Dined here many, many times in the last 4 years & recently went for my birthday, again & as we do for all our family birthdays/celebrations.
I have to say I was most disappointed this time round, seems the staff are on a hiatus & have become very lax when dealing with repeat customers. I found the service to be ad-hock & annoying.
Food was good, although not as good as last year (Dec) when we did the 3 course, plus a special request.
Perhaps Manu needs to get back into the kitchen instead of prancing around Australia selling casserole pots 'n' pans!
Doubt if I'd bother to return as I wasn't amused, especially after being so loyal a customer who tipped mightily in the past.

Approximate cost: $20 - $45

Great selection of party goods & costumes. Balloon service is good & reliable (orders are ready on time), choice of balloons are good & basic, however the helium balloons didn't last as long as I'd expected).
I found some of the costume hats to be way over priced compared to other shops elsewhere, however the wonderful assistance from a young lady staff member was exemplary & the reason why I did all of my purchases in 1 go.

Approximate cost: $2 - $50

Love the food here, fresh, very tasty & steak cooked exactly the way I like with perfection (medium rare).
Traditional Madeiranese & Portuguese dishes such as Bacalau (cooked a zillion ways), Bife Portuguesa & Alentejana's. Deserts are traditional lovely, so is the service.
Good selection of Portuguese wines, spirits & Port.

Approximate cost: $8 - $50 (Paella for 2)

Bought a shed from Aldi in July 2012.
Paid for van hire to get it delivered ($40), then arranged friends to help put it up.
All the pieces were ok, BUT and this is the big BUT... the holes did not line up & some were not even drilled!
Not only that the info on the box says 'MINIMAL TOOLS REQUIRED'. How is an electronic solder gun & ratchet standard & non specialty tools? Yeah.. like I have those in my handbag!

Ok - so not happy & very inconvenienced, I then ring the customer service line. I'm told the manager is on her day off, can I ring back tomorrow. Fine. I do just that, again they try to fob me off - not having it so I demand to know what they are going to do in this situation. I'm told to pack everything up into the box & they will arrange a replacement to be DELIVERED to my home. They ask me to email my details with a scan of my receipt. They also said the manager will call me the next day.
I waited for 1 week - nothing.
Rang again - manager busy - will call back.
Next day - rang again - told me to email - I did.

Finally! I got an email stating that I need to return the product to the store I purchased it from. I sent an email saying - sorry can't do unless they pay for a truck. There were many emails sent to & fro for at least 10 days. In the end I told them to take a running jump.

Went into Marrickville Metro Aldi myself & asked the store manager (George) to sort it out, he promised he would. Nothing has been done.

I'm stuck with a useless shed, spent $299 - for what?

Approximate cost: $299.00

My first experience was an opening event 5 course degustation dinner with matching wines.

Our table of 11 enjoyed every tasty morsel that was put in front of us - well executed, beautiful flavours, imaginative use of local, mostly organic or sustainable foods.

The kitchen has recently had a major overhaul & is now (Since August 2012) under a new chef (ex Jamie Oliver's) named Peter. Together with his younger brother & a carefully selected team of very talented people who obviously love what they do & take pride & have the utmost respect of the beautiful produce at hand. Peter is one to keep an eye on because in my mind he has all the markings of a great chef... the passion & skill he exudes are incredible. We will be hearing a lot about this young man in not a too far future, mark my words!

Our 2nd visit was for breakfast last weekend. A casual, welcoming affair (a table of 4) where we chose dishes like Spanish omelet with chorizo, greens & roasted tomatoes, eggs & streaky bacon with artisan sourdough bread, pork chop schnitzel with house made tomato & capsicum relish (gorgeous relish) and coffee/hot chocolate.

Our hot drinks were excellent, I've not had a decent cup of coffee to this standard since Gigi sold Bar Coluzzi! Bruno, the coffee whiz was lurking on his day off & made my son an Elmo chocolate. He is currently asking for challenges on Facebook for coffee decal ideas. Such passion & knowledge of coffee, it's origins, history.. etc. I was most impressed. Very friendly bloke too.

All up, I highly recommend The Canopy... it is a wonderful place to relax & enjoy good food.

