eataeat

6.6 Recommended

Food  7      Drinks  6      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  8     

We have been there a couple of times at lunch as we wanted to try the advertised lunch specials.

Wednesday was the famous burger (voted by the SMH as the best burger) - yum, yum and yum. The sesame bun was nice and the meat pattie was so thick and juicy with a nice touch of gourmet salad leaves. We will be back for this for sure.

Thursday was the chicken schnitzel with chips and gravy, it was good value but it was ordinary at the same time.

The burger is a must try, original price is 16.00 but only 10.00 on Wednesday but what's important is that it is as good quality as the Neil Perry Rockpool burger or Justin North's Charlie & Co burger which cost around 20.00.

I have given the "value" rating of 8 based on the special offers.

May 19, 2012

7 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  6     

What a lovely day to be spent at the Watergrill, the weather is lovely, sun is shining and the sky is blue and it comes with an amazing view. This is my first visit to the restaurant as it was highly recommended by a friend but it was well worth the visit.

I agree with some of the reviews below that the menu is quite pricey when compared to the other clubs. I must admit I also felt in love with the serene water view but the food was quite ordinary.

We had the seafood platter (hot and cold) but I didn't think 85.00 was justified. It had 4 cold prawns, half a dozen of oysters, around 8 slices of smoked salmon, a bunch of calamari/small squid, 4 tempura prawns, 4 scallops, 2 halves of soft shell crab and 2 pieces of fish and chunky hand cut chips.

It may be right for a light lunch for the ladies as the serving is not as generous as I have pictured. Nonetheless, the star of the dish for me is the calamari as it was tasty and tender, the batter on the soft shell crab was light and crispy, however, I cannot comment the same for the prawn tempura or the chunky chips, the chips were hollow inside and the outer coating/batter was quite hard as well.

But you know what, the Prawn Risotto had an amazing flavor and it was cooked perfectly. I will come for this again.

Overall, nice friendly service, smiling staff (table cleaning ladies) and reasonable food.

May 12, 2012

7 Recommended

Food  8      Drinks  7      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  7     

Our party of 14 dined at Stacks while Braza had to cancel our booking last night (while we have arrived at the door) due to fire issues.

We were pleasantly surprised with the quality of the food this place has on offer. Just to mention a couple of highlight dishes:

Quite a number of us ordered the Pork Belly, wow, how nicely was that dish done. I have dine in other hated restaurants where I have been given a Pork Belly piece with 95% fat not to mentioned about the missing crackling skin. The skin was crackling and the Pork Belly was of the right proportion of meat and fat. Well Done.

Others had tried the steak and guess what…thumbs up as well and this is the general feedback we have received throughout the table. The thing that you have to note though is that if you want them to cook for you, you have to pay an extra 5.00 for the service.

The Fish main was mediocre.

The kids ordered burgers and fish and chips but they were just kids meal and worth no special mentioning. Service was ok but I wouldn’t say it was exceptional.

May 09, 2012

7.3 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  8     

We went to Wasabi Bistro with a voucher deal and it was a great deal. We had an opportunity to taste all things on the menu including appetizers, salads, sashimi, sushi, mains, noodles. The deal was great value, however, the food is a bit of hit and miss.

Appetizers – we were happy with the appetizers as what you would normally expected from a Japanese/Korean restaurant

Main - the sushi was average in terms of the ingredients used, freshness and creativity. Like a lot of places out there, everyone is trying to create the Volcano Roll and others but it is lacking when compared to the original recipe in terms of the ingredient used, sauce and presentation.

We were very appreciative to the Wasabi Bistro team though that when we order the scampi nigiri sushi, they initially said none available but then they decided to serve the table 4 pieces. It was a great hospitality gesture.

One thing needs mentioning is their exceptional wagyu beef nigiri – wonderful dish, melts in your mouth and it is cooked perfectly.

On the negative side – there needs to be 100% improvement on their beef Carpaccio, the beef was sliced so thick, uneven and was jagged on some pieces. The knife skills is totally lacking but this is fundamental in any Japanese restaurant. Flavor was blend and the dish just looks so wrong, so trying but missed the mark badly.

Customer Service – thumbs up, they are quick in their service and have not purposely slowed down due to the all you can eat provision in the deal.

I am not sure whether it was due to the high customer traffic due to the multiple deals that was going on for this restaurant, more attention is worth paying to the general cleanliness, the furniture and soy bottles (so sticky) and please do not dilute the soy sauce, this will tarnish the dining experience.

