Cindy is friendly and helpful, also a great communicator via e-mail. Purchases were discussed on e-mail, and the puchasing was completed with the minimum of fuss. I received the package in good order. She also sent me some freebies to try, so I knew what I'd want for my next order!

Approximate cost: $25

Danty Sichuan certainly was an experience! We arrived just before 6pm - rush hour for dinner! - and so had some quiet time before the crowds started to arrive. Never having experienced traditional Szechuan before, all I knew is that the food would be HOT. Perusing the menu, I discovered dishes that I was too timid to try, but eventually decided on the Kong Pao Chicken. As a person with fructose malabsorption, I had to ask for it with no onions and to check which flour (if any) was used. The staff were friendly and more than willing to help - after a sligh language barrier issue, my boyfriend (who is wheat intollerant) and I learned that no, there was no wheat flour used in their dishes; just maize flour. We were more than happy with that, and placed our orders, sans onions.

When the dishes came, they were gigantic! We shouldn't have ordered one dish each, just one between two - but we'll know for next time.

The taste, however, was just divine! Yes, it was hot, but the Kong Pao Chicken was hot, sweet, peanutty and delicious.

We can now see why Anthony Bourdain recommended this place whilst he was in Melbourne.

Excellent quality, value and great service!

Approximate cost: $20.00

I did not go for anything related to hair - instead, I wanted to purchase some Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab perfume. As far as I know, they're the only store in Melbourne that is a distributor of these perfumes.

First I contacted them via e-mail, and the communication was great. The price for the perfume are more expensive than you'd get over the internet, but that is the price for having it in a store!

When I went to the shop to make my purchase, the staff were friendly and helpful. I could even smell the perfumes in the tester bottles and try them on! Their stock of BPAL was somewhat limited - they have the some of the Retail Exclusive Salon series, the Steamworks series, certain Ars Amatoria scents and popular scents such as Snake Oil, Embalming Fluid. Mind you, BPAL has literally hundreds of perfumes, so it's only reasonable for their stock to be limited.

Sadly they did not have the bottle of O that I wanted (they normally do), but I walked away with a bottle of Mouse's Long & Sad Tale, very happy with the helpfulness of the staff.

Approximate cost: $30.00

Trying to get any form of customer service from these people is like herding cats. Sometimes instead of replying they'll call you and make a deal over the phone which, because it is not in writing, they won't remember. When they do reply to your e-mail, their reply is often the very least amount of writing possible with little regard to your actual questions, just the one that they wish to respond to. And then there are the e-mails that they just ignore - this has happened on a number of occasions, and it's been almost two months and I'm still waiting for a response to my last e-mail.

In short, I have had enough of trying to deal with this company as they are pretty unhelpful and make it seem like customers are nothing but an annoyance to them.

Approximate cost: $15.00

I've been here twice - once with work, and once for a birthday. I can say that the food is divine! The service was excellent, if somewhat slow, and their willingness to cater for allergies was great. They even replaced bread rolls with gluten-free toast for us!

Their food was as you'd expect at a top notch French restaurant, with multiple delicacies on offer; and at least with the lunch option, wine was included in the price.

Everything was just delicious, a supurb dining experience.

Approximate cost: $80.00

My first visit was a lovely experience, and the original feedback has been left in place, below this new review. However, my second time was not so good, so I have adjusted the Service from 5 to 2, the Value from 3 to 1, and the Overall from 4 to 2.

This is the copy of my complaint to the lady with which I had arranged, a month prior, for meals to replace those to which a couple of us were allergic. All I have received from them was a spam e-mail, on October 7th, about some special packages they are offering. I have yet to receive a response to the below complaint which I sent on August 23rd 2010.

"I would just like to give you some feedback from Saturday night's dinner.

"Unfortunately, despite our previous communication, it seems that no preparation was done for the food allergy menu items. I was quite disappointed and distressed by this.

"Firstly, there was nothing provided as an alternate for bread rolls. I was expecting something to be brought out eventually, but this did not occur.

