cliveboit

Reviews

Bars, Modern Australian, Romantic and Intimate, Entertainment / Music, Licensed

Overall 7.4 4

7.8 Recommended

Drinks 7 Ambience 9 Service 7 Value 8

Used to come here after hours for Malaysian snacks and passive smoking when they catered to cigar smokers, in the days before the Nanny state put an end to that sort of thing (the cigars, not the Malaysian snacks).

Come here now regularly for the high teas. Beautifully furnished wood-panelled room looking across to the Botanic Gardens, best ambience for afternoon tea of any place I know in inner Sydney.

The waiters/waitresses are impeccably attired and well-mannered but it can sometimes be difficult to attract their attention.

Jan 18, 2012

Thai Pothong Restaurant and Gift Shop, Newtown

Restaurants, Arts and Crafts Stores, Cards and Gift Stores, Thai, Family Dining

Overall 7.9 250

8.6 Highly Recommended

Quality 9 Food 9 Ambience 8 Service 9 Value 8

The King St, Newtown restaurant strip is blessed with many Thai restaurants, a few of outstanding quality, and this is one of them.

We've been coming here regularly for many years - I'm not sure why I haven't added a review yet, probably because it's always packed and therefore doesn't need any other recommendation.

My latest favourite is the seafood served hot inside a whole coconut. Service is fantastic and I really appreciated the birthday treat they put on for a friend a few years ago. A very nice selection of erotic art in the passage leading to the toilets.

The only downside is that it is very noisy - best to get one of the few tables near the window if you can manage it (looking across to the famous 'I have a dream' street art). The food is not cheap, but taking into account quality and the high standard of service, you can't really fault value for money. A very successful restaurant, and one that fully deserves its success.

Jan 18, 2012

Max Brenner Chocolate Bar, Newtown

Cafes, Child Friendly Menus, Outdoor Dining, Serves Breakfast, Serves Dinner

Overall 5 9

6.8 Recommended

Food 7 Ambience 6 Service 7 Value 7

The place fills a niche in Newtown - heavy chocolate-based hot drinks in winter, heavy chocolate-based cold drinks in summer, heavy chocolate-based sweets in all seasons. What it does in those categories is pricy, but very tasty.

It is pay-and-order-at-the-counter and the problem is that with no staff to control the allocation of tables it is usually very overcrowded - simply because there is no other establishment in the King St restaurant strip specialising in this sort of fare.

Not a place to come for coffee, which is below par here, or for a more substantial meal, but not a bad place to linger over one of their liquid delicacies outside their peak hours.

Jan 18, 2012

Kammadhenu, Newtown

Restaurants, Indian, Malaysian, Sri Lankan, Serves Takeaway

Overall 6.8 89

6.3 Average

Food 7 Ambience 5 Service 6 Value 7

There are two Kammadhenu restaurants in King Street, Newtown. This one is opposite the Newtown Hotel. We live not too far away (about 15 minutes by foot) and have been coming here regularly since it opened - well over 50 visits by now, I would guess.

As others have commented, there are only three tables here for couples, near the door. The rest is bench-style seating, often sharing table space with other diners.

The staff are friendly, but the restaurant is understaffed and the service (by way of taking orders and clearing away dirty dishes) has been perennially slow. Once orders are taken the food appears pretty quickly.

There is a wide variety of Indian, Sri Lankan and Malaysian/ Singaporean food. The Indian and Sri Lankan dishes are the best. They are quite tasty and in good quantity. I particularly like the roti canai here - it is cooked fresh and is not greasy. The dosai is good too. However serving samosas without tamarind sauce is pretty disappointing. Very good desserts and, for the last year or so, an excellent selection of imported beers. Milk coffee and tea can take some time to appear because they boil the milk, in the traditional way.

The place can get crowded. Coming before 7 is a good option if you want to avoid sharing a table. Over the last year or so the prices have risen, meat main dishes now over $15, so taking the ambience into account you couldn't call it a bargain any more.

Jan 17, 2012

Royal Hotel @ Darlington, Darlington

Pubs

Overall 7.1 17

6 Average

Food 6 Drinks 7 Ambience 4 Service 7 Value 6

I live about 200 metres from this place and have been coming here off and on for about ten years.

It's basically a student pub and not bad for watching the cricket with a beer and chips or wedges on a hot summer day.

As a place to eat it has problems, mainly to do with turnover in kitchen staff. For a period of about a year in 2006/07 they managed to get a good menu and a reasonable quality of food for a reasonable price and I went regularly. Then there was yet another turnover of staff and the place went downhill again.

The one good thing I can say is that the steak has consistently been tender, large and reasonably priced. Other than that the food is relatively expensive for pub-style meals. The service is friendly and meals appear quickly, but the furnishings are shabby and the place does not look particularly clean. In winter it's draughty. I prefer to go the extra distance to the Lansdown for pub meals.

