Fresh User Reviews in Eastern Melbourne (Manningham to Monash)

9 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  10     

This place is an institution! I used to go here as a kid and it is great to see it hasn't changed. We ordered the banquet which was excellent value for money. The food was tasty and fresh. The male waiters were courteous and efficient. We went on a Saturday night and yes, Derrick J is still the resident musician! Our young children enjoyed getting up and having a dance. A very enjoyable evening.

May 26, 2012

4.3 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  4      Service  4      Value  5     

Party of 5 went for mothers day. Nice, smart deco. Disappointing meal, prawns in the Pasta Special were completely raw, chicken risotto completely lacking in flavour and seasoning, and pork ribs very fatty. Neighbouring tables ribs looked amazing though. Decent Fat fries.

Our waitress was un-apologetic about the prawns, although the manager Frank was professional and respectful. He obviously knows how to run a business and understands customer service, so he held up the team during an understandably busy day.

May 25, 2012

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  8     

Bit late now but Love love love their choc chip hot cross buns! ate sooo many over easter and plan to do the same next year!

May 24, 2012

2.8 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  3      Service  3      Value  4     

Terrible has completely gone downhill. Then we found out there were new owners. The man at the front was rude and obnoxious. Further the specials board has pretty much gone with none of the old favourites. There are a few of the old staff which is very nice to see familiar faces. However, the food is definitely seeing a very very very fast decline.

May 22, 2012

5 Average

Food  5      Ambience  5      Service  5      Value  5     

Went for a Sunday morning yum cha with some mates. About 10 of us in a table. Service was disappointing. We asked about 10 times for some steam dim sims but they just kept telling us it's sold out or it's still being cooked. All was served to us was all the fried ones!

Food was okay not too bad but the lack of varieties that was available when we're dining was something that put off us a little.

A bit disappointed considering that some of my mates had been here before and they recommended us to come here as an alternatives of heading to the city.

May 21, 2012

6 Average

Food  6      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  5     

We had ala carte, didn't try the teppanyaki. We tried salmon sushi, that was okay. But the tempura is a bit below standard as some of the batter is uncooked. The nasu dengaku was nice. Overall we felt it was very overpriced.

May 20, 2012

4 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  3      Service  5      Value  4     

2nd visit (1st 4 years ago) Not very impressed unfortunately. Booked for Mothers Day, was not told when booking that it was a set menu. Arrived and was told it was 'a set' after saying that I wasn't informed when booking and not particularly happy, was told that the senior staff would come and have a chat with me. That didn't occur.

The set menu was for 2 persons based on $42.00 per person, we paid $45 person plus drinks. Admittedly didn't check the bill till after paying. There was no separate bowl of olive oil (normally served at Greek restaurants for dipping). The dips though tasty were small in portion. The octopus was not tangy with lemon as expected. Which brings me to the point of having a set menu, what if people are allergic to certain foods, or come to a lunch with a budget? If I had been told, I would have gone elsewhere.

The baklava was burnt on the bottom. The corkage $4.50 per bottle (love that as we opened and poured our own drinks, so $4.50 for the cost of a glass on the table). All in all disappointed with the outcome. The way we show a restaurant we like it is to return, sadly we won't.

May 13, 2012

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

How lucky are we to find this tremendous eatery just locally!

Fabulous fresh food, terrific service, lovely waitress, spotlessly clean restaurant, byo! It's got it all and the duck, well it's delicious! Shush, don't tell anyone, it's much too good to share! Thanks for always providing such excellent food and service!

May 12, 2012

9 Highly Recommended

Quality  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  10     

Great service, Fantastic dentist, excellent value for money. Doesn't hurt! I got a Free cosmetic consultation done. Highly recommended!

May 11, 2012

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  10      Service  6      Value  6     

We enjoy dining here but its best to book because they can get caught out by being understaffed. Love the entertainment of Teppanyaki with the family, a great night out for food and laughs.

May 06, 2012

4.8 Average

Food  6      Ambience  8      Service  1      Value  4     

A friend and I ate at Panchos Mexican Cantina this evening. We ordered the Los Cabos banquet for two. The first course was fine, but during serving of the second course, the restaurant made an error and brought two plates and two small salad bowls (one of myself and one for my friend, placed directly in front of each of us).

After commencing our plates, the waitress came and said that an error had been made and asked for one of us to give back our plate and bowl as the course was meant to be shared (I will add that we had not been given side plates). After much confusion and some debate, I gave my plate and bowl (which had both been commenced on) back and they were taken away, after some time, I went to the Manageress and complained that despite the plate and bowl being taken away, no side plates for the sharing of the remaining plate had been brought. These were then offered.

At no time was an apology offered. And nothing was said when we paid the bill, nor any recompense for the confusion (and humiliation, as certainly other tables were very aware of our food being taken) offered. I can only hope that the food that was taken from our table was not recycled and returned to some other customer, as I can see no reason why, having served it (even in error), and it having been commenced to be eaten, it was not just left for us to eat.

May 05, 2012

4 Below Average

Food  7      Ambience  4      Service  1      Value  4     

We'd had a number of reasonable Yum Cha excursions here: not as much variety as some other Yum Cha palaces, and some overcooked fried items, but a fair price. Dinner was another story, better quality food, but shocking, indifferent service. It's suburban and showing its age and I assume from the dinner performance that the owners have made their fortune, so don't care about return customers.

May 04, 2012

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  7      Service  10      Value  10     

Just had the best pizza ever! it was fantastic and they are really friendly.

