Bayblu Seafood Restaurant, Blakehurst

12/12/2008 - Dinner at Bayblu Seafood Restaurant

It was Peter's birthday, so Shirley, Sean, mom, Kevin and myself celebrated his birthday at this seafood restaurant.

Entree:
Natural Sydney Rock Oysters - 3 dozens - Shirley, Peter and Kevin opted for this
Char-grilled baby octopus mediterranean w herbs, lemon, olive oil - Mom had this
Mango and prawn salad, this was the special for that evening - I opted for this
Grilled Calamari - Sean had this as part of his 3 course daily special offer.

Main:
Kevin and I had the grilled steak tuna, mine was well-done and Kevin's medium rare (special of the evening).
Mom had the Snapper fillets, grilled.
Peter and Shirley had the grilled coral trout (special of the evening)
Sean had the Flathead fillets crumbed, deep-fried.

Beverage:
Cabernet Savignon Dennis Of McLaren SA x 2 bottes.

Dessert:
All of us shared these dessert.
Trio of homemade gelato or sorbet w biscotti wafers
Crepes suzette for two
Blueberry banana pudding
Latte

Total cost for 6 = $520

Ratings:

Food quality = 7/10
Ambience and cleanliness = 8/10

Value for money = 9/10
Service = 7/10

Lily's comment: Good. The restaurant is located at the Sydney side of Tom-Ugly bridge. This is the second time Kevin and I have dined there. On our first visit, it was really quiet due to 'school night' and we had the seafood platter but it was too much for two. It was really busy on Peter's birthday as expected since it's the festive week. Despite the restaurant being busy, service was still adequate. The food is good, especially the oysters, they were really fresh. The portion of the food is really huge. I could not finish my tuna steak. I thought mine was a little bit over done, though, Kevin's tuna steak is cooked just right. They do great value meals if you opt for the daily special offer. It was a great night out.

Miranda Chinese Restaurant

23/11/2008 - Dinner at Miranda Chinese Restaurant

It is always a big challenge to find a good Chinese restaurant in Sydney. I am normally not that impress with the Chinese restaurants here. They are determine to cater to Australian taste buds (sad!). Some of the common dishes that are so not Chinese food at all are - sweet & sour pork that looks like it has been covered with red dye, honey prawn that tastes so blxxdy sweet, mongolian lamb, sweet corn and chicken soup to name a few.

There were 5 of us and little Charlene.

Entree
To be honest, it's really not a Chinese tradition to start off the meal with an entree. All dishes, be it entree, or the main, and even the soup are served at one go. But okay, since we're in Australia and it's customary to have an entree before the main meal, we ordered the Pipi with black bean sauce.

Main
The various main that we had are:
- Mongolian lamb
- Tofu, chicken and salted fish hot pot
- Fisherman's treasure (this is a vegetarian dish - brocolli, and mixed vegetables wrapped in tofu skin)
- Ma Wong fish steamed in shallot, ginger and soya sauce
- Steam rice

Beverage: A bottle of Brokenwood Cricket Shiraz, and Chinese tea for all

Total cost for 5 = $240

Ratings

Food quality = 8/10

Ambience and cleanliness = 7/10

Value for money = 8/10

Service = 7/10.

Lily's comment: Excellent. This is definitely one of the better Chinese restaurants that I've been. We've dined several times here and never disappointed. The dishes are indeed very authentic. We were all very impressed! Loved the steam fish - it was cooked to the right amount of time, not too raw nor overcook, just melted in our mouth. I would also recommend the Fisherman's treasure vegetarian dish.

Angus Steak House, Darling Harbour

28/09/2008 - Dinner at Angus Steak House, Darling Harbour

Shirley's very good friends from Thailand were visiting Sydney. We took them to Angus Steak House to try the Australian beef and lamb. There were 8 of us.

Entree: Garlic bread, chips, and stir-fry vegetables.

