pymble

Reviews

Restaurants, Japanese, Modern Australian, Hip and Trendy, Romantic and Intimate

Overall 8.1 290

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food 9 Ambience 9 Service 9 Value 10

Last night I experienced the Autumn 2012 degustation at this classy establishment.

I thoroughly enjoyed the fresh ingredients, the visual detail of the food, the design of the glassware and plateware. Everything about the restaurant to be honest!

The food is so fresh, delicate and aromatic and IMO equivalent to a one hat standard. Some flavours were completely new taste sensations too (Japanese ingredients, a certain tubular mushroom, the satsuma potato chips etc). I especially adored the citrus sauce on one of the dishes. Just beautiful.

The service was polite and impeccable. And value wise I can only shake my head and wonder how they can do it with the amount of time that must go into the preparation of these complex dishes. I love restaurants that devote time equally to both vegetables and meat. Highly recommended for a gourmet night out.

Apr 29, 2012

Kashin Japanese Restaurant, Gordon

Restaurants, Japanese, American Express

Overall 6.6 15

7.5 Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 7 Service 7 Value 8

Update 16/4/2012

Another nice experience. This time I had Course B which is just under $40 pp. Loads of food - delicious tempura, teriyaki, sushi, BBQ scallops, miso and side dishes etc. It is very authentic Japanese - not too expensive and fresh. Recommended.

Update 30/8/09 - Dined again at this very pleasant local eatery. We chose the soft shell crab salad, which was one of the specials for the night, the main sashimi and the wagyu beef. All dishes were very good, the service is attentive and if you watch the chef and his wife you can pretend you are in a little place in Kyoto! Recommended.

A diverse menu and pleasant atmosphere. I have been to this local restaurant on a number of occasions and have never been disappointed. Particularly recommended during the warmer months for those who enjoy raw fish.

Apr 16, 2012

Cha For Tea, Chatswood

Restaurants, Chinese, Child Friendly, Private Room, Serves Breakfast

Overall 6.1 38

7.5 Recommended

Food 7 Ambience 8 Service 6 Value 9

This is a very relaxing place to come to escape the traffic noise mania of Victoria Avenue, Chatswood. If you go early enough for lunch you may be fortunate to get a table out the back garden area. That should be your objective as on a beautiful sunny day this is the most pleasant place to be in this unique cafe.

I found the soft Taiwanese pop music soothing and set the mood for relaxation with an Asian magazine I could not read but could appreciate nonetheless. This kind of added authenticity to this unassuming no frills place.

The menu here features many varieties of tea. Its rather hard to decide which one goes best with the food (savoury or dessert choices) without any forthcoming advice from the wait staff - who happened to be around 15 years old, with barely any English skills and totally inexperienced (had to chase for a menu after not seeing anybody for 10 minutes).

So I ordered a pot of Kings Tea - which was recommended (a gold tea logo was next to its name on the menu). The tea was a little bland given the taste test (not sure which King would have enjoyed it actually) and I would have also liked to have seen it being served in a traditional tea pot instead.

For food, I ordered the shui wa dumplings (fried prawn) and a tea infused chicken curry with rice. Both dishes were very yummy (the curry was aromatic and decent) and represent great value, no more than $9 each.

Whilst the service was almost non-existent, I still recommend this place because the food is very tasty and the ambient green surroundings - pleasant.

Apr 10, 2012

Arthurs Bavarian Bakehouse, Gordon

Bakeries

Overall 8 1

8 Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 8 Service 8 Value 8

This place has amongst the best breads in all of Sydney. It is also the place to go for genuine pretzels and traditional Berliner Krapfen (Saturdays). The hot cross buns which I crave for each year at Easter time are hands down the best around.

Apr 03, 2012

Gordon Fish Supplies, Gordon

Seafood Stores

Overall 8 1

8 Recommended

Quality 8 Ambience 7 Service 8 Value 9

Hand cut chips are such a rarity. I enjoy the old fashioned service, the addition of salads and baklava and superb fish and great value hamburgers.

Apr 03, 2012

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Member since 2006

Last updated on 1st Jun 2012

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Displaying: 1 - 10 of 60 reviews

WAQU, Crows Nest

Restaurants, Japanese, Modern Australian, Hip and Trendy, Romantic and Intimate

Overall 8.1 290

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food 9 Ambience 9 Service 9 Value 10

Apr 29, 2012

Kashin Japanese Restaurant, Gordon

Restaurants, Japanese, American Express

Overall 6.6 15

7.5 Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 7 Service 7 Value 8

Apr 16, 2012

Cha For Tea, Chatswood

Restaurants, Chinese, Child Friendly, Private Room, Serves Breakfast

Overall 6.1 38

7.5 Recommended

Food 7 Ambience 8 Service 6 Value 9

Apr 10, 2012

Arthurs Bavarian Bakehouse, Gordon

Bakeries

Overall 8 1

8 Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 8 Service 8 Value 8

Apr 03, 2012

Gordon Fish Supplies, Gordon

Seafood Stores

Overall 8 1

8 Recommended

Quality 8 Ambience 7 Service 8 Value 9

Hand cut chips are such a rarity. I enjoy the old fashioned service, the addition of salads and baklava and superb fish and great value hamburgers.