May 09, 2012

5.3 Average

Food  5      Ambience  5      Service  6      Value  5     

We bought a voucher for the 7 course degustation which includes: Prawn Cracker as a starter. Mixed Entrée which consisted of 2 chicken skewer and 2 curry puffs. Curry Beef. Deep Fried Calamari. Pad Thai. Rice and Coconut Ice-Cream .

Here is the verdict: We were really disappointed with how the dishes were presented. We understood that this is a voucher deal and I thought this is a golden opportunity for the restaurant to show case their best to entice their customers to come back as a full price paying customer. If this is the case, then I Thai has failed badly.

All the dishes including the mains were jammed/ piled onto a small round plate, it was very clear that they didn’t care about the presentation of the dish and how it looks. It is looking ridiculously full and messy on a small round plate used for entrees.

Curry Beef – mediocre, the dish has 2 small potatoes, 1 small onion and a few pieces of beef. Deep Fried Calamari – we had better ones in other restaurants, nothing special at all and the batter were hard. Pad Thai, look so ridiculously messy on a small plate with a few bits of tofu and chicken piece, I couldn’t comment on the taste either as it was so ordinary.

Coconut Ice cream – this was pre scooped and freeze in a glass, so yes, it was so rock hard. The ice cream lacks the creamy feel and was overly sweet and lacks the coconut taste.

On a more positive note, the staff were quick, efficient and polite. I didn’t even mentioned the glass of wine we had as part of the deal, my recommendation is don’t drink it.

I won’t be returning anytime soon. There are far too many better Thai Restaurants out there in Sydney where I am more than happy to pay the full price for a decent meal.

May 09, 2012

6.6 Recommended

Food  7      Drinks  6      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  8     

We have been there a couple of times at lunch as we wanted to try the advertised lunch specials.

Wednesday was the famous burger (voted by the SMH as the best burger) - yum, yum and yum. The sesame bun was nice and the meat pattie was so thick and juicy with a nice touch of gourmet salad leaves. We will be back for this for sure.

Thursday was the chicken schnitzel with chips and gravy, it was good value but it was ordinary at the same time.

The burger is a must try, original price is 16.00 but only 10.00 on Wednesday but what's important is that it is as good quality as the Neil Perry Rockpool burger or Justin North's Charlie & Co burger which cost around 20.00.

I have given the "value" rating of 8 based on the special offers.

May 19, 2012

7 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  6     

What a lovely day to be spent at the Watergrill, the weather is lovely, sun is shining and the sky is blue and it comes with an amazing view. This is my first visit to the restaurant as it was highly recommended by a friend but it was well worth the visit.

I agree with some of the reviews below that the menu is quite pricey when compared to the other clubs. I must admit I also felt in love with the serene water view but the food was quite ordinary.

We had the seafood platter (hot and cold) but I didn't think 85.00 was justified. It had 4 cold prawns, half a dozen of oysters, around 8 slices of smoked salmon, a bunch of calamari/small squid, 4 tempura prawns, 4 scallops, 2 halves of soft shell crab and 2 pieces of fish and chunky hand cut chips.

It may be right for a light lunch for the ladies as the serving is not as generous as I have pictured. Nonetheless, the star of the dish for me is the calamari as it was tasty and tender, the batter on the soft shell crab was light and crispy, however, I cannot comment the same for the prawn tempura or the chunky chips, the chips were hollow inside and the outer coating/batter was quite hard as well.

But you know what, the Prawn Risotto had an amazing flavor and it was cooked perfectly. I will come for this again.

Overall, nice friendly service, smiling staff (table cleaning ladies) and reasonable food.

May 12, 2012

7 Recommended

Food  8      Drinks  7      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  7     

Our party of 14 dined at Stacks while Braza had to cancel our booking last night (while we have arrived at the door) due to fire issues.

We were pleasantly surprised with the quality of the food this place has on offer. Just to mention a couple of highlight dishes:

Quite a number of us ordered the Pork Belly, wow, how nicely was that dish done. I have dine in other hated restaurants where I have been given a Pork Belly piece with 95% fat not to mentioned about the missing crackling skin. The skin was crackling and the Pork Belly was of the right proportion of meat and fat. Well Done.

Others had tried the steak and guess what…thumbs up as well and this is the general feedback we have received throughout the table. The thing that you have to note though is that if you want them to cook for you, you have to pay an extra 5.00 for the service.

