tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73594430254896899282024-03-08T01:14:37.697-08:00Chameleon Food CriticUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-35555744676592700312014-07-26T19:55:00.000-07:002014-07-26T19:55:52.006-07:00Julie's at the Rectory<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/350/1658318/restaurant/Queensland/Julies-at-the-Rectory-Esk"><img alt="Julies at the Rectory on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1658318/biglink.gif" style="border: none; height: 146px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Julies-at-the-Rectory/350194144994520" target="_blank">Facebook</a></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Score: 83/100 </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">The
little villages which dot the backroads around Brisbane are really a
bit of motorcycling heaven; from the iconic (and somewhat dangerous)
Mount Glorious, through north to Samford and south to Advancetown,
the twisty bitumen is very much like a religion, with many followers
dutifully descending upon them for an alternate Sunday service. But
sooner or later even these road warriors need a rest and Esk affords
such an opportunity, especially for those wanting to venture around
Somerset Dam, or to make their day longer with a trek up to Maleny. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> Julie's at Rectory is one common stop in Esk and first impressions
hinted at an intimate home-cooked meal ahead. The Queenslander-style
guest-house has been converted to a lunch joint and to eat here you
have to negotiate a small labyrinth to find the front counter;
funnily enough this added to the charm of the place. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> The menu, or
should I say, menus, were a bit of a stumbling block. There was
simply too much choice, too many places to look to make a decision.
Prices were a touch on the expensive side, but not too silly. I was
after a light lunch on this particular day so I opted for a salmon
salad; look up 'light lunch' in the dictionary and you will probably
see a large white plate with thick edges surrounding a Jackson
Pollock inspired beautiful mess of cos lettuce, rocket, salmon and
croutons. And at Julie's this is exactly what you get. </span></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Ordering
was pain-free and the waitress, who seemed to be in a slight bit of a rush, was smiling and pleasant. I took my seat, but I wasn't there
for long, as I wanted to have a wonder around this old house, see if
I could extract a bit of that yesteryear character. One room notably
was set up as a kids play room which was a nice touch. Timber
EVERYWHERE, and a very relaxed vibe soothed from the walls. You could
even eat out the back away from the weekend traffic of the Valley
Highway if that was your will. I didn't however have a lot of time to
play hide and seek, my coffee was promptly served within a few
minutes and not long after the salad arrived; very efficient service
and the obvious by-product of having enough staff on to cater for the
warriors. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> I'll go as far as saying the service was outstanding;
friendly, prompt, checking in on me, everything you expect in a fine
dining restaurant, right there in Esk.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> The
salad was fresh and the green part balanced out the salmon perfectly.
The rocket was delicious and I can't remember the last time I enjoyed
rocket that much in a salad. It had that distinct rocket peppery edge,
but was never overpowering, even when the mouthful was dominated by
green. The coffee too was gorgeous; a lunch time cap with the right
amount of pep.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"> Overall,
I was very pleased with this little place on the edge of town.
Friendly, inviting, glimpses of history and apart from the puzzle
that was the lunchtime multiple menus, I would gladly visit Julie's
again and next time I'm in town, I think I might do just that. 83/100 </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-30609584462650387272014-07-25T15:13:00.000-07:002014-07-25T15:53:38.705-07:00State of Food: New Zealand circa mid 2014<div class="western" style="border: none; line-height: 114%; margin-right: 0.21cm; margin-top: 0.21cm; padding: 0cm;">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">Travelling the land of the long white
cloud has been fun over the last two weeks. I visited both islands
during the start of winter, snow began to fall, electric blankets
were bought out of the wardrobes and good old comfort food once again
showed it's face at the dinner table. The burning question before
embarking on this trip was to find out just what exactly 'New Zealand
food' is. In America they have BBQ and take away giants and pretty
much whatever else you can think off. In Australia, a lot centres
around steak and seafood and in Europe, meat based dishes and dessert
pretty much rule. New Zealand however appears to be stuck, much like
Australia, in a weird twilight zone where the term 'national food
identity' has difficulty emerging; we all know pavlova is from here,
but what else? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;"> The food that often presented itself
at almost every stop along the way were various forms of pies. But
let me ask you, is the universally adopted, seen everywhere pie,
really something New Zealand should base it's culinary premise
around? A pie? Mind you, there were plenty of decent pies consumed on
my trip and in particular a butter chicken pie, something I had never
heard of before this trip, was kind of tasty and unique. The
quintessential Maori dish is of course the Hangi, but unfortunately
you have to sell you soul and take out a mortgage just to get a whiff
of this elusive treat, and even then, I doubt you would get your
hands on an authentic 'cooked in the ground' treat. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;"> I was thus
treated to the usual offerings you can pretty much get in any
multi-cultural western country, with no vibe of identity gracing the
palate. New Zealand has it's fair share of what I am going to call
signature restaurants, like Fergburger in Queenstown where I lined up
with a weird and wonderful mixture of snow bunnies, hipsters and
middle aged couples on their 'lifetime trip' for close to an hour
from joining the cue to taking that delicious first bite. These
places though are anomalies; they're dotted here and there, they are
all different, hence they don't really represent what is essentially
New Zealand. And as a side note; of course we all know lamb is common in NZ. But if you're going to simply replace beef with lamb and say it's <i>New Zealandish, </i>I would have to respectfully disagree.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;"> Did I have some memorable food? Yes, of course, but was
it 'New Zealand'? I craved something different, something unique but
as hard as I tried searching and probing, I left with an empty
feeling that this beautiful country seems to adopt the cuisine of
places somewhere else rather than focus on developing it's own unique identity. </span></span></span></span></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-33134891504655626822014-07-25T14:57:00.000-07:002014-07-25T15:59:12.108-07:00DannyBoys Sandwich Bar<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;">
<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Overall score: 77/100</b></h3>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-5702478620750662823" itemprop="description articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 796px;">
<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Restaurant:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.dannyboys.com.au/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Website</a></span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/dmckennariey" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Facebook</a></span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/337/1602282/restaurant/Brisbane/DannyBoys-Sandwich-Bar-Kelvin-Grove" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.4;"><img alt="DannyBoys Sandwich Bar on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1602282/biglink.gif" style="border: none; height: 146px; width: 200px;" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.4; text-align: justify;">
<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
<span style="line-height: 1.4;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">Dannyboys is a hip and funky
alternative to Subway tucked away in one of Brisbane's most hip and
funky suburbs, Kelvin Grove. The gentrification occurring here is
going through like a wrecking ball and Dannyboys is well placed. </span>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">At first I was a bit puzzled visiting
here. The shop is not in the main shopping area, which doesn't
inspire confidence. It's also a bit utilitarian from the front; I
kind of had to search for it and I doubt the small A-frame sign at the front
would be enough to catch the attention of shoppers just down the
road. Regardless, I was glad I found it, and after walking through
the doors, the shortcomings of all that hidden facade is all but
forgotten. Inside: cool, modern, well designed, completely in sync
with its location. The menu looked great, but it was located high,
very high in fact, which was an interesting choice. I was greeted by
a smiley happy person who put me at easy and while I took a very long
time to make my choice, I never felt pressured or like I was an
inconvenient annoying wart. A quick notable point were the crates
used as stools with a seat pillow as a topper. These are a great
up-cycling idea but as I sat there devouring my meal, I noticed it
was actually kind of uncomfortable; not uncomfortable like having a
haemorrhoid, but more like a slight annoyance to your buttocks. </span>
</span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: none; line-height: 114%; margin-left: 0.3cm; margin-right: 0.21cm; margin-top: 0.21cm; padding: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">After what felt like a long time, I
ended up with a pumpkin soup entree and a 'Big Bear' (I looooooove
sauerkraut). The soup was fine. Tasted like pumpkin soup should, but I
have to admit, it was a stock standard soup on this day; no interesting edge, special hit-you-in-the-face spice or herb. The unexpected highlight of my visit
was the single piece of accompanying bread roll. This little piece of
bread bought back memories of the 'proper bread' I used to devour as
an ankle biter; it was light yet crunchy, slightly salty, cooked to
perfection and all delicious. A reasonable start.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">The sub that followed was a slight disappointment. The bread, for a sub, was overly crunchy for me. It
was actually so crunchy (and admittedly probably so fresh out of the oven) it broke through the delicate unaccustomed
roof of my mouth. Crunchy bread is fine, but in a thick sub it just
didn't work. The ingredients inside were miss-matched. When you see
sauerkraut in the ingredients of a sub, you imagine it will have SOME
of it in there for a hint of flavour and acidic balance. This sub
though was loaded up; now don't get me wrong, I love the stuff almost
as much as I love a good game of Origin. In a sub though I am looking
for balance, and balance had unfortunately gone for a walk. I
couldn't taste the pastrami, the thousand island sauce all but disappeared, which is really saying something, as the
main salad ingredient overpowered the dish. All other ingredients
disappeared. Did it taste nice? It was kind of OK, but this really
was a 'sauerkraut sub'. </span>
</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="border: none; line-height: 114%; margin-left: 0.3cm; margin-right: 0.21cm; margin-top: 0.21cm; padding: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">You can kind of see what Dannyboys is
trying to do; modern, hip, different, the ultimate anti-Subway. It
was then such a shame that a good setup became a mediocre meal, with
an uneventful pumpkin soup and a tsunami of sauerkraut. The place
prides itself on the bread and as well it should, the piece presented
with the soup was delightful. In my opinion a slight rethink to
restore the balance in their Big Bear sub would fix my visit's low
point and perhaps a slightly softer crust on the bread in the sub would have
transformed the experience into a memorable fast food alternative. <a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/337/1602282/restaurant/Brisbane/DannyBoys-Sandwich-Bar-Kelvin-Grove" target="_blank">Urbanspoon</a> reviews are very much in the positive so a revisit is
definitely on the books. 77/100</span></span></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-49651563375683203952014-06-08T23:48:00.000-07:002014-07-25T16:06:17.310-07:00State of Food: Restaurant Furniture<i><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">Why a restaurant must pay attention to a wobbly table, miss-placed setups or back-achingly uncomfortable chairs.</span></span></i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">It's been about a year and a half since I started this blog. Inspired by my glutinous love of food, a human necessity to eat, and the fact that I am often able to eat and get refunds or claim it on my tax (he...he...he), I felt the need to share my culinary thoughts with the world.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">During this time I have visited close to 40 restaurants, and while that works out to an average of about only one per fortnight, blogging about the visits has been a little pleasure I afford myself with the little free time I have outside of my busy day job. The views have been steadily growing and I am now entering the dreaded PHASE 2; <i>gettin a bit more serious.</i> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">So, welcome to the "State of Food", a new section for the blog that allows me to recap my thoughts around some of the learnings that have occurred.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">Restaurant furniture. Tables, chairs. Right? There is so much more to these seemingly mundane pieces of plastic, timber and upholstery, yet, I'm going to say, restaurant furniture is quite possibly the most important asset a food establishment may neglect.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">Lets start with tables. Recently I had the pleasure of visiting <a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/350/1757248/restaurant/Queensland/Kendos-Irish-Cafe-Toowoomba" target="_blank">Kendo's Irish Cafe</a> on Ruthven Street (review coming soon). I was there for lunch and the place was kind of empty which I always like because it means my wait for the gastronomical onslaught is typically short. I was greeted and sat at a table of my choice by a cheery waitress, which of course is a lovely gesture, but it was here that I found that the table was wobbly. In fact, it was excessively wobbly to a point of distraction and actually made eating the stew I ordered problematic.<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">So? I hear you ask. Well, here is the thing. A part of the experience of dining out is of course the customer service and upon finding out that the table was indeed a bit wonky, the waitress did...nothing. She didn't offer a different table (even though there were numerous empty ones about), she didn't try to rectify the situation at all by fixing it on the spot and overall and it detracted from the experience. I sincerely hope that that table is now lying in some scrap heap, for Kendo's sake.<br />
