I have eaten at Billabong Family Restaurant regularly ever since I discovered it about 2 years ago. The food is always of consistent quality, and the price is reasonable, especially considering it is an all you can eat buffet. On my most recent visit we went with a small group of friends and our kids. The food was tasty and well cooked, and there was a good selection of Asian food, roast meats and roasted vegetables, as well as soup and salad. They have dessert too and an automatic expresso and hot chocolate machine which I think is great for after dinner, as many family restaurants don't seem to have expresso coffee I find and I was especially pleased that you can get refills. My favourite dessert item that I would recommend are the mini deep fried apple pies with some custard, they are lovely for cold weather! I would like to see some more variety in the dessert bar though, there aren't usually many chocolate things except for chocolate ice-cream, I would like to see some chocolate cheesecake or chocolate mousse or something like that introduced. The selection of main meals is great though, I love the seafood. The staff are always quick to come and collect all the empty plates and any scraps so the tables are always looking very clean.

My husband, my daughter and I recently went for a family holiday to the gold coast and my husbands family came along too with all his niece's and nephews. We had quite a few kids between us so my sister in law thought that the paradise resort seemed like a good child friendly choice so she booked it for us for a few days. We all had our own individual rooms per family, but we stayed on the same floor and area of the building. However for those who do want to all bunk in together if you have a big group, they do have some joint rooms available where there is a shared door in between two separate rooms so you can pop in and out and see each other, two of our families had one of these kind of rooms which they found handy. The rooms themselves where clean and quite satisfactory, the towels were always collected and changed promptly while we were out for the day, and there was a decent tv in our room which we could watch from the bed and I think there was a couple of foxtel channels on it if I recall correctly. The rooms had a high-tech swipe card instead of a key and everyone was required to wear these wrist band things that we were issued by reception when in all the common areas like the pool etc, I think it was mostly to do with safety for children so people who aren't staying there can't wander in so that was a good idea. This place was great for the kids, they loved playing in the pool, on the play equipment and also the other water play equipment with one of those big bucket things which spray the water. There was also a spa area for the parents which was nice and relaxing, you can watch your kids on the water play equipment from where the spa is located so that was handy as it can get boring for parents otherwise! There is a cafe near the pool too and a bar with cocktails so there is everything that you could want here really. My daughter and her cousins really enjoyed it here and they even liked the food at the cafe and restaurant even though they are all fussy eaters, as it was quite kid friendly. There was a kids club childcare in the resort too, and the package we brought included a couple of sessions of kids club but unfortunately we didn't get time to book in as we had too much other stuff organised, but I checked out the activities in the kids club and they looked like they would have been fun. If I go there again I will use the club next time. My only problem that I encountered while staying there was that the wing of the bulding we were staying at was not very conveniently accessed from the outside car park at the back of the building where we were parked, I found myself getting lost and walking quite a fair way up and down different lifts and around in circles trying to find my room almost every time I went downstairs to the pool or to go to the car. They could do with some clearer signage and more straight forward maps on the walls pointing where to go when navigating your way around the resort, as it really is huge and a lot of the corridors look the same! We also had some trouble locating one of those trolley things which you wheel your bags to your room with. Thankfully though when I was lost and having troubles with my bags on a few occasions some staff notices I was having troubles and gave me directions to my room and help with my bags without me asking so that was nice.

I came in recently for a safety inspection on my car in order to get my pink slip for my vehicle registration. I have been to Thornton Mechanical a few times before over the last two or so years for both of my cars. There is a lady there who appears to be the business owner and she is friendly and quite pleasant. I normally just drop in unannounced without an appointment and they are always happy to accommodate me and I have rarely had to wait long for my inspections, generally I have only had to wait a few minutes at the most in the past and often I am seen straight away, as was the case on my most recent visit. They are very reasonably priced for inspections and when they diagnosed a problem with one of my lights and replaced it for my on a previous visit they charged a very good price for that too. These people seem honest and decent and I so I am happy to recommend them.