The Fish main was mediocre.

The kids ordered burgers and fish and chips but they were just kids meal and worth no special mentioning. Service was ok but I wouldn’t say it was exceptional.

May 09, 2012

7.3 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  8     

We went to Wasabi Bistro with a voucher deal and it was a great deal. We had an opportunity to taste all things on the menu including appetizers, salads, sashimi, sushi, mains, noodles. The deal was great value, however, the food is a bit of hit and miss.

Appetizers – we were happy with the appetizers as what you would normally expected from a Japanese/Korean restaurant

Main - the sushi was average in terms of the ingredients used, freshness and creativity. Like a lot of places out there, everyone is trying to create the Volcano Roll and others but it is lacking when compared to the original recipe in terms of the ingredient used, sauce and presentation.

We were very appreciative to the Wasabi Bistro team though that when we order the scampi nigiri sushi, they initially said none available but then they decided to serve the table 4 pieces. It was a great hospitality gesture.

One thing needs mentioning is their exceptional wagyu beef nigiri – wonderful dish, melts in your mouth and it is cooked perfectly.

On the negative side – there needs to be 100% improvement on their beef Carpaccio, the beef was sliced so thick, uneven and was jagged on some pieces. The knife skills is totally lacking but this is fundamental in any Japanese restaurant. Flavor was blend and the dish just looks so wrong, so trying but missed the mark badly.

Customer Service – thumbs up, they are quick in their service and have not purposely slowed down due to the all you can eat provision in the deal.

I am not sure whether it was due to the high customer traffic due to the multiple deals that was going on for this restaurant, more attention is worth paying to the general cleanliness, the furniture and soy bottles (so sticky) and please do not dilute the soy sauce, this will tarnish the dining experience.

May 09, 2012

5.3 Average

Food  5      Ambience  5      Service  6      Value  5     

We bought a voucher for the 7 course degustation which includes: Prawn Cracker as a starter. Mixed Entrée which consisted of 2 chicken skewer and 2 curry puffs. Curry Beef. Deep Fried Calamari. Pad Thai. Rice and Coconut Ice-Cream .

Here is the verdict: We were really disappointed with how the dishes were presented. We understood that this is a voucher deal and I thought this is a golden opportunity for the restaurant to show case their best to entice their customers to come back as a full price paying customer. If this is the case, then I Thai has failed badly.

All the dishes including the mains were jammed/ piled onto a small round plate, it was very clear that they didn’t care about the presentation of the dish and how it looks. It is looking ridiculously full and messy on a small round plate used for entrees.

Curry Beef – mediocre, the dish has 2 small potatoes, 1 small onion and a few pieces of beef. Deep Fried Calamari – we had better ones in other restaurants, nothing special at all and the batter were hard. Pad Thai, look so ridiculously messy on a small plate with a few bits of tofu and chicken piece, I couldn’t comment on the taste either as it was so ordinary.

Coconut Ice cream – this was pre scooped and freeze in a glass, so yes, it was so rock hard. The ice cream lacks the creamy feel and was overly sweet and lacks the coconut taste.

On a more positive note, the staff were quick, efficient and polite. I didn’t even mentioned the glass of wine we had as part of the deal, my recommendation is don’t drink it.

I won’t be returning anytime soon. There are far too many better Thai Restaurants out there in Sydney where I am more than happy to pay the full price for a decent meal.

May 09, 2012

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  8     

What a nice place with nice ambience. The quality of this restaurant’s food is of the same good quality as Braza (the well known name and trusted name).

The service was good and the food was flowing at a good pace. There were so much meat coming around and we just lost track of what we were eating but I do recall the lovely chicken sausage, garlic prawns, cinnamon pineapple, stuffed cuttlefish, grilled prawns, mussels, chorizo and many different types of meat, some were so tender, juicy and accompanied by the perfect marinade.

I will definitely be back again given the opportunity.

May 09, 2012

7.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  8     

We went there dinner on a Friday night, the place was reasonably busy but it wasn’t a full house either.

The service was great, our water was topped up constantly and we have noticed that the waitress was constantly checking our water glasses and bother to ask how we enjoy our food. Such a simple gesture but missing in a lot of restaurants especially when they genuinely care. They seem to love the food that Darren Simpson had on offer and is ready to give you details of the dishes with a passion.

We ordered: Entrée: Fritto of Hawkesbury squid, flathead, zucchini flowers, herb mayonnaise.