Table choice is critical; too large and it's difficult to talk to someone across the table (<a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/carousel.html" target="_blank">Carousel</a>), too small and it's hard to fit the plates and glasses and handbags and wine (<a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/sofra.html" target="_blank">Sofra</a>) and if it's too basic, you feel like the restaurateur just doesn't actually care. The table must also match the setting, just like at <a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/hogs-breath-cafe-toowoomba-lunch.html" target="_blank">Hogs Breath Cafe</a>, where the thick timber works well, but the same tables would look out of place at <a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/bazaar.html" target="_blank">Bazzar</a>.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">Next are those wonderful bum-accommodating chairs. You may have possibly heard that some restaurants DELIBERATELY make you sit on chairs that were designed specifically to be uncomfortable so that you do not decide to camp for hours on end taking up precious floor space after devouring your meal. Places like McDonalds and KFC are the masters at this, but then again, should I really be referring to these as "restaurants"? Unfortunately, there appears to be some out there who pay very little attention to the comfort of their patrons and the decision to dump uncomfortable, although quite possibly stylish looking, chairs next to their tables comes at a hefty price. Subconsciously perhaps, diners may not want to stay for that second bottle of wine after their meal, or the place might miss out on a dessert order after the mains. Some of the best seating so far has been at <a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/phat-burgers.html" target="_blank">Phat Burgers</a> where there is a choice in seating, as well as the <a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/federal-hotelmotel_22.html" target="_blank">Federal Hotel</a>, where the simple fabric chairs were quite comfortable.<br />
Another area that is often neglected is waiting chairs/benches for take away customers, or while waiting to be seated. <a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/wagaya-brisbane.html" target="_blank">Wagaya</a> definitely gets it right with a comfortable bench seat, while at <a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/overall-score-78100-take-away-adjusted.html" target="_blank">Thai Tanee</a> my little one and I had to sit at a table next to the busy entrance for a lengthy wait on mediocre no-thrills chairs.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">Dining setup. All these tables and chairs need to be spread throughout the dining space and a bit of thought here goes a long way. A great example of good design is at <a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/bistro-gitan.html" target="_blank">Bistro Gitan</a> where there appears to be some weird dark magic being used to organise formal seating, couple seating and bar-style tables highly effectively to cater for what seems like thousands. <a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/phat-burgers.html" target="_blank">Phat Burgers</a> too have a highly effective layout. In other places tables are crammed in, making for a "busy" experience especially at a buffet (read <a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/bazaar.html" target="_blank">Bazzar</a>) and at <a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/sofra.html" target="_blank">Sofra</a> I continually felt squashed in while waitresses flashed by with plates of goodness. I think the key word here is 'balance' and it is this that I find quite a number of restaurants just do not think about. If they are a busy place, they cram more in, if it's doing mainly take-away trade, the tables and chairs are arranged in uninspiring army-dining-hall style lines.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">So far it's been a mixed bag; there are some simply superb examples of well executed restaurants where the furniture augments the atmosphere, allows free movement throughout the place and makes you want to stay for another wine or two. But then again, there are dreadful examples of wonky furniture, uncomfortable seating and cramped setups that make you wish you were at one of those plastic booths at Hungry Jacks.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-67668075235164800612014-06-07T04:37:00.000-07:002014-07-25T16:13:09.139-07:00Up Front Club<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;">
<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Overall score: 90/100</b></h3>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-5702478620750662823" itemprop="description articleBody" style="background-color: white; position: relative; width: 796px;">
<div style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Restaurant:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.upfrontclub.org/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Website</a></span></div>
<div style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheUpFrontClub" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Facebook</a></span></div>
<div style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/350/1361231/restaurant/Queensland/Up-Front-Club-Maleny"><img alt="Up Front Club on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1361231/biglink.gif" style="border: none; height: 146px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">Getting lunch in Maleny in a hurry is often quite difficult. This hippie cum chick-cool village, is always bustling with tourists, even on weekdays, and I was fortunate to luck upon a seat at this quaint little joint in the middle of town. </span><br />
<span style="line-height: 1.4;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 1.4; text-align: left;">THE EXPERIENCE</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">Whoever designed the interior of the Up Front Club must have known what they were doing, as the interior of this place was masterfully decorated to perfectly match the Maleny 'vibe'. The dark theme that dominated the design worked so well; looking out towards the door, at almost every angle, I got the feeling every view was framed like I was staring out at bizarre moving paintings, which was the hustle and bustle of a typical Maleny lunch time scene. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">The staff were great, especially the waitress who smiled a lot and made meaningless chit chat comfortable. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 1.4;">THE FOOD</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">I have never had the pleasure of trying arancini balls, so when I saw this unusual Sicilian named dish on the menu, I was up for something new. These had a delicious cheesy center that were melted to perfection and the accompanying salad and pumpkin were wonderfully executed; in fact, the pumpkin was "perfect". It is worthy to note that although I am describing what I had chosen off the lunch menu, the Up Front Club is known for changing it's menu quite frequently and the arancini balls might most likely be no more. If the restaurant gets it's other meals as right as it did on the occasion of my visit, you will not be disappointed.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">OVERALL</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">My visit to the Club was a very pleasant one and I can truly say that as a meat-eater, I have never enjoyed a vegetarian lunch as much as this (mum's cooking excluded of course). The atmosphere of retro-cool with that well designed interior justifies my conclusion that you should visit there next time you're in hippie territory. 90/100 </span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-49061028822109067092014-06-05T04:20:00.000-07:002014-06-08T23:53:52.192-07:00Thai Tanee (Takeaway)<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;">
<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Overall score: 78/100 (take away adjusted)</b></h3>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Restaurant:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.thaitanee.com.au/" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Website</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Thai-Tanee-Restaurant/177785642269053?fref=ts" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Facebook</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/350/1654856/restaurant/Queensland/Thai-Tanee-Rockhampton"><img alt="Thai Tanee on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1654856/biglink.gif" style="border: none; height: 146px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<u style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.4;">Please NOTE: The Chameleon is switching to a first person writing style as of June, 2014</u></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4;"><br /></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.4;">Travelling regional Queensland is a wonderful experience for many a tourist visiting our shores, but for us Aussies, it's often just a bland experience of one red-neck town after another. Sometimes though, there are places that </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">surprise</span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.4;"> me, as was the </span></span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">culinary</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.4;"> case when I visited Rockhampton not too long ago. You see, for me, Rockhampton has always been that regional hub that you pass through, notice a few people driving their cars with their Acubras on, beef, beef and more pub beef, a place where you wouldn't really see anything 'special' if you know what I mean. Anyway, I was in town and was looking for a place to get some takeaway; Urbanspoon led me to Thai Tanee </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;">THE EXPERIENCE</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to eat on this occasion, so I went to this restaurant at the recommendation of my Urbanspoon app and found a nice, neat, well setup Thai place not far from the CBD. The hostess who took our order was very friendly and there were smiles aplenty which made the experience of ordering very pleasant indeed. For a second, I was lost in this clash of cultures; Rockhampton. Thai food. No Acubras in sight. A nice Asian inspired restaurant. </span></div>
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<h3>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 1.4;">THE FOOD</span></h3>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.4;">As this is a 'takeaway' review, a lot of the final score reflects the actual taste and texture of the food, the balance between dishes, but not the presentation. And as you can see, 78 was the final result. Thai Tanee threw up some amazing surprises, but then there were some unfortunate let downs in critical parts of the dishes. As a staring example, the skewers. The taste was absolutely awesome; nice peanuty flavours dominated each bite and the extra peanut sauce was a very nice touch. But, and </span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">unfortunately</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.4;"> there was a big but, the chicken was very much dry. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.4;">On the plus side, we found a small serving of cucumber salad with our order and this tasted absolutely </span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">divine. It was great that the dryness could be offset just a little with this little pearler of a salad. The main dish was pork and it too was dry; a significant mistake with this type of meat. Again, there was something which offset this setback, and this time it was int he form of the rice. Oh, that delicious rice! It was cooked to perfection and the addition of a very Thai inspired piece of lime worked outstandingly. </span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.4;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">OVERALL</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.4;">Thai Tanee is a cultural oddity in Rockhampton; a Thai restaurant in the regional beef capital. The food was a mixed bag unfortunately, and the spots of brilliance that came out of the plastic bag, was ruined by dryness where dryness can not be. I would </span></span><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">like</span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.4;"> to re-sample this restaurant next time I visit Rocky, but as a sit down instead. 78/100 </span></span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-11104813488094273022014-06-01T07:16:00.002-07:002014-07-25T16:18:14.646-07:00Waves Buffet Restaurant<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;">
<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Overall score: 77/100</b></h3>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Restaurant:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.watermarkhotelgoldcoast.com.au/waves-interactive-buffet-restaurant" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Website</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/watermarkhotelgoldcoast" target="_blank">Facebook</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/350/1688329/restaurant/Queensland/Waves-Buffet-Restaurant-Surfers-Paradise"><img alt="Waves Buffet Restaurant on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1688329/biglink.gif" style="border: none; height: 146px; width: 200px;" /></a>
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<div style="color: #666666; line-height: 1.4; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u>Please NOTE: The Chameleon is switching to a first person writing style from this review onwards (June, 2014)</u></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">Sometimes, just sometimes, the idea of visiting a buffet seems like a reasonable one. On this occasions, in the company of work colleagues who liked to indulge in a bit of glutinous feasting, I opted to join the group at Waves Buffet Restaurant. The $55 all-you-can-eat option for the night seemed feasible, especially since my day job provider would be picking up the bill. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left;">THE EXPERIENCE</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">The place looks clinical. As I approached the vast open entrance, I remember thinking "...geez, this feels a bit like an airport lounge eatery..." but nonetheless we were greeted by a smiling host and seated quite promptly within a manner of about one minute. On this evening the restaurant was rather quiet, at about 20% capacity, which made it all the better as a full buffet can be a very uncomforting experience, as witnessed by another recent "buffet" trip. My group was seated a small hike from the action, which wasn't such a terrible thing, as it allowed us to have a bit of privacy to part take in our various small talk sessions. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">The staff were wonderful overall, but no one really went out of their way to go the extra mile either. The tables were routinely cleaned slightly later then they should have been and the chef behind the requests counter was cheery enough but again, service that is typical these days in most decent restaurants. </span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">THE FOOD</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">As I mentioned, the place looked clinical, which was actually quite a positive for a buffet; cleanliness can never be overrated at such an establishment and it felt very much that at this place, there was no place for second rate food to hide.</span></span></div>
