The Constant Eater

'living in Switzerland; craving decent Asian food'

Reviews

Dee Why Seafoods, Dee Why

Cafes, Seafood Stores, Seafood

Overall 7.9 8

7.8 Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 7 Service 8 Value 8

Flathead and chips rocked! Beautiful crisp batter, it is worth the drive from Milsons Point, and they even have malt vinegar much to the delight of my english hubbie. The guys are so nice too, they couldn't have made us feel more welcome. Will be back when we are looking for a fish and chips fix.

Jun 27, 2010

Bazaar Beer Cafe, St Leonards

Restaurants, Belgian, European, Modern Australian, Family Dining

Overall 7.2 77

7 Recommended

Food 7 Ambience 7 Service 7 Value 7

In this sterile, office dominated landscape of St Leonards, this is a place for a decent feed that won't overly stretch the budget. Thats based on what I tried, a generous portion of John Dory, quite well executed. I was a bit envious of my friend eating pork belly, it looked delicious and also a caesar on the table was hearty enough to be a main meal course. Food quality was there, the wine was flowing, as was the conversation, and thats enough to keep me happy!

Jun 25, 2010

Bijolias, Seaforth

Restaurants, Indian, BYO, Licensed, Serves Dinner

Overall 8 47

7.8 Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 7 Service 8 Value 8

In a city where quantity of Indian restaurants is not a problem, but the quality of them surely is, we have finally found a good one! Lovely setting, the most attentive staff, and fabulous food. As early diners, we noted the place was packed by 6.30, and with a steady stream of takeaway also going out the door.

No wonder, everything was beautifully flavoured and well cooked. Top marks for a little dish of homemade bhuja mix to nibble on when perusing the menu. Then it was on to the mixed tandoori platter that we shared, then the lamb saag and another tasty chicken curry (sorry, can't remember which one). Just beautiful, plenty of meat in the servings and all the accompaniments (rice, garlic naan and raita) had a special touch as well.

Enough leftovers for a full meal for husband the next day. All in all, a most pleasant experience that will no doubt be repeated constantly over a cold winter!

Jun 10, 2010

Mathew's Peacock Gardens, Crows Nest

Restaurants, Chinese, Seafood, Fine Dining, Food Delivery

Overall 7.4 88

6.8 Recommended

Food 7 Ambience 7 Service 7 Value 6

I remember this restaurant fondly from some lengthy work lunches in its heyday in the late 80s. Its probably all the travel to Asia since, but I now find it far from being a genuine asian experience, though there is some attraction if you are looking for good Aussie chinese (albeit a bit more expensive and better quality than what you would find at your suburban bowling club).

Fried duck pancakes were good, and we nibbled and crunched our way through the bones. Gow Gees were boring and doughy. After picking an old favourite of mustard prawns, quite frankly it was a struggle to be enticed by the rest of the menu. Both choices of fillet steak and pork ribs were overly sweet, the veges a bit blah, I still have a soft spot for the mustard prawns but they were not universely embraced by the others at the table.

I'm also not a fan of divvying up the portions in individual servings, I find it presumptuous that the serving staff assume we all want an equal portion of each dish, and it spoils one of the main attractions of asian dining, namely the grazing through various dishes at leisure.

Yes, it is expensive, but the Ent Card and sticking to the lower end of the wine list helped. If there is one dish to return for, its the toffee apples with icecream, it rocks! But in the final analysis, I think me and my tastes have moved on, it might be time for MPG to think about doing the same.

May 31, 2010

Belrose Hotel, The, Belrose

Pubs, Has Bar, Licensed, Outdoor Dining, Serves Breakfast

Overall 4.3 23

6.2 Average

Food 6 Drinks 6 Ambience 6 Service 7 Value 6

It was a feed when we needed one and the pizza and beetroot and rocket salad hit the spot. $16 for the salad though is just too much and luckily we had an Entertainment Voucher so only had to pay for the pizza. Would not go here especially for a meal, and would not pay full dollar.

May 28, 2010

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Profile

Member since 2006

I'm Female and married

My birthday is on 25th Nov 1962

My home town is Sydney (but I have temporarily gone missing)

They say I'm extroverted & energetic

Though I heart Eatability, I also surf the newspapers.

Apart from eating, I shop for and cook food. Oh, and play poker.... and read books.

You'll often catch me thinking about food or doing something with it.

I crave salty stuff and good pho.

I can't stop listening to the traffic outside the window. Wish it would go away.

The kind of people I'd really like to meet also love food but cant cook as well as me (so I can feed them!)

If I could have any job be a nutritionist. I am fascinated by the role of diet for well being.

My favourite cuisine is vietnamese

My favourite drink is gin martini, straight up, with an olive

Last updated on 2nd Feb 2011

Reviews

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Displaying: 1 - 10 of 142 reviews

