Bluecorn III

Update 18/06/2023: Blue Corn is now closed.

November 4, 2011

We took advantage of Mike and Jo's wheels to head across the river and revisit an old favourite, St Kilda's Bluecorn. Since we last visited either our standards have risen or Bluecorn's have dropped - this was among our most disappointing recent outings.

They're as popular as ever, and our booking was for 7, with the understanding that we'd clear the decks by 8:30. Stuck in traffic on the way over, we rang ahead and were given the nod to turn up a bit late. When we arrived, the waitress made a worried face before seating us and proceeding to provide an evening of unfriendly, uninformed and vaguely hostile treatment. We knew we had to be fast, but we didn't need to be made to feel like we were imposing on them the whole night.

I'd have been willing to forgive mediocre service if the food measured up, but unfortunately our whole experience fell well short of expectations. My vegetarian burrito (spinach, rice, peppers, corn, black beans, iceberg lettuce, guacamole and salsa on corn tortillas, $22.50) was very disappointing - the tortilla was a bit burnt, the guacamole had big brown patches and the filling tasted like cheese and mush. There was none of the freshness or flavour that we remembered from our earlier trips. At more than twice the price of a Trippytaco burrito this fell a long way short of my expectations.

Cindy ordered the blue masa goats cheese quesadilla (with black beans, sesame eggplant, pumpkin seed rojo, chipotle crema and guacamole, $21.50). Again the guacamole was a bit on the brown side and, while some of the flavours were okay, the dish was mostly mushy, lacking any crispness or freshness.

Our meat-eating companions didn't have anything more positive to offer up either. The night was capped off by our waitress slapping the bill on the table with Cindy still eating and vaguely threatening us, "you've got ten minutes."

This is probably the most negative review I've written on here and it's driven mostly by disappointment - we had such fond memories of sitting out in the courtyard at Bluecorn and being wowed by their fresh, wonderful food. Our expectations were raised even higher by recent raves by other Melbourne veg bloggers. Maybe we hit them on an off night (in their defence they were clearly pretty busy and we were 15 minutes late), but it'll be a long time before we give Bluecorn another chance. Ah well, I guess it's back to Trippytaco (and eventually Mamasita) for us.

____________

Read our two previous (positive) reviews here and here. There's a wide range of opinions out there, from scathing (KC's Food Affairs), through mixed (Mr Smith's Food Journeys, Because I Can't Cook, Eat and Be Merry, For Tomorrow we Diet, Tomatom) to positive (Please Sir, Can I Have Some More, Eaterati)

From a veg perspective, Eat More Vegies, Pocket Carnival and easy as vegan pie have loved Bluecorn, while Hayley at Ballroom Blintz was a bit disappointed by her experience.

____________

Bluecorn
205 Barkly Street, St Kilda
9534 5996
Veg shared plates: $19-$27, veg mains: $21.50-$22.50

Accessibility: At most there's a small step on entry (we forgot to really pay attention!). Inside things are relatively tight, but not impossibly so. Ordering and payment happens at the tables. We didn't visit the toilets.