Masa Japanese Restaurant

24/12/2011 - Dinner at Masa Japanese Restaurant

As usual, Masa offers a speciality menu of the day and their standard menu.

We ordered the Grilled Salmon cooked in miso sauce from the speciality menu.
From the standard menu, we ordered the Agedashi tofu steak, deep fried soft shell crab, deep fried white bait, prawn tempura and a plate of tuna & salmon sashimi. We also had miso soup.

Masa Restaurant

Deep fried soft shell crab with a light dipping sauce.

Agedashi tofu steak topped with strips of seaweed.

Grilled salmon cooked in miso sauce.

Deep fried white bait.

Tempura prawn.

Tuna and salmon sashimi.

Miso soup

Lily's comments: Excellent. As usual, the service and quality of food is outstanding. It was Christmas Eve, we booked at the last minute and was still able to get a table for two by the window. Mr Shinji has hired an extra helper in the kitchen. Masa opens from Wed to Sunday for dinner only.

Zimzala, Cronulla

We wanted to dine at Zimzala after reading very good review about this restaurant, and also it had won the Best Restaurant - Fine Dining 2010 awarded by Leader

So we booked a table for two 3 weeks ago on a Wednesday evening.

Just a quick review on this restaurant as I don't want to comment too much in detail. Overall, I think this restaurant is over-rated, and it is not really a fine dining restaurant as they serve breakfast during daytime! When we first arrived at the restaurant, we were greeted by the captain and another waitress. Both of them seemed very polite and professional at first. However, as the place got busier, it was difficult to get proper service anymore. In short, they were understaff, there were only 2 staff waiting on the patrons the whole night, and in the end I think they let a kitchen helper help serve the patrons. There were only one big group table plus probably 5 or 6 tables occupied by 4 patrons each. They could not cope with the crowd. Food is over-priced and doesn't taste very good. The cuisines are badly presented, my soft shell crab was served in a soup bowl???? We ordered a rocket salad and when it came, the portion was so big it could feed a whole army - not that we are complaining but we just couldn't finish it and this is really wasteful. Our table is located very closely to the big group table, that it was hard for the waitress to move around between us and them. The waitress bumped into my back twice - just to let you know how tight the space was. There was literally about 5 cm of space area between my chair and another patron's from the big group. I felt very awkward with the sitting arrangement.

Anyway, this is the first and the last time for us.

MASA Japanese Restaurant, Sylvania

Dinner at MASA Japanese Restaurant on 17/11/2010.

We booked for a table for two at 6.30 pm. We arrived on time, and Mrs Shinji said we could have the table by the window (near the main door) or we could be seated at a table inside. We chose the one inside.

There were already three tables occupied, and phone was busy with calls for more bookings for that evening. They also had a new helper, a middle age Japanese woman. From the looks of it, she's new as Mrs Shinji would inconspiciously showed her what needs to be done, from giving us the menu to taking drink orders. Mrs Shinji is still the one taking the meal orders.

We ordered from the special menu of the day as well as from the standard menu. We had seared salmon sashimi with crusted black sesame and tuna sashimi. We also ordered deep fried calamari, soft shell crab, prawn tempura, salmon and tuna sushi, miso soup and some rice.

Kevin had a beer and we both had some green tea as well. As for dessert, we shared a Green tea ice cream.

We felt really special when Chef Shinji came out to serve the meal himself. He would chat with his customers and shared a joke or two. At one point, he was showing us how the tuna sashimi should be eaten by wrapping it with a kind of mint leave that was served on the side of the dish. He is always making sure that we enjoyed the cuisine.

Total cost = $109.

Verdict: As usual, outstanding!

Nicks Bar & Grill, Kings Street Wharf

June 2010 - Weekday lunch at Nicks Bar & Grill Restaurant

It was my mother in law's 70th birthday and we celebrated it at Nicks Bar & Grill.
There were four of us.

