Fresh User Reviews in Rhodes

6.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  5      Service  6      Value  7     

I go to this yum cha alot due to location. I always take a chinese friend with me as they find it hard to understand me (aussie). I find the prices are average. The service is a little rushed as its always busy. I love the food, variety and taste and will continue to dine here.

May 30, 2012

4.3 Below Average

Food  6      Ambience  5      Service  1      Value  5     

My wife and I went here before a movie on saturday night. I had read the below reviews but why not give it a chance. Firstly I have to see that the mains we ate were quite tasty but thats about all the positives.

Staff were attentive enough and our order was taken quickly. We ordered one of the veal dishes and a steak for main and a trio of dips as the entree. First problem, the mains arrived but no entree. After asking where our entrées were they said the waiter had thought we wanted it to all come out at once, interested. We told them to forget about the entrées and we'll just eat the mains.

Have to say the manager came over and apologised and offered the entree for free. We declined as we had our mains now.

Dessert time came round and my wife ordered the lemon slice with ice cream but without the whipped creams. Being pregnant she can't eat the cream. I ordered a slice of apple crumble without anything.

The problem was my wifes slice came out with cream and mine came out with both cream and ice cream. I honestly don't know how hard it can be when we specifically told them what we wanted. We asked to have the cream removed and replaced with ice cream on my wifes dish. I would have expected it to be replated with ice cream. The waiter took the dish, scraped the cream of and stuck the ice cream on top of where the cream was. Very bad. The idea is to not have any cream on the plate at all. Same story with my dessert.

On top of that my steak although tasty and soft was not medium as I asked and I would have struggled to find the apple in the apple crumble.

If the service was good it would have been quite enjoyable. Might have had the same waitress described in one of the reviews below as she had an accent and she was rude and just terrible.

The manager was apologetic and we did get the coffees for free but we won't be back.

May 28, 2012

7 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  5      Service  9      Value  7     

On this site you need to be really wary of placing any credence in the 'stitch-up' reviewers popping up for the first time & never to review again, almost always with an nasty little axe to grind or alternatively, a glowing, wonderous 5 star review.

Whichever way, the reviews for this place seem to be skewed, which is a shame because I think Ninety has a lot of potential and shouldn't be dismissed. The service was a highlight, really nice, friendly & efficient.

On to the food- we shared a mezze plate as an entree which was a cracker. Haloumi, mince triangles, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, dolmades, pasties, three dips and a stack of toasts, bread stick and flat bread. Enjoyable. The mains, we had the 250gm wagyu and the king prawn tomato-based risotto. The risotto was a hummungous serve, enough to feed two, with a heap of prawns but a touch plain- just missing that little something. But hey, they used Arborio rice and we waited long enough to assume that it was cooked via reduction and on our request.

The 250gm wagyu was more like 100 grams, garnished with some micro-herbs and served on a huge bowl-plate with enough chips underneath to feed a thousand seagulls. I asked for medium rare, and got medium to well. To close we had a dessert share plate, with a wonderful pannacotta, and espresso laden tiramasu and two flavours of ice cream, superbly presented. I think we could well give them one more try but we would choose differently for our main meals.

Apr 28, 2012

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  7      Value  8     

I'm surprised to see so many poor reviews. We often have yum cha here when frequenting ikea. Like all yum cha restaurants what trolleys you see depends on where you are sat and when you arrive. I find there is a good selection of both fried and steamed dumplings. The steamed are always hot occasionally you get fried which are a bit on the cold side but not so much that I would complain.

The prices are about average I think and the service just ok. I would only complain that you pay for tea pp. a trends at yum cha that I hate. The mango sago is to die for. Overall I would recommend, the place is always packed and the food turn over good.

Apr 19, 2012

2.5 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  2      Service  6      Value  1     

Just came back from an awful dinner with a group of cousins. Food was Terrible! The three who ordered chicken mains all had to send their dishes back to the kitchen, two for being cold, and the third was a schnitzel that was Raw. I mean bright pink! I have Never seen that. But worse was that they brought back the same piece back covered in gravy. The same piece of chicken!

The others who ordered the pasta all said it was tasteless. Such a shame that our night became about the disappointing food, rather than being able to catch up with our cousins, which was what the night was supposed to be about. When we finally got the opportunity to chat we were asked to settle the bill as they were closing up. So to sum up, Too pricey for disappointing food! Do not even try it.

Mar 31, 2012

7 Recommended

Food  7     

Just rating the food: Good Italian.

Wanted to try this place as it was one of the few Inner West restaurants that made it into the Good Food Guide 2012.

The Blue Swimmer Crab Spaghettini with chilli was delicious with subtle flavours. The Pappardelle with Wild Mushroom Ragu was too greasy and salty. The Fish of the Day (Swordfish) was fresh and well-cooked. Homemade bread was yummy and slightly doughy.

Popular lunchtime spot in bayside park close to Rhodes Business Park. We visited early on a weekday and this restaurant quickly filled up with enthusiastic diners.

Mar 30, 2012

1.7 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  2      Service  1     

Very highly priced food for yum cha. Zero value for food, cold, and would not go back. Try somewhere else, much better food, great value for money and you'll leave like you've eaten something.

Mar 24, 2012

5.8 Average

Food  8      Ambience  5      Service  5      Value  5     

Have been here for yumcha a few times as the quality and range of food is considerably better than the other yumcha restaurants in the local area. The prices are definitely higher than usual ($20 pp minimum) and I suspect the really unusual dishes may only be available on weekends when you have to wait to get a table. However, the lady who issues the tickets seems pretty experienced at estimating the wait time so you can wander around the shops to fill in the time.

