Reviews by AlyF

This review is for Panetta Fruit Shop, Miranda NSW

verified email - 26 Jan 2012

The vegetables and fruit when they are on special can be a fair bit cheaper than elsewhere and the top quality means you dont feel so bad to pay the full price anyway.

I really like the delicatessen and small goods sections because they offer a variety of different items that you normally would have to travel to balmain or leichardt for. The cheeses are very well priced and the fresh breads are wonderful (the caramelised garlic bread is to die for!).

This review is for The Eight Modern Chinese Restaurant, Haymarket NSW

verified email - 23 Jan 2012

Food was alright, nothing better than what you would find for much cheaper elsewhere. The dishes are a bit more expensive than usual.

The service was where this place really fell well below par. A table of 5 ppl and after being seated were only given one menu. No one came to take our order for ages despite trying to make eye contact and waving our arm in the air.

The entree of vegetarian spring rolls took approximately half an hour to arrive (i did not check the exact time but it was a very long chat!). The restaurant is very large but they had a lot of staff running around either looking stressed or busy whether or not they had something in their hands.

The stir fried vegetables arrived next and considering one person on our table was vegetarian this was her almost entire meal. When none of other dishes arrived we all tucked into the vegetables to stop from going hungry.

We waited almost an hour before the fried rice arrived. In the meantime we had been waving down any waiter that would "accidentally" look our way and see the hand waving in front of their face. We asked 4 people to chase up our order just to get the fried rice after one hour.

Again being hungry we ate all the rice and still our chicken and beef dishes had not shown up. Still trying to flag down someone who could tell us where our food was and why it is taking so long. Throughout the night we were given a total of 3 dishes which were incorrect. I am not sure if they were for the wrong table or they cooked the wrong thing. Our order slip was on the table for them to read, and until we strongly told them the dish was not ours did they look at the piece of paper to confirm it.

Ready to walk out we decided if nothing arrived in 10 minutes we would go. Right on the ten minute mark the beef dish arrived.

By this stage we had finally attracted the attention of someone in charge (turned out to be the PR and Marketing lady). She asked if everything was ok. We complained and told the full story. She chased up the chicken dish which miraculously appeared a few minutes later. We insisted on being given a complimentary fried rice because we had our meat dishes and no rice to eat it with! The PR lady put in the order and gave us steamed rice in the meantime.

She apologised and said they were just very busy. Considering we saw other tables seated after us getting served food this did not seem like a valid reason. As compensation she wanted to give us each a mango pudding cup for dessert. She told us no monetary compensation could be done because "[we] are paying for the food, which did eventually arrive and are not paying the service". I was gobsmacked!!

We did not want to stay there any longer let alone wait for any dessert, free or not. Of course asking for the bill it arrived on our table in lightening speed. The PR lady had spoken to the manager and our bill had a 10% discount on it.

2 hours for a simple order of spring rolls, rice, vegetables, beef steak slices and a chicken hot pot to be served is ridiculous and especially with the timing of dishes.

When you are paying to eat at a restaurant you are also paying for the service, otherwise you would just eat at home! The inflated prices compared to any of the great cheap eats in the area were not justified in any way.

Approximate cost: $30

This review is for Crooked River Wines, Gerringong NSW

verified email - 22 Jan 2012

The food is delicious. Every ingredient is fresh and flavourful with all the tastes balanced perfectly. The portions are generous without being too large. The chilli and pepper squid is really tender, the pork belly a must because it melts in your mouth, the barramundi and duck also top notch. Everyone cleaned their plates it was all so yummy!
The service is really friendly here and if you turn up early they are very happy for you to do the wine tasting first before your meal and even after you have made your order. When the food arrives they let you know to come sit down.
Being a family owned business all staff really know the products and can recommend matching wines with your dish and of course you can try the wine before buying the bottle for the meal.
The views are fantastic. Looking out over the lush green of the hills and vineyards and you can even see the deep blue of the ocean. Even if it is chilly and you need to sit inside, the place is airy and fresh, modern yet warm.
It is a really relaxing wonderful experience. I would rate it much higher than some hatted restaurants I have been to in Sydney CBD.

Approximate cost: $32

This review is for Entertainment Books, Hawthorn VIC

verified email - 03 Feb 2011

Great value! You get the cost of the book back after using only 2-3 vouchers/card. If you check the website of the restaurants before you go then you will have the updated sample menu especially for the restaurants in the gold section which generally change the menu according to the seasonal produce. Great way to explore new cuisines and areas of the city you may not have thought of trying before.

This review is for Alert Air Conditioning Sales & Service PTY LTD, Miranda NSW

verified email - 03 Feb 2011

We had problems with our old air con unit (approx 25 years old) last year. Wade came and offerred us many options from the cheapest to the most expensive telling us the advantages and disadvantages of each so we could make our own informed decision that worked for us at the time. He kept it running with a cheap fix. It worked well up until a few weeks ago.
This time around the unit completely died. Once again Wade gave us all the options. We had the old unit and ducting all removed, an entire new unit and ducting installed complete with new control panel. They also replaced the vents that were getting old and worn.
The whole team worked efficiently, neatly and did an excellent job. They went above and beyond the service that you would expect from any tradie. They even pointed out some problems we had with our insulation and fixed a bit of it while they were up there for no extra charge.
They cleaned up really well after themselves.
Fantastic work with great service and attention to detail.

This review is for Carlita's Cafe Restaurant & Takeaway, Cronulla NSW

verified email - 03 Feb 2011

The tapas is very cheap and the all you can eat seems like a great deal but the quality of the food is sub par.
The meatballs are the ones you can buy from Woolies or Coles pre-cooked and packed into a tray (i know because i've bought them before and they taste the same!). It really doesnt taste the same as some good home cooked meatballs.
I distinctly heard the microwave several times during the preparation of our dishes which didnt give me much confidence in the quality of each dish either.
With the all you can eat tapas they will bring out a lot of the cheap, easy to microwave dishes to fill you up. And even though they tell you to ask for any dishes you want more of, they dont always follow up on those requests, hoping you will fill up on the cheap dishes before the more expensive real hand cooked dishes are ready.
If you have never been to a spanish restaurant you may be impressed by this place with the new tastes and the flamenco dancer. The ambience of the place was very warm and friendly. But if you have been to any of the authentic spanish restaurants in the city in the spanish quarter you will be disappointed.
Yep! Sadly it is too good to be true that a great spanish restaurant could open up in the shire :(

This review is for Lindt Chocolate Cafe, Sydney NSW

verified email - 07 Sep 2009

went to the one in Miranda Westfield. The hot chocolate and a slice of cake was ordered. The milk was only just warm. Everything was over priced, the hot chocolate was sickly sweet so you struggled to finish it and it didn't leave you feeling very good.