For really great Vietnamese pork rolls around Parramatta, head to the Tailoan Bakery at 13 Brodie St in Rydalmere 2116.

We have tried similar offerings in Merrylands, Parramatta and Wentworthville; but feel these are the best around here. We often go well out of our way from Westmead just for them.

Tailoan had a good range of cakes and breads at reasonable prices. Bread from some of the other bakeries close to home is getting hard by the next morning, but that is not a problem we've had from here.

From the first visit to the second was a month, but I was still remembered as was my order - which is now my standard order there.

Open hours:
Mon - Fri: 0600-1630
Sat 0900-1400
Closed Sunday

Gaels is a nice Irish club in a quiet area of Kingswood (near Penrith). We came across it by chance and have been going back fairly regularly since.

The bistro is small, but has a reasonable range of meals from standard fare to some Irish meals. The grilled Irish sausages are particularly nice. Our standard night is Tuesday - steak & ale night. $15 (Jan 2015) gets you a schooner of any tap beer and a good sized steak with chips & gravey. Guinness is included in the range. Other nights have dfferent specials - schnitzel, ribs...

The bar has some of the common local beers, along with Guinness, Kilkenny (not sure what Kenny did to deserve being killed, but it must have been good), ciders, Irish whiskeys. Around 20 poker machines fill one small section, with other parts set aside for entertainment, watching the races, keno, etc.

Within the club, there are darts, golf, Irish dancing and soccer clubs.

Social membership is $6/year - which is quickly covered by discounts in the club.

Approximate cost: $Varies

For $120/6 hours, Adam provides everything except your food and drink. Nice 6' professional rods with baitcaster reels, the bait, a good time and a great sense of humour.

We found him punctual, courteous and very helpful. With 13 on board (5 of them female), tangled lines happened a few times (mainly due to the currents or lack thereof), all of which were cheerfully tended to.

The boat is 38 feet long, clean and with enough room that you don't fall over each other. I believe 14 was the limit if you are fishing. His knowledge of the fish and what sizes can be kept for which fish is great.

The boat is available for charter in the harbour or out, for functions, buck's / hen's parties or just cruising around.

There are nine possible collection points (depending on the cruise type) including Balmain's Thames St Wharf and Rose Bay Wharf.

Your fish are gutted for you before you get off.
** Remember your hat, sunscreen & a bag for your fish.

We had a great time, the Mrs is already wanting to go again.

Approximate cost: $120 each

With 24 average sized rooms with enough room to move with your bags in there, this hotel is a stone's throw from the beach if you have a good arm. Surrounded by eateries and a small shopping strip, there are plenty of places to eat, drink and be merry. A larger shopping complex is around 4km away to the south.
It is conveniently located just south of the bridge to Tuncurry on the left hand side north-bound. Whilst it is close to fishing spots, no fish products are permitted in the room – with the threat of a $500 fine if you do have them there.
The basics are supplied: small fridge (check the temp setting – ours froze everything), TV, toaster, jug, cups, cutlery, tea, coffee & sugar, AC & a ceiling fan
Our room (Budget Double) was reasonably quiet; and we would stay there again.
Prices range from $80 - $170

Approximate cost: $80

I have been getting my car tended to here by Kam for a number of years now. Recently I needed work done while he was away & the staff couldn't fit it in on a Saturday, so it went to one of the major chains. That centre wanted to charge more for less, then presented a list of 7 things that needed to be done urgently with a price of $1500 - $2000.

I took this list to Kam, who checked the car and removed 5 things from the list as they did not need to be done at all. One of them was over $600.

To the remaining items, I added one more & have a bill of about $700. None of them were considered urgent, but while I have time...

It is refreshing to find this level of integrety in a trade field so renown for ripping people off. No hesitation at all in recommending Parramatta Automotive Services to anyone.

Sitting outside but undercover, the views over Darling Harbour from the Waterfront Grill are great. We were there early evening and enjoyed a good round of food and drink for about $50 each. The meals are enjoyable and the staff delightful. NB: Vegetables are an optional extra with each meal @ $6.50
If you are into ribs, Tuesday night is the time to go, with all the ribs you can eat for $27 (October 2014 & subject to change). This is about the same price as a ½ serve on other nights.

Approximate cost: $30

With a new chef & new bar staff, this is a great place for a quiet weekend lunch. If you want noise, come in the evening to enjoy the bands.
The hotel is across the road from the Goodyear Tyres in Rozelle, on the westbound side, between Gordon and Evans Streets. East bound, look for the Sydney Community College building.

Although the new chef has the menu under review, the meals are well priced and certainly worth it. We had about 4 hours there watching the meals come out (as well as immensely enjoying ours) and checking the prices. To borrow a phrase from Molly, “Do yourself a favour….” One of the deals sites currently has some coupons going for there, but even without that the prices are quite reasonable for what you get.

The westbound M50 bus stops out the front. If you are coming from or heading to Parramatta, the M52 is the one you want. From Parra it stops across the road, to Parra head up the hill to the next bus stop – just before Darling St.

Approximate cost: $20

This place operates under a few names, including King St Wharf Brewery, Red Tape Brewery and King St Brewhouse. The décor is nice, with timber floors inside, huge glass doors opening to the bay, a few timber wine casks about the place. Outside the tables and chairs are made from a heavy wood, which can make them hard to move for older people & kids. As with any eatery near the water, the seagulls are a pain & will steal from your plate.
This place is easy enough to get to – train to Wynyard then follow Erskine St right down to the water & turn left on King St Wharf.
Important parts:
Food – the meals are OK in size; although a bit more expensive than some of the other places close by for the same thing. The ‘fish and chips' provides two rather slender strips of barramundi, a reasonable serve of chips (beer battered, I think) and enough salad to feed a few rabbits. That's about $19. The (Angus) beef burgers are the same price, with chips & no salad – They tasted alright, but the price cannot really be justified. Yes, Angus is a dearer meat but at the end of the day, it's still just a dead cow.
Drinks – They brew 6 beers there, of which only 4 were available. The brew was the main reason for the visit. The four available this time were: Wood Duck Pale Ale, Fish River Gold, Old Brown Duck & Cannonball Stout. To play it safe, we went for the ‘tasting paddle' first – this gives a 170ml glass of each of the four beers for $16. Sadly, that was all we had between the two of us. We both have/do brew beer, and have sampled much in many countries. The beers were disappointing. My preference is stout styles; this had a strong burnt flavour. A pint of this would not have been too nice. The ales also left a lot to be desired. Drink prices: $6 for ½ pint, $8.50 or a pint of their beers, with $5 - $12 for others. The wine list is good, from $8.50 glass to $70/bottle.

As nice as the staff are (thank you to the two lovely English lasses that served us), I can't see too many return visits from us.

Approximate cost: $20

We have eaten here 3 times now. The pasta sauce is quite nice, I'm looking for the recipe for that. The only pizza we found actually worth havng is the 'Mama Mia', the others are so-so.
Their ice cream range is good, a little expensive, but quite nice to eat (little fond of the lemon sorbet)
The beer range is very over-priced for the local stuff, which makes the imported worse than it should be.

We may use it for take-away pizza, but for dine-in most of the staff need to learn some manners - no customers = no job.

Approximate cost: $24

I'm not fond of dentists, but the two I saw here were quite good. I have no problem with needles - if I can see them, in the mouth is not my favourite place. Here the injection was done without being felt. The filling being done was noticable, but not as bad as in previous years at other dentists.

Even the boss/wife was happy with what was done for her.

Gordon is a bit of a hike from Parramatta, and there are probably some closer that would do the same job, but we are happy with this one & would return.

Approximate cost: $190