Silent

Reviews

Restaurants, Chinese, Vegetarian, Yum Cha, BYO

Overall 5.5 29

7.3 Recommended

Food 7 Ambience 7 Service 7 Value 8

The Shark Fin Inn is our favourite, cheaper than the Shark Fin House, but similar location (Chinatown) and close to half the price. People may think the service is bad sometimes, but it is a matter of understanding the service, if I want a good Chinese restaurant, I look for Chinese patrons and this restaurant has heaps of them.

Turn up at about midnight (which we do, for a very late dinner) and all the staff from surrounding Chinese restaurants are arriving. Following their lead, the food is plentiful, the wine list not so great (but caters for most tastes) and the service is sporadic. But this is Chinese food at its very authentic, cooked, served and eaten by Chinese in Chinatown and at a price that is pretty economical.

For special occasions, perhaps, it's not the place to go, but they still stock $100 bottles of french champagne, we've been there for long Friday afternoon lunches, Saturday night dinners after football, Sunday yum cha, and when we simply want some good Chinese with some friends.

We thoroughly recommend Shark Fin Inn as a quality place (albeit with a decor from the 1990's) for lunch, dinner or yum cha.

Jun 01, 2008

Touks, Seddon

Restaurants, Italian, Mediterranean, Pizza, Has Bar

Overall 6.6 22

6.3 Average

Food 7 Ambience 7 Service 5 Value 6

Apart from not being open for lunch when we want to go, Touks provides an excellent location for a meal in the Yarraville area. The service can be a bit inconsistent, sometimes up, and somtimes down (well down), it is what it is.

Great place for a pizza shared with friends with a strong coffee or a bottle of wine. These guys need to open for lunch to take advantage. Enjoy the casualness with an honest menu (get the waiting staff to explain fully anything you don't understand) and relax and enjoy.

Jun 01, 2008

Station Hotel, Footscray

Pubs, French, Seafood, Steak House, Good For Groups

Overall 7.8 26

7.2 Recommended

Food 7 Drinks 7 Ambience 7 Service 8 Value 7

Lunch here with 30 colleagues recently and together they all said "Great". A week later, the 2 of us enjoyed an excellent lunch-time meal including the soups (specials menu), risotto and steak. Clearly, this pub used to be a dive and whilst the refurb has spruced it up, you get a bit of the feel of 'old and new'.

The food has obviously stepped up to a much higher level, and the wine list has followed; but it still is Footscray!! The management are approachable and sensible, the menu uncomplicated and interesting, and the surroundings Footscray but improved. The Station hotel will never be Hotel Windsor but geez, it's come a long way.

Jun 01, 2008

Centro Ristorante Italiano, South Melbourne

Restaurants, Italian, BYO, Licensed, Outdoor Dining

Overall 8.3 1

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 8 Service 9 Value 8

Whilst I have rated this restaurant well, I firmly believe in it. The rating really reflects the owner, who has been there for over 20 years (or more??); and as a consequence, we are repeat patrons.

Downstairs for lunch (and upstairs for dinner), the Italian-ness of the restaurant is the ambience that you are looking for. The wine list is well-provided for, and you could do far worse, than simply saying "Calamari for entree and ask the chef for his favourite pasta main" - you would not be disappointed.

The restaurant is a favourite of a number of 'famous' people (don't forget to ask about Harold's pasta dish (that's Harold Mitchell of Mitchell & Co) - again, this displays a bit fo the irreverence of the place).

Cafe Centro has been around for years and for a very good reason, people keep coming back. The food/service/ambience/wine list is at the upper levels of an excellent restaurant (and at a very affordable price point). Enjoy...

Jun 01, 2008

Bells Beach Hotel, Jan Juc

Pubs, Modern Australian

Overall 6.9 3

6.6 Recommended

Food 7 Drinks 7 Ambience 6 Service 6 Value 7

This is a pub and out of Torquay enough to get away from the madding crowd.
Whilst not exactly on the beach, Jan Juc shopping strip is a quiet complex - and this pub delivers that type of food.

It won't be 10/10, but it won't disappoint, there is a TAB (for the betting types), the wine list is reasonable, and the menu caters for kids, vegetarians, Italian and Meat/Chicken type dishes, effectively, something for everyone.

We've had the parma - not bad; the risottos - pretty good; steaks are good (make sure you specify how you want it), and the various 'salad type' dishes are pretty good. As we said, it's a pub, the food is 'pub-good' - it's worth a 6 or 7....