Entree:

Oysters and turkish bread with dips

Main:
Seafood basket

Grilled Whole Baby Snapper (x 2)

Seafood linguine

Beverage:
A bottle of red wine (I can't remember what brand we ordered)

Dessert:
Apple pie tart
Pancake

Ratings
Food quality = 7/10

Ambience and cleanliness = 7/10

Value for money = 7/10

Service = 7/10

Lily's Comment: Good. We had lunch there for the first time when we celebrated my MIL's birthday there. The service was adequate and good (presumably it was a week day). The food was really nice and I've never tasted such a nice seafood linguine. I told my husband that we would definitely be back again, if not for the seafood linguine.
Last Sunday on 26th Sept, we were back again for lunch. Unfortunately, we had to walk out of the restaurant. We were ushered to a table with a nice wharf view by a waiter after a long wait even though it wasn't that busy. After getting us the table, the waiter failed to provide basic service such as getting our drinks order let alone the main meal. It was a hot day. Moments later, another waiter served some partrons that came after us, and that was when we decided to walk out. I would say the food is good but basic service needs improvement especially on weekends. One waitress seemed more interested in setting up the table than serving us!

Splash Seafood & Mediterranean Cuisine, Newtown

15/11/2009 - Lunch at Splash, Newtown

Mom, Kevin and I opted for the set lunch menu. We had very late lunch and arrived at the restaurant around 4'ish in the afternoon. We thought we would try the set lunch menu as the price were very reasonable - $25.50 per person for a 3 course applicable on Sunday to Thurs. We are usually not a big fan of set lunch menu for fear that the standard may be compromised, but decided to give this one a go.

Entree:
Grilled octopus x 2
Grilled scallop x 1

Main:
Grilled barramundi served with salad x 1
Grilled barramundi served with rice x 1
Prawn linguini x 1

Dessert:
There were choices of chocolate mousse or caremel.
The servings were huge even though it was a set menu. We were very full after the 2 courses, so we skipped dessert.

Beverage:
Lemon and Lime bitter x 2 (they were freshly made).
Chinoto x 2

Total cost for 3 = $95.00. Kevin left a big tip for them as we were very happy with the service.

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

Lily's Comment: Excellent. The servings were huge and ample table service. The food came very quickly, I guessed that was also because there weren't many customers at that time. After each course, our cutlery were being changed and we were given new serviettes. You don't get that in most restaurants unless it's a restaurant with fine cuisine. What caught my eye was the value for money's 3 course set lunch at $25.50 pp. That's the price of one entree in most of the restaurants that we have been.

Waves Seafood Restaurant - Cronulla

27/09/2009 - Lunch at Waves Seafood Restaurant

Entree:
Soup of the day - tomato soup
Salt and Pepper Calamari

Main:
Both of us had the special of the day - Grilled Barammundi with scallops and potatoes

Side dishes: Mixed herb bread

Beverage:A bottle of cabernot savignon ($60), and sparkling water

Dessert:1 short black1 Latte

Total cost for 2 = $190

Ratings
Food quality = 5/10
Ambience and cleanliness = 7/10
Value for money = 4/10
Service = 2/10

Lily's Comment: Average.
The restaurant has a nice ambience, with high ceiling and most of the tables are rounded shape.
I am not that impress with the service of this particular waiter throughout. As we entered the restaurant,, I came in first before Kevin but this waiter only wanted to acknowledge him. Throughout the whole lunch experience, I got this feeling that I was invisible - if you know what I meant, its like at times some 'arrogant' people just choose to ignore you. Never mind that I thought to myself, he is nothing but just a waiter.

By the time our entree came, I was feeling very hungry. However, I found that my salt and pepper calamari very chewy and tough. My jaw was hurting when I've finished eating it.
The fish was nice though.

There are so many nice restaurants that we've been in Cronulla. This one did not impress me at all. I will not recommend to anyone nor go back again. They also don't have an ocean view as many other seafood restaurants in Cronulla do. My thought is that this restaurant is overly priced since it does not have an ocean view. You can see a little view if you stretch your neck.

I would also strongly suggest that they live up to their claim of 'warm hospitality' in their website homepage.

Crab crawl

Jimmy's Place, Canberra
Salt and Pepper Mud Crab

Jade Lotus, Singapore Chilli Crab, Sylvania
Salt and Pepper Mud Crab

Hurstville Chinese Restaurant, Sydney
Salt and Pepper Mud Crab

Miranda Chinese Restaurant, Sydney
Salt and Pepper Mud Crab
Singapore Chilli Crab

The verdict:
Best salt and pepper mud crab at Jade Lotus, Sylvania.
Best singapore chilli mud crab at Hurstville Chinese Restaurant.