pommiefoodie

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Restaurants, Japanese, Has Bar, Licensed, Serves Dinner

Overall 7.9 46

7.8 Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 8 Service 8 Value 7

We popped in before Christmas to try the yakatori sticks here having enjoyed the sister restaurant Azuma. I adored the eggplant grill, and would have ordered another but they'd sold out (despite it being very early evening so I guess lunch is popular here). We enjoyed our mixed skewers though the price was a little off putting, $30 for about 12 skewers did seem a little steep. Still, good if you're approaching them as bar snacks and not a full meal.

Jan 21, 2011

Kuali, Lane Cove

Restaurants, Malaysian, Family Dining, Good For Groups, BYO

Overall 6 80

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5 Average

Food 5 Ambience 5 Service 6 Value 4

A bit disappointing as they have changed hands since part of our party were last here. One dish was good, the eggplant vegetarian but the ayam percik was poor. Sauce tasted Ok but a bit bland, but the chicken meat was grim. It had that spongy, 'wrong' texture you get from catering packs of water injected meat. We picked out the veg and left the meat and most tellingly of all, no-one asked us if there was any problem when they collected our virtually untouched plate. As the prices are relatively not that cheap, I'm unlikely to go back.

Jan 21, 2011

Bodega Tapas Restaurant, Surry Hills

Restaurants, Spanish, Tapas, Has Bar, Licensed

Overall 7.7 202

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food 10 Ambience 10 Service 9 Value 9

We accidentally got the last 2 spots in the early seating, and sat at the bar, overlooking the chefs. What a spot! It was fascinating and so impressive, watching these guys (and 1 gal) at work. The speed that they were turning out these fantastic looking meals - it made our evening to watch them. Talk about well oiled machine. And the food did not disappoint; amazing kingfish 'fish fingers', incredible pulled pork steamed bun, the scallops, the rich and unctuous sweat breads. Frankly the banana split was superfluous as we were stuffed but we were told it was amazing and we'd been watching it being made all evening so had to give it a go. Actually it wasn't the strongest dish but it was OK. I can't wait to go back!

Jan 21, 2011

Cookie, Melbourne

Restaurants, Thai, Has Bar, Licensed, Outdoor Dining

Overall 7.6 30

7.3 Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 8 Service 6 Value 7

Cookie - I wish this place was in Sydney. It has the most amazing bottled local and imported beers menu I have ever seen. The food was good, reasonable portions and a great soak for the beer. Not a place you'd go for a quiet meal, think of it as a bar first and foremost, that happens to also sell food and you're on the money.

Oct 26, 2010

Cafe Sopra @ Fratelli Fresh, Waterloo

Cafes, Italian, BYO, Child Friendly, Licensed

Overall 7.8 71

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food 9 Ambience 8 Service 7 Value 9

Having heard so much about this place we were sceptical, surely it can't be as great as everyone says? So we were pleasantly surprised by our weekend visit, the pasta dishes were awesome. My lamb ragu was hearty, heavy peasant food (in a good way), no glamour, just a full dish of soft lamb and tomato-ey richness and a hint of chilli to bring it all up to a new level.

Perfect balance of tomato acidity to counteract the lamb fat. Just wonderful. His spaghettini was lemony, garlicky and also awesome. Robust cheap red wine to wash it all down, a snip at $3.50 to a full glass. Wow. Wish we had room for the desserts too.

Oct 26, 2010

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Member since 2007

Last updated on 1st Jun 2012

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Azuma Kushiyaki, Sydney

Restaurants, Japanese, Has Bar, Licensed, Serves Dinner

Overall 7.9 46

7.8 Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 8 Service 8 Value 7

Jan 21, 2011

Kuali, Lane Cove

Restaurants, Malaysian, Family Dining, Good For Groups, BYO

Overall 6 80

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5 Average

Food 5 Ambience 5 Service 6 Value 4

Jan 21, 2011

Bodega Tapas Restaurant, Surry Hills

Restaurants, Spanish, Tapas, Has Bar, Licensed

Overall 7.7 202

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food 10 Ambience 10 Service 9 Value 9

Jan 21, 2011

Cookie, Melbourne

Restaurants, Thai, Has Bar, Licensed, Outdoor Dining

Overall 7.6 30

7.3 Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 8 Service 6 Value 7

Oct 26, 2010

Cafe Sopra @ Fratelli Fresh, Waterloo

Cafes, Italian, BYO, Child Friendly, Licensed

Overall 7.8 71

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food 9 Ambience 8 Service 7 Value 9