Jun 01, 2008

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Member since 2008

Last updated on 1st Jun 2012

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Displaying: 1 - 10 of 11 reviews

Shark Fin Inn, Melbourne

Restaurants, Chinese, Vegetarian, Yum Cha, BYO

Overall 5.5 29

7.3 Recommended

Food 7 Ambience 7 Service 7 Value 8

Jun 01, 2008

Touks, Seddon

Restaurants, Italian, Mediterranean, Pizza, Has Bar

Overall 6.6 22

6.3 Average

Food 7 Ambience 7 Service 5 Value 6

Jun 01, 2008

Station Hotel, Footscray

Pubs, French, Seafood, Steak House, Good For Groups

Overall 7.8 26

7.2 Recommended

Food 7 Drinks 7 Ambience 7 Service 8 Value 7

Jun 01, 2008

Centro Ristorante Italiano, South Melbourne

Restaurants, Italian, BYO, Licensed, Outdoor Dining

Overall 8.3 1

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 8 Service 9 Value 8

Jun 01, 2008

Bells Beach Hotel, Jan Juc

Pubs, Modern Australian

Overall 6.9 3

6.6 Recommended

Food 7 Drinks 7 Ambience 6 Service 6 Value 7

Jun 01, 2008

Coast Restaurant & Bar, Blairgowrie

Restaurants, Modern Australian, Has Bar, Licensed

Overall 6.1 6

7 Recommended

Food 7 Ambience 7 Service 7 Value 7

We visit Coast probably once every 2 months and mostly for dinner. Coast owners are great (and local) and know about customer service. Whether it is one of the many specials (or latest seafood dishes), the food has that extra 'pizazz' that is missing from other Mornington Pennisula cafes and hence the price is a bit higher.

Breakfast is as good as anywhere else. Lunch is great for lazing back, enjoying a beer or wine and having mussels in tomato base sauce or other Italian speciality, and dinner is a European mixture that caters for all tastes. Beer on tap is good, reasonable wine list and liquers / shots to finish a 'big night' is a bonus.

Coast is good, it's not Grossi Florentino's, but you're also not paying for that either.
Enjoy Coast for what it is (and not what it is not), it is a very good Penninsula cafe/restaurant and enjoyable atmosphere to boot.

Jun 01, 2008

Deanery, The, Melbourne

Restaurants, Middle Eastern, Modern Australian, Vegetarian, Has Bar

Overall 6 5

8 Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 9 Service 7 Value 8

We live near The Deanery, so we may be biased. The service is not necessarily the best, but the whole night experience cannot be based on the service alone.
We enjoy The Deanery on a Friday/Saturday night, we are often the last to leave, but the select range of entrees and mains are wonderful.

The meals are not huge, and the wines are not cheap, but a group of 4 or 6 can have a wonderful night here. In comparision with some of the other 'must-visit' Melbourne City restaurants, I'd choose The Deanery over many others, you can start at 7 pm, and spread out till 11.30 pm, and not feel you are outstaying your welcome.

Enjoy the sanctuary of The Deanery, get the waiter/ress on side and you will have a wonderful night.

Jun 01, 2008

Gurkhas Brasserie, Prahran

Restaurants, Asian, Indian, International, Nepalese

Overall 7.7 9

7.5 Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 7 Service 7 Value 8

We have been going to Gurkha's in Prahran for over 10 years (actually when it was originally Prior Engagements (Marina Prior's restaurant). The owner of the Gurkha's is Chandra, and the Prahran one is the first and (in our opinion) the best.

Nepalese food is spicy (but not chilly) and whilst the wine list is 'simple', the range of food is great (and excellent value). My partner and I go to Gurkha's about once a month, and we love it - PLEASE, go and try it, we believe you won't be disappointed.

I took my 80 year old mother there a year ago, and she said "I'll have anything but the goat's meat', guess what, she loved the goat's meat!! The Gurkha's surprise vegetarian dish is a hit with all our interstate visitors.

Anyway, we love it, we always have a choice of entrees, then share the mains between us and have a great night. Enjoy....

Jun 01, 2008

Gurkhas Express, Melbourne

Restaurants, Asian, Nepalese, Serves Takeaway, Restaurant Bookings

Overall 3.8 4

3.5 Below Average

Food 4 Ambience 2 Service 3 Value 5

This is a franchise restaurant/cafe of the successful (in our opinion) Gurkha's.
We love the 'owner-owned' Gurkha's in Chapel St, Prahran and Richmond, but the City one lacks the same ambience, quality of food, and level of service. If you really want great Nepalese (which is fantastic) you should visit the Chapel St restaurant where you will not be disappointed (we have been going there for over 10 years).

Jun 01, 2008

Renzo's Bar Cafe Italiano, Docklands

Restaurants, Italian, Pizza, Vegetarian, Has Bar

Overall 6.2 9

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.8 Below Average

Food 4 Ambience 5 Service 2 Value 4

Apart from the fact that they wanted us to just eat and leave (from an 8 pm booking), the level of service from this restaurant was just atrocious, if you pay peanuts, you'll get peanuts.

Despite our repeated requests (and assurances from the staff) that our main meals would NOT come out directly after our entrees, sure enough, some of our mains came out before we had actually finished our entrees!!!!

The fish and chips specials came through without any fish inside the batter and were dutifully returned. The crab meat pancake was semi-cooked and clearly not the way it was described. The duck and porchini risotto, whilst adequate, certainly did not fill expectations. We will not be rushing back to Renzo's.

Jun 01, 2008