<div style="color: #666666; line-height: 1.4;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">Without going into extensive detail about all the food, which was of various consistency, I'll touch on a highlight and a lowlight. The highlight was obvious and jumped out at me with two hands; I happened to find tucked away in a corner, the most delicious pork belly! It was a large serving, thick and full of flavour, prepared just as pork belly should be. It was juicy, sticky, full-on flavour punches that kept on coming. The lowlight was definitely the prawns. Flavourless, textureless and very much a disappointing part of the evening for me. When a buffet which prides itself on it's seafood presents such </span><span style="line-height: 18.200000762939453px;">disastrous prawns, the main staple, it is indeed a negative stain on what was an otherwise fine offering all round. </span><span style="line-height: 1.4;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">OVERALL</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">Waves offered plenty to sing about in a clinical, no nonsense buffet. Overall the food was fantastic and well worth the $55 I paid. A slight blimp was the lack of atmosphere and the flavourless prawns. I think I would visit a few more of the Gold Coast's notable buffets before returning to Waves. 77/100</span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-57024786207506628232013-07-15T14:56:00.001-07:002014-06-01T06:39:06.039-07:00Amalfi Bistro and Wine Bar<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Overall score: 75/100</b><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Restaurant:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.watermarkhotelgoldcoast.com.au/amalfi-bistro-wine-bar" target="_blank">Website</a></span><br />
<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/350/1360033/restaurant/Queensland/Amalfi-Bistro-Wine-Bar-Surfers-Paradise"><img alt="Amalfi Bistro & Wine Bar on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1360033/minilink.gif" style="border: none; height: 36px; padding: 0px; width: 130px;" /></a>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Restaurants attached to hotels/motels/any sort of accomodation really, often has The Chameleon scrambling for his urbanspoon app dreading the bland offerings from the limited menus and the overdone steaks (example <a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/carousel.html" target="_blank">here</a>). But also recently, <a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/bazaar.html" target="_blank">Bazaar</a> was a very acceptable option; and not far from Bazaar was Amalfi Bistro and Wine Bar, attached to the Watermark Hotel and Spa. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;">THE EXPERIENCE</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Amalfi is a rather nicely fitted out restaurant at the back of the hotel. The Chameleon had in fact walked past it a couple of times prior to his visit wondering if they were open or not; you see the doors were closed, only a faint glimmer of light emanating indicating life and no doubt a few diners would bypass this for the buffet next door which is open and airy and somewhat more inviting (review to come soon). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">All this hidden-ness does have it's benefits though, as when The Chameleon entered, the place instantly made him feel at ease, relaxed and smooth. The dim lighting and the ambience music worked well, the large window opened the diners to the intermittent traffic outside, the car lights of the metropolitan bustle that is now the Gold Coast seemingly adding to the cosiness of Amalfi.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Chameleon's group's waitress was young and showed glimpses of professional practice, but alas her inexperience did show through on a number of occasions, for example as she bumbled through some of the menu items. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /><br /><span style="color: white; font-size: large;"> THE FOOD</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The entrees of choice was carpaccio and The Chameleon opted for one of his favourite pasta dishes for the main, Linguine alla Carbonara, from a menu which somehow felt limited.</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /><br /> After a somewhat reasonable wait, the entrees arrived and were well received. The quail egg in particular was masterfully cooked and overall, it got the evening off to a reasonable start. The flavours were very subtle, perhaps a little bit too subtle and The Chameleon was expecting a little bit more for his money, but a great start nonetheless. <br /><br />The group ordered wine and the evening continued swimmingly as they patiently began the wait for their mains. And wait. And wait. And wait. And then....wait. The mains took an unnervingly long time to come to the table, and although the group was cheerfully engaged in conversation, the topic did turn to the aforementioned waiting time; this should never happen. The Chameleon got to such a point that he began to wonder whether this was a deliberate ploy for diners to buy more wine and alcohol. It wasn't a particularly busy night, perhaps 4-5 tables with a few couples and his group. He wonders still.<br /><br />The main was indeed very tasty. The carbonara ideal was there and that sauce, although somewhat oily, had beautiful undertones of rich creamy complex flavours. But, what was this meal's triumph was also it's diminishing demise. There was simply too much topping and, dare The Chameleon say it, too much meat! Typically The Chameleon is able to proportion out a meal to finish with one full mouthful, a bit like a special fulfilling ending to a movie, but on this occasion, all the pasta had disappeared with only topping left. The Chameleon was indeed glad when another diner made a similar comment which confirmed his thoughts. Balance.<br /><br /> The wine at this place was amazing. Great examples of somewhat expensive wine, but of course The Chameleon isn't a wine tasting critic, so apart from seemiongly fluking a nice dry match for the somewhat oily pasta, the deep cherry flavours which slipped out of every drop was well appreciated. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">OVERALL</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;">The Amalfi Bistro was a relaxing venue which The Chameleon appreciated after a hectic busy day. The food was of a high standard but alas the small entree, the long wait, the lack of balance in the main and the inexperienced waitress all impacted on the overall experience. Would The Chameleon recommend Amalfi? Only if you have time to kill and love a drop or two of fermented grape juice. 75/100</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-84571743770073662182013-07-08T03:21:00.002-07:002014-07-26T01:38:21.434-07:00Firefly Cafe (Lunch)<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Overall score: 83/100</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Restaurant:</span><br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/FireflyCafe" target="_blank">Facebook</a><br />
<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/350/1617634/restaurant/Queensland/Firefly-Cafe-Toowoomba"><img alt="Firefly Cafe on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1617634/minilink.gif" style="border: none; height: 36px; padding: 0px; width: 130px;" /></a>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">Urbanised, industrial, arty, hipster-y; everything a pretentious cafe should be and, in our capital cities at least, this is exactly what you get. But not in Toowoomba. No, in Toowoomba you get basic, utilitarian, uninspiring, dated; until you visit Firefly.</span><br /> Located smack bang in the middle of the CBD, Firefly hides under an unnasumming, simple facade, and really the front of the shop is small and one could quite easily miss it. As The Chameleon entered this ostensible, albeit almost miss-placed for Toowoomba, cafe, his memories took him back to a place not so long ago down in old Melbourne town, a cafe just like this; warm, with a kitch twist like a cafe should. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"> The decor here was well composed with French inspired chairs and wicked rustic tables. The walls adorned with what appeared like a nice batch of modern art and the colour scheme worked a treat. As The Chameleon approached the counter, a puzzling experience enveloped; there was no menu on the wall! Not even for the coffee! Intriguing start. Was this a part of the pretentiousness? Perhaps. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"> Anyway, he asked the lovely waitress whether they were doing lunch and she promptly handed him a very uninspiring menu. Now, keeping in mind that this was lunch, and that Toowoomba has many many offerings of sub $10 lunches (i.e. the outstanding <a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/phat-burgers.html" target="_blank">Phat Burgers</a> just up the road) the menu read very high brow, some interesting offerings. The Chameleon however wanted some meat; it's what he had been consuming for lunch for quite some time, however Firefly is not the place to go if you are after a large, filling, protein based meal. And rightly it shouldn't be, after all, it is a cafe, not <a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/hogs-breath-cafe-toowoomba-lunch.html" target="_blank">Hogs Breath Cafe</a>. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;">So summing up his options, of which there weren't many by the way, he ended up pointing to the "Roast sweet potato w pork belly & sugarloaf slaw" and hoped for the best. He also of course ordered a cap. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"> The staff were very friendly. Urbanspoon reviewers, some of them anyway, have complained of the lacklustre service, the lack of smiles, making it sound all a bit Twilight. But this was not The Chameleon's experience; chirpy, friendly, warm staff, even asking how my meal was, and to top it all off, going to the extra effort of saying goodbye as he left, even though they were busy. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"> First the coffee. It was nice, quite tasty and very acceptable for a lunchtime pick-me-up. There was an added little touch that really impressed The Chameleon. Next to his cappuccino was a beautiful little heirloom teaspoon, all the way from France. Oh how this delighted him, to see just a little glimpse of style and international thought in this regional city. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"> The main was outstanding. Well, it was rather sweet and the jus was very sweet indeed, but geez that pork belly was cooked to perfection. And the sweet potato was great too, the whole meal worked together like an orchestra performing at it's peak. Great work Firefly. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"> Firefly Cafe is perhaps the only 'real' cafe in Toowoomba. The air of elegance, of art and style, Firefly delivers an ultra-urban high-brow ambience which would see it fit into any of Australia's major cities, if not internationally. As The Chameleon gazed into busy Ruthven Street, shoppers impatiently running past from shop to shop, he could have been sitting anywhere from Rome, to London, to Copenhagen. A few Hiluxes and Navaras quickly bought him back to reality, but alas, Firefly created the desired mood. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"> The food was great, but a lack of options hindered. Should there be more options is perhaps a more pertinent question to ask, as this was a cafe after all. The menu presentation too needed some more thought, but perhaps the pretentiousness that one desires from a cafe has to surface somewhere. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"> The Chameleon thinks they might be going for the "have your coffee and leave" angle, but "if you are going to eat, then we will get that right". Not a bad effort Firefly. 83/100 </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-448063620869227042013-07-03T18:01:00.000-07:002014-06-01T06:39:56.172-07:00Sofra<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Overall score: 83/100</b><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Restaurant:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.sofra.com.au/" target="_blank">Website</a></span><br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sofra-Turkish-Cuisine/472829049404506" target="_blank">Facebook</a><br />
<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/350/1625597/restaurant/Queensland/Sofra-Toowoomba"><img alt="Sofra on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1625597/minilink.gif" style="border: none; height: 36px; padding: 0px; width: 130px;" /></a>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">On a beautiful balmy night The Chameleon had the delightful task of attending a work social function at Sofra, one of Toowoomba's highly rated restaurants and the city's only Turkish offering. To say that The Chameleon was looking forward to this visit is a bit of an understatement; urbanspoon consistently rates this establishment in the Top 5 for the Darling Downs Region. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;">THE EXPERIENCE</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sofra is located on Toowoomba's well known Margaret Street and on this particular night, it was lucky that parking was not a problem, something that has detracted from the initial CBD experience in the past. Upon entering, perhaps with the preconceived notion that this place was going to be top class, The Chameleon instantly felt at ease. There was a certain warmth, an almost homely feel to the place, with colourful tablecloths, plenty to look at on the walls, and the exquisite use of timber throughout all added to a very well consummated experience. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The Chameleon's group was seated upstairs on this particular occasion, which gave a a great view of the place, and allowed The Chameleon to perform his critique from a great perch. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The waitresses were fine yet somehow uninspiring. It was a somewhat busy night and no doubt a few of the girls were just going through the motions. They weren't rude, they didn't make mistakes, but at the same time, there was no extra attention, asking how our meals were, etc. etc.; a stock standard experience. So, the wonderful decor of the place was offset somewhat by lackluster, albeit acceptable, hospitality. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Also of note was the lack of ambience music. While the chatter of the customers did create some level of privacy, a little Turkish melody wouldn't have hurt. A slight mistake none-the-less The Chamelon thinks. </span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;">THE FOOD</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sofra excelled here overall. The Chameleon ordered lamb cutlets and man, they were outstanding! Although the presentation was somewhat lacking, that 'flame grilled to perfection' flavour came through in buckets, and the textures were just right. They were accompanied by two pieces of rather large flat breads, which were far too much and the meal presented somewhat thrown together on the plate, but none of this really mattered; the cutlets were THAT good. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">There was also a very tasty side dish of yoghurt, but the olives that came out were a bit hit and miss. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Of particular note was the use of clay pots for some of the Chameleon's colleagues' meals and it's this sort of unique dining that ads just that hint of interest. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The desert, strangely, worked very well by accident perhaps. The krem karamel had been burnt and this created a bitter edge. Typically this is a big no no; a bitter desert? But on this occasion, in the way this dish presented overall, the bitterness actually nicely offset the overly sweet, a balance if you will. Was this a mistake or is this the way this desert was supposed to be? The Chameleon needs to research further.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">OVERALL</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The highly successful execution of the decor and the quality food combined effectively at Sofra. The lack of ambience music and the so so service were a slight distraction, but not enough to really offset the overall feel. A must visit in Toowoomba. 83/100</span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-14071856266741432392013-06-14T23:17:00.000-07:002014-06-01T06:40:05.821-07:00Thai Royal (Delivery/Take Away)<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Overall score: 73/100 (take away adjusted)</b><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Restaurant:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.thairoyalrestaurant.com.au/" target="_blank">Website</a></span><br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Thai-Royal/171231872895528" target="_blank">Facebook</a><br />
