Rod's choice
Present: Gerry, Alex, Ken, Irene, Rod, Louanne
Overall Rating: 3.45*
Total Cost per person: $62.50
Ratings scale: Excellent; Very Good; Good; Not so Good; Poor; Abysmal
Greeting and Seating: Very Good.
Table Presentation: Good
Settling in - drinks, breads etc.: Very Good
Menu selection, variety price etc.: Very Good - limited to menu. Could do a nightly special.
Specials presentation: none
Wine selection, variety and price: Not so good - not a good selection.
Drinks Service: Poor
Food Service: Poor
Ambiance: Good: minimalist restaurant with appropriate decor for a "spice" restaurant.
Food choices
Entree: Two red hot chili squid; Two oysters, a flamed prawns; and lemongrass Cha Bo. All rated excellent.
Main course: Sour fish rated excellent; Lamb shanks rated excellent, Cardamon chicken rated good; Saffron seafood soup rated not so good; West Indies spiced goat rated good; Am Char fish Very good although the salad was drowned.
Sweets: Fig and almond Semi Fredo; Marsala dates; chocolate tart; flaming bananas all rated excellent.
Drinks: Red and white choices extremely limited and several choice on the menu not available.
Summary: Overall disappointing as a "spice" restaurant. Meals, particularly the seafood soup were bland and quality of the main courses did not match the quality of the entrees and sweets. Service was extremely poor and the only evidence of professional training was in the Maitre de. the one waitress had no training and obviously little restaurant experience. Given the number of patrons, service should have been much better.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Salted Vue 4th July 2008
RoseEllen's choice
Present: Neil, RoseEllen, Michael, Gerry, Alex, Ken, Irene, Andrew, Alex
Overall Rating: 4.8* Total Cost per person: $58.00
Ratings scale: Excellent; Very Good; Good; Not so Good; Poor; Abysmal
Greeting and Seating: did not provide table on verandah as arranged when booked. Expressed disappointment at table provided inside. Wait staff reacted by providing a ridiculously overlarge and cramped table on the verandah. After asking for the manager and some manoeuvring the table was rearranged and eventually we were accommodated. Manager was very helpful and accommodating.
Table Presentation: Nothing special - verandah table open wood with place mats.
Settling in - drinks breads etc.: very good eventually.
Menu selection, variety price etc.: Set menu. 3 courses at $34.50. Selection of about six items per course.
Specials presentation: none
Wine selection, variety and price: Average for this type of restaurant.
Drinks Service: Excellent
Food Service: Excellent
Ambiance: Very good but a lot of noise coming for The Esplanade. Cars, Motor Bikes, bungy rides etc. spoiled ambiance of an almost waterfront location.
Music: Piped music on the verandah far too loud for a restaurant - even given that there was a lot of noise to get over. choice of music also very annoying and several guests commented that it got on their nerves. Eventually asked for it to be turned down.
Food choices
Entree: Three cauliflower soups rated 4.5; Two Thai beef rated 4; Asian pork rated 5; Wild mushrooms rated 4; Fish Cakes rated 4. All reported as excellent.
Main course: Two steaks rated 4; A Coconut chicken rated 4; Pork cutlet rated 4; Atlantic Salmon rated 5; 3 lamb dishes rated 4.
Sweets: Two chocolate tarts rated 5; Four Chocolate eclairs rated 4; A Merangue rated 4 and a lemongrass panacotta rated 4.5.
Drinks:
Summary: Overall great food and great value. Adequate wine list and great value for money. Not the place for a quiet night out. The Managers attention smoothed out the initial hiccups. We all agreed thought that we probably would not go there again because of the noise.
Present: Neil, RoseEllen, Michael, Gerry, Alex, Ken, Irene, Andrew, Alex
Overall Rating: 4.8* Total Cost per person: $58.00
Ratings scale: Excellent; Very Good; Good; Not so Good; Poor; Abysmal
Greeting and Seating: did not provide table on verandah as arranged when booked. Expressed disappointment at table provided inside. Wait staff reacted by providing a ridiculously overlarge and cramped table on the verandah. After asking for the manager and some manoeuvring the table was rearranged and eventually we were accommodated. Manager was very helpful and accommodating.
