After realizing, at 11pm on a holiday Monday night, that I had a leak in my ceiling I started calling around for a plumber to attend and stop the leak. Don was busy when I called him but he did advise me to be careful about exorbitant call out fees and suggested a $250 callout fee was reasonable. I called a few other places and of those that actually answered the phone a couple wanted $400-$500 as a call out fee with services on top of that. I called Don back and he came within an hour. He found and put in a temporary clamp around the leak. He left a detailed description on the invoice for the Body Corporate to follow up on the issue.

I was in Essendon and actually went home to Richmond by way of Carnegie just for Auntie's dumplings. I didn't have to wait very long for my take away order which beats waiting in line for a table. Dumplings have a great taste, perfect texture and come in substantial serves for the price.

I have been trying some of their other dishes as well. The Special Fried Rice is satisfactory as are the lotus leaves stuffed with sticky rice and meat.

I will go back again and again.

nb. Cash Only.

Approximate cost: $8

I was treated to a birthday cake from D'Cake Gallery by my co-worker. It absolutely made my birthday.

The cake was a beauty...a Mango Cheesecake with a glossy mango gelee topping decorated with strawberries and a birthday greeting in a gorgeous script. The crunchy biscuit base and sides enclosed a light fluffy filling which was neither too sweet nor filling. The sides had festive pastel stripes soaked into the biscuits.

I would order a cake from D'Cake Gallery for any special occasion.

From the warm welcome on arrival, to the tantalizing aromas, and amazing flavours every moment at Cina was a delight.

A former partner in Sung's Kitchen (Franklin Street, Melbourne CBD) has opened a restaurant featuring the unique combination of Malaysian and North Chinese cuisines.

We were welcomed, shown to our table and our coats were taken and hung up with a practiced ease. The decor and table settings present a subtle elegance.

While the restaurant offers an extensive wine list we took advantage of the BYO wine option and brought a variety of our own wines. Rather than deciding on what to eat we asked the house to choose our meal for us to match the wines we brought. We were provided with a wonderful banquet that elicited oohs and aahs with each course as it arrived at the table, the air filling with aromas that promised tastes to savour. None of the dishes disappointed. I had to suppress the desire to lick my plate clean. The meal was well paced with a few dishes arriving one after the other and then a pause for us to catch our breath.

The staff at Cina are friendly and attentive, without being intrusive. We had a leisurely meal and were able to enjoy our conversation.

Approx $55/person for the banquet (including corkage).
They have fixed banquet menus available, with or without matching wines.

I look forward to Dining at Cina again, either for dinner or to try their Yum Cha offering.

Open 7 days - Lunch 1200-300, Dinner 530 - 1030
Free parking

There is steady traffic in Soda Rock on a Saturday afternoon with most of the tables filled and many sitting at the counter. Classic music tracks fill the air at a volume that makes it a little difficult to chat over your meal.

For the purest, the Sloppy Joe is not a traditional Sloppy Joe, but a burger patty with chili on top. Good taste, spicy chili and nice buns, rounded out with crunchy fries on the side.

Half way through the meal we're treated to a dance by the waitstaff. A cute dance but they don't look like they are enjoying themselves very much.

Arriving on Thursday 12:20, found us with a table upstairs. Within another 20 minutes every table was occupied. Plate after plate of steamed or fried dumplings were paraded through the establishment.

Priced from $7.50 - $9.50 for a 15 piece serve, this is decent value for excellent dumplings. They come in pork, beef and vegetarian varieties. I found the pork and cabbage dumplings to be a little too subtly flavoured but the beef and onion are outstanding. On the side you find chili oil, dark vinegar and soy sauce. The menu is rounded out with rice dishes, noodle dishes and soups. The Hot(spicy) Sour Soup is as good as the best I've ever tasted and does wonders during the cold and flu season.

The staff is quite friendly, and eager to please, but the restaurant does get very chaotic with the high lunch time traffic. Trying to get take away containers for our leftovers took a couple of tries.

Lunch for 4: $37.

Service for lunch takeaway can be a bit slow.

Additional dishes available at dinner.

Lunch from 12:00-3:00 (M-F)
Dinner from 5:00-9:00 (M-F), 5:00-9:30 (M-S)

Approximate cost: $Lunch $7.50-$12.00

The long awaited cafe in the Q2 building has finally opened as Queen's Corner Cafe. They have coffee, toast, sandwiches, meat pies and a selection of sweets. They offer a warm greeting to everyone coming in and even to those just passing by in the building foyer. The service is quick and they do their best to see that you are comfortable if the preparation of any item takes a bit of time.

The greatest feature is the excellent use of space. Given the great ceiling height an indoor, upstairs seating area has been installed offering plenty of tables for chats over coffee or lunch.

The recently opened Kitaya offers up a good variety of Sushi and Sashimi, along side Miso Soup, a couple of hot mains, and Japanese hot snacks. My favourites are the Gyoza and Agedashi Tofu, but Karaage, Yakitori and Potato cakes are also on offer. The staff is very pleasant, eager to please and service is swift.

There is a steady stream of lunchtime traffic and even at 1:30pm today half of the tables were still occupied. Given that it has only been open a few weeks, I think that is a good indication that they are being well received in the neighbourhood.

They have prepared food ready for takeaway - predominantly Indian. But, they also do Chinese, Thai, and even add a Japanese or Korean influence on order. I love the Kim Chi and BBQ Pork Fried Rice. The aroma gets your mouth watering and the taste doesn't disappoint. Very friendly and quick service. Order online from Menulog.

I love the egg tarts. They are usually just out of the oven or will be in a few minutes. They have that lovely eggy flavour and silky texture. They melt in your mouth. They also do lots of the usual buns and rolled cakes. Their special occasion cakes are delicious, not too sweet with light fillings and icing. The Taro cake is particularly good, but comes in an unusual colour.

The only thing I don't like is that they sometimes put things in boxes (example: pastry pork puffs) that are sturdy enough to go into a bag and things into bags that need the rigidity of a box (example: hot egg tarts or cream buns that stick to the bags).