fargo2031

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  9     

Went there last saturday for brunch with a bunch of frens. By the time we turned up, it was past 1 pm but brekkie was still served. Coffee was excellent, no question there. My spaghetti with salmon, fried capers, boccoccini etc was very very nice. Highly recommended! A fren had their bubble and squeak and that was apparently very satisfying. I'd skip their salmon benedict, it still can't beat other restaurants.

Revisited Feb 2011 - The place has clearly built up a strong reputation with constant groups of eager Eastern Suburb patrons at the door. Bubble and squeak is still yum! Sloppy joe is not too bad, something different and helped by the wonderful homemade tomato sauce, heady with star anise/clove aromas. Eggs benedict still can't come close to La Petit.

Coffee is very good. Service as well, all smiles despite the warm day and full tables.

Feb 20, 2011

7.3 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  7     

Tiny little cafe situated next to a barber shop, this place seemed to have plenty of rave reviews over their coffee but based on our flat whites, it was not that great. Too milky and one had a subtle burnt grind flavour. A notch or two above Starbucks.

The homemade crumpets were delicious. So too the mushroom melt on toast. Chorizo on muffin was pretty unexciting though. All round friendly service was very much appreciated. Keep it up!

Feb 20, 2011

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  8     

What a sensational cafe located smack bang in the middle of the residential area. Very good coffee, excellent service (staff reseated us as soon as a bigger table opened up) and delicious brekkie.

Highly recommended is the smoked trout with sweetcorn rosti. The "ultimate cheeseburger" is not bad but not great. The mismatched plates were very charming but not sure about the 'gears + cogs' mural on the wall.

Feb 20, 2011

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

The type dishes offered here are not very much different from your average thai restaurant (think panang curry and chilli basil beef stir-fry), but they are done very well.
Note: For more unusual thai dishes, Thainatown and House are good spots.

Aware of the no-booking policy and the resultant queues, we rocked up super early. 5.30pm early. The entire meal was a breeze. The waitstaff were pretty nice. Didn't rush us although we did get a heads-up 20min before that she needed our table. We were pretty much done by then anyway. Damage? For 3 pax, it was about $70 for 3 mains, 2 desserts and rice. Excellent for city dining.

Jan 17, 2011

8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  8     

After the Good Living review, this place has been packing it in every night. Great for the owners but a bit daunting for newbies. The food is seriously good (I recommend the duck salad!) and this is despite them serving essentially the same dishes as other Thai/Lao joints down the road or in Fairfield. In my opinion, dishes here are done with an Asian Heat Rating. HB Mild = Medium-hot for regular aussies.

Prices are more or less comparable to Fairfield but much better food. Kudos to Holy Basil for taking asian dining up a couple of notches in the area. I'll definitely be back but a bit earlier to beat the insane crowds.

Revisited in Jan 2011. From the Asian eye candy present, it's clear that this place has become the fine dining venue of Western Sydney. Food still as good. Portions and prices unchanged. Standout dishes were a soury/peppery soup where we opted for offal as main ingredient, and the seafood vermicelli. Pad thai had a strange tomato sauce coating.

Jan 17, 2011

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  9     

Went there last saturday for brunch with a bunch of frens. By the time we turned up, it was past 1 pm but brekkie was still served. Coffee was excellent, no question there. My spaghetti with salmon, fried capers, boccoccini etc was very very nice. Highly recommended! A fren had their bubble and squeak and that was apparently very satisfying. I'd skip their salmon benedict, it still can't beat other restaurants.

Revisited Feb 2011 - The place has clearly built up a strong reputation with constant groups of eager Eastern Suburb patrons at the door. Bubble and squeak is still yum! Sloppy joe is not too bad, something different and helped by the wonderful homemade tomato sauce, heady with star anise/clove aromas. Eggs benedict still can't come close to La Petit.

Coffee is very good. Service as well, all smiles despite the warm day and full tables.

Feb 20, 2011

7.3 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  7     

Tiny little cafe situated next to a barber shop, this place seemed to have plenty of rave reviews over their coffee but based on our flat whites, it was not that great. Too milky and one had a subtle burnt grind flavour. A notch or two above Starbucks.

The homemade crumpets were delicious. So too the mushroom melt on toast. Chorizo on muffin was pretty unexciting though. All round friendly service was very much appreciated. Keep it up!

Feb 20, 2011

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  8     

What a sensational cafe located smack bang in the middle of the residential area. Very good coffee, excellent service (staff reseated us as soon as a bigger table opened up) and delicious brekkie.