Oct 26, 2010

Blu Ginger, McMahons Point

Restaurants, Indian, Citibank Dining Program, Serves Dinner, Serves Lunch

Overall 7.1 50

6.3 Average

Food 6 Ambience 7 Service 6 Value 6

Average to good 'trad' indian restaurant food at slightly over enthusiastic prices. Quality seems good. We tried vindaloo, dansak, onion baji, eggplant and potato (personal favourite, as it was the only non trad one) and a lamb dish I don't remember. Awesome peshwari naan, it was like marzipan. Great as a dessert! It seemed like a popular place though there's plenty better (and cheaper) indian retaurants in Sydney.

Service was ok but a bit forgetful, we were waiting for a 4th person to arrive and were asked at least 4 times if we were ready to order before they'd arrived. (we ate there earlier this year).

Aug 18, 2010

Luxe Bakery Cafe, Newtown

Cafes

Overall 7.7 14

7.8 Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 8 Service 7 Value 8

I reviewed Luxe just after it opened but this was not published, here it is again: This new branch of an existing small chain opened in Newtown recently and after being pleased with their takeaway coffee we stopped in for brunch. Though the sweet pastries looked incredibly tempting, we were in the mood for savoury and weren't disappointed. The poached eggs and homemade beans, with side of spicy lebanese sausages were great, apparently the best homemade beans he'd tasted in a long while.

The leg ham quiche was superb, sweet caramelised onions with lovely chunks of proper ham, my only compalint being the pastry was a tiny bit oily. I was hoping for some of the gorgeous looking oxheart tomatoes in the salad, but alas, just green leaves and red cabbage. Good coffee too (it would have to be given their proximity to campos).

Aug 18, 2010

Vulcan's, Blackheath

Restaurants, Modern Australian, Vegetarian, BYO, Licensed

Overall 7.1 83

6.8 Recommended

Food 7 Ambience 7 Service 7 Value 6

Vulcans is somewhere I've been meaning to try since reading their review in the 2008 Good Food Guide, oddly enough at least 2 of the dishes on their menu were listed in the guide, which seemed odd, seeing at it was at least 2 years later. Has the menu really stagnated over the last 2 years? Quite possibly…With the exception of the soup, the various elements of the food seemed fine but arrived in strange combinations.

I also found myself irritated by the $2 charge per slice of bread, this with a stated minimum charge of $58 per head and I didn't order it in a fit of pique, despite the fact that we ordered the crab soup. Which we then ate without any bread. It was still the success of the evening, lumps of delicious crab, lovely flavoured broth. In contrast the duck sausage with pickled beets seemed an odd combination and vinegarey beet sauce drowned out the more delicate duck.

I found myself tying to pick through and eat them seperately. Similarly the thai style salad on the pork slices in my main course were teamed with a gravy like sauce which didn't go well at all with the salad, it needed to decide whether it was a salad or not. Salad and gravy doesn't work for me. Quite hard to score this as a result, I think the 7 I've given it is generous for some of the dishes. This place struck me as somewhere that's entirely rested on it's laurels and I doubt we'll go back.

Aug 18, 2010

Azuma, Sydney

Restaurants, Japanese, Fine Dining, BYO, Child Friendly

Overall 7.6 105

7.8 Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 6 Service 9 Value 8

It was weirdly down at heel décor but lovely staff who were attentive, but not obtrusive and seemed knowledgeable about both the food and sake. I loved the grilled aubegrgine and miso, though wasn't sure why it was served with a bowl of edamame on the side, perhaps, it was a nod towards izakaya style food? My duck and burdock main was beautifully cooked and typically Japanese spiced, ie not spiced at all and though it's probably authentic, for my palate I would have liked some sort of sauce even if only for my plain rice.

The other starter, the seared tuna was light and tasty, quite small though. We enjoyed our meal and look forward to returning.

Aug 18, 2010

Almond Bar, Darlinghurst

Restaurants, Middle Eastern, Citibank Dining Program, Has Bar, Licensed

Overall 7.2 70

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

7.3 Recommended

Food 7 Ambience 8 Service 8 Value 6

We enjoyed the food but found the portions on the tasting plates to be a bit small. It wasn't that the ingredients were expensive, on the contrary, we had 2 small pieces of caulifower, surely an item you could bulk up on if you wanted your dish to look more filling? Perhaps, I'm swayed more by the (expensive) cocktails?

Aug 18, 2010