<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/350/1713899/restaurant/Queensland/Thai-Royal-Toowoomba"><img alt="Thai Royal on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1713899/minilink.gif" style="border: none; height: 36px; padding: 0px; width: 130px;" /></a>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">On this particular night not too long ago The Chameleon was feeling very lazy after a busy day's sleeking so the family opted for home delivery. Thai Royal in Centenary Heights poped up on the Chameleon's radar and they promptly ordered some yummy sounding fare and began to wait. And wait. And then....wait. The delivery took a very very long time to arrive, well past what one would deem reasonable. In fact, it was over 30 minutes past the time given to The Chameleon, making it a grand total of approximately 90 minutes. A long time indeed. Apology was received. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;">THE FOOD</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Having consumed a fair amount of Asian influenced take away in his lifetime, The Chameleon was ready to dig in and sample what this highly rated restaurant had to offer. Things started on a high; the Tom Yum seafood soup was outstanding! Great flavours, spicy (as it should be) and just the right amount of texture. A great example of this soup. A perculiarity did surface though; mushrooms. Floating. Kind of like puffy little boats swimming in an orange ocean. The Chameleon did not know whether this was to his liking, or, whether these 'floaters' could have been left off. I'll let the imagery speak for itself. Floating, grey mushrooms. Hmm.....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Things continued very well with chicken skewers. They were cooked just right and, for the first time in quite some time, a restaurant finally got the peanut paste right. It was crunchy, but not overly, just the way it should be. Well done on these Thai Royal.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">From here, a downward spiral unfortunately ensued. It started with the Chicken Penang. While some positive flavours emerged, the texture of the sauce was all wrong. It was very watery and it showed through in the mouthfulls. Unfortunate. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Following from here was a total disaster. The beef dish was very dry. A little dryness is tolerable, but this particular meal was just all wrong. The sauce had virtually seperated into two layers, a thick pasty top and very watery underneath. It was almost as if the pieces of beef were swimming around inside the container, with a slurry on top. The taste was OK but it was difficult to look past the present dryness. Again, unfortunate. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Chameleon must also note the rice, which was quite well done. It was on the sweet side, very sweet infact, but it worked very well with the curries. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">OVERALL</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Thai Royal did some things very well and the Tom Yum was spot on, as were the skewers and the rice. The mains however were a disappintment. Perhaps a bit of quality control at delivery might have rectified this situation, as a simple shake of the containers could possibly have prevented some of the meal's shortcomings. 73/100 </span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-4038352938224426462013-06-14T15:41:00.001-07:002014-06-01T06:40:19.705-07:00Bazaar<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Overall score: 83/100 </b><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Restaurant:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.qtgoldcoast.com.au/food-drink/bazaar/" target="_blank">Website</a></span><br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/BazaarGoldCoast" target="_blank">Facebook</a><br />
<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/350/1569600/restaurant/Queensland/Bazaar-Surfers-Paradise"><img alt="Bazaar on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1569600/minilink.gif" style="border: none; height: 36px; padding: 0px; width: 130px;" /></a>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Buffet dining, in a way, is admitting defeat. Let The Chameleon explain. Dining experiences are far and wide, and at different times of the day or different occasions, a suitable dining option is required. A buffet thus fits into...which one? The correct answer is of course all of them; it can offer options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dining for two, or 50. With a varied menu on offer from a basic breakfast bar, through to a full smorgasbord (which is very much what you get at Bazaar), The Chameleon has to wonder how right the food can be with such variety. And more often than not, his hesitation has proven correct with bland offerings that were not far off from Sizzler levels. He approaches with caution. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Bazaar however has changed his perception...somewhat. As you see, another dimension has entered the fold. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE EXPERIENCE</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bazaar is located inside the QT hotel, a glitzy venue but let's be honest, The Chameleon couldn't help but think back to any number of motels with a 'restaurant' attached and images of the <a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/carousel.html" target="_blank">Carousel</a> began haunting his thoughts. These were quickly dismissed however, as when he slithered up the staircase he was greeted with a friendly staff member and instantly, he knew this was going to be a different dining experience. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As he was shown to his seat, The Chameleon couldn't help but notice a glaringly obvious fact; it was very very busy. So much so in fact, that you almost needed to pack a lunch just to get to the buffet section, traversing, if not climbing over and bumping into other guests along the way. This got to a point where The Chameleon at one stage got out of his seat, raised his little head high above the crowd and scouted out a route prior to his quest to get another delicious plate. So a piece of advice Bazaar: Bulldoze/redesign an entire level of your hotel to fit in more customers. Perhaps a trip to Sizzler for inspiration (not for the food). And while The Chameleon is having a go at your layout, it's noteworthy to add that you have tucked the actual business end of this dining experience into a nook! A nook for all those people! The Chameleon also suggests a police officer strategically placed to direct the flow of traffic. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In all honesty, Bazaar is a wonderful place, very well decorated and a great dining experience albeit very busy and a little bit squashy, some design lacking. Perhaps initially the designers didn't think it would be this popular. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A quick word about the staff; The Chameleon really appreciated the chirpy friendly nature of the staff here. Smiling, joking, catering to your specific needs is a refreshing change at a buffet. Well done Bazaar. </span><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;">THE FOOD</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This buffet scores highly on urbanspoon, as well it should. The food, for a buffet, was outstanding. In fact almost all offerings would have gone down favourably in most dedicated restaurants and the variety naturally, was great. But it was more than that; the offerings included stuff like paella, on the spot cooked steak, dumplings, pasta, etc. etc. it was the way a buffet should be.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The highlight came as a surprise. The Chameleon ordered a freshly cooked steak and when he saw what arrived on the table, his heart sank. A piece of thin, flimsy slither of a beef sat, albeit very well presented on a wooden serving board, staring at him. Inside, The Chameleon cried. However, when he tasted what was supposed to be a rare steak, the flavour and texture hit him much like a wrecking ball hits a derelict building. It was superb! AND, even though it was so thin, it was cooked rare! This was by far the highlight, although the steamed dumplings weren't too far behind and let The Chameleon reiterate, this was at a buffet. The rest of the food was of a high standard, the only thing letting the culinary experience down were flavourless prawns, but there was plenty to offset this small mishap. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A final note; the wine, while on the expensive side, was very nice and a great one on offer to diners. </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">OVERALL</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So this brings The Chameleon to an indifferent conclusion, a dilemma if you will. An outstanding buffet from the food perspective, the best ever actually. Offsetting this is the obvious by-product, a LOT of dinners and unfortunately, to such an extent that it was a significant annoyance. At a quality buffet, come people and come busyness. The cost too was high, something that entered the equation regarding the score. Something to think about Bazaar. 83/100 </span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-9492550570113946402013-05-28T17:33:00.003-07:002014-07-26T01:20:27.418-07:00Blue Edge Bakery (breakfast)<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Overall score: 59/100 </b><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Restaurant:</span><br />
<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/345/1648136/restaurant/Tasmania/East-Coast/Blue-Edge-Bakery-Bicheno"><img alt="Blue Edge Bakery on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1648136/minilink.gif" style="border: none; height: 36px; padding: 0px; width: 130px;" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />Breaking the gastronomical drought in the mornings is one of life's simple pleasures; whether it's a piece of toast with coffee or a full blown all day brekkie, you want to get it as right as possible. A bakery for instance, should allow you to do this, but on this particularly wonderful morning, The Chameleon was met with a slight drizzle of rain, rather than a full tzunami which he was expecting. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE EXPERIENCE</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Blue Edge Bakery is smack bang in the middle of Bicheno, a small sleepy 'weekend holiday' town on the east coast of that wonderful state, Tasmania. It presents very well, welcoming, clean and neat, well spaced out, although a distinct lack of seating. This is a small hindrance to the experience, as bakeries are not typically eat-in places, but in Bicheno, it was virtually the only place open. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The staff were friendly overall; there was a slight feeling of "let's get this order over and done with" but on this busy morning, it was understandable. And busy they were. During The Chameleon's time there, what seemed like at least a hundred people filed in and out, some staying for a meal, some picking up bread; the atmosphere on this morning was one of pleasant rush. </span><br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;">THE FOOD</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Chameleon ordered one of the breakfast based menu items, the name escapes him. After a somewhat longish wait (although bearable), a well presented plate arrived. This initially pleased The Chameleon; a lot of bakeries simple throw food at the plate, but here, it presented nicely. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The taste that followed was unfortunately unpleasant. Again, spinach, which The Chameleon loves soooo much, had absolutely no flavour! This is <a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/bistro-gitan.html" target="_blank">not the first time</a> this has happened; spinach NEEDS something else. It needs an edge to match that wonderful wilted texture. Alas, not today.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The mushrooms too, looked great. As The Chameleon brought it up to his mouth and began to chew, an unpleasant sliminess emerged. It was rather strange; it wasn't entirely from the mushrooms; it came in the form of a lemon dressing which made the acidity over-bearing to the point that I wanted to call out the owner, but, The Chameleon does not complain (until the review of course). The whole meal in-fact was very soggy, including the cardinal sin of placing the toast in a way that it pre-soaked into a gooey mess. LEss than happy Chameleon. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The highlight at The Chameleon's table was a sausage roll. It was a stock standard bakery style, there were the usual hints of seasoning that made it stand out from your typical take away offering. It was well executed and a total contrast to the main meal. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Finally, the coffee was passable, but by no means outstanding. The cost was slightly on the expensive side for a bakery and, considering The Chameleon's plate, there was no congruence between the quality and the prices.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Blue Edge Bakery is exactly that; a bakery. The attempt at making a cafe style breakfast backfired on this occasion. Stick to what you know best Blue Edge: pastry. 59/100 </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-36470453316569265772013-05-27T03:21:00.000-07:002014-06-01T06:40:47.596-07:00Cafe Greco<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Overall score: 71/100 </b><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Restaurant:</span><br />
