Restaurant botanica - Pokolbin- A lovely dinning experience

 A lovely appointed restaurant that welcomes you with its decor and friendly staff. The open fire always helps in winter as does the correct lighting. The food overall was excellent without being adventurous. The grilled calamari was a little dry and boring but everything else was terrific. Perfectly cooked duck and beautiful pasta . The desert of dark chocolate mousse with red wine ice cream was also well presented and topped off a great dinner. The service and food 9/10. 

Miss G’s - a new experience

 If you are a good lover you would have been here, but now you need to go again as their menu has totally changed. The food was again terrific and their service was equally good. I would definitely have their degustation menu so you can try everything. The beef tartare was the best dish for me along with a broccoli salad. Desserts have not been left off and the stoners delight is still there. This for me is one place you can always go back to. 9/10 for both food and service. By the way excellent gf options. 

UR PHO - Cronulla Great Vietnamese food

We went there on Friday night and had crispy pancake, spring rolls , salt and pepper eggplant and a chicken curry. All were very good and all gluten free. Atmosphere was buzzy and the service was excellent. Probably too many people but all was done properly. I would highly recommend this place . By the their pho is also excellent but be careful if you order spicy soup as it’s really spicy. 

Our father cafe - Burraneer bay

• Excellent place for breakfast and coffee. Had the corn fritters with a chilli egg which was really nice. Almond milk coffee was made to perfection. They also cater for gf people and have a large range of goodies as well. Service was very friendly and professional . 

Zimzala - Amazing location in Cronulla

This restaurant would have one of the best locations right on the beach at South Cronulla giving you views of the surf, sand, people and people just having fun. Its been around for a while and it never ceases to surprise me with the menu changing and the quality of the food.

We went there for Valentines day but it could be any day and you would get the same great service and food. We had the seafood platter as you can see below and is an excellent version of this , not too much fried foods and a good selection of fresh prawns etc. They have many other things on the menu to suit most people and have gluten free options.

The Deserts were wonderful and all in all a very good dinning experience. I will continue to go back and give them an 8/10 for both service and food.

Giro Osteria - Nice local Italian

Its been a while since I used this blog however , I am back. We have not been to this place for a long time and it is a very good restaurant. The atmosphere is terrific however the service is a little off and just needs some small adjustments. The food was a bit hit and miss with both pastas being excellent however the John Dory was overcooked and the snitzel was burnt as you can see by the photo.

I have forgiven them for some of the mistakes and still give them a 6.5 out of 10 overall. We will go back as I know they can do better.

Claire's Kitchen

This is one restaurant I have been wanting to go to for a while and I  am glad I went. It has a wonderful ambiance elegant without going over the top.

So we arrived and was seated at a large table in a cubicle as there was 4 of us and then the  waitress lit the large chandelier in the middle of the table which shone light onto the table. A great start to the night .

The menu was quite big and they also had some specials so there is plenty to choose from. Everything is French so well done. I ordered the salmon entree which was nice but not great the others were also happy with theirs. I also ordered 6 escargot which was the highlight.

For main I had lamb rack which was served cold and the potatoes were under cooked however it was still very tasty. The pork cutlet and the lamb rump was also very good.

The wine list is reasonable and varied in price which was good. The waiters were all very friendly and French so the experience was good. The only real negative for the night was the service which was too slow and not all the meals came out together which explains why they were cold.

I would go back and try again. I would give them 5/10 for service and 7/10 for food.

Claire's Kitchen
35 Oxford st
Surry hills

Ananas Restaurant - Sydney Rocks

It's been a year since I was last here and I wondered if it was as good as it was. I was not disappointed it has kept its French charm and the food was excellent . I started with escargot which were very tasty but not near enough as they were delightful. My colleague had the Seared Tuna Salad which was very good. We both had a simple steak but it was cooked to perfection medium rare with good caramelisation on top. This was served with a few sides which were just as good.

The wine list was reasonable as was the price and the service was good without being intrusive. It is somewhere that you take your partner for a romantic dinner but it has has a buzz about it so you feel like you could be in France. It gets my tick of approval and I will return. I would have taken more photos but the food was so good I ate too fast and forgot. By the way my business colleague really liked it as well and was very complimentary about the food and service. So well done Ananas.

Seared Tuna Salad

Escargot

Estelle - Melbourne

I have been here about 5 times which is much more than I normally do simply because the food is so good. I think we all know of Scott Pickett the chef and his reputation is second to none. This is his main restaurant and is worth visiting for the atmosphere and the food. By the way the service is also top class.

The following is a sample of the food we had on this night but there is much much more. Obviously you need to have the degustation menu otherwise it is a waste of time going.

The restaurant is located at 243 High Street Northcote in Victoria
phone (03) 94894609
eat@estellebistro.com

Vamps Bistro

Vamps is an old traditional French bistro with. slightly Asian feel, however the majority of the food is classic french. The restaurant is nestled in amongst a number of other restaurants at 5 ways Paddington which is always buzzing on the weekends. The old terrace house has been there as a restaurant for over 25 years and this was my first visit.

