AstroNova

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

First time visit and we all had a thoroughly enjoyable dinner. Ambience was warm and casual, staff friendly and attentive, main meals were very generous in size. My sirloin steak was great value at only $24 with chips and salad, and grilled perfectly to order. We had gelato for dessert and that was great too. Highly recommend this cafe. Oh, check out the artwork on the walls. We had a bit of a giggle at the naked women.

Mar 30, 2011

6 Average

Food  7      Ambience  5      Service  7      Value  5     

I pop in here for Pho occasionally and they do a acceptable bowl despite not being Vietnamese (all the staff and cooks are Chinese). Food always comes out super fast, and staff are friendly and efficient. They're rather popular with the work lunch crowd but due to the tight seating, I recommend getting there before or after lunch to not feel crowded in. They're so tight for space none of the tables have room to hold chilli sauce, hoisin sauce, serviettes etc as you normally expect at a casual asian restaurant.

I've noticed recently they've been stingy with serving sizes and the side salad plate for Pho (which consists of basil leaves and bean sprouts) has gotten shockingly small. To be honest it was always small but it was hard to believe they could get any stingier.

Any other Vietnamese Pho restaurant would give diners a large plate overflowing with basil and bean sprouts. I got what amounted to a small handful of bean sprouts (which are so inexpensive, come on) and one small sprig of basil. I was so shocked I counted and the sprig had 6 baby size basil leaves. These baby leaves were so small, all 6 of them amounted to about 2 normal sized basil leaves. When I asked the waitress for more basil, she said that would cost extra which I accepted and I was given one extra sprig of similar dwarf sized basil leaves.

In spite of this, I would still recommend them for a quick bowl of Pho if you're in the Parramatta area. They're not the greatest in Sydney but it's acceptable.

And one last thing, if you order takeaway Pho to eat later, make sure they give you the soup stock in a separate take away container. If you don't say anything, they'll give you the whole noodle soup together in a takeaway bowl which means your noodles turn to mush.

Feb 07, 2011

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

6 Average

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  3      Value  6     

I find this place fascinating. How this family-run restaurant continues to grow, expand their premises, and continue to attract patrons who pack the place out (even on a weeknight) when they deliver such inattentive, nonchalant service is amazing!

No doubt the food is above average, it's honest good Italian cooking. The pizza is very authentic, pastas are simply done yet delicious and the home-made gelato is also very good (I recommend the pistachio). The coffee is spot on, and the teas served loose leaf in a generously sized plunger. To their credit they do not rush customers out the door and large tables of young people are left seemingly undisturbed to simply linger over coffee and gelato.

Yet it's the poor service that's perplexes me. Who are these repeat customers who seem oblivious to long waits for meals to arrive, difficulties flagging down a waiter, not have drinks arrive, and being overcharged on the bill? We saw a table next to us get up and leave as soon as their mains had were finished, and another table nearby waited over 30 minutes before their order was taken.

It's such an odd mix of good food and bad service and strangely enough I feel compelled to visit again.

Dec 29, 2010

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  8     

First impressions upon entering the restaurant was that there were plenty of Japanese patrons, always a good sign. The water led us to our booth and then the fun began with the Touch Screen ordering system. The menu range is generous and after pressing in our drinks order first, we were pleasantly surprised to see them delivered almost immediately.

My friend and I took some time deciding (the menu buttons were too much fun) and finally decided on the Lunch Special Bento Box, miso soup, agedashi tofu, potato crab salad, rice, prawn tempura with choice of meat (I had Teriyaki Chicken and friend had the Japanese Beef). All up the bill including drinks came to $34. Great value, friendly and fast service and good fun ordering system. Definitely will be back to try the other dishes on the menu (for instance the Japanese pizzas looked quite interesting!).

Apr 29, 2009

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

First time visit and we all had a thoroughly enjoyable dinner. Ambience was warm and casual, staff friendly and attentive, main meals were very generous in size. My sirloin steak was great value at only $24 with chips and salad, and grilled perfectly to order. We had gelato for dessert and that was great too. Highly recommend this cafe. Oh, check out the artwork on the walls. We had a bit of a giggle at the naked women.

Mar 30, 2011

6 Average

Food  7      Ambience  5      Service  7      Value  5     

I pop in here for Pho occasionally and they do a acceptable bowl despite not being Vietnamese (all the staff and cooks are Chinese). Food always comes out super fast, and staff are friendly and efficient. They're rather popular with the work lunch crowd but due to the tight seating, I recommend getting there before or after lunch to not feel crowded in. They're so tight for space none of the tables have room to hold chilli sauce, hoisin sauce, serviettes etc as you normally expect at a casual asian restaurant.

I've noticed recently they've been stingy with serving sizes and the side salad plate for Pho (which consists of basil leaves and bean sprouts) has gotten shockingly small. To be honest it was always small but it was hard to believe they could get any stingier.

Any other Vietnamese Pho restaurant would give diners a large plate overflowing with basil and bean sprouts. I got what amounted to a small handful of bean sprouts (which are so inexpensive, come on) and one small sprig of basil. I was so shocked I counted and the sprig had 6 baby size basil leaves. These baby leaves were so small, all 6 of them amounted to about 2 normal sized basil leaves. When I asked the waitress for more basil, she said that would cost extra which I accepted and I was given one extra sprig of similar dwarf sized basil leaves.

In spite of this, I would still recommend them for a quick bowl of Pho if you're in the Parramatta area. They're not the greatest in Sydney but it's acceptable.

And one last thing, if you order takeaway Pho to eat later, make sure they give you the soup stock in a separate take away container. If you don't say anything, they'll give you the whole noodle soup together in a takeaway bowl which means your noodles turn to mush.

Feb 07, 2011

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

6 Average

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  3      Value  6     

I find this place fascinating. How this family-run restaurant continues to grow, expand their premises, and continue to attract patrons who pack the place out (even on a weeknight) when they deliver such inattentive, nonchalant service is amazing!

No doubt the food is above average, it's honest good Italian cooking. The pizza is very authentic, pastas are simply done yet delicious and the home-made gelato is also very good (I recommend the pistachio). The coffee is spot on, and the teas served loose leaf in a generously sized plunger. To their credit they do not rush customers out the door and large tables of young people are left seemingly undisturbed to simply linger over coffee and gelato.

Yet it's the poor service that's perplexes me. Who are these repeat customers who seem oblivious to long waits for meals to arrive, difficulties flagging down a waiter, not have drinks arrive, and being overcharged on the bill? We saw a table next to us get up and leave as soon as their mains had were finished, and another table nearby waited over 30 minutes before their order was taken.

It's such an odd mix of good food and bad service and strangely enough I feel compelled to visit again.

Dec 29, 2010

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  8     

First impressions upon entering the restaurant was that there were plenty of Japanese patrons, always a good sign. The water led us to our booth and then the fun began with the Touch Screen ordering system. The menu range is generous and after pressing in our drinks order first, we were pleasantly surprised to see them delivered almost immediately.

My friend and I took some time deciding (the menu buttons were too much fun) and finally decided on the Lunch Special Bento Box, miso soup, agedashi tofu, potato crab salad, rice, prawn tempura with choice of meat (I had Teriyaki Chicken and friend had the Japanese Beef). All up the bill including drinks came to $34. Great value, friendly and fast service and good fun ordering system. Definitely will be back to try the other dishes on the menu (for instance the Japanese pizzas looked quite interesting!).

Apr 29, 2009