<a href="http://www.cafegreco.com.au/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Website</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/71/760326/restaurant/Melbourne/South-Yarra-Toorak/Cafe-Greco-South-Yarra-South-Yarra"><img alt="Café Greco South Yarra on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/760326/minilink.gif" style="border: none; height: 36px; padding: 0px; width: 130px;" /></a>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>It's been a while now since The Chameleon put on his "now I'm a food critic" hat and the number of restaurants he has cast his eyes over in this role is growing by the day. It was no surprise then that an uneasy tenseness enveloped The Chameleon as he walked through the doors of Cafe Greco on Chapel Street in South Yarra.<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE EXPERIENCE</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The feeling came from the basic of basics; lighting. This particular diner was enveloped in a weird, soft but bright, dull but vibrant, interesting but uneasy, glow. The Chameleon can only describe it as "not right". It was bright, The Chameleon will concede. Bright to such a level that an absence of mood became apparent. BUT, at the same time, this absence of mood did just that....it created mood. Very difficult to explain, but perhaps more importantly, very difficult to not notice during the meal. The feeling of unease did subside throughout the evening and that is exactly why the experience of this long and narrow restaurant is difficult to summarise. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The staff were friendly and accommodating, a little bit clumsy with describing menu items, but again, nothing out of the mundane for what seems to be atypical service across most of Australia. But yes, smiling, friendly and doing their best. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;">THE FOOD</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Entrees were of a high standard; the Chameleon is noticing that most restaurants are seemingly getting this part of their meals right and so it was with Greco. A highlight here was definitely the garlic bread, one of the best he has ever eaten. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On The Chameleon's main dish plate, the risotto presented before him was actually of quite a high standard. This one was chunky, but in a good way, great balance of flavours and presented nicely. The finite balance between oily and creamy was achieved, the serving size was spot on. The Chameleon was finally happy after a bit of a wait (close to three weeks) for a decent main dish for dinner. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Chameleon was also able to sample one other dish; a lasagna. The easiest way to describe this disaster of a meal is for him to think of a "Black and Gold" lasagna. Go on, go and buy yourself one of these low cost frozen meals, whack it in the microwave and see what Cafe Greco serves up. It did present well and was of course thicker than that piece of frozen mundaneness, but the cheese and the textures were replicated here. Very much a disappointment. So it was lucky that, this time, a restaurant got it right on The Chameleon's plate. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The prices were on the steeper side but not too drastic and The Chameleon would happily pay for the delicious garlic bread and risotto again next time he is in Melbourne. Can he look past the lighting? That's a separate proposition.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cafe Greco did well overall. OK, the mood was unique, perhaps not to some people's liking, but others may enjoy the experience. The food overall, quite acceptable. The summary question is; would The Chameleon visit again? Hmmm....yes. 71/100 </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-50440721054497584312013-04-24T03:42:00.000-07:002014-07-26T01:20:10.465-07:00Burger Edge - St. Kilda Rd. (afternoon tea)<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Overall score: 57/100</b><b style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;"> </b><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Restaurant:</span><br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/BurgerEdge" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Facebook</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.burgeredge.com/" target="_blank">Website</a></span></div>
<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/71/1470795/restaurant/South-Yarra-Toorak/Burger-Edge-Melbourne"><img alt="Burger Edge on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1470795/minilink.gif" style="border: none; height: 36px; padding: 0px; width: 130px;" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Burgers are a staple these days for The Chameleon, especially for lunch; whenever he has a break, almost magically, a burger joint suddenly appears from nowhere. And this is exactly what happened with Burger Edge, a 'whole in the wall' like burger shop on St Kilda Road; strategically placed for the Chameleon and his mates to stop for a quick bite. It didn't turn out to be such a bad choice. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE EXPERIENCE</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Upon reaching the counter, The Chameleon had a very uncomfortable experience ordering his burger; the counter staff made him very confused with a myriad of options. He thought that by choosing a burger type from the well presented menu would be the end of it, but then there was additional questions (one at a time) of cheeses, sauces, buns, etc. etc....the Chameleon just wanted a burger, not 'Subway like' decision making. The shop presents as a buy and go, but it felt like minute after minute of answering one question after another to end up with a designer burger. The seating ended up under an umbrella which was not large enough to cover all of the group, but it was the only option after the minimal seating inside/attached was occupied.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;">THE FOOD</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The burgers, having arrived in decent packaging and presenting quite well, were large. The Chameleon had "The Okker". It was definitely enough to fill The Chameleon to the brim, the flavours were OK, but not quite memorable. The Chameleon has had larger burgers, more tasty burgers, more 'complete' burgers, but while it was evident that Burger Edge creates a premium product, the flavours were not exactly unique or interesting enough to draw The Chameleon back. The prices were however reasonable. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">OVERALL</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'm not sure if the gentleman behind the counter was having a bad day or if this is the usual service model Burger Edge will consistently push; if it is, there will be a continual stream of confused and (perhaps) slightly frustrated customers who just want a burger, not a questionnaire to pass an exam or somefink. 57/100 </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-52540300831017740512013-04-19T03:55:00.000-07:002014-06-01T06:41:16.089-07:00Signature Cafe (lunch)<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Overall score: 74/100</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Restaurant:</span></div>
<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/345/1648365/restaurant/Tasmania/Launceston/The-Signature-Cafe-George-Town"><img alt="The Signature Cafe on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1648365/minilink.gif" style="border: none; height: 36px; padding: 0px; width: 130px;" /></a>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Chameleon was in his territory in the wild wilderness that is Tasmania, but towards the northern tip near Launceston lies George Town, a quiet little sea-change town, struggling with the stigma of low socio-economic living, it's name tarnished possibly forever. It was thus such a surprise for The Chameleon that The Signature Cafe, open for lunch on this beautiful day presented a memorable dining experience. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE EXPERIENCE</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Signature Cafe opens from not only the main street of George Town, but also through a back entrance from the Woolworths car park, creating a long and narrow take away shop. It's hard to miss, the cafe looks rather unassuming from both entrances and a quick peek inside suggests nothing more than the typical fare you would come to expect in any Tasmanian take away...deep fried everything, with a hint of local produce. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This however, was a great misconception; upon entering, you begin to see some refinements, a hint of design thought even, a bit of quality. And then it hits you. The walls. Yes, the walls. Covering almost every nook and cranny of this place, are messages, some scribbled haphazardly, some that look like time was taken, some longer, some very short and some very creative. It's not often the Chameleon will say this, but the highlight was the rest room. He will just say he walked out of there inspired. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The staff were extremely helpful and made sure the Chameleon's crew was very comfortable; smiles all round. </span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;">THE FOOD</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Chameleon ordered a souvlaki and he also had an opportunity to sample some wedges. First the souvlaki. Look, the Chameleon will say it here and now, it's a bold and brave move to put this dish on the menu; souvlakis are typically either done very well, or very dismally. Surprisingly, this one was in the middle. While the lamb was nowhere near the type of lamb you get in souvlaki mad Melbourne, it wasn't totally horrible either. The filling was OK, the wrap was OK, the garlic sauce could have been better. But you know, it wasn't bad; it just wasn't "Melbourne standard".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The wedges. One word: WOW. The wedges were just right. Nice texture, great mixture of crunch and softness, great flavours lingering on. Well done Signature. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">OVERALL</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Signature cafe is worth your visit. The wedges easily took the meal over the line and the uniqueness of the 'signatures' is definitely worth a look. A must in northern Tasmania. 74/100 </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-62662557400332869582013-04-18T06:43:00.000-07:002014-06-01T06:41:26.957-07:00Bistro Gitan<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Overall score: 85/100</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Restaurant:</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.facebook.com/BistroGitan" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Facebook</span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.bistrogitan.com.au/" target="_blank">Website</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/71/1622559/restaurant/Melbourne/South-Yarra-Toorak/Bistro-Gitan-South-Yarra"><img alt="Bistro Gitan on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1622559/minilink.gif" style="border: none; height: 36px; padding: 0px; width: 130px;" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Oh Melbourne, how cultured, how divinely old and new, how wonderfully diverse is her weather. The Chameleon recently enjoyed another trip to this wonderful city that is the mecca of multiculturalism in Australia and so it was that the visit to this French inspired restaurant on Toorak Road reflected much of what this wonderfully contradictory city is all about. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE EXPERIENCE</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: left;">Bistro Gitan was </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: left;">(literally) </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: left;">only a stone throw from where The Chameleon was staying on this particular trip (if you throw the stone that is a little bit round and it rolls along a little, perhaps helped by some moisture on the footpath, and a good arm, but I digress) and having walked past it a couple of times on previous evenings, a peek through the windows was all that was needed to lure this little critter in for a visit. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: left;">The Chameleon was very, very glad he did, as Gitan excelled when it came to the atmosphere and, perhaps more importantly, created the type of mood that fits it's Melbourne location down to a tee; urban cool, old and new, simply brilliant. Any new restaurant looking to create that 'just right' ambiance should look no further than a visit to Bistro Gitan; wonderful use of textures and layout, mixed dining options (bar style/formal seating/group seating/casual/romantic are all options) and the lighting....oh the lighting was exquisite. How can lighting be exquisite The Chameleon hears you ask? Well, Gitan had successfully created an intimate, yet lively and adventurous mood by setting the brightness low, but with intense highlights and focal points with the employment of interesting lighting. In the past, The Chameleon has raved about the wonderful atmosphere created at Brisbane's </span><a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/verve-restaurant-bar-cider-house.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: left;" target="_blank">Verve Restaurant Bar Cider House</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: left;"> but Gitan has easily overshadowed that wonderful offering. Add to this the clever rich display of wine, artifacts, a creative bar, open see-through kitchen and music that worked a treat and you get one of the best ambiances you will find anywhere in Australia. It was no surprise that The Chameleon's group had a wonderful evening. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As The Chameleon's party walked through the door, the host/owner welcomed them in with a cheeky smile, and, without appearing desperate nor pretentious (but just letting the group know that he is doing us a small favour of some sort), he found us a table. The service continued to be quite acceptable throughout the night.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;">THE FOOD</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On this particular evening, the Chameleon was able to run his long sleek tongue across an escargot entree, two different types of steak (one a special, the other off the menu), as well as some delectable red wine that the Chameleon tried to match to the steak.