A different view outside a different window, although the weather is very similar. Hello from Sydney, where i’ll be working for the next week.

The day was busy, and the time passed quickly. After asking a few co-workers about a restaurant they’d recommend, I decided that tonight we’d try out Nakashima Japanese Restaurant, at The Rocks.

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Affordable, Ambience, Asian, Casual, Ethnicity, Japanese, Pricing | Add a Comment »

On Saturday we went to Shark Fin House with two friends, Jin and Kian.

I rang up at 10am, expecting them to be booked out, but they had some room available for their late (1.30) session.

The only trouble with having yum-cha on a Saturday is finding a park. Most parks are 1 hour limit, and you normally need at least 1 1/2 hours to have a nice relaxed yum-cha. We were lucky and found a 2 hour park at the top end of Exhibition St, and filled the $3.50-per-hour meter with coins.

We got to Shark Fin on time, and joined the queue in the (cramped) foyer. Then, once the lift arrived back at ground, we were told to go to L2. So we crammed in the lift with everyone else.

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Affordable, Ambience, Asian, Casual, Chinese, Ethnicity, Family, Pricing | 2 Comments »

Recently, we took a trip to Sydney and I insisted on taking Louis to this restaurant my friends took me to last time I visited - Ichiban Boshi.

Situated nextdoor to Kinokuniya in The Galeries Victoria (opposite the massive Queen Victoria Building), Ichiban Boshi commands an exceptionally brisk trade. In peak times, you take a number, and wait. And listen carefully for your number to be called, which can take anything upto half an hour - but it’s worth the wait.

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Ambience, Asian, Casual, Cheap, Ethnicity, Japanese, Pricing | Add a Comment »

Once again, we set out in search of a decent place to have dinner. Tonight, we visited Golden Orchids, who proclaim to have been the first Malaysian restaurant in Melbourne.

This two-storey eatery, open since 1973, boasts three claims to fame: Its ’signature dish’, the Malaysian Chilli Prawns, its range of Malaysian Curries, and its Satays.

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Affordable, Ambience, Asian, Casual, Chinese, Ethnicity, Malaysian, Medium, Pricing | 13 Comments »

On Saturday I didn’t feel like cooking dinner, so I rang John & Robert to see if they wanted to eat out somewhere with us. I decided we’d go somewhere a bit different, and I had Nyala African Restaurant in mind.

I rang and attempted to book, but was told they were already booked out - but if I rang back in half an hour, he’d confirm some bookings to see if he had any cancellations. Wow, Nyala’s certainly become busier than when I last visited, which was a couple of years ago. I rang back, and we were in luck, so I booked us in for 7.30.

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Affordable, African, Ambience, Casual, Ethnicity, Medium, Pricing | 2 Comments »

Last night, we went to Spicy Fish in Little Bourke St. We’ve walked past a few times lately, and it always seemed packed. So we thought either the food must be good and customers keep coming back, or a lot of people go there wondering the same thing as ourselves.

After being shown to our seats near the rear of the restaurant, we were presented with a substantial menu, and a laminated ‘Specials’ leaflet. The waitress fetched us two glasses and a bottle of chilled water, and left us to decide.

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Affordable, Ambience, Asian, Casual, Chinese, Ethnicity, Pricing | 6 Comments »

Last Tuesday we went to Spaghetti Tree for dinner. Situated close to the top of Bourke St, this restaurant has been open for many years, and has a regular clientele.

I’d previously been here a couple of years ago with some friends on a Friday night, and they had a guy playing the piano as the live entertainment / background music. I’m not sure if they still do that, or maybe it only happens on the busy nights.

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Ambience, Casual, Ethnicity, European, Family, Italian, Medium, Pricing, Western | 3 Comments »

Post-Mao Cafe is a quaint, brightly painted restaurant situated toward the top end of Melbourne’s Chinatown. Normally, we stay clear of places that have someone out the front trying to coax people inside - as I figure if they need that, they can’t be very good.

But a few groups of people seemed to be heading in without needing any persuasion, so we decided to give it a go as well.

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Ambience, Asian, Casual, Chinese, Ethnicity, Medium, Pricing | 4 Comments »

Minh Tan II is a Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant in Richmond. I had never actually been inside, but i’d walked past this restaurant many times on my way to my regular haunt, about half a block further down Victoria St.

Two friends if ours, John & Robert, asked us out to dinner. We decided that we would visit Minh Tan II, after Robert mentioned the food he’d eaten on previous occasions was fantastic.

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Affordable, Ambience, Asian, Casual, Chinese, Ethnicity, Family, Pricing, Vietnamese | 1 Comment »