Vue412
This is a small place on Grandview Ave on the top of Mt Washington. The decor is a little outdated, but not so much that I feel like I'm stepping into the 80's. The view is great. This place could be a great space with a little help from a professional lighting expert.
The carpet is discolored and I'm wondering if they flood in here, but it seems to be consistent between the two levels, so maybe it's intentional? I'm not so certain. Perhaps tile would be a better choice, but that's not important. The food is what is important.
Let's start with the menu. It is way too large for the size of the kitchen here. It has not clear theme and it's a good thing the place is empty because if they were to fill all the tables, the kitchen would not be able to handle it, I'm sure.
Looking over the menu, there are only two clear choices I can order without too much modification, hopefully they will be gluten free without modification - the scallops & the filet.
I ask the waitress about the risotto that come with the scallops and the mushroom & artichoke soup. She checks with the kitchen and yes, both are gluten free. The soup is vegetarian, too.
One of my companions, a vegetarian, looks over the menu and finds nothing meatless on it. Oddly enough, the lunch menu is combined to the diner menu and he sees vegeburgers and flat bread pizza. He asks the waitress if he can order from the lunch menu, but to his disappointment, they don't have dough or vegeburgers made. They shouldn't have even tempted someone with the lunch options, if they can't have them for diner. That just puts a bad taste in people's mouth.
Since there were no vegetarian options on the menu, they offered to make a pasta with vegetables for my friend, even though pasta is the go to when you don't know what else vegetarian to cook. He said if he never eats pasta again, he'd be happy. But what can you do.
Before finalizing my order, I asked the waitress if there were any bell peppers going to be on my meal because even though the menu doesn't mention them, a lot of restaurants needless add them. I'm allergic to bell peppers. We have a conversation about my tolerance to hot peppers, but not bell peppers - green, yellow, red or orange. She assures me that the scallops with risotto I ordered had no bell peppers.
The mushroom soup came out. I ordered a cup; my friend ordered a bowl. It was delicious! It had an assortment of wild mushrooms. It was creamy. It was tasty. I think I saw a morel mushroom, maybe a porcini mushroom. Whatever mushrooms, were delicious. There were some little red vegetables floating in the soup. They seemed to be a chili pepper, not a bell pepper, as they added a bit of heat to the soup, so I ate it without complaint. The small cup left me wanting more. My friend's bowl of soup was entree sized. It was way too large. He's definitely not finishing his pasta.Our entrees arrived and the potions were huge. You definitely can charge these prices for less food up here with a view. I took one look at my scallops and there were roasted red bell peppers lying on top of everything. This unnecessary garnish is exactly what I was talking about. The server took it back and had them make me a new plate. Thank goodness, because I'd be pretty sick if I just picked them off. They brought out more asparagus to make up for the mistake. That was nice.
The scallops were huge. That was a wonderful surprise. They were cooked all the way through without being rubbery and over cooked. The only problem was they were a little sandy.
I took one bite of the risotto and was shocked. This was not made with risotto rice. It was plain white rice. Steamed. Maybe. It sure didn't look like the little arborio rice grains that this is supposed to be made with. It was soggy and mushy. It was cheesy rice not risotto.
The server did go through great lengths to make sure I didn't get sick. She was courteous, knowledgeable, and entertaining.
My other friend ordered the gnocchi and sausage. She said to was nothing to write home about and that she'd be eating it for the next two days. That plate is big & they filled it up!
This just seemed to be a mediocre Italian restaurant that didn't even make it's own noodles. I feel there are cooks in the kitchen, but not a chef. I think many people will try this place, but not many will return. If they want people to return again and again, they will have to change the menu drastically. Until then, it will be as empty as it was when I was in there. At least I didn't have a gluten reaction here!
http://www.vue412.com/
1200 Grandview Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15211
412-381-1919