Table Presentation: Nothing special - verandah table open wood with place mats.
Settling in - drinks breads etc.: very good eventually.
Menu selection, variety price etc.: Set menu. 3 courses at $34.50. Selection of about six items per course.
Specials presentation: none
Wine selection, variety and price: Average for this type of restaurant.
Drinks Service: Excellent
Food Service: Excellent
Ambiance: Very good but a lot of noise coming for The Esplanade. Cars, Motor Bikes, bungy rides etc. spoiled ambiance of an almost waterfront location.
Music: Piped music on the verandah far too loud for a restaurant - even given that there was a lot of noise to get over. choice of music also very annoying and several guests commented that it got on their nerves. Eventually asked for it to be turned down.
Food choices
Entree: Three cauliflower soups rated 4.5; Two Thai beef rated 4; Asian pork rated 5; Wild mushrooms rated 4; Fish Cakes rated 4. All reported as excellent.
Main course: Two steaks rated 4; A Coconut chicken rated 4; Pork cutlet rated 4; Atlantic Salmon rated 5; 3 lamb dishes rated 4.
Sweets: Two chocolate tarts rated 5; Four Chocolate eclairs rated 4; A Merangue rated 4 and a lemongrass panacotta rated 4.5.
Drinks:
Summary: Overall great food and great value. Adequate wine list and great value for money. Not the place for a quiet night out. The Managers attention smoothed out the initial hiccups. We all agreed thought that we probably would not go there again because of the noise.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Diggers - June 6th
Irene's choice. Neil 3*, Alex 3*, Gerry 2 1/2*, Ken 3*, Irene 3*, RoseEllen 3*, Michael 3*
Overall Rating: 2.9 stars
Total Cost per person: $74.00
Ratings scale: Excellent; Very Good; Good; Not so Good; Poor; Abysmal
Greeting and Seating: Abysmal
Table Presentation: Good
Settling in - drinks breads etc.: Abysmal
Menu selection, variety price etc.: Good
Specials presentation: Poor
Wine selection, variety and price: Abysmal
Drinks Service: Poor
Food Service: Good
Ambiance: Very good
Music: Good
Food choices:
Entree: Scallops (P) Oyster Kilpatrick (P), Oysters Napoli (P), Smoked Salmon x 2 (VG), Soup (Mushroom Zuccinini and Bacon), (G) Oysters natural (G).
Main course: Duck x 3 (2 G, 1 P), Waigu steak x 3 (P) Rogan Josh curry (G)
Sweets: creme brulee x 2 (G)
Drinks: Yalumba Merlot, Yalumba Shiraz, 2x Jacobs Creek Chardonnay.
Summary: This restaurant is in a motel in the northern end of Digger St. which services the lower end of the motel/apartment tourist market. The greeting and seating was non existent, we were left to find our own table, which we identified because it was the only one set for 7 people. Tables were pushed together and this meant that the person in the middle had to straddle two large chunky wooden table legs. Other diners were obviously lone motel residents, except for one loud group of women obviously on a cheap girls night out. The decor is straight from the 80s with mirrors and heavy wooden furniture.
The wine selection, at $17.00 a bottle was cheap enough but limited to a choice of three Jacobs Creek white varieties and three Yalumba red varieties. Fortunately they do allow BYO. The food selection was standard for this style of restaurant, but the waitress had no idea of the specials, then informed us that half of them were off. Quality was patchy, with all reporting the oyster small and the steaks dry. The smoked salmon, on the other hand, was served in large proportions. One of the duck dishes was so tough it was almost inedible, but the other two were reported tender and fine with a very tasty sauce.
