Cru

Enjoyed a nice breakfast here that was fairly priced for the area and quality of the food.

Cru has been a big hit with the family since it opened. The outdoor area is awesome. Over the years their menu has been full of tasty treats as well as brilliant breakfasts. Must try the stop 80 for something small. Would recommend visiting it during the week as opposed to the weekend. Things including service for some reason seem to go more smoothly. Coffee is one of my favourite in Melbourne — but be prepaid for the bill at the end. So give it a go.

It took us quite a few tries to finally enjoy a wine at Cru — every time we went there we seemed to have no luck — it either was not open as late as you’d think a wine bar would be, or it was closed for holidays etc.
Well, once we worked out how to google opening hours, we’ve now been a bunch of times for a drink and really enjoy the vibe of the place, and just having a good local wine bar!
Staff have been great, wine list extensive with some good specials, and we were lucky enough recently to stumble unknowingly into a sangria day that was a paid-​entry but we stuck out heads in at the day’s end where they just wanted to get rid of the sangria — and it was goooood! (Happily pay next time it’s on!)
Yet to visit it in it’s breakfast café guise, but that’s on the list. (Will just make sure we google the times first.)

On a shivering Sunday afternoon Cru met my desire to sit in the autumn sun sipping latte, and let me tell you the sun was good! This though I can’t say the same about the latte which was lacklustre by anyone’s standard.
Fortunately the meal made up for the coffee, being by far one of the best tasting burgers that I’ve ever had
(I got the Angus burger with bacon). Seating outside is perfectly oriented to gather the afternoon sun, or sit inside if you prefer.

Really nice café/​bar where you don’t expect to find one. The décor is bright and interesting, refreshingly not try-​hard hipster and neither are the staff who are just quick and friendly. The coffee was very good, so was the Bircher muesli (finely sliced apple drizzled with honey over a generous amount of good yoghurt and muesli that didn’t look like it came out of a packet). Will be back. The muesli took a little while to arrive, and it wasn’t that busy…

One faithful day, I stumbled impromptu
a café on Glenferrie called simply Cru
A feel my visit, somewhat a breakthrough
that makes me wish I lived in Kew.
Although not to busy and without a queue,
there was still ample time to take in the view.
All nice pearly white, a quite pleasing hue,
a place with character I give praise thereunto.
Although, I can give only a small preview,
this café is a must visit Melbourne venue.
Theres not much I can say that can devalue
that would not be a lie or simply untrue
I ordered my coffee, a delicious brew.
From the first sip, satisfaction I knew.
This place is a gem and I’ll give you a clue,
Cru is a business you just have to review!

I don’t know why it’s taken so long for a place like Cru to open up in this location. And I don’t know why there aren’t more places like Cru at this end of Glenferrie Road.
Multiple Private Schools, Primary Schools and business people on public transport would all want good coffee.
Maybe it is the challenge in finding a car-​park? (if you are driving, give yourself some time to park in a side street and walk).
Cru is one of those hybrid coffee shops /​wine bars, but I would class it as more a wine bar with a coffee machine than a café with a cellar.
If you peek through the window, you might think that there is no chance of getting a table, but walk out the back and you enter a Tardis like are (what’s with my Dr Who references??) that has surprisingly plenty of space.
I ate breakfast. The coffee was good, but not up with the best. I paid a typical price for scrambled eggs on toast and received what looked more like a couple of quail’s eggs on a Salada cracker.
Combining my experience with the other Unilocaler’s comment on their «egg and bacon roll» (Stop 80), I wouldn’t go to Cru without eating beforehand if you are a peckish, unless you plan to stop past your favourite Souvlaki joint on the way home.
There is no i-​Pod here. A retro turntable spins those black acrylic disky things, giving a lovely rich and warm sound. While I would normally be raving about this, it seems a little out of place in a trendy décor — it would fit more into the grungy, eclectic and casual coffee shops that I seem to prefer.
Based on my experience, I’ve rated a 3-​star, but only just. Perhaps after my quail-​egg on a cracker breakfast, I still haven’t eaten enough and I feel a bit grumpy…

Cru is much needed in Kew and sits at the top end of Glenferrie rd. Something for everyone here and quite the evolution, from its opening menu with very adventurous brunch offerings to a much more agreeable mainstream selection and now a Fitzroy feel courtyard and tapas/​wine bar (cue round of applause from Kew and Hawthorn residents) from Wednesdays to Sundays. This area is in desperate need of more of these sorts of ventures, thank you Cru.
However brunch it was today and we squeezed past the compact front room into the corridor and spacious courtyard, bar seats and communal tables abound, plenty of room for everyone here.
The stop 80 is a sure bet, sweet brioche bun with bacon, fried egg and cheese for $ 5. Waiter advises, ‘you could definitely eat two and if you’re really hungry you could eat three’. Boy partner quickly establishes new meal on the way to the football, two stop 80s and a coffee, ah bargin (football starts in 3 months, nothing like a pre planner after all) In addition to the stop 80, boy partner orders the French toast and I take on the hazelnut and banana bread with raspberry mascarpone. One star taken away for service, waiters lovely but a 20 minute wait with one person served the other not can’t achieve a five star. The French toast was one of the finer offerings we’ve experienced. Brioche, which is quite possibly going to be the name of my first born given my obsession recently, came laden with squashed banana, piles of chewy bacon and sticky maple syrup with sweet cream and icing sugar. Shuddering with joy and dentist bill reflecting now. The banana bread was petit in size but tasty and good mix of sour, sweet, crunch — you know ticking all those texture and flavour boxes very easily.
Seven Seeds coffee is good, it’s all good, no it’s all excellent here.