the glass was chipped. I pointed out the raw and arteries of chicken to the waitress, saw she spoke with the manager and went up to pay… nothing was said… nothing. I paid, left, and went home to gargle mouth wash. If in the Vietnamese mood check out Uncle in Balaclava, hands down best fresh food and vibe. Or go old school down Victoria st Richmond only a few minutes away.

St Cloud had a nice ambience as soon as I walked in, it was modern with exquisite styling. The service was very good, served immediately as soon as we walked in. Attended us very often to clear plates and refill water. Only one minor hiccup was when the lady reached across the table to serve the beer rather than coming around but this was very minor.
The food soon came after ordering and the salads came first. The young papaya salad came first. The flavour was fresh, probably because it was opening day but lacking interesting and exciting Vietnamese flavours although the chilli added a nice spice. Unfortunately a bit boring ⁴⁄₁₀. Next came the Vietnamese slaw which came with Grilled Organic Chicken. Both were $ 8, the chicken only came with 5 pieces which is not worth what we paid for. The slaw was all cabbage and didn’t have any fish sauce or lime which are classic vietnamese flavours. The beef and the fish came next although nicely cooked very miniscule. Worried that they might’ve ordered too less ingredients on the day. The was no phở available, very disappointed. Didn’t think the restaurant was ready to open. Also most of the staff was well trained but some seemed clueless and had no idea where they were going.
One of the good points was the curry of the moment which had classic vietnamese/​malaysian flavours: was very delicious ⁹⁄₁₀ and also ample supply of drinks, might’ve mistaken this for a bar rather than restaurant. Vietnamese coffee also was tasty.
All in all this restaurant had spent a lot of money on renovating this shop but to be perfectly honest was very busy and was not prepared to open today with limited supply of ingredients and seriously to run out of phở by lunch time is ridiculous!!! Very disappointed and will not go back in a hurry