The lights were switched down at 10 pm and we were asked to leave. A nice surprise on the way out was that one of the party turned out to knew the owner from previous restaurants, and we were given a 10% discount.
Overall Rating: 2.9 stars
Total Cost per person: $74.00
Ratings scale: Excellent; Very Good; Good; Not so Good; Poor; Abysmal
Greeting and Seating: Abysmal
Table Presentation: Good
Settling in - drinks breads etc.: Abysmal
Menu selection, variety price etc.: Good
Specials presentation: Poor
Wine selection, variety and price: Abysmal
Drinks Service: Poor
Food Service: Good
Ambiance: Very good
Music: Good
Food choices:
Entree: Scallops (P) Oyster Kilpatrick (P), Oysters Napoli (P), Smoked Salmon x 2 (VG), Soup (Mushroom Zuccinini and Bacon), (G) Oysters natural (G).
Main course: Duck x 3 (2 G, 1 P), Waigu steak x 3 (P) Rogan Josh curry (G)
Sweets: creme brulee x 2 (G)
Drinks: Yalumba Merlot, Yalumba Shiraz, 2x Jacobs Creek Chardonnay.
Summary: This restaurant is in a motel in the northern end of Digger St. which services the lower end of the motel/apartment tourist market. The greeting and seating was non existent, we were left to find our own table, which we identified because it was the only one set for 7 people. Tables were pushed together and this meant that the person in the middle had to straddle two large chunky wooden table legs. Other diners were obviously lone motel residents, except for one loud group of women obviously on a cheap girls night out. The decor is straight from the 80s with mirrors and heavy wooden furniture.
The wine selection, at $17.00 a bottle was cheap enough but limited to a choice of three Jacobs Creek white varieties and three Yalumba red varieties. Fortunately they do allow BYO. The food selection was standard for this style of restaurant, but the waitress had no idea of the specials, then informed us that half of them were off. Quality was patchy, with all reporting the oyster small and the steaks dry. The smoked salmon, on the other hand, was served in large proportions. One of the duck dishes was so tough it was almost inedible, but the other two were reported tender and fine with a very tasty sauce.
The lights were switched down at 10 pm and we were asked to leave. A nice surprise on the way out was that one of the party turned out to knew the owner from previous restaurants, and we were given a 10% discount.
Mangosteins 18th April
Neil's choice: Rod 3*, Louanne 3 1/2*, Neil 4 1/2* , Irene 4 1/2*, Gerry 4*, Ken 4*, Alex 31/2*
Overall Rating: 3.2*
Total Cost per person: $85.00
Ratings scale: Excellent; Very Good; Good; Not so Good; Poor; Abysmal
Greeting and Seating: Very Good
Table Presentation: Very Good
Settling in - drinks breads etc.: Very Good
Menu selection, variety price etc.: Very Good
Specials presentation: None
Wine selection, variety and price: Good
Drinks Service: Excellent
Food Service: Very Good
Ambiance: Very Good
Music: Very Good
Food choices:
Entree: Salt and pepper callimari (G), tempura and Kilpartick oysters (VG), Scallops (G) Oyesters Ninjari (VG), Callimari (NSG), Oysters natural (G)
Main course: Lamb shanks (NSG), Moreton Bay bugs (NSG), Seafood Basket x 3 (G, G, VG), fish of day (G) Atlantic Salmon (VG)
Sweets: Sticky Date Pudding (E) Chocolate pudding (E) Figs (E), strawberries (E)
Drinks: good selection well priced.
Summary: An esplanade restuarant so caters to tourist trade with an emphasis on sea food with a sea food theme. Service was friendly and the incorrect starter drinks were quickly replaced. Cloth serviettes were a bonus. The meals were generally reported to be below standard and this reduced the overall star rating.
