AliBrown

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

I'm afraid that there is a problem with the Portuguese custard tarts (pastéis de nata) made at Sweet Belem, once you try one, cooked fresh that day, you will never be satisfied with any other Portuguese custard tart! Also, you will become obsessed with thoughts of eating another. I took a box of them to a friend's lunch gathering a couple of months ago, and now every time I see any of the attendees, they mention the tarts and ask when can I get them some more!

Aug 31, 2009

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  10     

Why haven't I reviewed this yet? It is simply an excellent place! The food is always perfect perfect perfect. Freshest marinated grilled seafood (can't go past the mixed grill), crispy salad with never a blackened leaf, and crispy beer battered chips. Lemon, tartare and balsamic vinaigrette make it extra special. Take away is great but the seating is really quite pleasant, so you can enjoy it extra hot and fresh on a large metal platter. BYO beer and they'll knock the lid off for you for free. Excellent value for consistently great quality casual food.

Aug 04, 2009

7.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  9     

A favourite work lunch stop. I'm addicted to the nasi lemak with beef rendang option ($9.50), I love the little crispy fish on the side and the sambal is sooo good, spicy, oily and fishy! The ayam goreng is delicious too. Great value for good food, and it's cheaper if you get meal with rice option.

Jun 23, 2009

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  8     

Hooray, a cool new cafe has opened under Valhalla, what a relief to have a classy cafe up this end of Glebe Point Road for discerning locals!

[Note that there are two new cafes that have opened under Valhalla, one is twice the size but this review refers to the smaller of the two. I've not been to the larger one, having been unimpressed by the food on display, the menu, the space, it just lacks that certain something, others must agree as Astor is always packed while the other is not!].

Anyway back to Astor. Firstly, and most importantly, they use Campos Coffee. For those who know Campos from their Newtown store or select cafes, you know it is a seriously good brew. Secondly, the little Rome cafe style chairs and tables are very cute and sophisticated. Thirdly, as soon as I saw the blackboard menu I knew we were in good hands. Why? There are only a handful of items and words such as "Hanks Jams"... "Meredith goats cheese"... jumped out at me.

The food is really tasty. I've tried the croque monseiur, which is a sinful ham and cheese toasty made wonderful thanks to great sourdough, good ham and a mustardy gruyere sauce. The pear and walnut toast was great. And the bacon and scrambled eggs were fantastic, the eggs were still wet, just as they should be, the bacon was clearly of great quality. Yum! The iced coffees are also great, they make 'real' ones using espresso coffee over ice, so not sweet and cloying, but very special.

Highly recommended.

May 31, 2009

4.6 Below Average

Food  6      Drinks  6      Ambience  3      Service  2      Value  6     

I like the small wagyu rump, good value for $21. In fact I'm stuck on it - probably because the menu is so long and confusing! However I can't stand the fitout, the peculiar smell (a carefully piped blend, I think), or the diabolical service!! Last time was laughable, the waiter handed us meals from wherever he stood, i literally had to take the plate from where it was offered next to my forehead, above my eye line. And they never come back to clear up the plates. This pub just depresses me.

Mar 16, 2009

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

I'm afraid that there is a problem with the Portuguese custard tarts (pastéis de nata) made at Sweet Belem, once you try one, cooked fresh that day, you will never be satisfied with any other Portuguese custard tart! Also, you will become obsessed with thoughts of eating another. I took a box of them to a friend's lunch gathering a couple of months ago, and now every time I see any of the attendees, they mention the tarts and ask when can I get them some more!

Aug 31, 2009

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  10     

Why haven't I reviewed this yet? It is simply an excellent place! The food is always perfect perfect perfect. Freshest marinated grilled seafood (can't go past the mixed grill), crispy salad with never a blackened leaf, and crispy beer battered chips. Lemon, tartare and balsamic vinaigrette make it extra special. Take away is great but the seating is really quite pleasant, so you can enjoy it extra hot and fresh on a large metal platter. BYO beer and they'll knock the lid off for you for free. Excellent value for consistently great quality casual food.

Aug 04, 2009

7.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  9     

A favourite work lunch stop. I'm addicted to the nasi lemak with beef rendang option ($9.50), I love the little crispy fish on the side and the sambal is sooo good, spicy, oily and fishy! The ayam goreng is delicious too. Great value for good food, and it's cheaper if you get meal with rice option.

Jun 23, 2009

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  8     

Hooray, a cool new cafe has opened under Valhalla, what a relief to have a classy cafe up this end of Glebe Point Road for discerning locals!

[Note that there are two new cafes that have opened under Valhalla, one is twice the size but this review refers to the smaller of the two. I've not been to the larger one, having been unimpressed by the food on display, the menu, the space, it just lacks that certain something, others must agree as Astor is always packed while the other is not!].

Anyway back to Astor. Firstly, and most importantly, they use Campos Coffee. For those who know Campos from their Newtown store or select cafes, you know it is a seriously good brew. Secondly, the little Rome cafe style chairs and tables are very cute and sophisticated. Thirdly, as soon as I saw the blackboard menu I knew we were in good hands. Why? There are only a handful of items and words such as "Hanks Jams"... "Meredith goats cheese"... jumped out at me.

The food is really tasty. I've tried the croque monseiur, which is a sinful ham and cheese toasty made wonderful thanks to great sourdough, good ham and a mustardy gruyere sauce. The pear and walnut toast was great. And the bacon and scrambled eggs were fantastic, the eggs were still wet, just as they should be, the bacon was clearly of great quality. Yum! The iced coffees are also great, they make 'real' ones using espresso coffee over ice, so not sweet and cloying, but very special.