Main:
The various main that we had are:

• Rack of Lamb - Tarragon Mash, Eggplant and Tomato Gratin with Port Jus x 4
• T-Bone 600g with your choice of Port Jus, Mushroom, Pepper or Bearnaise Sauce x 1
• Prime beef 300g x 1
• Giant King Prawns - Butterflied with Garlic Butter, Crushed New Potatoes, Seasalt and Garlic Aioli x 1
• Vegetables salad x 1

Beverage: Juices, beer and Red Wine

Total cost for 8 BYO = $380

Ratings

Food quality = 8/10 for the red meat, 6/10 for the king prawns

Ambience and cleanliness = 6/10. Because we were a big group, they couldn't let us have the table outside with a view of the harbour. We had a table near the open kitchen, where we could see the chef barbequing the meat. The table is covered with the charcoal dust, and of couse we all smell like 'Angus Rump' after the meal.

Value for money = 7/10

Service = 7/10. We waited quite long before our meal were served. It was a busy Sunday night.

Lily's comment: Good. It's a good restaurant for the meat lovers. The menu does cater for diners who like seafood and vegetarian as well.

Holy Cow - Surry Hills

30/08/2008 - Dinner at Holy Cow

Entree: Both of us had the Tandoori Sizzler and Vegetable & Cheese Croquettes to share.

Main: Goan Fish Curry and Khatta Meetha Prawns to share. We had a garlic bread and basmati rice as well.

Beverage: BYO Red Wine ($30)

Total cost for 2 excluding BYO = $52.50

Ratings
Food quality = 8/10
Ambience and cleanliness = 6.5/10 (Ventilation problem - best to wear your old clothe in case you clothe smell like deep-frying)
Value for money = 8/10
Service = 8/10

Lily's comment: Good. Holy Cow offers amazing North Indian Cuisine with a large range of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes as well as tandoori breads and meats and healthy alternatives for the weight and diet conscious. It is located at Surry Hills, which as usual has limited street parking. We were looking for a spot for a good 20 mins before we found one on a Saturday night. I would suggest that the owner put in a good ventilation. Your hair and clothing would stink when the sizzling dishes come out. Despite this, the taste of the food is quite authentic and it is definitely value for money.

Summer Salt Restaurant, Cronulla

22/08/2008 - Dinner at Summer Salt Restaurant

Entree: Kevin had the Sichuan duck salad, mom had the Sichuan silken tofu stuff with chicken and crab mince with sweet Thai chilly dipping sauce, and I had the salt and pepper squid.

Main: Kevin had the whole baby steamed snapper, mom had the pan fried John Dory, I had the BBQ whole local sand whiting.

Beverage: Wine: 04 Cockfighters Ghost Premium Cabernet Savignon - Coonawarra SA, mom had ginger beer and we had coffee for dessert.

Total cost for 3 = $250

RatingsFood quality = 6.5/10
Ambience and cleanliness = 8.5/10 (The bathroom is very clean)
Value for money = 7/10
Service = 7.5/10

Lily's comment: Good. The restaurant is located right on the beach, ample parking space. Floor-to-ceiling windows display the beauty of Cronulla Beach to its best advantage. We have dined there twice and both times were night time. I would love to have lunch there next time in order to take in the beautiful view of the beach.

Moksha, Jannali

27/07/2008 - Dinner at Moksha Indian Restaurant

Entree: Mixed Grill Platter for 4 of us (Kevin, me, Yen and Nick)
Main: Beef vindaloo, Mixed Vegetables in curry, Barrumundi fish in tomato and chutney sauce and Curry chicken dish. Plain naan bread and basmati rice.
BYO

Total cost for 4 = $150

Ratings
Food quality = 8/10
Ambience and cleanliness = 7/10
Value for money = 7/10
Service = 7/10

Lily's comment: Good. This is popular Indian restaurant with the Shire people.