Mains: Brodetto Marchigiano (classic fish stew from Marche, kipfler potatoes, chilli saffron, marjoram) and Osso Bucco (this was one of the special menu item of the night).

Entrée was extremely ordinary, it is just basically deep fried items in batter. However, I enjoyed the Osso Bucco dish nonetheless, it was small with only one piece of Osso Bucco. We have also opt for the Fish Stew as it was a highly recommended dish, it was flavorsome and well worth trying but it was more of a seafood stew rather than fish as there was only 1 piece of fish in the stew along with prawns and calamari and other seafood pieces.

Overall, nice restaurant, lovely ambience, professional service, nice food and good value as we have taken the opportunity of their 2nd birthday offer.

May 09, 2012

6.3 Average

Food  6      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  6     

We felt like Italian so we have decided to pick this restaurant as it was busy and have a good vibe. Well, this is not a bad restaurant at all but fell short of our expectation though.

We have ordered some basic dishes, one Pizza and one Pasta but it was disappointing.

Meat Cannelloni, the meat was dry and the cannelloni filling was not made from fresh mince at all and it tasted and looked like meat loaf instead. What made it worse was that the pasta was dry, filling was dry and the thick sauce and thick cheese on top made it ten times worse.

Messicana Pizza (Hot Pepperoni, Roasted Capsicum, Anchovies, Olives, Chilli) - the pizza base is definitely not the best I have tasted in some of the basic Italian pizzeria in Sydney. It was mediocre at best.

Well, the service was great though, very efficient, polite and professional indeed. Will I be back, maybe but will try other restaurants in the area before rushing back though.

Apr 10, 2012

6.8 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  7     

We went to The Montpellier Public House (previously known as Balzac) using a voucher. The $69 deal included a 11-dish feasting menu, a bottle of sparkling wine and coffee/tea.

The following dishes were served. They are small plates to share and essentially it is one piece/mouthful per person for each of these items served on a wooden platter.

Prawns, mayo and lemon. Snails, oxtail and parsley. Pickled beets, goats curd, orange and walnuts. Baked beans with pork belly. Potted river trout with pickled cucumbers and dill. Seasonal terrine.

Followed by one main dish each, we made the biggest mistake by ordering two servings of the Pork Belly. The skin was not crispy by standard and the pork belly was literally 98% fat. I struggled to see any pork in between the fatty layers. We should have complained and I am sure that they would have agreed to exchange it for another dish but we decided not to make a fuss as we have been to the Restaurant before where we enjoyed the experience including food and service previously.

Therefore, this may just be a one-time bad experience. Unfortunately, we had to waste the main as it was overly fatty and was inedible. The shared dessert platter was divine.

The only let down was that we had to follow up with our tea/coffee after the dessert was served and finished.

Overall, it is still a nice restaurant but the main was a total let down though.

Apr 03, 2012

6 Average

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  4      Value  6     

We went with a party of ten and what a great disappointment with the service and mediocre food. I had high expectations after reading some of the reviews and being a new restaurant, we thought we will give it a try. Our dinner didn’t finish until 3 hours later.

The food is reasonable although it is not spectacular. This view was made based on a good selection of dishes we ordered which included sashimi, sushi rolls, nigri sushi, chicken teriyaki, pork katsu, squid / cuttlefish stuffed with flavored rice, salmon carpaccio and others…

The restaurant has 2 levels but upstairs was not opened. The ground level (full house) was served by 2 waitresses and 2 gentleman who appeared to be the manager/owner of the restaurant.

Our entrée (or the first plate of food did not land on the table until 1.5 hours after our order was placed. It was then a wait, at times a long wait between each of the dishes. It was extremely hard to get hold of someone’s attention as the staff did not look around the restaurant and check on the customers. We observed that it was the same story for other patrons in the restaurant.

The drinks were terrible. The OJ we ordered felt like diluted cordial rather than a simple concentrated OJ from the bottle.

This restaurant will definitely be more successful if it offered faster food service along with more attention to customers.

We waited again for more than 15-20 mins for the bill as the owner/manager decided to speak to a leaving customer at the door with the door wide opened and cold wind blowing directly towards our table. Not a very considerate gesture. It wasn't until we followed up for a second time with the waiting staff that she reluctantly reminded the owner/manager that we were still waiting for the bill. He turned around and simply grabbed the check book and gave it to the waiting staff. It was apparent that the bill was already calculated but it was left on the counter as the owner/manager was too preoccupied.

Apr 02, 2012