This last time the yum cha dishes included a mini mudcrab in ginger and shallots (really nice but probably very expensive) and an absolutely fantastic new dessert, mango sago, highly recommended, and everyone in our group voted it the best yumcha dessert by far.

Mar 13, 2012

4 Below Average

Food  1      Ambience  5      Service  5      Value  5     

Yum Cha - all the food was cold. Enough said.

Mar 07, 2012

3.5 Below Average

Food  1      Ambience  4      Service  5      Value  4     

This place reminds me of my sister's cooking. Except without the salt, without the pepper and without the smile. We ordered the chicken and avocado melt, as well as the penne with eggplant and mushrooms. The chicken was lukewarm and had never seen a grain of salt. The cheese on top was quite tasty, but the bread was completely untoasted, so it just dissolved. What can I say about the penne?

Seriously, I could cook better pasta if I had the flu. Again, there was a total lack of salt. There was also a strong burnt taste, as if the mushrooms or the garlic had caught fire. This was disguised under huge amounts of chilli and more garlic. After four spoonfuls I gave up. I decided to be polite, so I waited until the senior staff gave us the bill (about 40 dollars).

When I handed him the money, I told him that I could not finish the penne, because there was too much garlic and chilli. He just shrugged his shoulders, said "oh" and walked away. If you are brave enough to eat here, be safe and try the pizza.

Mar 05, 2012

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

You want the best food or hot drinks? Good you are in the best place, just can't reflect the good time we spent there with varieties of food and drinks, specially with the new creative menu and Pizza? Yummm...

Mar 01, 2012

5.8 Average

Food  5      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  5     

Came here for yum cha. Lots of fried food, not much variety. Service was ok. Probably won't come back again.

Feb 11, 2012

7 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  7     

Better quality food than what I've had at other cafes, and while the 'take a number' service system isn't ideal, the staff are friendly and do their job well.

Feb 09, 2012

8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  8     

Dinner with family on Chinese New Year’s Eve is an important tradition. Rhodes Phoenix was packed with diners looking ahead to the Year of the Dragon.

The large tables were enjoying traditional banquets. With only 4 of us, we went for the timeless dried oysters with ‘black hair’ seaweed (homonym to ‘great business profit’), a 1.9kg lobster with ginger and shallots, and the modernised cumin lamb shanks.

I have always loved the dried oyster dish and enjoyed the rare occasion to taste the intense savory fishy, yet subtly sweet flavour. However, lamb shanks were very tough.

Kung Hei Fat Choy!

Read the full review on my blog

Jan 23, 2012

1.3 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  2      Service  1      Value  1     

Came with large size family all the way from the city to Rhodes Phoenix restaurant to have seafood for dinner.

Because there is a seafood aquarium, my little daughters (2,5 and 3,5 year olds) asked to have a table close to the aquarium so they could see the fish, I have asked a waiter if we could have a table near the aquarium, he seemed like a senior waiter to me, said we can not have the table there, even though most of the tables were empty he said we could not be seated there, I had explained the situation, that the girls want to see the fish, to which he replied, "If you want to see the fish, get up and go see the fish.

We honestly could not believe how rude the staff was and simply left the restaurant. If the restaurant staff is so rude, we are happy we did not stay and experience the food. Bad service is bad indication to what the food might be like.

Jan 18, 2012

6.3 Average

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  6     

Been going to Yum Cha for more than 30 years now and this doesn't really make an outstanding impact on my Yum Cha experiences! Food is as per other Yum Cha's - though overpriced. Staff seem pre-occupied with (not sure what) and servings were a little smaller than other Yum Cha's Ive been to. Nothing flash about this place, much better ones in Chatswood, Haymarket and even the one in Blacktown! As a previous review states "In and Out" and that's how they are running this place...

Jan 18, 2012

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

Casual dining place where one can choose from a sushi train affair or a table. We chose the second option and found both Korean and Japanese dishes are on offer. We had Korean Bibimbap (hot beef version) served with red pepper paste on the side. So if you think it is too spicy, this one you control the action. This was yummy.

Also to reminisce we had an Okonomiyaki which was visually interesting since the benito flakes on top reminded me of a scary movie, they come seemingly 'alive'!. This is one to surprise the kids with! It also tasted scrumptious. With a drop of plum wine and a beer, it was a nice experience. Pleasant service too.

Jan 15, 2012

1.5 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  1      Service  3      Value  1     

We went for dinner here with some friends and thought this place looked good, but am always wary of Shopping centre japanese food. I should have trusted my instincts. I had the sizzling seafood bbq, and fell ill later that night when I got home. Do not go here, it's not safe. Go up to ikea and get a $1 hotdog as a safer option.

Jan 14, 2012

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  6      Value  8     

The food is delicious and well presented, the service staff were efficient and friendly. The only thing that was a let down was the cashier at the end, a guy with bad manners, arrogant. Very disappointed with an otherwise enjoyable outing.

Jan 12, 2012

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  6     

We came here for lunch, and the entree (calamari) and main (steak) were very tasty. Moderately expensive though (about $70 2 courses), wines expensive. Service was okay. Might come back for special occasions. Carpark right outside the restaurant which is handy. (3 hour free park).

Dec 29, 2011