Dee Why Seafoods, Dee Why

Cafes, Seafood Stores, Seafood

Overall 7.9 8

7.8 Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 7 Service 8 Value 8

Jun 27, 2010

Bazaar Beer Cafe, St Leonards

Restaurants, Belgian, European, Modern Australian, Family Dining

Overall 7.2 77

7 Recommended

Food 7 Ambience 7 Service 7 Value 7

Jun 25, 2010

Bijolias, Seaforth

Restaurants, Indian, BYO, Licensed, Serves Dinner

Overall 8 47

7.8 Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 7 Service 8 Value 8

Jun 10, 2010

Mathew's Peacock Gardens, Crows Nest

Restaurants, Chinese, Seafood, Fine Dining, Food Delivery

Overall 7.4 88

6.8 Recommended

Food 7 Ambience 7 Service 7 Value 6

May 31, 2010

Belrose Hotel, The, Belrose

Pubs, Has Bar, Licensed, Outdoor Dining, Serves Breakfast

Overall 4.3 23

6.2 Average

Food 6 Drinks 6 Ambience 6 Service 7 Value 6

May 28, 2010

Bloodwood, Newtown

Restaurants, Mediterranean, Has Bar, Licensed, Outdoor Dining

Overall 7.2 89

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 8 Service 9 Value 8

Not a part of town that I'm used to frequenting but I loved the Bloodwood experience! A genuine warm welcome, and the staff were so attentive the whole evening, even though every table was full. Being there with the girls, we grazed our way through a bunch of dishes, delighting in every mouthful. Olives and polenta chips to kick things off with drinks (the cocktails looked great, unfortunately, I'm off the booze this week), then the fritters, which were a bit dry and overly crusty, but still tasty, the socca was sensational, I'd go back just for that.

Leaf salad was yummy and appropriately tangy with very decadent croutons, cuttlefish a pleasing light and tasty touch, decadent mushrooms with sauce you just want to keep mopping up, and finally the lamb sausage on pearl barley. Between 4 of us, we were bursting at the seams after this lot, so no room for dessert! I'd go back just to see what other treats they can tantalise me with!

Apr 30, 2010

Great Northern Hotel, Chatswood

Pubs, Bistro/Brasserie, Child Friendly, Licensed, Serves Dinner

Overall 6.4 27

7.2 Recommended

Food 7 Drinks 7 Ambience 7 Service 7 Value 8

Hadn't been here for about 25 years, and talk about going into a time warp, except theres a lot more families now then in my day! Enjoyed Anzac Day there yesterday and was pleasantly surprised that the $11 deal (steak or chicken for the barbie, and salad bar) was still applicable. This is a really good lunch deal, thanks to Masterchef advice, I grilled my sirloin for 8 minutes and it was perfect medium rare, tender and tasty.

I enjoyed the 8 choices on the salad bar - good mix between leafy and starchy salads - and was well pleased with my selection of greek salad, cous cous with sweet potato, spinach and a (non-creamy) coleslaw. It helped that I took my own homemade salad dressing (I will not eat bottled), though there was oil and vinegar on offer so I could have survived.

Anyway, it was really a pleasant experience, we could even book a table, this is the one that I would take the country rellies to!

Apr 26, 2010

Little Italy Allawah, Allawah

Restaurants, Italian, Mediterranean, Pizza, Seafood

Overall 6.5 70

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.5 Average

Food 6 Ambience 5 Service 5 Value 6

A visit to Allawah is not on our usual intinerary but this is for a family visit, not to explore new dining frontiers. Just as well, as this is the kind of place you would only visit for family dining, you really need to take some kids if you want to feel at home. Otherwise, the noise and behaviour of everyone elses is likely to spoil your night.

Also, they were very short handed the night we visited, with one very harassed waitress trying to serve the whole place, which is of a pretty decent size. As for the food, yep, its acceptable for family dining too, big pizzas, messy pastas (pasta itself seemed to be of pretty low quality), lots of things with sauces. Too many sauces. The fish (john dory, I think) I had was actually lovely, but I had to rescue it out of a sea of melted butter and try to rescue a tangy fennel salad out of the same mess.

Under the same circumstances, I might visit again, but certainly would not contemplate it for a "grown up" night out, couldn't be bothered to travel so far nor would I want to submit my friends to the atmosphere or level of service we experienced.

Mar 30, 2010

Top BBQ Restaurant, Dee Why

Restaurants, Chinese, BYO, Licensed, Menulog Delivery and Pickup

Overall 6.9 30

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 7 Service 9 Value 9

Haven't tried the BBQ yet, but still think it deserves the word Top in title! Dropped in for a casual, quick meal and found authentic asian tucker in unpretentious surroundings, very fairly priced. We had sang choy bau (at their suggestion, we could order it by the piece) a seafood wonton noodle soup and a sweetcorn chicken soup, all enjoyed. Saw some interesting plates on the table of chinese family next to us, we will definitely be back on a regular basis, just love this kind of place.

Mar 02, 2010

Mustang Nepalese Restaurant, Crows Nest

Restaurants, Nepalese, BYO, Food Delivery, Licensed

Overall 8.1 105

8 Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 8 Service 8 Value 8

Overall, this was a very nice experience and good value for money. The only things that let it down were that the breads aren't that great (I think they might be the frozen ones actually that you heat up), the standard issue tomato sauce on the chat, and that one dish turned up unsolicited at the beginning and appeared to be a freebie but was included on the bill.

So lets put that all aside, because none of that would prevent me from coming again. Enjoyed the grilled beef starter and the chat (though would prefer tamarind to tomato sauce on it) and the curries were fresh and tasty with nice meat. We tried the Everest Chicken, Himalaya Beef (or was it Himalaya Chicken and Everest Beef?) and a saag paneer aka cheese and spinach.

We found that 2 entrees and 3 mains with rice and breads and the unsolicited achar was plenty for 4 of us, but one still managed to fit in the kulfi and was also well pleased with that. It seemed a bit lighter than Indian food and more satisfying as a result. Will be back.

Feb 26, 2010