Insanity540

4.5 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  5      Service  4      Value  4     

As a regular customer and fan of Sushi Samurai I have to say that something has changed recently and I'm not enjoying their food as much as I used to.

We occasionally eat in, but usually just order takeaway since it's so close to home. The quality of the takeaway meal I just ate was so poor it prompted this review.

Granted it was a Saturday night, but when you tell a customer that your food will be ready in 15 minutes, you have that meal ready then. I was told it would be another 10 minutes (and in that time parts of my order were ready and sitting on the counter getting cold).

My Wagyu Steak main was utterly disappointing. Considering it is one of their most notable dishes, I expected it to be of the same quality I've always enjoyed (both sit down and takeaway). This one was undercooked, the bean sprouts were raw and there was grizzle in the steak.

The miso has also changed. I don't know what's happened, but the quality of the food this time was bad.

May 26, 2012

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  9     

We just had dinner at Hawthorn tonight (Friday night) and we were very pleased with our first experience. Lovely and tasteful setting, quick and friendly staff, and good food.

We were very impressed with the portion sizes of the nibbles. We had the Grilled Chorizo and Grilled Haloumi ($6/each) and the Zucchini flowers ($19) based off a previous review. The mains were good.

The service was exceptional. A very helpful and friendly waiter helped with our every need and wasn't over-bearing. We were very impressed with how quickly the food was served after ordering.

The only detractor was the inside dining area was getting quite loud with patron's conversations but that is to be expected on a friday night and wooden floors.

We will definitely be returning here.

Response from Management:
Dear Insanity540.

Thanks so much for the great review.

Great to hear you were pleased with your first experience with us. It is fantastic to hear that so many people are enjoying Hawthorn Mosman - since we opened we have had an amazing response and have been overwhelmed by our return patronage.

Look forward to welcoming you back soon - next time please introduce yourself.

Cheers,
Sean

Nov 18, 2011

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  7     

I walked into Steersons at King Street Wharf last night without a booking on a week night and was given an amazing table. The service was extremely good and professional (which resulted in a nice tip for our great waitress).

The food was great; my gf is a scallop fan and loved their ginger & shallot scallops. Steaks were great too. My 300g Wagyu Ribeye was amazing. Combined with mash and some of my gf's mushroom sauce it was heaven. My gf got a cheaper steak and whilst it had some grizzle, it was good.

I was extremely impressed with Steersons on King Street Wharf and will be back again, and will probably bring a group of friends! On a personal note, the Wagyu here is now ranked #2 in Sydney in my books. Only after Prime (which is over $100 a steak).

Jan 13, 2011

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  6     

I've heard about Ninja from a few locals and thought we would try it out sometime. I was very impressed to find such quality Japanese food on the Northern Beaches. I frequent many Japanese restaurants in Sydney and was not disappointed by Ninja.

I really enjoyed their attention to Ambience. The waitresses wearing a uniform kimono, the general atmosphere and the entertaining placemats. The food itself was great. The chef obviously puts a lot of work into the presentation. Be warned, the sushi rolls are large enough to be a main in themselves! The Kaarage was fresh and generous, though a little bit plain for my tastes. The Miso was delicious.

All in all, I'm quite happy to know there is a good Japanese place in Avalon and will be returning whenever I'm up this direction and needing some Japanese!

Jan 06, 2011

6.3 Average

Food  9      Ambience  5      Service  5      Value  6     

I went here for the first time the other night and really really enjoyed it. It was recommended to me by a friend and I must say the food was amazing. I am going to have to order a "platter" size of their "Szechwan Pepper Prawns", they were amazing. All the food was great (apart from the greens).

The only detractor from the whole evening was how horribly bad the green beans were "cooked". I know there is a school of thought that greens at restaurants should be served al dente (or crisp), but every serving of greens that evening was utterly horrible. The only way to describe it would be if the chef had taken the fresh beans, run them under luke warm water for 5 seconds and then put them onto the plate. They were essentially raw and unpleasant.