Approximate cost: $3.50 - $35.00

This review is based on 3 visits with purchases.

I exchanged a faulty GPS from another store but had to pick it up from this store because of low stocks. Ok, that was fine & I picked up what I needed plus some DVDs for the kids.

Within 2 months the GPS started doing weird things like telling me to drive thru Hyde Park or Sydney Harbour (I'm like woah.. my cars' a good one but it doesn't swim or go on picnics!!!!!)

So back to the store I go & they say ok, we can exchange it for you (I had the anti-lemon/extended warranty too). I'm happy until the department semi-manager comes out & says they don't have this model because its been recalled and then she just walks off! So I'm like... nup this isn't good enough.
I ask for the store manager & after 15 mins or more he finally showed his face & repeated same old, same old. I said that's unacceptable - I expected a replacement & I wasn't going to leave until I had what I paid for... a working GPS.

Because I was going overseas I had no choice but to accept an upgrade of my model that had been returned by a customer who wanted another brand instead.
I said when I return from overseas I would expect a new one & was promised it would be waiting for me.

So yesterday I went in to pick it up only to find it had been sold & conveniently that manager had left without recording the specifics of this issue (or so they claimed)!!!!!!
Not happy Jan!!!!
So I had to go thru all the explanation & why I wasn't happy with the product.. rah, rah, rah x2 to get the reply 'all we can do is send it in for a repair'. This was said in a rather smarmy attitude to which I said "did I treat you or talk to you rudely?" to which he said "no" & I said "well don't treat me like that, I want to speak to the store manager, now please".

After what seemed like an eternity, the store manager appeared & repeated the same. Again, I said it wasn't good enough, so he went out back to speak to the area manager & as a result they ordered me an upgraded unit at no extra cost. I asked if it could be in store before next Wednesday (this all happened on a Thursday night) & was promised it would.
I was happy & the store manager turned out to be lovely.

About 2 hours later I got a call telling me they had gone to the other store to get my GPS & it was available to pick-up!!! I was stunned but happy.

The moral of the story is to be polite & persistent. In the end I received good service but only after having to return the GPS 5 times. Hopefully the 6th model will work.

Approximate cost: $9.95 - $3,000

Discovered this business initially at the recent Sustain Expo & found the staff were very focused on our particular needs as well as being polite & efficient.

Yesterday I went hunting for a special birthday pressie for a child with special needs & I received the most wonderful help, plus - instead of just thinking $$$ & selling me items separately the saleswoman pointed out a set of everything I wanted in 1 box which was a more cost effective way for me.

I saved over $100 because of their knowledge & care.

Gift wrapping is complementary & they used gorgeous recycled wrapping paper :-)

I only wish they could cater for older children because they truly provide a wonderful service. Sadly space is an issue so they can't expand the range for an older demographic... but I'm going to keep on asking anyways :-))

I highly recommend Flying Penguin for toys & the like if you are into eco friendly, sustainable & well made toys/puzzles/craft supplies.

Approximate cost: $2 - $299

My family loves Una's & even though we are not locals anymore, we still drive the distance for a honest to goodness feed.
Our favourites are the deep fried camembert with real cranberry sauce & of course their famous schnitzels.
These schnitzels are massive - not for the finicky dieting type - they are high quality meat lovers schnitzels. In fact, quite often my little boy shares mine and we literally roll out the door after eating here.
The atmosphere is lively, fast paced & you get enveloped in a restaurant with lots of European kitsch & energy. Service is amazingly fast with food served pronto. The organisation is also amazing - like a well oiled ship.
For the quantity & quality of the meals the price is really, really good.
I highly recommend Una's. It is so different to anything else in Sydney & I love it!

Approximate cost: $6.50 - $28

I love this store & the wonderful staff who work here.
Rachael is particularly dedicated to finding that elusive toy & she has helped me find that special something & even wraps them up, if need be.
The store has high quality toys at reasonable prices & quite often big price reductions.
They also have a reward program.

Approximate cost: $3 - $200

I love the gelato from here & it looks really good. It makes it hard to choose. Try the lemon - its awesome!
The staff are great too - one guy is very funny (I think he's the owner).

Approximate cost: $4 - $7