I like traditional French as it does remind me of my French holiday some years ago spending 5 weeks travelling around the country side. There is plenty to like about Vamps from the atmosphere to the smell of garlic to the noisy chatter of kitchen staff and guests.

The menu is full of goodies including French onion soup, escargot, scallops in moray sauce, lambs brains and kidneys. I had the escargot in garlic whilst the others had shagpile prawns in shredded wontons, both were very good.










When it came time to order the mains I wanted the duck a l orange and the rabbit pie and then the beef with pepper sauce also sounded good. I settled on the rabbit pie only to find out that they had none but was replaced with a pheasant pie, so I had that. it did not disappoint me in fast it was lovely nice flakey pastry with a thick creamy, wine pheasant filling. We had the potato mash and beans as sides. The others had the twice cooked pork belly, lamb and the duck, all were very good and everyone enjoyed the meal.

no one had room for dessert unfortunately but they do have the traditional French desserts and you won't be disappointed here either.

It was a very pleasant night out and with the added advantage of being BYO we also took our own wine. corkage is a very reasonable $5 per person. I would return and overall I would give it a 7/10 for both food and service.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:227 Glemore Rd Paddington

Brooks

This is the second time I have gone to Brooks and I must admit the food is excellent. Some of it is a little rich but all the same it is presented with precision and flair. The restaurant does degustation and you should to do dinner this way to sample what they have on offer.

The restaurant itself is located in a lane way just off Collins Street and is where Jamie Oliver's 15 used to be. Although the premises are a bit dated the food and service makes up for this.

The following dishes are a sample of some of their dishes.



Chicken Parfait, rye bread and rhubarb jam




Vegetable croquettes, charcoal, ginger & red wine




Nic's souvenir of Laguiole. Meli Melo vegetables




Spanner crab, pickled oysters, mussels, Shizo oil, nori




"Forrest floor" , chocolate & hazelnut parfait, pork crackling, mint, sorrel granita and
meringue

The service was excellent and the wine list long. Overall a very pleasant dinning experience and I would recommend you try some time. Score for food 8/10 and service 9/10.

Basement 115 - 117 Collins street
Melbourne
telephone: 03 90018755

Location:Collins street Melbourne

Felix - Ash St Sydney CBD

This is a Merivale restaurant and one of my favourite. I have been there 3 times and enjoyed the experience each time. Although some better than others. this is a true French bistro and you could be in Paris if you close your eyes.

This night we dinned with friends and thoroughly enjoyed the night. The atmosphere is buzzy as it is always nearly full.

For entree I had Oysters, as I am on a diet but my guests had a seafood chowder which he loved, and a prawn salad with quinoa.











For mains we had lamb, barramundi and spatchcock and a duck cassoulet. All were fine except the cassoulet was too dry but still tasty.
















As you can see they all look delicious and they were. you need to be careful with the wine list and choose wisely. The service was good without being great and the waiters were a little hard to understand. I give it 5/10 for service and 6/10 for food.

I will return as I like the buzz about the restaurant and it is always pleasant.

Location:Ash st Sydney CBD

Gastro Park - Roslyn st Potts Point

Well,everyone has been talking about this restaurant so I thought I should try it out. Although I dont believe the name does it justice.

The restaurant is in a small street off the main drag in Kings Cross called Roslyn street which is also home to a number of bars. The ambiance is casual dinning but is definitely a fine dinning menu.

The menu has a number of options including snacks which we tried before ordering our entree & mains. The snack was described as following. Foie gras, wild hare, beetroot, plum vinegar and red cabbage granita.



For entree we had Slow cooked pork belly seared cuttlefish, pork crackling carot witlof & crab sauce.



Liquid butternut gnocchi, mushroom consommé, shimeji, opinion crumb





Agendashi of cauliflower & scallop, lobster consommé.




the above entrees were all well presented and tasted great.

For mains we had crispy scaled jewfish, smoked potato purée, calamari crackling in ink sauce. this was quite amazing but it didn't seem to work for me. The fish was nice and the smoked potato very salty.





Rare seared venison, red cabbage, rhubarb, beetroot, puffed barley, spiced red wine. this was far too well cooked for venison which made it a little tough.






Steamed Murray cod, charred white asparagus, roast watercress & shiitake mushroom, trompette sauce.





We washed the above down with a Parker Terra Rossa Cabernet and then proceeded to desert. These were all fabulous and a highlight of the meal.

Mulberry milk & honey cluster, blueberry, mascarpone & lemon. This was absolutely beautiful as was the other dish below.





then we both had the chocolate, honeycomb & vanilla sphere, cardamom, saffron, ginger.





Overall the food was very innovative, presented very well but lacked something ? The service was very good and the ambiance was good as well especially as the night went on with being able to look out the window at all the action. I would recommend you try it but be wary it is innovative food. I give it 6/10 for food and 8/10 for service.

Location:Roslyn street Potts Point