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The escargot (read: snails) was good. The unique texture, which in this case resonated as a somewhat unusual mixture of thick snot, loose overcooked tripe and melted duck lard, was quite pleasant. The flavour from the accompanying sauce was overly buttery, and the escargot only just emerged on the palate; but it worked. So a decent start to the evening. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The mains were steak; Gitan did not get this right. The Chameleon's specials menu steak came out overcooked, definitely not medium rare. The texture too was overly dry and the flavour, passable if you were sitting in a pub. That's a bit harsh to be honest, but The Chameleon expected much higher considering the prices that were paid. The side of spinach that was ordered never really got past bland. It was...spinach; and nothing else, which came as a surprise since the robust full flavours of any steak will hide untouched spinach every time. A little garlic, some chilli perhaps, just SOMETHING to give it an edge of flavour, but nothing emerged. Unhappy Chameleon. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In stark contrast, the menu steak was absolutely spot on. Cooked as per ordered, it left The Chameleon yearning for someone else's meal. The meat was soft, flavoursome and looked outstanding on the plate. It didn't cost much more than the special and was by far the better choice. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So there was some inconsistency and, for the price the group ended up paying, this is reflected in the overall score. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A word on the drinks. Bistro Gitan is very much on the expensive side. You pay top dollar for beer. You pay top dollar for wine. The Chameleon paid top dollar for both. There are no cheap alternate offerings, no 'house wine' to quench your thirst. So expect to pay $40+ upward for a basic bottle of red. The French dry chosen by The Chameleon was a very unusual spicy merlot/shiraz style, not a bad drop, but there are better sub-$20 Aussie reds that you can pick up at a bottle-o. If you are interested, there is a very good selection of premiums, reaching over $500 per bottle, which The Chameleon can not comment on for various obvious reasons.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">OVERALL</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Wow, what a glorious bistro! Highly impressive atmosphere/setup, in fact, would visit again for this singular fact alone, but there were some deficiencies in The Chameleon's meal. Getting it right on one plate is fine, but to appease this reptile, it must count on his plate. Pricey for food, a bargain for the atmosphere. 85/100 </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-34234155977551839962013-04-12T21:00:00.000-07:002014-07-26T01:28:19.894-07:00Toowoomba Hong Kong Chinese<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Overall score: 68/100</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Restaurant:</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.facebook.com/TOHKCR?sk=wall" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Facebook</a></div>
<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/350/1608619/restaurant/Queensland/Toowoomba-Hong-Kong-Chinese-Restaurant-Toowoomba"><img alt="Toowoomba Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1608619/minilink.gif" style="border: none; height: 36px; padding: 0px; width: 130px;" /></a>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;">An urbanspoon highly rated Asian influenced restaurant in Toowoomba is the very well positioned Toowoomba Hong Kong Chinese, residing in the town's feeble attempt at a mall, albeit, visible from Ruthven Street. The restaurant appears very inviting to the passer by, lots of colours drawing you inside. The Chameleon couldn't resist to try it's delights, and, after a less than satisfactory first visit over a year ago, he was hoping that this time around things might be different; and to some extent, they were. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;"> On first impressions, Toowoomba Hong Kong Chinese presents very well; on this busy night, the crowd seemed cheerful and happy, the ambience was one of relaxed dining, although the music was very very soft in the background; not enough to create a privacy screen for chit chat. The room was decorated as you would expect for such a place; Asian influences evident around the room, but apart from a fish tank in the corner that looked quite interesting, the rest was 'stock standard' basic Chinese. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;"> As The Chameleon sat down to begin his dining adventure, the staff were initially very helpful and attentive; unfortunately this lasted only until the drinks were bought out. As The Chameleon mentioned earlier, over a year ago, a visit here was less than satisfactory, the main cause being the service and the time for the meals to be delivered to the table. It looks like that time has done no favours, as the service faltered not once, not twice , but over and over again during The Chameleon's visit. Initially, after being seated promptly and attending to the group's needs, the waitress quite simply forgot about us! The Chameleon waited patiently for a while, it was the least he could do on a busy night, but when the waitress begins clearing tables while diners (not just us) were still sitting there without menus, it is an unfortunate mistake. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;"> Following this mishap, the orders were subsequently taken quickly, but then a lengthy wait ensued. For the meal that eventually landed in front of The Chameleon, the delays didn't amount to flavour at the table. Furthermore to these 'mistakes', were two glaringly obvious shortfalls. One of the waiters was dressed very much like a call-in; a raggedy shirt, shorts and to top it all off, flip-flops! The final inconvenience presented itself in terms of what The Chameleon refers to as a "dump table"; a table housing serviettes, cutlery, table cloths etc. etc. that is often seen in restaurants pushed for space. While dump tables are not necessarily a dilemma they are when it's placed in front of the restaurant's visual focal point; the fish tank. Having got up to observe the koi swimming around majestically, The Chameleon had to negotiate the Toowoomba Hong Kong Chinese's dump table. A less than adequate start. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 20px;"><span style="line-height: 130%;"> Toowoomba Hong Kong Chinese raised its score once the meals began pouring out. As an example, the Tom Yum chicken soup entree was very flavoursome. There were some tiny lime pieces which littered the bottom of the bowl and The Chameleon unfortunately chewed on some of these during some of the last spoonfuls. These could have been larger and hence easier to spot and remove, but overall, a great soup. The BBQ Pork Noodles too were great. Good balance between ingredients, subtle flavours which worked well. These dishes have saved an otherwise dismal score from The Chameleon. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 20px; line-height: 130%;"> The Mongolian Beef dish was marginal. The sauce texture was inconsistent, sometimes gluggy to the point that it diminished the textures, and once again, the over-use of salt before it arrived at the table dimmed what would have otherwise been a shining beef dish. Another unfortunate part of the meal was that, once again, the </span><span style="font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px;">lacklustre</span><span style="font-size: 20px; line-height: 130%;"> service resulted in our waitress forgetting the group's rice. While free fortune cookies were a slight attempt to make-up for the inconvenience of the night, even some of these were stale to top off a forgetful experience. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 20px; line-height: 130%;"> Atypical Chinese restaurant food, with unfortunately dismal service. While not being particularly costly, the food saved Toowoomba Hong Kong Chinese from a very low score; it was rather difficult to look past it's shortcomings. 68/100 </span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-66431988412758178382013-03-02T16:40:00.000-08:002014-06-01T06:41:48.670-07:00Highfields Tavern (lunch)<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Overall score: 51/100</b><br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/350/1360540/restaurant/Queensland/Toowoomba/Highfields-Tavern-Highfields"><img alt="Highfields Tavern on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1360540/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; padding: 0px; width: 104px;" /></a>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />Highfields. The ever-growing utopian suburbia spreading it's wings, the symbol of 'modern living' in the Toowoomba region, the epitome of high brow. But in the centre of all this modern residential growth lies a very un-modern and unassuming shopping center, anchored by Woolies, with the only noticeable dining seemingly belonging to Macdonald's and recently, the addition of a few take away joints hoping for flow on from the multinational. Across the road is a pub. The Highfields Tavern. No surprises there. What was a surprise it that it rated a mention on urbanspoon and hence The Chameleon slinked his way into the car park ready to quench his hunger (and thirst) at the attached bistro. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE EXPERIENCE</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As the Chameleon exited his car, the unfortunate experience of stepping onto broken glass initially curbed his enthusiasm for the experience that was about to follow. No doubt a lively evening before may have been the catalyst for this unpleasantry; surely a blower in the morning would have taken care of such annoyances to the daytime customers, but alas, beware with kids. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Upon entering, Highfields Tavern appeared very much like any suburban tavern, with a welcoming pub and a vast eating area at the back. Having visited <a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/crazy-galaghers.html" target="_blank">Crazy Galagher's</a> in Wilsonton not long ago, it was easy to make comparisons to what is basically a very similar venue, with a very similar target market and, surprisingly an almost identical menu. It dawned on The Chameleon that perhaps these establishments are in fact linked, possibly even managed, by the same entity. He did notice that the pie ordered at Galagher's was on the menu here as well, so this time round, it was time to see if they can deliver on a decent 'lunch special'. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In all honesty, Galagher's was way better; the kids area was ten times as good and the spread-out spacious nature of the large room left it with no atmosphere to speak of. A lonely television was playing a lackluster daytime TV drama from the 70s; not exactly augmenting the mood. None-the-less, it was what it was and, for a suburban bistro, satisfactorily acceptable. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The food ordered was delivered very quickly. Almost too quickly. Freshness questioningly quick.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE FOOD</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The Chameleon ordered the lunch steak (slightly cheaper than the standard steak), and he was also able to sample a steak sandwich and children's menu nuggets from within the group of lizards that the Chameleon was with on this occasion. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Keeping in mind that The Chameleon is a food critic, sampling some very fine steak in the past, keeping in mind that this was a suburban bistro, AND, keeping in mind that this was a 'lunch steak', it was no surprise that it was barely on par with the steak he sampled at the atypical country pub that was the <a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/pioneer-arms-hotel-goombungee-lunch.html" target="_blank">Pioneer Hotel</a>. The mind boggles when you consider that, </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">in Highfields of all places, the bistro</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> plated up this very, very ordinary piece of flesh. It was overdone, above even the 'well-done' level. Let The Chameleon be clear, he loves well-done steak (charcoal-ed in fact is one of his favourites), he really does, but it is not his preference, and when a bistro goes to the unfulfillable effort of asking how you want it cooked, you expect medium-rare; it's like asking for a cappuccino with two sugars and getting a short black with no sugar. A message for virtually all bistros: </span><u style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">please do not</u><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> ask a customer how he/she/it wants his/her/its steak. You and The Chameleon know that it will be well-done every time. Not that there is anything wrong with well-done, but for the love of god, do not ask!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So, a less than satisfactory steak. The chips too, pub standard, uninspiring. However, there was a very surprising highlight on The Chameleon's plate! The salad dressing that was poured over a very fresh salad was brilliant. The Chameleon is not sure whether it was just the right amount, or whether it was some special in-house sauce or whether it was out of a No-Frills bottle, but whatever it was, it worked well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Diane sauce, as it is in many places, was passable, but definitely not from scratch and did not differ from the atypical lackluster average offerings elsewhere. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Upon sampling the steak sandwich, The Chameleon approved. It was of a nice consistency, the steak was soft, the overall package was in-fact moreish. The children's nuggets too were 'real' and cooked well. So the Highfields Tavern did some of the food well, but where it counted the most (on The Chameleon's plate), it fell quite short.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">OVERALL</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Highfields Tavern had so much potential. New-ish establishment, plenty of space to do something interesting, plenty of time to get the meals right on this slow lunch afternoon. Yet the overall feeling when walking away reiterated to The Chameleon exactly what he was thinking when he saw that lunch time steak; we came, we ate, we will eat somewhere else next time. 51/100</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-6519370777281707332013-02-25T01:58:00.000-08:002014-06-01T06:42:00.703-07:00Verve Restaurant Bar Cider House<div>