I went to Eurobar this week for breakfast with my friend and their toddler. I ordered the mushrooms and haloumi cheese on sourdough with added scrambled eggs, and my friend ordered a similar haloumi cheese breakfast meal without mushrooms. My meal was quite tasty and although the serving portion size did appear quite small it was fairly filling as it was all stacked quite high vertically on the sourdough, and my pieces of cheese were of a generous size and thickness. It was presented quite nicely too with a little garnish on top. We ordered coffee's as well and they were pleasant tasting and creamy. The service was pretty prompt and the food came out very quickly. There was a high chair and a colouring book and pencils available for the toddler so that was nice. There was a reasonable selection of items on the menu, and I also noticed that the menu was designed to look like a mini newspaper which was quirky. Overall this place was very good. My meal was well priced at around $10 and my large coffee was around $4 or $5.

I went to Le Beau Cafe with my mum a couple of days ago, I took her there for her birthday lunch. It was the first time we had been there. It has absolutely beautiful and very quaint decor, it is certainly one of the best decorated cafes I have ever eaten at with a nice atmosphere. There is some pretty artworks on the wall in the indoor area and a french style blue and white colour scheme, however it is the undercover outdoor balcony dining area which impressed me the most, as there is a comfy couch area with a fancy chandelier and some lovely flower arrangements and even the water glasses are a crystal wine glass style, so it definitely had an upmarket feel to it! As for the food, I ordered the vegetable stack with balsamic reduction sauce and mum ordered the proscuitto pear and walnut salad which was on the daily specials board. Both of our meals were delicious and mums salad was a generous serving size. My vegetable stack was quite rich and tasty and well presented too. The food was served out quite quickly even though there was a few other tables of people there, and we were seated quickly. The meal prices aren't all that cheap for a cafe, but they are still reasonable. The only reason I haven't given this place 5 stars is just because I would have liked to see a few more items on the lunch menu and a few more items on the daily board as well, as I like having a variety of meal options to choose from and I was a little disappointed there wasn't more choice. Overall though this place was great and I very much enjoyed eating there. Its worth stopping by here if you are visiting Morpeth.

I recently took my 10 year old daughter to Platinum Professional hair dressers in Thornton as she wanted to get a special style for a singing performance she was doing. My daughter opted to get a couple of brightly coloured streaks in a pink and purple hue. She got around 4 chunky streaks done on the top of her head and around her face so they would be more noticeable. The hairdresser was mindful not to damage her lovely healthy hair, she used a more gentle lighter she told me to make the streaks initially, which were a blonde underneath, and then she used a more semi-permanent colour to add the pinks and purples on top of the blonde streak to make it more vibrant. She also added a little bit of pink and purple hair chalk for extra vibrancy which would wash out in a day or two she told me but this was just to add to the colour as my daughters event was scheduled for the following morning. She was very pleased with the results, and the hairdresser was also fairly quick doing the streaks as my daughter gets impatient sitting in the chair. She was attentive and patient with her listening to what she wanted and I thought the results looked good and the colours were a nice shade and turned out how we wanted them. She also ran the straightener through her hair after doing the streaks, styling it a little bit for her. The price charged was reasonable and probably less than would be charged for an adult getting streaks, even though my daughter has quite long hair. We received good friendly service.

My TV started having problems a couple of months ago when it was just out of its one year warranty period, it was only a fairly new high definition LCD smart TV. So naturally I was trying to avoid having to buy an entirely new television when the one I had wasn't very old, and the problem with my TV kept getting progressively worse over time so eventually a few weeks ago I contacted Kurri Kurri TV service and explained the problem I was having. The problem was that my TV had started needing to 'warm up' when I turned it on, and by this I mean any channel I switched on would look similar to an old non digital TV tubing in, with the picture and sound fuzzing in and out for a period of a few minutes, which had increased to about 10 minutes warm up time by the time I booked in to have it repaired. Once it was warmed up the picture would stay normal until I next switched it off and then it would start up again. The man who answered my call at Kurri Tv repairs organised to pick up my TV and to conduct tests and investigate the problem with the Tv to be returned within about 2 days if all went well. So two men arrived to pick up my TV within the time frame they had specified on the day they specified which was good. Unfortunately the repairs themselves took longer than what I anticipated, a day or two longer if i recall correctly. I had not recieved a call back regarding when my Tv would be ready or why the repairs were taking longer so I called them myself after a few days. They did explain at this stage that it had taken longer as they had replaced some wiring and parts initially but then the TV still did not work and so they had conducted further testing which showed that a new circuit board would be needed, which they would have to order in from the TV manufacturer as it was a brand they didn't have all parts for ready on hand. However when I learnt that the cost the manufacturer would charge for the replacement circuit board I decided to simply leave my TV with the initial level of repairs and if it didn't work I would get another TV. They said okay and that they would try to conduct what further repairs they could to help, without the circuit board. They organised a time with me to drop the TV back and installed it for me. They also tested it at my house before leaving. I was satisfied that the TV 'warming up
time was significantly improved and it only did it slightly even without a new board so they had obviously managed to fix the problem somewhat even without the required materials which was impressive. Even more impressive was the very reasonable price of the repairs including pick up and delivery. However I was disappointed that I didn't get a call with feedback about what was happening with the delay and that I had to call. Overall quite satisfactory though and good results.