Masuya, O'connell Street

24/07/2008 - Dinner at Masuya Japanese Restaurant.

Entree: Softshell crab & Rainbow Sushi
Main: I had the king prawn dish and 'lo-gung' had salmon teriyaki. Rice on the side.
Beverage: I had a cascade and 'lo-gung' had a glass of red wine.

Total cost for 2 = $95

Ratings
Food quality = 9/10
Ambience and cleanliness = 7/10
Value for money = 10/10
Service = 9/10
Lily's comment: Excellent. I am in love with this restaurant and have been a loyal patron for nearly 7 years. It is an addiction for me. Me and girlie pal used to lunch there a lot (at least once a week) until we've moved office. Each time my family from Canberra visited Sydney, they will put an effort to dine in this restaurant. I have been there a million times, never ever disappointed with the quality of the food, and the warm services provided by the charming and well mannered waiters/waitresses. The only setback is the ventilation, sometimes your hair & clothes tend to smell of 'deep-frying' when they bring out those sizzling dishes. But I can forgive them for that since the quality of the food is excellent and it is always consistent.

The price is really reasonable considering the quality of the food, the portion and the good service provided. With a popular restaurant like this one, booking is highly recommended, but tonight we got lucky as we were early and could get a table during the first seating.
Masuya, once again I love you!

The Wasaby, York Street

23/07/2008 - Lunch at the Wasaby Japanese restaurant.

Main: I opted for the sushi & sashimi meal. Wendy had beef meal.
Beverage: I had a glass of merlot.

Total cost for 2 = $55.

Ratings
Food quality = 5/10
Ambience and cleanliness = 9/10
Value for money = 5/10
Service = 8/10


Lily's comment: Average. The price that is set for the meal matches with the ambience. It is up-market price with very nice ambience. Each table will guarantee some privacy as the tables are not put too close together like in most restaurants. However, we were a bit disappointed with the quality of the food. The service is excellent (as one would expect in a Jap restaurant). Water was served as soon as we were seated. I reckon Masuya is a much better restaurant.

The Altitude, Shangri-La Hotel Sydney

14/07/2008 - Dinner at the Altitude Restaurant, Level 36 of the Shangri-La Hotel.

Main: Kevin and I opted for the seven course Epi-curious degustation menu.

Total cost for 2 = $410.

Ratings
Food quality = 7/10
Ambience and cleanliness = 9/10
Value for money = 7/10
Service = 8/10


Lily's comment: Excellent. The Altitude is absolute stunning - you get a glittering panorama of Sydney Harbour. The chef is Steven Krasicki, who is responsible for introducing the seven course Epi-curious degustation menu. We both opted for the Epi and were really impressed by it. The sommelier helped to choose 7 different type of wine from the 300-plus selection. Got a bit tipsy at the end of the meal which lasted 2.5 hours. But it was very enjoyable.

22/06/2008 - Lunch at Catalina Cafe, Westfield Miranda

Main – Mom had the curry chicken with rice. I had the grill fillet of fish with salad and chips. Kevin had the bacon and scrambled egg breakfast with chips.
Beverage - I had latte, mom had a flat white and Kevin had a vanilla latte.

Total cost for 3 = $55.

Ratings
Food quality = 3/10
Ambience and cleanliness = 5/10
Value for money = 5/10
Service = 5/10

Lily's comment: Poor. This is one of the worst cafes I've been. When the meal came, it was cold! Our coffee was cold too. My grilled fish is like a fried fish, and I found a strain of hair in my salad. Mom's curry is just way to average. Kevin's breakfast looked decent, thank god they finally got something right. It's just breakfast, how could the chef have gone wrong, even though I thought the bacon was too oily. I won't recommend this cafe to anyone at all, not even if it's free dining!

Old Vienna Coffee House, QVB

21/06/2008 - Lunch at Old Vienna Coffe House at QVB

It is located at the 1st level of the QVB. Nice ambience with high ceiling with Austrian mosaic-style painting. There were the painting of 'Kiss' by Gustav Klimt.