Overall Rating: 3.2*
Total Cost per person: $85.00
Ratings scale: Excellent; Very Good; Good; Not so Good; Poor; Abysmal
Greeting and Seating: Very Good
Table Presentation: Very Good
Settling in - drinks breads etc.: Very Good
Menu selection, variety price etc.: Very Good
Specials presentation: None
Wine selection, variety and price: Good
Drinks Service: Excellent
Food Service: Very Good
Ambiance: Very Good
Music: Very Good
Food choices:
Entree: Salt and pepper callimari (G), tempura and Kilpartick oysters (VG), Scallops (G) Oyesters Ninjari (VG), Callimari (NSG), Oysters natural (G)
Main course: Lamb shanks (NSG), Moreton Bay bugs (NSG), Seafood Basket x 3 (G, G, VG), fish of day (G) Atlantic Salmon (VG)
Sweets: Sticky Date Pudding (E) Chocolate pudding (E) Figs (E), strawberries (E)
Drinks: good selection well priced.
Summary: An esplanade restuarant so caters to tourist trade with an emphasis on sea food with a sea food theme. Service was friendly and the incorrect starter drinks were quickly replaced. Cloth serviettes were a bonus. The meals were generally reported to be below standard and this reduced the overall star rating.
Tamarind - March
Gerry's choice. Gerry 4*, Alex 5*, Ken 5*, Irene 4 1/2*, Neil 5*
Overall Rating: 4.7 stars
Total Cost per person: $130.00
Ratings scale: Excellent; Very Good; Good; Not so Good; Poor; Abysmal
Greeting and seating: Excellent
Table presentation: Excellent
Settling in: drinks, breads etc. Excellent
Specials presentation: None
Menu selection, variety and price: small but good. Vegetarians catered for.
Wine selection, variety and price: wide variety and well priced for this style of restaurant.
Drinks Service - Rating:
Food Service - Rating:
Ambiance - Rating: Excellent
Music - Rating: None
Free Appetiser: Tuna tartar
Entree: Sam Choy Boo (Ken), Scallops (Irene) Peking duck Spring Rolls (Neil) Peppered Quail (Alex) Mixed platter of entrees (Gerry)
Main course: Tasmanian Ocean trout (Ken 10/10) Pink Prawn and Cuttlefish curry (Irene 8 1/2 /10) Crispy Baby Barrimundi (Alex 14/10) Crispy Pork belly (Gerry 8/10)
Sweets: we all had sweets but I didn't write them down!!
Drinks: yes - several bottles of red and white - good quality and good selection.
Summary: This is considered one of Cairns best restaurants and located on the ground floor of the Casino, adjacent to the Sofitel Hotel it is aimed at the upper end of the Cairns dining market. The theme is Asian but with sufficient choice on the menu to cater for all. Everything rated extremely well and was superbly presented with the imagination and panache one would expect from a restaurant of this calibre The only down side was some diners reported their meals very salty, and/or heavily sauced. The curry and the pork belly in particular. This brought the overall rating down from 5 to a hotly debated 4 1/2 stars.
Overall Rating: 4.7 stars
Total Cost per person: $130.00
Ratings scale: Excellent; Very Good; Good; Not so Good; Poor; Abysmal
Greeting and seating: Excellent
Table presentation: Excellent
Settling in: drinks, breads etc. Excellent
Specials presentation: None
Menu selection, variety and price: small but good. Vegetarians catered for.
Wine selection, variety and price: wide variety and well priced for this style of restaurant.
Drinks Service - Rating:
Food Service - Rating:
Ambiance - Rating: Excellent
Music - Rating: None
Free Appetiser: Tuna tartar
Entree: Sam Choy Boo (Ken), Scallops (Irene) Peking duck Spring Rolls (Neil) Peppered Quail (Alex) Mixed platter of entrees (Gerry)
Main course: Tasmanian Ocean trout (Ken 10/10) Pink Prawn and Cuttlefish curry (Irene 8 1/2 /10) Crispy Baby Barrimundi (Alex 14/10) Crispy Pork belly (Gerry 8/10)
Sweets: we all had sweets but I didn't write them down!!