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<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Overall score: 90/100</b><br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/337/1361242/restaurant/Brisbane-CBD/Verve-Restaurant-Bar-Cider-House-Brisbane"><img alt="Verve Restaurant Bar Cider House on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1361242/minilink.gif" style="border: none; height: 36px; padding: 0px; width: 130px;" /></a>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />Verve Restaurant Bar and Cider House has the unfortunate label of being the highest rated Brisbane CBD restaurant on urbanspoon and hence, expectations were very high for The Chameleon when a glimpse of a chance to dine presented itself one day.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE EXPERIENCE</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Verve is located a very short walk from Queen Street Mall and hence it's central CBD location means it's within easy reach of anyone visiting. Quite unlike many restaurants in Queensland, the Verve has the romantic 'down in the cellar' feel as you walk through the darkly lit staircase and descend into the pit. For The Chameleon, this was akin to coming home to his beloved holiday home in a hole, which instantly created a mood of warmth and security. The red theme which welcomes visitors creates just the right amount of dark mood, as the paint was neither too bright nor too dark, you can tell someone put some thought and effort into this decor. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Chameleon was greeted by a very friendly hostess and was shown to an appropriate table; it was as if she read The Chameleon's mind to remain hidden and chose the table accordingly. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To be honest, the atmosphere was quite good. A large group was also dining this evening and it filled the room with a fair amount of cheerful laughter and the clinking and clanking of cutlery. As much as all this jolly spirit added to the mood, at times, it also became a bit over bearing. The room 'echoed' and bellowed with the sounds, almost like some sort of out of tune orchestra practicing for the recital, but someone turned up the amps. This was only a minor niggly distraction however, and overall, the Chameleon could see one of his business dinners taking place here in the future. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE MEAL</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Verve excelled here. While the menu was extensive and offered plenty of variety, the waitress recommended the blue cheese risotto which, upon reaching the table, was presented simply but effectively. The ring of red sauce around the edge was a nice touch and the package in front of the Chameleon said "Go on now, dig in!" The multi-leveled flavours on the palate showed the craftsmanship of the dish, although The Chameleon did note that it was very salty overall. Luckily, the hostess also recommended a nice glass of dry wine which balanced out the saltiness, but The Chameleon was somewhat disappointed. Salt, being a flavour enhancer, needs to be used sparingly</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> in the kitchen, and then to taste by the diner; a meal should never present salty. Overall, bar the above, this risotto was exceptional. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The overall price was very reasonable, in fact, tending on 'cheap food' level. The staff alone made the experience, tending to The Chameleon's needs and whims in a flash, with repeated visits to the table to see how the meal was, if he needed anything, and at one point, The Chameleon was thinking they may even ask him if he wanted a massage. This service was on par with the best he has received in Australia. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">OVERALL</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Verve Restaurant and Cider House is a very well executed dining experience, with a mood and ambiance that deserves a visit alone, augmented by outstanding service. The food was very very tasty, but the unfortunate over use of the salt detracted from the experience. Does it deserve the highest urbanspoon score for the Brisbane CBD? Yes, yes it does. 90/100 </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-68569052961201511752013-02-23T21:16:00.000-08:002014-06-01T06:42:11.058-07:00Hog's Breath Cafe Toowoomba (Lunch)<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Overall score: 66/100</b><b style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;"> </b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.hogsbreath.com.au/" target="_blank">Website</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/hogsbreathtoowoomba" target="_blank">Facebook</a></span></div>
<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/350/1360544/restaurant/Queensland/Hogs-Breath-Cafe-Toowoomba-Toowoomba"><img alt="Hog's Breath Cafe Toowoomba on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1360544/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; padding: 0px; width: 104px;" /></a>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Just by a happy coincidence, a very hungry Chameleon had a chance to revisit Hog's Breath Cafe in Toowoomba for the third time in his slippery slimy little life. It was lunch time, it wasn't The Chameleon's choice, but being in a group and having his meal shouted for him, The Chameleon happily crawled along to this very well known franchise at the end of Russell Street, not far from the Toowoomba CBD. In fact, it's really walking distance from Ruthven, but the location (again) is away from any 'dining precincts' as such, and The Chameleon is beginning to wonder if such a place even exists in Toowoomba.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE EXPERIENCE</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hog's Breath Cafe is a very popular restaurant. Let's face it, if you get your meal within the hour, you are probably doing well and in Toowoomba, the last two visits by the Chameleon resulted in lengthy waiting times. This time however, considering the size of the group that the Chameleon was with, the service was brilliant. Usually, drinks are well and truly finished before the food makes it onto the table, but upon arrival, the group entrees were ALREADY on the table. "Boss Hog Mushies" and garlic and herb bread greeted the, "we'll eat a horse each" crowd. They were OK, not bad for appetizers although, as tasty as the mushrooms were (and deep fried 'just right'), they were a bit cold when The Chameleon was able to sample them. The mains were delivered well within what The Chameleon deems acceptable, especially for a large group as this one was.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The setting was as you would expect from Hog's Breath; raw, nostalgic, but tough and ready for whatever crowd were to visit. The furniture is rugged and the effort to mirror it's corporate image of a 'steakhouse for a football team' works in it's favour. In fact, The Chameleon could almost smell the various spilled beverages (of which 95% would of course be beer) from the previous night's festivities. The reality is, this is what you should expect here and, delightfully in some sense, it is what you get. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE FOOD</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Chameleon chose the aptly named "Serious Steak Burger". Although at the time he did not know it, it was to be the most expensive burger he had ever eaten at $19.95. Framed by this thought during this reflection, The Chameleon can not but wonder how this burger ended up this expensive. Yes, it came with the very delicious curly fries (and they were very good indeed) and yes, the burger itself tasted awesome and even the chilli edge was spot on, but $19.95? Similar burgers can be had in most take-aways for $8-$12 and you could charge maybe $3 for the fries, so this means, really $11-$15 would of made sense. Hog's Breath would of course say "oh yes, but our burgers have double steak and double cheese". Unfortunately, the 'steak' was two thinly sliced pieces (very much tasty), instead of the 'piece of thick juicy tender steak' as one would imagine in a burger of this charge, and to be honest, who actually wants/notices double cheese on such a burger? Overall, The Chameleon was quite satisfied with the burger and it had that wonderfully grilled onion edge that is the signature of Hog's Breath, but would he spend the money again on the Seriously Expensive Steak Burger? Probably not, as a short walk and $11 get's you a much larger and much more unique burger at <a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/phat-burgers.html" target="_blank">Phat Burgers</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">OVERALL</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hog's Breath Toowoomba stays true to the franchise niche and delivered positively on much of the experience, including excellent customer service this time around. The food was OK, but the prices are on the steep side for what is basically an upmarket raw-edged premium McDonald's when it comes to their burgers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Chameleon is mindful that in the past, a visit to a Hog's Breath in Brisbane delivered one of the finest steaks he had ever sampled, and that must be kept in mind when looking at this overall score, as the burgers probably do not truly reflect the quality that Hog's Breath is capable of on a good day. 66/100 </span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-39339558792092272212013-02-23T21:10:00.002-08:002014-06-01T06:42:25.176-07:00Carousel<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Overall score: 59/100</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carousel-Restaurant-Toowoomba/176231115727116" target="_blank">Facebook</a></span><br />
<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/350/1360256/restaurant/Queensland/Toowoomba/Carousel-East-Toowoomba"><img alt="Carousel on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1360256/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; padding: 0px; width: 104px;" title="" /></a>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />Restaurants come in many guises and Carousel is, in a typical way for many regional restaurants, one of those that is semi-detached to a motel. Carousel is simply a rather small dining room, fitted with very simple decor and a number of separate dining areas allowing reconfiguration for groups large or small, for casual dining or even for those who are interested in hiding a little bit in a corner somewhere and not draw attention. A bit like The Chameleon. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE EXPERIENCE</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First impressions were not positive. While The Chameleon is sure the motel is a very nice place to stay overnight, the Carousel restaurant is small and appears 'intimate', but it just doesn't work. There is hardly any parking, yet the Chameleon has never had trouble finding a spot to park his ride (this was approximately his fourth visit), confirming that Carousel is the type of restaurant where you probably don't need to make reservations. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The staff were excellent. 'Chirpy' is the only way The Chameleon can describe the overall vibe from the waitresses, and the waitress who served The Chameleon did a very good job recommending dishes. Carousel presents as simple and uncomplicated, and although this can be an advantage for some venues, the small size of this restaurant required further thought into the decor. While there were some things to look at around the room, and the chandeliers added a touch of class, the lighting was just all wrong and the overall feel suffered as a consequence of this simple approach</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE FOOD</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It pains The Chameleon to say that once again, a Toowoomba based restaurant has delivered uninspiring and discordant food. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Things started well; the entrees were presented briskly, getting The Chameleon's hopes up that he may finally give away his third <a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/search/label/80-90%20Score" target="_blank">80-90 score</a> for Toowoomba. And they tasted good, very good in fact. While simple and 'no frills', The Chameleon's taste buds soared when he sampled the very well made bruschetta; it was fresh, the right acidity, the right amount. If the meal had finished then and there, The Chameleon would have walked away a very happy camper. Unfortunately, some disappointments followed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Chameleon ordered the special, which on this particular day was the salmon. The Chameleon often orders this, as it's a great litmus test for most restaurants. It was somewhat pricey on the menu, but then again, so is everything else at Carousel. When it did come to the table, the waitress remembered where I sat (and obviously what I ordered) and kudos again to the friendly staff. The salmon was actually quite good in places. The skin was crispy and 'just right', but the flesh of the fish was cooked inconsistently. Some parts were nice and juicy, while some of it was way overcooked. The sides were minimalist and when you see a small piece of fish, you expect some fill; The Chameleon did not get his money's worth on this night. Unfortunately there was very little and regrettably nothing outstanding on the plate. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When the dessert was sampled, The Chameleon's heart sunk, as he knew the final score would not equate to that wonderful bruschetta at the start of the evening. The dessert, which The Chameleon won't name (because he has forgotten what it was called), was very poor. Dry was the only way to describe the biscuit portion and there was not much of the ice cream to balance it out. In retrospect, had he </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">covered the biscuits with the ice cream and </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">waited slightly longer, it may have worked, but seriously, The Chameleon does not go to restaurants</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> to cook, that's the Chef's job!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">OVERALL</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Carousel started promising little, rose to great heights early on, but unfortunately faded somewhat dismally by the end of the evening. The food was barely</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> passable and hence very much overpriced for what The Chameleon consumed over the evening. Another case of an expensive 'once visit' motel restaurant in regional Queensland. 59/100</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-49580266081459410342013-02-14T23:31:00.000-08:002014-06-01T06:42:37.694-07:00The Everest Spice (Takeaway)<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Overall score: 69/100 (take-away adjusted)</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.theeverestspice.com.au/" target="_blank">Website</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Indian-Restaurants-The-Everest-Spice-Tandoori-Curry-House/311736538890964" target="_blank">Facebook</a></span><br />