May 04, 2012

1.3 Not Recommended

Quality  1      Ambience  1      Service  2      Value  1     

I too had the 'Keratin' treatment which I purchased as a deal from groupon. Unfortunately I only read these bad reviews after I'd paid the $99 so felt I had no choice but to go ahead with the treatment I'd booked in.

When I made the appointment, for 3 months into the future (because they were so booked out as a result of the deal), I didn't notice that they'd booked me in on Anzac Day. I wondered if they would actually be open Anzac Day but thought surely they wouldn't have booked me in if they weren't... in the end I decided to call and check about 6 weeks before my treatment, and was told that they wouldn't be open that day and someone was supposed to have called me but hadn't got around to it. This was ok, because I got an appointment 2 days later than the original date, but this was the first warning sign of how bad this salon is.

When I walked in I was gobsmacked at how poorly presented the staff and salon was. There was hair all over the floor (in big balls, as if it had been blowing around the salon for ages), as well as what looked like mud, and the chairs were filthy (covered in dye etc. as someone else commented). It looks like these people have found an empty shop and just put some chairs in it and a couple of posters on the wall.

They washed my hair with shampoo and then the girl explained that they don't put conditioner in it because they want to keep the hair follicles open so the keratin can penetrate the hair. She then proceeded to try and brush my hair with a soft-bristle brush which was already full of hair... aside from being completely unhygienic, I don't believe you should use a brush like that on wet hair - you should use a wide tooth comb so the hair isn't stretched.

I have thick, blonde, knotty hair and with only shampoo put through it, it was impossible for her to brush. It ended up breaking off with every stroke and although my hair is blonde, it doesn't usually break. Only then did she think to put the 'keratin' treatment in to make it easier to brush my hair.

I sat there for an hour and then she dried my hair and straightened it. It looked and felt nice and I started to feel better about my experience. No one mentioned anything about the 'style cut' that was meant to be included but I didn't mind because I wouldn't have trusted those people with cutting my hair. Also as the girl was doing my hair she reminded the girl next to me that they had to call some clients to cancel their appointments because they'd run out of the 'solution' to the the treatments.

When it was done the girl showed me the 'keratin' shampoos and conditioners they had to offer. She wasn't pushy at all and I said I'd have a think about it and she walked off and let me look at the products. Not one of them mentioned the word 'keratin', and I thought this was strange because I've had a keratin treatment in the past and the shampoo I bought said 'Keratin' all over it.

The proper keratin products are a lot more expensive than the ones in the salon as well. I didn't trust what she showed me so I drove to Petra at shoppingtown and the girl working there was very knowledgeable and showed me exactly what I needed to buy, which was a proper keratin brand. I pointed out the ones they were selling in the salon and she said they shouldn't be used on keratin treated hair!

This morning I washed my hair after the recommended 72 hours and was horrified to find that my hair has dried in exactly the same, if not worse, state of frizziness. Also, I've had a Keratin treatment before (from Prive salon in Highpoint), and found it was amazing. This leads me to believe, like other people, that they are not actually applying a keratin treatment to your hair... it occurs to me now that I didn't see the packaging of the 'solution' they were using, so what they were applying to my hair could have been Pantene conditioner, for all I know. Why would anyone pay the normal $400 for something that has absolutely no effect?

I really feel like there should be some sort of inquiry done into this business because it does seem they are engaging in false advertising. There's definitely something dodgy going on, and I say this because I know what a keratin treatment is supposed to do to my hair. No idea who would be the right person to complain to? I wish I could get my money back and put it towards a Real keratin treatment!

Apr 30, 2012

2 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  2      Service  4      Value  1     

One of the worst Japanese meals I've ever had. Warm sushi (a capital offence), greasy tempura (you could taste the oil!), wafu steak swimming in brown water (sauce?) and not surprisingly the wait staff didn't speak a word of Japanese.

Apr 21, 2012

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  7     

Went for a casual sunday dinner and was very pleased. The fish was fresh and the service pretty fast. The batter on the fish was pretty light and the fish wasn't drowning in grease. I thought they were a little light on the chips but they were crispy and good and since no one was hungry at the end, the serving size was about right.

The flavoured salt on the fish and chips was really good as was the vinegar in a bottle so that you could use as much or as little as was to your taste. Add to that licensing so that you can have that beer with your fish and it's definitely not your local, greasy fish shop.

Apr 20, 2012

7.5 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  7     

I'm fussy with the quality of the meat. Often it is tough, fatty or sinewy, however, Haveli hasn't disappointed to date, with fat trimmed and succulent results.

Apr 19, 2012

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

Food quality is outstanding. A gem.

Apr 19, 2012

3.4 Below Average

Food  2      Drinks  5      Ambience  3      Service  5      Value  2     

I knew as soon as I saw my meal it wasn't going to be good. How hard is it to make a good chicken schnitzel? The crumbs weren't even browned off properly. Truly horrible! My partner ordered a medium rare porterhouse which came out over done. For $29 this really wasn't acceptable. Will never eat there again!

Apr 18, 2012

6.8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  5      Service  6      Value  7     

We bought a mini cake to try $14. Mocha flavoured, delish! Light as Asian cakes are meant to be, and not too sweet. And pleasantly surprised: a good cake to cream ratio. Going to order 2 large cakes soon, not sure what flavours so hope they taste as good as the Mocha. They do have limited flavours but maybe they're focussing on quality instead of quantity. The cake deco is a bit dated so might want to improve on that. Hope prices don't go North as I think I'll be switching from Cake World which is so much more ex.

Apr 15, 2012