Drinks: yes - several bottles of red and white - good quality and good selection.
Summary: This is considered one of Cairns best restaurants and located on the ground floor of the Casino, adjacent to the Sofitel Hotel it is aimed at the upper end of the Cairns dining market. The theme is Asian but with sufficient choice on the menu to cater for all. Everything rated extremely well and was superbly presented with the imagination and panache one would expect from a restaurant of this calibre The only down side was some diners reported their meals very salty, and/or heavily sauced. The curry and the pork belly in particular. This brought the overall rating down from 5 to a hotly debated 4 1/2 stars.
Coolums on the beach at Holloway's Beach - February
Ken's choice - Ken 4*, Irene 3 1/2*, Gerry 2*, Alex 3 /12* 16th February 2008
Overall Rating: 3.2 stars
Total Cost per person: $70.00
Ratings scale: Excellent; Very Good; Good; Not so Good; Poor; Abysmal
Ambiance - Rating: Excellent - verandahs overlooking the beach make this one of Cairns most atmospheric resturabts.
Music - Rating: Good - quiet middle of the road backgorund music. soothing and matched ambience.
Unfortunately your intrepid reporter did not take notes that night and can't remember what everyone ate. The food for everyone was considered good to very good. What let the restuarant down was the service. One member of the party who had not been well asked for an entree serve of risotto as a main, only to be informed that this was not possible. Only main course sizes could be served. Later she asked to take the remainder home, but was also informed this was also not possible. On paying for the night, when we complained about this, the owner informed us that the waiter was incorect and we could have had an entree size. She reduced the bill accordingly.
Overall Rating: 3.2 stars
Total Cost per person: $70.00
Ratings scale: Excellent; Very Good; Good; Not so Good; Poor; Abysmal
Ambiance - Rating: Excellent - verandahs overlooking the beach make this one of Cairns most atmospheric resturabts.
Music - Rating: Good - quiet middle of the road backgorund music. soothing and matched ambience.
Unfortunately your intrepid reporter did not take notes that night and can't remember what everyone ate. The food for everyone was considered good to very good. What let the restuarant down was the service. One member of the party who had not been well asked for an entree serve of risotto as a main, only to be informed that this was not possible. Only main course sizes could be served. Later she asked to take the remainder home, but was also informed this was also not possible. On paying for the night, when we complained about this, the owner informed us that the waiter was incorect and we could have had an entree size. She reduced the bill accordingly.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Lago at The Lakes 18th January 2008
Alex's choice. Neil 4*, Alex 4*, Gerry 4*, Rod 4*, Louanne 3 1/2*
Overall Rating: 3.9 stars
Total Cost per person: $70.00
Ratings scale: Excellent; Very Good; Good; Not so Good; Poor; Abysmal
This restaurant has a reputation for fine dining in fine surroundings. The Lakes is a residential and holiday apartment resort complex surrounded by beautiful gardens, not far from the Cairns Botanical Gardens and Centenary Lakes. We were delighted to discover that the Matre d' was our old friend David from the early Doninis days. However he informed us it was his second last night as he was returning to Darwin.
Ambiance - Rating: Excellent. Beautiful timber floors and timber windows overlooking the resort complex and roads. View not as I imagined it would be, as the glassed in verandah are overlooked a row of apartments. No table cloths, but linen serviettes and etched glassware and quality crockery and cutlery gave an upmarket feel.
Music - Rating: Good. Piped background music, subtle and low key middle of the road.
Menu - Rating: Very Good. Choice small but well written. A reasonably priced set three course menu with a choice of two items each course ($39.00) a degustation menu at $75.00 per head was considered too expensive.
Entree: Risotto, Asparagus/Mushrooms, Sashimi, and breads rated Very Good and the Scallop/Prawn Ravoli rated Excellent.
Main course: the 2 Racks of Lamb, Chicken Confit on chick pea mash rated only Not so Good, the Barramundi Very Good and the Scallop & Prawn Ravioli - Excellent. The lamb and chicken were deemed bland and tasteless.