Apr 03, 2012

Din Tai Fung, Sydney

Restaurants, Chinese, Taiwanese, Yum Cha, Air Conditioning

Overall 7.2 185

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food 9 Ambience 7 Service 9 Value 8

I've been here so many times now and the dumplings are always amazing. These are consistently superb and I also always enjoy the Taiwanese rice loaded with egg. My only gripe this time is my favourite Italian plum soda is off the menu. Sorry guys but the apple one is nowhere near as decent and the colour of it reminds me of Coola cordial. This time they had Tsingtao Beer in stock so things are looking up in that department.

Mar 25, 2012

Kaiser Stub'n, Terrey Hills

Restaurants, European, BYO, Licensed, Serves Dinner

Overall 6.9 106

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

6.5 Recommended

Food 6 Ambience 7 Service 7 Value 6

Quite an expensive dining out experience given that the food isn't presented with a great deal of flair, and is reminiscent of the 1970s. Which would be Ok if it was cooked exceptionally well.

Unfortunately, my beef roulade was dry. So I'm not likely to give this place another try. Such a pity because Sydney is lacking in decent German food.

Mar 11, 2012

Bistro Meme, Gladesville

Restaurants, French, BYO, Licensed, Serves Breakfast

Overall 7.2 10

7.8 Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 8 Service 7 Value 8

We booked a table for four people and enjoyed our time here at this recently opened bistro in Gladesville.

The restaurant has two areas - one is part of the main building and the other area is an open courtyard. All of the tables are spread wide apart, so the ambience is very pleasant. Its nice and relaxing.

All of the food is traditional French bistro food and there is nothing fussy here. One of our table's highlights was the Gruyere and Capsicum Souffle, which was described as beautiful. Everybody on our table were very pleased with their finely prepared dishes. And all of us agreed that we will definitely return to Bistro Meme.

As a token of generosity we received a small appetiser each (escargots) and a bottle, yes a bottle, of 'cognac/whiskey', we couldn't really tell which it was, for an after meal drink. We could have drunk as much as we liked basically, but we didn't, of course!

Pros - delightful meal, reasonably priced but you may have to order sides depending on the main selected, beautiful potato sides, service is very professional, parking area immediately outside or opposite near Coles supermarket

Cons - table far too small for four people (suited to 2-3 people only), sometimes the French waiters are difficult to understand.

Mar 04, 2012

Cedrus Lebanese Restaurant, Ryde

Restaurants, Lebanese, Mediterranean, Seafood, Vegetarian

Overall 7.2 13

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food 8 Ambience 9 Service 8 Value 8

This restaurant has very pleasant views across parkland and the Parramatta River. Diners can sit either in a contemporary space indoors or outdoors on the patio.

The menu is varied with all of the usual suspects but I was also pleasantly surprised to find items on the menu which were unique as far as I am concerned.
This included the country-style cheese and the yummy custard pudding with pistachio and rose syrup.

The menu also contains an ample selection of seafood. One of the dishes I shared was a whole snapper with middle-eastern seasoning. It was cooked to perfection.

In fact all of the food was cooked well and the presentation was very pleasing to the eye. Our lamb dish fell apart, just the way I like it. The service was very polite and friendly. Generous helpings. Recommended.

Feb 20, 2012

Dos Senoritas, Gladesville

Restaurants, Mexican / Latin American, BYO, Has Cafe, Serves Breakfast

Overall 7.3 49

7.8 Recommended

Food 9 Ambience 8 Service 6 Value 8

I tried this restaurant due to the favourable reviews here and the fact that Mexican restaurants in Sydney are mostly disappointing. We went on a Saturday night and we were lucky to secure the last table, so I suggest you book ahead.

When we arrived at the entrance the waitress said hello (all wait staff here have accents so I think they may all be backpackers) and then walked away!

This was a strange way to start, however, this pretty much summed up the service throughout the evening here. It was disorganised. There were around 4 table staff here and there are not that many more tables in this tiny restaurant. So its one of those places where the staff seem to think that someone else has taken the order, picked up the empty glass etc etc. With no one seemingly in charge and all of the staff hanging around close to the kitchen area, the place seems a bit unfriendly.

The ambience is due to the noise of the diners rather than from any effort made by the people who are hired here to work. It is a real shame. Anyway, thankfully the food here is very flavoursome.

When we were finally sat down we were given a plate of spicy salsa dip and corn chips. This was so huge we decided not to order an entree! It was very good though.

For mains we ordered from the chef's recommendations (all $29 each) - Chicken mole and a Mexican steak, which we think was marinated in tequila. Both of these were served in a very rustic manner (no finesse just dumped on the plate basically) but both meals were delicious.

I loved the delicate flavours and the right level of herb and spices. Thankfully neither dish was smothered in cheese either, instead you receive lashings of fresh avocado, mexican rice and bean salad. Its really nice home made food.

Unfortunately, the serving size of the mains was so huge that we both had to skip any dessert, which was disappointing as the flan sounded yummy. So next time if I just have an entree only maybe I could have a dessert?

My husband had a Mexican Bohemia beer (nice to have something on offer other than a corona) and I had a Jamaica hibiscus drink served in a plastic cup with a straw (the drink was nice but what about a glass?). Most patrons were ordering the magaritas.

I will definitely return again for the yummy food. This place is recommended for big big hungry eaters or people who want to taste something cooked by a Mexican chef.