Narha

Reviews

Genghis Khan Mongolian BBQ Restaurant (King St Wharf), Sydney

Restaurants, Asian, Chinese, Child Friendly, Licensed

Overall 6.4 51

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.3 Below Average

Food 6 Ambience 4 Service 2 Value 5

We were in a large group, which is probably the best format for dining at this fairly down market, but not cheap, all-you-can-eat buffet. We paid $26 a head. Extra for rice, drinks and desserts.

While it is self-service, the two girls 'on duty', cleaning up and 'helping', were not overly helpful or friendly. The two boys (kitchen hands) cooking the meals looked unhappy with their lot in life, and I thought one of them was about to burst into tears at any moment.

Queues and waiting can be quite long if a whole group or more decide to get up and have their mains cooked at the same time. The meat is frozen but the veggies seemed fresh. The soup and entrees were tasty, but I must have chosen wrong sauces for the main as it was bitter and unappetising.

The place is licensed and the drinks are not particularly cheap: $6 for a small glass of nondescript house wine. However, it could have been worst.

Overall, this is the sort of plastic and laminex place you go to for a casual work do or family outing, with people you feel don't need to be impressed.

Jan 26, 2011

Dolcissimo, Haberfield

Restaurants, Italian, BYO, Has Cafe, Restaurant Bookings

Overall 5.3 296

4.8 Average

Food 4 Ambience 6 Service 5 Value 4

Our first time visit to this place with a dozen people was less than ideal. They were seriously undermanned and although the waiters were polite enough, we ended up having to continually clear our own table so the staff had room to put new dishes down, or simply to get elbow room. Plus we had to set sentries to keep an eye out for a waiter whenever we needed something.

The servings were small and relatively expensive with, for example, a $20 Ravioli main dish more like entree size. The pizzas we ordered were not only very ordinary but half-cooked with the top of the base still doughy: yuk. Didn't bother to go through the hassle of sending them back, God knows what would have happened.

Although I didn't have any, apparently the coffee was tasty. Like others have said, getting the bill was problematic. There are some really great Italian restaurants in Sydney, but overall I would recommend giving this place a miss.

Dec 31, 2010

Tall Lemongrass, The, Crows Nest

Restaurants, Thai, BYO, Serves Dinner, Serves Lunch

Overall 7.3 25

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food 9 Ambience 8 Service 9 Value 8

A newly opened Thai across from the Crows Nest Plaza. We had a group of ten people and found the food and the service to be very good. The ambience is quite good but the overhead projector beaming the specials on a wall is totally naff and has to go. We'll be back again soon to see if it is consistently good.

Feb 16, 2010

Spice Me Up ! Thai Sensation, St Leonards

Restaurants, Thai, Good For Groups, Romantic and Intimate, BYO

Overall 7.2 31

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.3 Average

Food 6 Ambience 6 Service 4 Value 5

We went to this restaurant on a Saturday night based on the reviews we'd read here. We booked a table for a group of 10 a week ahead and confirmed a few hours before the booking.

Unfortunately, there was only one poor waitress working, who was as busy as the proverbial one-legged man at a butt-kicking contest. In spite of her truly heroic efforts, she was no match for the needs of the 1/3rd full restaurant, especially as she also frequently spent some time in the kitchen, presumably helping out.

Hence, we quite often found ourselves frustratedly trying to catch her eye, or wandering up to the counter to try to get someone’s attention when we needed something. Even then we often had to ask more than once. Not to mention trying to get the table cleared of detritus which we usually ended up doing ourselves.

I gave the service a 4 based only on the waitress’s genuinely hard work, otherwise it would have been 2! Our group was pretty good-natured and understanding, and thought the food tasted at least ok or better, but as it was luke-warm when it came out, it was hard to be overly enthusiastic. The staff obviously had the dishes sitting for some time in the kitchen as they collated our courses, and tried to service their take-away customers.

Under the circumstances they may have been better off not trying to bring out every single dish at the same time. I gave the food a very generous 6 simply as most of the group thought it was ok. (And a professional restaurant tip they might do well to remember is to heat up the serving dishes before filling them).

Noise levels in this venue are quite high and it can be difficult to make yourself heard even when only a very few tables are occupied. We had the $30 banquet, which included tea or coffee, or more accurately, didn’t! No one asked if we wanted tea or coffee. When one of our group did politely ask for tea, it never arrived. A little later when others asked for tea or coffee as per the banquet menu, we were told there was no hot water, or the coffee machine wasn’t working, or something equally silly. Of course this blatantly unhelpful attitude annoyed everyone.

Overall I thought the manner of the senior staff/whatever–he-was' was of entrenched indifference, encroaching on the offensive. He simply didn't care.
According to some reviews, people have had good experiences in this place, but I suspect they may have been mostly singles, or couples eating at a different time of the day, or week. Or just plain lucky.

So no prizes for guessing we were not happy campers, and most of us would not recommend this place, and would not be back anytime soon. Other places, about a ten minutes walk up the Pacific Hwy in Crows Nest, are much better choices for consistently excellent, well presented food, and great service.

Feb 04, 2010

Khacha Thai, Crows Nest

Restaurants, Thai, Food Delivery, Serves Dinner, Serves Lunch

Overall 8.2 70

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food 9 Ambience 8 Service 8 Value 9

We went to the Khachai Thai on a busy Saturday night as a small group. We were on time at 8 pm and our booked table was ready. Some people have complained about the noise levels but we were seated near the rear counter and weren't bothered, even though we were next to a large table of voluble 20 somethings.

As many restaurants go, some nights the food is great, and other times it's ordinary. We had a well-priced banquet and were pleasantly surprised by the excellence and tastiness of the dishes. The service was typically friendly and attentive as you would expect in most Thai restaurants.

We thought the ambience was fine. Some thought had been put into the interior design which included a "waterwall". All in all, we were pretty impressed by the standard of the food. Hopefully it will be just as good next time we visit.

Sep 20, 2009