Heart of Hall

The Overview…

Food: Smoked salmon bagel, granola

Ratings:
Food: 3.5/5
Atmosphere: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Value: 4/5

The details…

Heart of Hall occupies quiet a large unit in up and coming Newport. Newly opened in the old bank, just by the train station, it’s already making an impression with its striking blue decor, and is already proving popular with families.

One of the things that struck us about Heart of Hall, was how quiet it was. In our local suburb, brunch places are busy, tightly packed and noisy so you normally spend much of your time trying to hear each other speak over the clangs of cutlery and whirring of the coffee machine. Now, I don’t know what it is about the acoustics of Heart of Hall, but even when it was fairly full of families with small children, it still felt serene and relaxing.

The other little surprise they have up their sleeve is, when you look to the left on arrival, they have a fully fitted kitchen, in the middle of the cafe floor. This is to offer their many cooking classes – which range from dumplings to sangria. Classes start at $60, with many falling around the $120 price point, and it’s wanting to share this love of food that prompted owners Stacey and Nicola to open Heart of Hall. The venue also incorporates a food store, selling lots of culinary delights.

For us, the cafe reflects the local community really well. It offers a simple-but-done-well menu and a feeling of wanting to bring everyone together over food, catering perfectly to this rapidly growing suburb of young families. For a new venue, the service was good – they’re still finding their rhythm a little with the pace of service, but our food came quickly and staff were friendly and very accommodating. We tried the smoked salmon bagel and the granola.

The cool, thinly sliced smoked salmon, against the warm bagel contrasted perfectly, and we liked how this was presented in a do-it-yourself way (I’m so grumpy about anyone making my sandwiches, they always do it wrong). We went heavy on the salmon and light on the salad to create our ideal breakfast snack. Surprisingly hearty and warming, we thought this might be more of a summer dish, but it’s one we could see ourselves going back to time and again.

The granola is made in house, and had lots of crunchy nuts and dried fruit. It was quite a sweet granola, so I was pleased they paired this with a more sour, natural yoghurt – instead of something like acai – to balance this well. I couldn’t really taste the rosewater, but I’m not too bothered as the flavours worked, although I would have loved it to be topped with a little fresh fruit too. Definitely got the makings of another excellent dish. Pair this up with their strong coffee and you’re setting yourself up well for the day. Ideally located opposite the train station, it’s a great place to grab and go too.

Everything else…

Website: https://heartofhall.com.au/

Address: 17 Hall Street, Newport

Opening Times (Cafe):
Mon       6:30am to 5pm
Tue        6:30am to 5pm
Wed       6:30am to 5pm
Thu        6:30am to 5pm
Fri          6:30am to 5pm
Sat         7am to 1pm
Sun        7am to 1pm

** Cooking classes run in the evenings, and can be found on the Heart of Hall website

Parking: You may struggle a little more during the week, being so close to the train station, but we had no problems finding a parking place on Hall Street when we visited on a Saturday.

Getting here on PT: It’s ideally located at Newport train station, on the Werribee Line and is about 25 minutes out from the City.

Disclaimer: We dined as guests of Heart of Hall, Newport. Reviews are honest and based on our own personal experiences. We cannot guarantee things at a cafe won’t change including, but not limited to, menu items and opening hours, so please confirm any details with the venue before visiting