I have been a patient of Dr Patel's for a few years now, I visit a few times a year but most recently I took my daughter there for her first visit for a checkup. Dr Patel and the receptionist were both very friendly and attentive to my daughter and I and they put her at ease about her checkup.When she was done they gave her instructions for keeping her teeth healthy and gave her a toothbrush for being good which she was very impressed with! Dr Patel said that her teeth are fine at this stage which is good. Dr Patel is a great dentist, he has always been thorough and done an excellent job on all my fillings, root canals and all the work I have had done and he is very gentle and always numbs the area sufficiently if he needs to do anything that could be painful. He is open Saturdays which is handy with my work schedule, and he has always been excellent value charging really reasonable prices, lower than a lot of other dentists. I have also found that Dr Patel is very ethical and tells me when he thinks something I am suggesting getting done may not be necessary. Overall a fantastic dentist, and certainly the friendliest one I have ever seen!

I dined here for lunch for my birthday, we had a group of about 15 of us and we were stopping there as part of our wine tour. I ordered one of the gourmet pizza's and a few coffees. The cappuccinos were well made, hot enough and well presented with the little swirls on top, and the beans they used were good, it tasted nice and creamy. My pizza was on a thin base and was crispy and cheesy enough for my liking and very tasty, it was also quite filling with a generous amount of toppings. Even though we had a large group it didn't take too long for the meals to come out and they all came out together. I loved the atmosphere at Oscars, it is within the grounds of the hunter valley gardens and the surrounding shopping village and the spot is quite picturesque as there is a view of some kind of park or field behind the cafe and some water where people play aqua golf. I loved the entertainment too, there were a couple of people singing, one was playing the guitar and they were talented singers. One of the people we were with asked them to play a song for me and the singers wished me a happy birthday so that was nice. Overall I was very pleased with Oscars, i just would have liked to see more of a variety of gourmet or unusual meals on the menu to choose from, although their food was very nice.

I dined with a large group one night a few weeks ago at House of Korea, it was the first time most of us had been there but my brother in law had eaten there a few times before and it is one of his favourite restaurants in Newcastle so he recommended it. There was a good variety of things on the menu such as a korean version of sushi rolls, some spicy and also a couple of mild and non-spicy hot pot mixed vegetable and meat dishes and a varied selection of entree's such as some finger food style dumplings. As we were in a large group we ordered a few different entree's for the table, which were all very tasty, the one I enjoyed the most was the sushi, which looked and tasted quite similar to Japanese style sushi. For my main I ordered a vegetarian dish which was served nice and hot in a sizzling stone bowl, it was mainly steamed or stir fried vegies with a fried egg on top and some mild sauce with rice on the side, and it came with a small soup and the soup had a tasty strong flavour to it. I was impressed with how the soup came complimentary with the meals and the staff also brought out a few little complimentary bowls of thinly sliced pickled vegies for the table so all in all our meals were very filling and of a decent size. I think House Of Korea was quite good value. The staff were very attentive and friendly and they didn't take very long to bring out the meals even though there was a few of us.The only aspects of this restaurant that I wasn't as impressed with was that there wasn't many noodle dishes and I love noodles, there wasn't much that a child would like to eat like children's meals or fried rice dishes so my daughter would only eat boiled rice, and my main dish was fairly bland in flavour, although the entrees and soup were good.