Sweets: The brulees and coffee torte rated Very Good. Two coffees were ordered and were brought to the table with an apology that they were not as good as they could be - the machine was playing up. They were returned and replaced by coffee of a similar standard ??
Drinks: Drink selection was upmarket and a quality wine list, priced slightly above standard. Wines at the lower end of the price scale were chosen. The red was served far too hot and had to be taken away and cooled. One wonders why a restaurant of this calibre does not have a wine fridge or, or at least store table ready wines in air conditioning.
Drinks Service - Rating: Good. The waiter knew his wines and was apologetic at the temperature of the wine. Complimentary liqueurs were offered at the end of the meal.
Food Service - Rating: Good. The gap in between entree and mains was not long enough. Waiter extremely professional and knowledgeable, but female wait staff who served the plates were obviously not trained.
Summary: Overall, a pleasant evening, and most of the deficiencies were corrected. Not a restaurant where one would expect the waitress to juggle too many plates and serve across people - but she did! One downside: being a tourist apartment complex and out of town, many of the diners were residents with small children. even though seated in a different area, tired, crying two year olds after 10 pm are painfull for everyone. We were actually surprised to discover that the per head cost was only just over $70.00
Overall Rating: 3.9 stars
Total Cost per person: $70.00
Ratings scale: Excellent; Very Good; Good; Not so Good; Poor; Abysmal
This restaurant has a reputation for fine dining in fine surroundings. The Lakes is a residential and holiday apartment resort complex surrounded by beautiful gardens, not far from the Cairns Botanical Gardens and Centenary Lakes. We were delighted to discover that the Matre d' was our old friend David from the early Doninis days. However he informed us it was his second last night as he was returning to Darwin.
Ambiance - Rating: Excellent. Beautiful timber floors and timber windows overlooking the resort complex and roads. View not as I imagined it would be, as the glassed in verandah are overlooked a row of apartments. No table cloths, but linen serviettes and etched glassware and quality crockery and cutlery gave an upmarket feel.
Music - Rating: Good. Piped background music, subtle and low key middle of the road.
Menu - Rating: Very Good. Choice small but well written. A reasonably priced set three course menu with a choice of two items each course ($39.00) a degustation menu at $75.00 per head was considered too expensive.
Entree: Risotto, Asparagus/Mushrooms, Sashimi, and breads rated Very Good and the Scallop/Prawn Ravoli rated Excellent.
Main course: the 2 Racks of Lamb, Chicken Confit on chick pea mash rated only Not so Good, the Barramundi Very Good and the Scallop & Prawn Ravioli - Excellent. The lamb and chicken were deemed bland and tasteless.
Sweets: The brulees and coffee torte rated Very Good. Two coffees were ordered and were brought to the table with an apology that they were not as good as they could be - the machine was playing up. They were returned and replaced by coffee of a similar standard ??
Drinks: Drink selection was upmarket and a quality wine list, priced slightly above standard. Wines at the lower end of the price scale were chosen. The red was served far too hot and had to be taken away and cooled. One wonders why a restaurant of this calibre does not have a wine fridge or, or at least store table ready wines in air conditioning.
Drinks Service - Rating: Good. The waiter knew his wines and was apologetic at the temperature of the wine. Complimentary liqueurs were offered at the end of the meal.
Food Service - Rating: Good. The gap in between entree and mains was not long enough. Waiter extremely professional and knowledgeable, but female wait staff who served the plates were obviously not trained.
Summary: Overall, a pleasant evening, and most of the deficiencies were corrected. Not a restaurant where one would expect the waitress to juggle too many plates and serve across people - but she did! One downside: being a tourist apartment complex and out of town, many of the diners were residents with small children. even though seated in a different area, tired, crying two year olds after 10 pm are painfull for everyone. We were actually surprised to discover that the per head cost was only just over $70.00
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