Highly recommended.

May 31, 2009

4.6 Below Average

Food  6      Drinks  6      Ambience  3      Service  2      Value  6     

I like the small wagyu rump, good value for $21. In fact I'm stuck on it - probably because the menu is so long and confusing! However I can't stand the fitout, the peculiar smell (a carefully piped blend, I think), or the diabolical service!! Last time was laughable, the waiter handed us meals from wherever he stood, i literally had to take the plate from where it was offered next to my forehead, above my eye line. And they never come back to clear up the plates. This pub just depresses me.

Mar 16, 2009

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.5 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  3      Service  6      Value  5     

This review is for a weekday lunch. We've been a couple of times since it changed from Unas. I'll never go back! It is always dead quiet. The smell inside is unpleasant, a mixture of stale food and cleaning products, ventilation needs to be urgently addressed. Anyway I'm always off to a bad start with the smell.

I don't eat a big lunch so the massive schnitzels that get the boys so excited are off my list. The salads can be ok, I had a pear and goat cheese one that was quite edible. There is just no love in the ingredients or presentation, and they tend to sneak fatty items in everywhere.

Look if it wasn't so quiet and stinky I'd probably enjoy it more. Definitely one for schnitzel and beer lovers on a busy night (if there is such a thing!).

Response from Management:
Thank you for taking your time to write a review about our restaurant.

We are really sorry that we didn't meet your expectations.

The lunch menu has changed a few times since you were here, and we have put on some really nice healthy alternatives for those who don't like the big schnitzels.

We would like to have you as our guest once again to show you that we are still making positive changes since the Una's days

If we can tempt you to come in once again

Please call 92113805 and ask for Geert or Joannie

Mar 16, 2009

7.8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  5      Value  9     

We'd been wanting to try Mado for ages after reading about it in several foodie blogs. Four of us went for a birthday late Sunday lunch and loved the food and the timbered interior covered in authentic Turkish bits and pieces (like a print of a chained, dancing bear behind our table, well I did say it's authentic!).

We ordered a variety of dishes to share, and got through a mixed dip plate, mixed grill plate, mixed veg dish, and Maras kebab. The mixed plates were smaller than expected, however, we had room for 4 desserts so all was good!

I highly recommend the Maras kebab. It comprises a good sized bowl of crispy toasted bits of turkish bread, spicy minty bits of lamb kebab, and all covered in lashings of yoghurt and chopped fresh mint. It is such an unusual dish, but everyone loved it and the 63 year old meat-and-3-veg lovin' guest of honour fought the rest of us for the last of that dish!

The deserts were great, the maras icecream eaten with knife and fork, the maras cup with 3 scoops of delicious stretchy icecream and frozen grapes and the charred rice dish, can't recall it's name, it's not the rice pudding, it's another one, says something about charred I think. All were unusual and delicious.

Service was variable, generally good from some waitstaff and poor from others. We were expecting that so just jumped up and went to the counter if we were having trouble getting attention. Along with a drink or 2 each, and turkish teas to finish, we paid $150 for this feast for 4 people. Can't wait to return!

Mar 16, 2009

7 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  6     

We popped in for a late Sunday lunch. The service was friendly and professional and the ambience in the outdoor courtyard was lovely. We shared a couple of dishes.

The 'salt and pepper calamari with rocket and cherry tomatoes, and aoli' featured delightfully fresh and tender calamari. Just the tiniest smidgen of flour, lightly cooked - lovely. No hint of pepper, schezuan or otherwise, despite the claim in the menu. The rocket was not so bouncy, looks like it had a hard time in the colander. I was particularly annoyed by the presence of 3 halves of cherry tomato. That's a garnish, not worth mentioning in the ingredient list as though it's a tomato salad. The aoili was tasty and the lemon wedge juicy.

The club sandwich on turkish with crispy, flat cut chips featured chicken breast, bacon, tomato, lettuce and mayo. It was quite bland and everything was 'not quite right with it' - I could mention so many things and the whole was unbalanced, bready and had nothing to capture your imagination. I surrendered most of my half back to my partner.

The food was on the pricey side for what feels like a cafe lunch, approx $18 per dish. But the venue is a cut above a cafe. Perhaps, should have gone the whole hog and had a fish dish for $24 and a bottle of wine. We would consider returning for breakfast or dinner.

Mar 16, 2009

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  7      Service  10      Value  10     

It is such an unassuming little place, with a window featuring just a few small trays of pastries, who would have thought what delights lay within. I could eat these Empanadas every day! I often join the queue of hopefuls around midday on a Saturday waiting for the first batch to come out. I usually end up with a burned tongue, I simply can't wait long enough for it to cool. The sweet treats are also delicious.

Jul 15, 2008

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  10     

God I love this food! Spice Market is cramped and rushed but service is friendly -and those signature dishes are the most amazing Thai dishes I've ever eaten or looked at. I can never go past the betel leaves, the chicken satay skewers, the crispy perch (the one with tamarind sauce and a thick scatter of coriander and crispy onion), the famous mussamum curry (using meltingly-tender rack of lamb and roast pumpkin), or the banana flower salad (an intense and unusual 'salad' base with mild poached chicken in coconut cream in the middle) - combine the mild and intense components for a taste sensation. The presentation of these meals are something special too.

The standard dishes are OK but it's worth shelling out the extra $4 or so per dish to try their specialties. BYO so all up it's great value.

Jul 02, 2006