I had been looking for a new hairdresser for years following a massive disappointment by my previous hairdresser. I decided to call a few salons around Newcastle CBD and came across Om Shalom. I initially queried their pricing and was suitably surprised at how reasonable they are. I booked an appointment with Sophie and the rest is history. I am in love with this salon!
The salon is tastefully decorated and has a very relaxing atmosphere. The massage wash basin chairs are to die for! I am so happy with my new haircut, something another (expensive) salon in Newcastle couldn't achieve. All of the girls at Om Shalom are very friendly and make you feel welcome. This is a simply awesome salon and I am so glad I found them!

Absolute best place to buy hair products. Prices are cheap and they have some fantastic specials! Delivery is super quick and if you are subscribed to their newsletter then you can also pick up a bonus or two by entering a code on checkout. Highly recommended!

The site to visit for recipes! You can find absolutely everything on here! The recipes are easy to follow and it is so easy to sit the iPad on the kitchen bench instead of wrestling with a cook book. Love it!

I dined at Hippo on Sunday for lunch with my husband and some friends. I had read the terrible reviews on this place and wasn't too keen on trying it. When I saw that they had gluten free bread and a couple of gluten free meals I couldn't resist. Well what a mistake. Firstly we ordered drinks while we waited for a friend to arrive. They came out about 10 minutes later, can of Coke shoved inside a disgustingly filthy glass. We then ordered our meals, another saga. One arrived after about 30 minutes. The remaining meals arrived another 30 minutes later! They had stuffed up my order of a moroccan chicken sandwich and brought out a beef sandwich instead! How can you possibly get this wrong? I then sat there for another 15 or so minutes waiting for my chicken sandwich. When it did arrive at the table it was presented by the waitress as "here is your chicken something". My mouth must have fallen open in absolute shock. What is a "chicken something"? I then asked the waitress if it was on gluten free bread. Her response was " I think so". Sorry lovely but it is kind of important. That is why I ordered gluten free bread in the first place! I promptly sent her back to find out. She returned with the sandwich and mumbled something to me so I assumed it was ok. No ill effects this morning anyway....
All in all we left in disbelief at how shocking the service was and the fact that I had just paid $15 for a tiny little sandwich!
Never again Hippo, never again. The best thing this place can do is close down and allow a better cafe to open in its place.

Approximate cost: $22