I will be back to MUMU for more amazing food, but I'm gonna be very specific about either "no greens" or "cook them properly".

Update, I went again with some friends recently, and hoped that the whole Green Beans problem was just a one-off, I was wrong. Once again they weren't cooked properly and from now on I am going to have to specify "No Greens".

I would also comment I've noted their service to the very hit and miss and have noted times when I've walked in and felt like they have no idea what to do.
Also the Ambience is very loud on busy nights, there must be some method of muffling other tables conversations somehow?

Aug 01, 2010

4.5 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  5      Service  4      Value  4     

As a regular customer and fan of Sushi Samurai I have to say that something has changed recently and I'm not enjoying their food as much as I used to.

We occasionally eat in, but usually just order takeaway since it's so close to home. The quality of the takeaway meal I just ate was so poor it prompted this review.

Granted it was a Saturday night, but when you tell a customer that your food will be ready in 15 minutes, you have that meal ready then. I was told it would be another 10 minutes (and in that time parts of my order were ready and sitting on the counter getting cold).

My Wagyu Steak main was utterly disappointing. Considering it is one of their most notable dishes, I expected it to be of the same quality I've always enjoyed (both sit down and takeaway). This one was undercooked, the bean sprouts were raw and there was grizzle in the steak.

The miso has also changed. I don't know what's happened, but the quality of the food this time was bad.

May 26, 2012

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  9     

We just had dinner at Hawthorn tonight (Friday night) and we were very pleased with our first experience. Lovely and tasteful setting, quick and friendly staff, and good food.

We were very impressed with the portion sizes of the nibbles. We had the Grilled Chorizo and Grilled Haloumi ($6/each) and the Zucchini flowers ($19) based off a previous review. The mains were good.

The service was exceptional. A very helpful and friendly waiter helped with our every need and wasn't over-bearing. We were very impressed with how quickly the food was served after ordering.

The only detractor was the inside dining area was getting quite loud with patron's conversations but that is to be expected on a friday night and wooden floors.

We will definitely be returning here.

Response from Management:
Dear Insanity540.

Thanks so much for the great review.

Great to hear you were pleased with your first experience with us. It is fantastic to hear that so many people are enjoying Hawthorn Mosman - since we opened we have had an amazing response and have been overwhelmed by our return patronage.

Look forward to welcoming you back soon - next time please introduce yourself.

Cheers,
Sean

Nov 18, 2011

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  7     

I walked into Steersons at King Street Wharf last night without a booking on a week night and was given an amazing table. The service was extremely good and professional (which resulted in a nice tip for our great waitress).

The food was great; my gf is a scallop fan and loved their ginger & shallot scallops. Steaks were great too. My 300g Wagyu Ribeye was amazing. Combined with mash and some of my gf's mushroom sauce it was heaven. My gf got a cheaper steak and whilst it had some grizzle, it was good.

I was extremely impressed with Steersons on King Street Wharf and will be back again, and will probably bring a group of friends! On a personal note, the Wagyu here is now ranked #2 in Sydney in my books. Only after Prime (which is over $100 a steak).

Jan 13, 2011

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  6     

I've heard about Ninja from a few locals and thought we would try it out sometime. I was very impressed to find such quality Japanese food on the Northern Beaches. I frequent many Japanese restaurants in Sydney and was not disappointed by Ninja.

I really enjoyed their attention to Ambience. The waitresses wearing a uniform kimono, the general atmosphere and the entertaining placemats. The food itself was great. The chef obviously puts a lot of work into the presentation. Be warned, the sushi rolls are large enough to be a main in themselves! The Kaarage was fresh and generous, though a little bit plain for my tastes. The Miso was delicious.

All in all, I'm quite happy to know there is a good Japanese place in Avalon and will be returning whenever I'm up this direction and needing some Japanese!