Jan 16, 2012

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Member since 2009

Last updated on 1st Jun 2012

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Displaying: 1 - 10 of 35 reviews

Bar, The, Sydney

Bars, Modern Australian, Romantic and Intimate, Entertainment / Music, Licensed

Overall 7.4 4

7.8 Recommended

Drinks 7 Ambience 9 Service 7 Value 8

Jan 18, 2012

Thai Pothong Restaurant and Gift Shop, Newtown

Restaurants, Arts and Crafts Stores, Cards and Gift Stores, Thai, Family Dining

Overall 7.9 250

8.6 Highly Recommended

Quality 9 Food 9 Ambience 8 Service 9 Value 8

Jan 18, 2012

Max Brenner Chocolate Bar, Newtown

Cafes, Child Friendly Menus, Outdoor Dining, Serves Breakfast, Serves Dinner

Overall 5 9

6.8 Recommended

Food 7 Ambience 6 Service 7 Value 7

Jan 18, 2012

Kammadhenu, Newtown

Restaurants, Indian, Malaysian, Sri Lankan, Serves Takeaway

Overall 6.8 89

6.3 Average

Food 7 Ambience 5 Service 6 Value 7

Jan 17, 2012

Royal Hotel @ Darlington, Darlington

Pubs

Overall 7.1 17

6 Average

Food 6 Drinks 7 Ambience 4 Service 7 Value 6

Jan 16, 2012

Malacca Straits On Broadway, Broadway

Cafes, Malaysian, Serves Dinner, Serves Lunch, Ample or Convenient Parking

Overall 5.8 39

6 Average

Food 7 Ambience 7 Service 4 Value 6

Interesting to read the wide range of emotions this restaurant draws from reviewers. The consistent theme seems to be that the quality of food and service is inconsistent and that reflects my experience. Went about a year ago and was disappointed. Then the place was almost empty. Went more recently a couple of weeks ago and the experience was more positive.

There were four of us, one an ex-singaporean Chinese, one an ex-Malaysian Indian and it met their approval - they weren't ecstatic, just approving. We had the rude Chinese waitress that others seem to have encountered. Normally I can't stand this, but it seems to be de rigeur in Singapore and Malaysian restaurants in those countries serving hawker style food and run by Chinese, so this time it evoked in me nostalgia rather than resentment.

Jan 14, 2012

Maya Tandoori, Surry Hills

Restaurants, Indian, Good For Groups, Quiet, Romantic and Intimate

Overall 6.6 63

7 Recommended

Food 7 Ambience 7 Service 7 Value 7

There are three Maya restaurants in Cleveland St, Surry Hills. The original Maya south Indian vegetarian and sweet shop, Maya Tandoori, the most recent of the three, upstairs from the original Maya, and Maya da Dhaba across the road. I am not sure what the business connection between them is, but the three are quite different in their food offerings and the way they are run.

We visited this restaurant again recently. My earlier impressions were not too favourable, but my wife, who is well acquainted with Indian food, always liked their offerings. They have lifted the standard of service, which was definitely unsatisfactory on earlier occasions, and the proprietor came and had a chat and took an interest in our opinions.

They have an interesting variety of dishes on offer now, some of which were new to me, and the quality and quantity were good. The restaurant layout is quite tasteful, and there is a nice balcony area.

It's nice to see the improvement in this place. We will be back.

Jan 14, 2012

Malaya, The, Sydney

Restaurants, Malaysian, Child Friendly, Child Friendly Highchairs, Licensed

Overall 7.2 265

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 8 Service 9 Value 8

We have been coming here for years and it is our first choice for taking guests with Malaysian or Singapore connections. The quality of the food and service is consistently high. The only regret I have is that they don't have a Malaysian desserts selection. Very good value for money taking quality of food and service, ambience and views into account.

Jan 14, 2012

John and Peter Canteen, Eveleigh

Restaurants, Italian, Vegetarian, Outdoor Dining, Serves Dinner

Overall 7.4 10

5.5 Average

Food 7 Ambience 7 Service 3 Value 5

The restaurant is in the Carriageworks, a heritage railway workshop building converted at great expense by the State government into a contemporary performing arts centre and opened about four years ago.

Three of us turned up at lunch time one quiet Saturday just after new year looking for a light snack and they were quite happy to oblige with three entree dishes, one dessert and coffees.

We were very impressed with the food (although prices were high) and my wife and I came back for a full meal the following Friday.

This time the restaurant was full and our experience was not so positive. The rosemary focaccia was tasty and fresh, but a minute portion. The roast onion on buffalo mozzarella entree came straight out of the fridge. My lamb chops were meagre and dry and my wife's spatchcock was singed. By way of seasoning and accompaniments neither main course was particularly impressive. The side dish of blanched beans was smothered in garlic. I couldn't taste the marsala in the tiny serve of marsala cake but maybe it is named for the city and not the wine. The cake did taste good, just not of marsala.

Our waitress was brusque, on one occasion reprimanding my wife for trying to attract her attention while she was serving the next table. She forgot one order and more than once cleared dishes without asking whether we had finished.

The bill was around $120 for the meal which included three glasses of Italian wine, a pleasant white and an average red. Not expensive enough to prohibit a third visit on a less crowded evening in the hope that the standard of food preparation would be higher, but for the unpleasant service which I would not tolerate again.

Jan 13, 2012

Doyles at the Fish Markets, Pyrmont

Restaurants, Fish and Chips, Seafood, Bistro/Brasserie, Child Friendly

Overall 4.2 40

7 Recommended

Food 7 Ambience 7 Service 7 Value 7

A produce market is probably not the most salubrious place to eat a restaurant meal and Blackwattle Bay is not the most attractive stretch of Sydney Harbour. I went twice toward the end of 2011. Both times were weekends, the markets and restaurant were packed and the staff were stretched to the limit, but nevertheless good-humoured and helpful.

All the dishes we had were tasty, fulsome, and reasonable value for money. The hectic surrounds were part of the experience. There was something, well, quintessentially Sydney about it. I liked the place and will be back.

Jan 09, 2012