Main – Mom had the Salmon Linguinne in creamy pesto sauce. I had the smoked salmon sandwich with cream cheese and avocado toasted on brown bread.
Beverage - Mom had a flat white and I had a large latte.

Total cost for 2 = $46.

Ratings
Food quality = 5/10
Ambience and cleanliness = 7/10
Value for money = 6/10
Service = 6/10.

Lily's comment: Average. I should not have requested for the brown bread to be toasted as this would hardened the bread seed, and making it difficult to bite. Mom's pasta is only average but the portion was huge. It will be a nice place for toast but overall was disappointed with the main meals.

Crocodile Thai Senior, George Street

21/06/2008 - Dinner at Crocodile Thai Senior, China Town, George Street

Entree - curry puff and chicken staty
Main – Mom had the seafood stir fry in basil sauce with steam rice and cooked medium hot. I had the seafood tomyum with vermicilli noodle.
Beverage - We had just water.
Take away = Seafood fried rice and Chicken Pad Thai

Total cost for 2 plus takeaway = $65.

Ratings
Food quality = 9/10
Ambience and cleanliness = 6/10
Value for money = 8/10.
Service = 7/10.

Lily's comment: Good. Okay, because I like Thai food I may be biased with my comments. However, this is really one of the better Thai restaurants that I've been. The food is authentic (not the usual typical cooking to sweeten the dish in order to cater for Aussie taste buds!). My tom yum soup was really rich and I can see how much herbs like galangal, etc that they have used. The chicken satay was delicious and the portion of chicken breast meat is huge. This place have charming waitresses, they are nice and polite but because it's such a busy eatery, they are probably trained to get your orders quickly and make sure you're out as soon as you've finished your meal in order to accommodate the next customer in line of the long queue. The place gets busy the later it is in the night. Definitely no baby prams allowed in as each table is arranged so closely to another. We had to leave Charlene's pram outside when we dined there once. I highly recommend this place to those Thai cuisine lovers.

Kilimanjaro African, Newtown

15/06/2008 – Lunch at Kilimanjaro African restaurant, Newtown.

Entrees – string beans marinated in special sauce, cucumber, tomato in yoghurt sauce, bread.
Main – chicken marinated in African spice, tuna steak, and prawn dishes with rice.
Beverage - We had ginger drink.

Total cost for 3 = $70.

Ratings
Food quality = 7/10
Ambience and cleanliness = 7/10
Value for money = 10/10
Service = 8/10.

Lily's comment: Excellent, never disappointed with the quality of food and service. This is the 5th time we've been there. I highly recommend it. It caters for budget diners. Be warned though, there is no menu provided on the table. You order your meal from a big board on the wall. You won't miss it.

Rabbien Thai, Sylvania

14/06/2008 – Dinner at Rabbien Thai Restaurant, Sylvania
4 people – Kevin, myself, mom and Nick.
BYO.
Entree - We had chicken satay and curry puffs.
Main = lamb dish, green curry chicken, choo chee fish and fried tofu with vegetables in basil sauce.
Beverage - BYO, lemonade.
Total cost for 4 = $80.

Ratings
Food quality = 2/10
Ambience and cleanliness = 5/10
Value for money = 2/10
Service = 1/10.

Lily's comment: Poor. Very disappointing, the second and last time for us.

Yama, QVB

14/06/2008 – Lunch at Yama, a fusion of Australian and Japanese cuisine, in QVB (level 2).

Mom had seafood pad thai. I had seafood skewer and salmon nigiri and sushi.
Drinks – I had a latte and mom had Sensha green tea.

Total cost for 2 = $52.50.


Ratings
Food quality = 5/10
Ambience and cleanliness = 7/10
Value for money = 6/10
Service = 7/10.

Lily's comment: Average, price is up-market and quality of food is only average.