<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/350/1539417/restaurant/Queensland/The-Everest-Spice-Tandoori-and-Curry-House-Toowoomba"><img alt="The Everest Spice Tandoori and Curry House on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1539417/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; padding: 0px; width: 104px;" /></a>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />There is no doubt that most people in Australia (and for that matter, England) have at least once in their lifetime, dined on Indian take away. There are so many littered throughout this great country that inevitably you will find yourself trying a korma or a butter chicken, along with a yummy garlic naan and so forth. This was the exact predicament The Chameleon found himself in not long ago; a visit to The Everest Spice, another one of Toowoomba's highly recommended Indian offerings. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE EXPERIENCE</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Everest Spice, as it seems is often the case for Toowoomba take-away restaurants, is located in a less than ideal location, squeezed in next to a Chemist at the top part of Margaret Street, away from the main action of Ruthven. It looks very much like a take away and this became very evident when The Chameleon saw that there were no table cloths and no particular effort to dress up the little restaurant. The Chameleon will guess and say that The Everest Spice has become such a busy take away that those who opt to dine-in become more of an inconvenience than the staple. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But this critique is not about the dine-in experience; no, it's about the take away butter</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> chicken, Rogan josh, the accompanying rice and a plain and garlic naan. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Chameleon had high expectations of Everest. The fact that he had to wait for over 40 minutes from when entering the restaurant, to when he got in his car to drive back to the tree house (and repeating the order to the kitchen hand twice after the initial order) wasn't even a major issue, The Chameleon could see they were busy and doing their best. Another kitchen hand/front counter person wouldn't have hurt though, especially on this busy night. Just a small side note; it's great to see the owner of such a busy place working in the kitchen and not barking orders at kitchen staff from the front. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE FOOD</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The only word that justifies the overall Everest Spice meal was 'inconsistent'. It pains The Chameleon to say this, but unfortunately it is true. As you may have read in past reviews, the option of choice for The Chameleon is butter chicken and The Everest Spice has done what <a href="http://thechameleonfoodcritic.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/chutney-mary-take-away.html" target="_blank">Chutney Mary</a> did not too long ago; delivered a very, very good butter chicken. It had all the character of a beautiful sweet sauce, succulent melt-in-your-mouth chicken with that slightly smoky/charcoal tandoor edge; The Chameleon will be honest, apart from the slight over sweetness, it was exquisite. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The rice too was very nice; not too soggy, not too dry. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It was thus a great shame that the Rogan josh and the naan bought the overall experience back to "average". </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Rogan josh had just the right amount of heat for a 'medium' curry, but the sauce was very salty and the lamb was dry, the pieces too large. This was definitely not a more-ish dish; it just didn't work. The naan, both of them, were under-cooked, undersized (in terms of thickness) and very floury overall. The Chameleon has had much better naan in various places, especially the garlic variety, he could hardly notice the garlic. Such a shame after the spectacular opening of the butter chicken.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">OVERALL</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Everest Spice has unfortunately displayed what so many restaurants do; doing an outstanding job on one dish, yet making a horrible mess of another. Such a shame (The Chameleon thinks he has already said this), as he would go back again and again just for the awesomeness of the butter chicken. The Chameleon hopes to sample The Everest again and report back soon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">69/100 </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-86753273355359598412013-02-07T02:09:00.000-08:002014-06-01T06:42:48.923-07:00Chipper Fish<div>
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<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Overall score: 81/100</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Restaurant:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.chipperfish.com.au/" target="_blank">Website</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chipper-Fish/290505197656781" target="_blank">Facebook</a></span><br />
<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/350/1649653/restaurant/Queensland/Chipper-Fish-Toowoomba" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Chipper Fish on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1649653/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; padding: 0px; width: 104px;" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Going to a 'fish and chip' shop is often associated with good old fashioned greasy chips, heavily battered fish and wedges of lemon, eating out of paper wrapping next to a beautiful beach. It is thus very difficult to refer to Chipper Fish as a 'fish and chip' shop, as this title is just a very clever disguise, much like The Chameleon's, as all is not what it seems in this little shop in Toowoomba. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE EXPERIENCE</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Chipper Fish is a highly rated 'fish and chips' shop in a small shopping complex not far from the Toowoomba CBD, but by no means walking distance. Very much a small hole in the wall, Chipper Fish is wedged into your typical suburban shopping complex and The Chameleon noticed that the store didn't even get a mention on the large display board with the names of all the businesses protruding onto Drayton Road. This, The Chameleon believes, is a big mistake made by the managers of the complex, as this petite gastronomic marvel is the highlight. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The shop itself is unfortunately positioned in such a location that there is no doubt, it hinders it's potential. A fish and chip shop like this on Ruthven Street, or even in the Brisbane CBD, would have people lining up for miles and miles (that's right, miles) as the dishes claimed to be your typical 'fish and chips' from here would sit very well indeed in any of Brisbane's finest restaurants.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The shop itself is neat, but simple, a black fish sculpture is a vague attempt at creating a nautical feel and a few fishing and boating magazines also helped, but seriously it could do with a decor make over yesterday. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The menu was very well presented. Retro cool, great colours, simple and easy, not overloaded with too many choices, basically perfect. The Chameleon</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> found it hard not to chuckle at the "Carnival Treats" title given to the usual deep fried food that you can purchase if your heart desires.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There was one area that unfortunately reduced what was a very pleasant experience, to a mediocre sit down; a TV, positioned above the drinks fridge was on ABC, turned to such a volume that it was neither audible, yet loud enough to be an annoyance. It was also angled awkwardly. A simple replacement of a slightly larger wall mounted unit, or even a small boombox serenading the dinners with cool laid back tunes would create an ambiance worthy of possibly staying to enjoy your meal, but as is, perhaps the TV could be turned off. This shop is unfortunately just the local "fish and chip" joint and in it's current location will no doubt serve 95% take-away and perhaps remain that little bit hidden from the potential monopoly it could have in any decent busy dining location. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE FOOD</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Let's get this straight: Chipper Fish is not a 'fish and chip' shop. It is a restaurant in disguise, serving up deliciousness in a flimsy paper box. No fanfare, no fancy packaging, just a lot of heart and soul going into what matters the most; great tasting fish. And The Chameleon could really go on and on about the grilled barramundi in his "Queenslander Pack", it was perfect in texture, taste and seasoning. PERFECT. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Chameleon was highly impressed from the first bite. The coconut encrusted prawns were a taste sensation and the Cesar salad side dish, while not very impressive, was adequate to moisten the mouthfuls (though, the fancy hard/soft croutons were quite good here). The pineapple fritter was also very well presented, with the slight acidity retained in the pineapple, and the batter, again, unique and very suitable. Perhaps a slight disappointment were the chips; although in a typical take-away they would more than suffice, they simply did not live up to the high quality of the perfectly grilled fish, prawns and pineapple fritter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A nice little touch was a piece of grease-proof paper between the chips and the fish sitting above; you won't get a soggy mess of chips from Chipper. Well done. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">OVERALL</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Chipper Fish deserves all the raving reviews for it's cuisine; the fish was simply superb, the uniqueness of it's side flavours very tasty and overall everything was top notch. It is a pity though that this little hidden restaurant exists only for take-aways, spending very little effort on dining or drawing in a loyal sit-down crowd. The location is atrocious and the effort going into setting up for dining was poor. Do yourself a favour Chipper: move to a decent location on Ruthven. 87/100 </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7359443025489689928.post-44129358343807512112013-02-07T02:02:00.004-08:002014-06-01T06:43:10.203-07:00Milano (breakfast)<b style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Overall score: 49/100 </b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Restaurant:</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/337/1360785/restaurant/Brisbane-CBD/Milano-Brisbane"><img alt="Milano on Urbanspoon" src="http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/logo/1360785/biglogo.gif" style="border: none; height: 34px; padding: 0px; width: 104px;" /></a>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once in a while The Chameleon is spoiled for choice and on this particular morning in Brisbane's CBD, he was lurking to try to find a place with a decent coffee and a hearty breakfast to fuel his day. After seeking the advice of urbanspoon, and coming up short on a few venues, time was getting to be an issue so he sat down at Milano, right in Queens Street Mall. Having only ever eaten once in the Mall, he thought it may be time to 'risk' the experience again and, not heeding the advice of the lowly 53% like rating on urbanspoon, he asked for a seat. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE EXPERIENCE</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Of course the location is top notch, that is why it was initially chosen. Queen Street Mall is centrally positioned, handy to everything and smack bang right there, a bar-like semi-open eatery with stool type seating, as well as proper swanky tables. At first all was well. Initial impressions were very good, the place was neat, the Mall was relatively empty and the staff were somewhat helpful. Showing The Chameleon to one of the stool-seat tables was however, the start of a downward spiral that indeed confirmed Milano's low urbanspoon score was deserved. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The waitress could have offered either type of seating; it doesn't take much to ensure the customer is happy, but alas, The Chameleon was directed to a high chair. She must have been having a miserable day as, although smiling on a few occasions, like when The Chameleon paid his bill, she moped around the entire time with such a distasteful look on her face, The Chameleon was definitely put off, though, as is usual, he was able to disguise his true feelings and weathered the negative charade. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is often the small things such as this that can turn a meal and The Chameleon hopes that the owner of Milano isn't stuck for waitress choice, because this girl definitely had to go. She rushed about like the world was on fire totally unnecessarily and, as should be the norm in the competitive dining of the CBD, never asked how his meal was. Small things Milano.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE FOOD</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Milano does itself very little favours with its food. Admittedly, the presentation was quite nice, the rectangular plate presented well and apart from hiding one of the pieces of bread under almost all of the other ingredients, The Chameleon was ready to dive in; it looked quite appetising.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">From the first bite, the issues began. The bread was, unfortunately very hard. Typically this is not a problem IF there is something to soak up, but to digest two large thick pieces of fancy toast made the Chameleon feel like this meal was going to be a chore. Thankfully, the second 'hidden' piece did absorb some of the moisture from the mushrooms, so about one quarter of it was at least digestible towards the end. The mushrooms were also passable. Everything else on the plate was unfortunately a disappointment. The eggs came out with an inconsistent texture; some parts were great, but overall it was a bit mish-mash. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The tomato was a tomato, the bacon underdone. But the worst part of the meal was the coffee. Now, The Chameleon doesn't pretend to be a coffee expert, in fact he can't really tell the difference between milk first then water and the other way around. He drinks it with sugar; and lots of it. But even he can tell when a coffee tastes watered down. This is a significant mistake for a breakfast; a coffee served in the morning should be robust and sharp, you know, give you a kick. The coffee at Milano's may have flied as a soft afternoon cuppa, but not in the morning. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">To round out the experience nicely, when presented with the bill, The Chameleon noticed it was a $20 breakfast! Sure, the location may warrant a larger increase, but to put it on the specials board (without the cost) and then charge $20 was very rude. $15 would have been pushing it and realistically, considering the quality, it was a $13 meal. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">OVERALL</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">CBD dining can be a bit hit and miss and unfortunately Milano is a miss, by quite a margin. The combination of poor coffee, inconsistent food and a waitress on speed who woke up on the wrong side of the bed (but managed to smile now and again) added up to a breakfast The Chameleon will only remember to try to forget. 49/100 </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0