Highly recommended is the smoked trout with sweetcorn rosti. The "ultimate cheeseburger" is not bad but not great. The mismatched plates were very charming but not sure about the 'gears + cogs' mural on the wall.

Feb 20, 2011

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

The type dishes offered here are not very much different from your average thai restaurant (think panang curry and chilli basil beef stir-fry), but they are done very well.
Note: For more unusual thai dishes, Thainatown and House are good spots.

Aware of the no-booking policy and the resultant queues, we rocked up super early. 5.30pm early. The entire meal was a breeze. The waitstaff were pretty nice. Didn't rush us although we did get a heads-up 20min before that she needed our table. We were pretty much done by then anyway. Damage? For 3 pax, it was about $70 for 3 mains, 2 desserts and rice. Excellent for city dining.

Jan 17, 2011

8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  8     

After the Good Living review, this place has been packing it in every night. Great for the owners but a bit daunting for newbies. The food is seriously good (I recommend the duck salad!) and this is despite them serving essentially the same dishes as other Thai/Lao joints down the road or in Fairfield. In my opinion, dishes here are done with an Asian Heat Rating. HB Mild = Medium-hot for regular aussies.

Prices are more or less comparable to Fairfield but much better food. Kudos to Holy Basil for taking asian dining up a couple of notches in the area. I'll definitely be back but a bit earlier to beat the insane crowds.

Revisited in Jan 2011. From the Asian eye candy present, it's clear that this place has become the fine dining venue of Western Sydney. Food still as good. Portions and prices unchanged. Standout dishes were a soury/peppery soup where we opted for offal as main ingredient, and the seafood vermicelli. Pad thai had a strange tomato sauce coating.

Jan 17, 2011

6.3 Average

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  5      Value  6     

Cakes are great. Coffees are passable. We only had takeaway, hence, a neutral score on service.

Dec 01, 2010

7.5 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  7      Service  9      Value  8     

Came here on a sunday afternoon and used the $15 deal vouchers. Our table was only one of about 5 other tables in the entire restaurant and there were pros and cons of this.

Pros: all of our group were able to use the deal vouchers (you may find difficulty doing this on Fri/Sat nights). Noise levels were not an issue despite it being a small area. Waitstaff constantly sought our opinions on which meats we preferred so that they would be grilled accordingly. The food just kept coming!

Cons: some meats were left on the grill excessively long as there was slow turnover, hence, some cuts were dry. We probably didn't get to experience the full selection of meats.

Other than that, the meat selection was creative (beef with chilli, garlic lamb, coconut prawns etc) and tender (when it wasn't overcooked) but sometimes a bit on the salty side. Service was very friendly indeed.

Dec 01, 2010

5.8 Average

Food  6      Ambience  5      Service  6      Value  6     

I must state that I'm not at all very familiar with Turkish food but a recent lunch here left us pretty satisfied. I had an adana plate and my wife had a cheese spinach borek. The borek was well filled and it was soft and tasty. My adana dish was not bad but meat could be a bit more fatty though and it's also a touch salty. Accompanying bread was soft and delicious. Am keen to try new star kebab down the street next time as a comparison.

Nov 21, 2010

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.5 Below Average

Food  1      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  2     

The evening started off well with light thai pop playing in the background which reminded me of the happy hip cafes in bangkok. after that it was a slippery slope downhill and we left the restaurant to the sound of techno trance beats.

Ok I jest. Music is not the issue here but the food. Oh my goodness the food. My wife noted later that evening that we were the only non-caucasian diners and I really should have picked that up as the first warning sign. If you respect thai cuisine, please avoid this place at all cost. Tom yum-shocker. Flathead special-obscene. The rest (pad thai, curries etc) are basic entry-level aussie thai quality.

I have eaten a few aussie-thai places in the past (organised by friends) - this easily ranks as the worst. Oh geez please let me purge the memory of this. Thank goodness I didn't get a tummy ache for it will truly top the experience.

p.s. To be fair, service was not bad. food came quick and water glasses were topped up with initiative.

Nov 21, 2010

7.8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  10     

This is the best Lebanese food I've eaten, Yes better than Al Aseel at Greenacre.
Food is filling so don't get too excited when ordering. Decor can clearly delight some people but my tastes differ. Who cares? I'm only there for the food. Service, well you order and they bring you the food. Nothing more, nothing less.

Oct 03, 2010