Jan 06, 2011

6.3 Average

Food  9      Ambience  5      Service  5      Value  6     

I went here for the first time the other night and really really enjoyed it. It was recommended to me by a friend and I must say the food was amazing. I am going to have to order a "platter" size of their "Szechwan Pepper Prawns", they were amazing. All the food was great (apart from the greens).

The only detractor from the whole evening was how horribly bad the green beans were "cooked". I know there is a school of thought that greens at restaurants should be served al dente (or crisp), but every serving of greens that evening was utterly horrible. The only way to describe it would be if the chef had taken the fresh beans, run them under luke warm water for 5 seconds and then put them onto the plate. They were essentially raw and unpleasant.

I will be back to MUMU for more amazing food, but I'm gonna be very specific about either "no greens" or "cook them properly".

Update, I went again with some friends recently, and hoped that the whole Green Beans problem was just a one-off, I was wrong. Once again they weren't cooked properly and from now on I am going to have to specify "No Greens".

I would also comment I've noted their service to the very hit and miss and have noted times when I've walked in and felt like they have no idea what to do.
Also the Ambience is very loud on busy nights, there must be some method of muffling other tables conversations somehow?

Aug 01, 2010

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

6.3 Average

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  5      Value  6     

The ambience of this restaurant is modern, nice, but noisy. I went on a busy Friday night, and even sitting on the edge of the dining area it was quite loud. I would recommend booking on popular nights, as we were lucky to walk in on a Friday night.

The service was average, the staff were very busy and stressed. Whenever a dish was delivered it was unceremoniously dropped on our table. The food itself is quite good, my main dish of Gua-teaw kao-wa gai was delicious and I'll be hard pressed to change my order in the future. I felt bad for the staff as they were obviously rushed off their feet, perhaps, another person or two on the floor would remedy that? I'll be back there, but I think I'll go on a quieter night.

Mar 27, 2010

7.3 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  7     

I love Kelly's, definitely one of my choices for a Grill in Sydney. The freshly baked brioche with butter is almost worth the trip itself. The atmosphere is nice, but your service could be hampered if it was a busy night.

All items from their menu have been satisfying and they do ribs right! BE WARNED, with the ribs, large is 2 and a bit racks. I almost had meat poisoning finishing it, a mountain of meat. Actually I'm gonna have to go back there soon now that I'm thinking about it.

Jun 16, 2008

7.8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  7     

If this is the little cafe up at the top of the shops next to Beach Without Sand (locals will know exactly where I'm talking about). Then this place has the best scrammbled eggs I've had. I'm drooling over them now. Good coffee, worth a stop if your nearby without breakfast.

Feb 04, 2008

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  9      Value  8     

Discovered this gem on eatability. Have found a new favourite. Food and ambience is outstanding. Service is excellent. Very Italian.

We didn't get to order off the menu because all the specials sounded too good. We ate amazing garlic pizza base while we listened to the specials being described. We settled for possibly the best lightly coated small/baby calamari and fried fresh buffalo mozzarella as starters, then had the lasagna and an amazing veal stuff with mozzarella wrapped in pancetta served on mashed potatoes with sauteed mushrooms for mains.

We were tempted into sharing a dessert which was very lucky indeed. The white chocolate moose with strawberries and strawberry couli was outstanding. It was possibly the best "strawberries and cream" taste I've ever experienced. I remember sitting there thinking "I wish we weren't sharing this".

Highly recommend going. Only subtracter was that it was a little expensive (not bad at any rate, would have paid more for the quality of the food) and that there is no pasta menu (unusual for an Italian restaurant, but hardly mattered).

Feb 04, 2008

8 Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  7     

Food was amazing. My girlfriend's Italian family were impressed which says loads about the quality of the food. I ordered a special fett carbonara. which was so good, someone at the table near us asked me what I was having. Highly recommend going here if you're in the mood for pasta and in the Surfer's area.

Jan 26, 2008