"Instead of the prawn entrees provided being adjusted for the allergies, we were presented with the entree requested by A - plain prawns on rice - rather than what I remember requesting via e-mail. There was no flavouring on the prawns, and no salad. I had to ask the waitress for the salad, and was provided with a Greek salad to share with B, which did not complement the prawn dish.

"Both B's salmon and my eye fillet were missing components of the dish. The salmon was ordered without the cheese, but it seemed that certain condiments were missing. My own dish was missing major components, as I was just presented with vegetables and two eye fillets, sans mushrooms, gravy, or sauce of any kind. This is certainly not something which I could eat without a sauce, and had to request that I be provided with such necessary components to my meal so that I could eat it.

"As for sweets, I received the flourless chocolate cake and sauce, but it was missing ice-cream and the chocolate piece. No ice-cream was provided, and no replacement cream was in it's place.

"This would have been acceptable if we had we advised the chef of our allergies on the night, and he removed all possible offending items from our dishes; but as I advised of our allergies in advance, I was quite perterbed by the received dishes with missing items whilst others received complete meals.

"I feel that I should let you know of my displeasure, so hopefully future allergy sufferers who visit AJ's will not receive the same treatment.

"I would also like to add that the waitress for the evening was, however, wonderful."

****

This was actually a great experience, although the food was a bistro meal. The waitress was lovely and helpful, and went to check on allergy issues with the chef! The staff worked out what from the menu we could eat, and what required some changes to make it edible for us. And when it came, the food was wonderfully cooked, and truly delicious.

I would eat there again - one of the better I've eaten!

Approximate cost: $30.00

Boost is one of the first juice bars that I've ever gone to. It's generally quick and reasonably healthy (though there is a lot of sugar!), and sadly fructose heavy. The menu has changed over time, but the one drink that I'm reasonably certain I can drink is the King William Chocolate.

Sadly, though, in recent weeks they have changed the recipe it seems - it's a much more cocoa heavy drink. It would be nice if it was changed back so it would taste of chocolate and banana again....

Approximate cost: $6.00

A Melbourne institution - I remember going to Mekong at least 10 years ago. The noodle soups are still as fantastic, and still as good quality and full of flavour. It's only the price that's different ... a small bowl is no longer $5, but closer to $8. It's still cheaper than a lot of other meal options, and it's delicious and fresh!

They also have a fantastic range of drinks, from a lime sorbet (tastes just like a good Mohito!), three colour and four colour drinks, green tea milk and more.

Of course they have more on their menu, but the noodle soups have always been my favourite, along with their spring rolls that you wrap in lettuce, add mint and dip into fish sauce.

Yum!

Approximate cost: $8.00

The Qantas Club lounge is a much better place to spend your time whilst awaiting a flight. It's a lot quieter, with tables and chairs for all. There is complementary wireless internet, and some computers for public access - and a printer! It has its own small newsagent, and when I was there, also a jewellery stand. Also complementary were food and drink - tea and coffee stands, and a buffet continuously replenished by staff – there were even gluten free options! The bar is by all accounts also complementary, though as it only opened at 2pm I was unable to attest this for myself. There were even toilet and, more importantly, shower facilities for the weary traveller. It was an oasis from the hectic pace of the food court just down the stairs!

It was a pleasure to stop at Shogun after a day in the city. The atmosphere of the place was very Japanese in style, with great touches. From the minimalist, dark Japanese decore with the old style Japanese paintings, to the white rope decoration at the bar - it was a lovely place in which to sit.

The Happy Hour options are $5 drinks, including Japanese beers, sake, plum wine and non-alcoholic Japanese soft drinks, and $5 bar snacks such as edamame, seaweed salad, gyoza and other delicious delights. The staff were great, and willing to explain what was what on the menu, for those who are a little unsure of the Japanese selections.

If you want to have a Japanese bar experience in Melbourne, definately go to Shogun!

Approximate cost: $5.00