GIARDINETTO RESTAURANT

Despite the pouring rain, Tracy and I ventured out (by bus) to Darlinghurst, navigating our way to Giardinetto Restaurant. We had called ahead for a booking only to be told by the fast speaking Italian gentleman that answered the phone that he could be full but didn't have the book so we should call back in five minutes. We called back and though we were able to get a booking, were told that our table would be held for five minutes past our booking and then given away!

Of course we arrived on time and walking in as two girls in their twenties, we felt out of place amongst the much older couples and groups of friends sitting in the dimly lit, florally wallpapered restaurant. The room was small, seating around 50 and angels hung from the light fittings. The restaurant had a cosy feel to it and suited a romantic date.

The waitress was very polite presenting us with menus but neglected to ask if we wanted any drinks. The menu is extensive and very tempting but we had come in order to taste their $35.00 3 course set menu with options.

Online there were many options for each course, yet the printed menu offered very limited choice (dessert was limited to vanilla ice cream, vanilla brulee or a fruit plate; whereas online chocolate mousse and tiramisu were also on offer).

All three courses were ordered at once and not enthralled by any of the desserts I told the waitress I had an allergy to vanilla and asked if there was a different ice cream or something she could supplement for the brulee. She was kind enough to offer me tiramisu and Tracy, not keen on any of the desserts either, was offered chocolate mousse. We were quite impressed by the waitress.

Throughout the night she remained attentive to our table, filling up the water glasses regularly, as she helped out another waitress who was quite obviously new.

For entrees we ordered the risotto and grilled vegetable salad. The salad's presentation was terrible; the grilled vegetables on the bottom of the plate with oiled rocked thrown over the top. It looked upside down actually. The taste was not much better. It lacked any flavour and the grilled vegetables did not accompany the crisp rocket well at all. The risotto was much better. The consistency was slightly less gluggy than either of us was used to but the flavour was there and it was very enjoyable.

Unfortunately it was also quite filling so our appetites were not quite there when the main course arrived seconds after our entree plates were cleared. We had ordered the salmon and a roast vegetable and pancetta spaghetti. Tracy commented that the salmon was not hot enough and my pasta was very dried out on the outside, yet moist underneath - leading me to think that these dishes had been ready and sitting for some time. Neither dish was spectacular flavour wise but no real complaints.



Upon clearing our plates our attentive waitress inquired as to whether I did not like my dish, as I had left some behind, I explained that I was full and she was happy with this.

Even though we had ordered all three courses at the beginning, another waitress soon came over to offer dessert menus. She seemed embarrassed when we had told her that we were having the set menu and rushed off!

We were thankfully allowed a long break between courses this time so when they arrived we were keen to taste them. Unfortunately we weren't overly impressed with either one. Tracy initially quite liked the mousse, saying it had a good consistency but I found that it lacked in flavour. Neither of us liked the flavour of the tiramisu, finding the cream layers to be too thick. Presentation was average for both dishes.



I would be interested to sample some of the dishes on the regular menu such as the duck risotto and pumpkin ravioli but all together found the restaurant nothing special so won't be back.

Giardinetto is suited to dates or small groups of friends but is too small to be suitable for kids or large parties.

Cosmopolitan Cafe - Double Bay

Tonight's meal was more than disappointing.

The cosmopolitan has been a double bay icon for decades, home to the older frequenters of the bay as well as chicken soup and late night coffees.

It's recent refurbishment and reopening last Friday sparked interest among young and old once more. Last Saturday evening we ventured down to see what it had to offer in the way of late night snacks.

As far as coffees were concerned, the prices were average for Double Bay but the tiny glasses left much to be desired. The prospect of ordering a tower of gelato (fit for 8) excited our party of seven but when it came down to it, no one was up for the feat and so a simple chocolate sundae was ordered to share between two.

After a considerable wait for five coffees and one ice cream (at 10:30pm) the coffees arrived and the ice cream made its way to the table only to be worn by the waitress a couple of feet away.
When the very small, very over-priced gelato finally made it all the way over, it was more of a soup cross ice cream than a frozen treat.

Though i did not personally taste it, I was told it was not at all good and its presentation was definitely lacking. At around $12 for two scoops of chocolate ice cream - you'd expect it to at least be well presented.

Just under a week later I ventured back to the Cosmo to sample dinner. My party this time were considerably older. One diner had eaten lunch here earlier in the week and said she would not be back but was still willing to sample dinner before passing a verdict. I believe the verdict has now been passed - and not in Cosmo's favour.

I ordered the duck which was very fatty and very tough in a thin, oily, tasteless sauce. It was accompanied by crunchy broccoli, cauliflower, carrot and two boiled potatoes.
The fish was also ordered and was a very small portion for $32.00. I was told that the Cabbage Rolls were fine in taste but appeared quite messy in presentation.

Once more the waitress was bumbling about and the manager was persistent that we try the home made gelato (a mistake I would not be making this evening).

The all day menu is not sufficient for dinner, the portion sizes are small and the flavours just aren't there.

Lastly, complimentary bread was served (not offered but served) with the main meal, as opposed to before the meal, which is very strange and quite useless. Had we known there was bread we would not have ordered french fries before the food arrived.

Will not be going back.

Counter - Crows Nest

Last week, as per Shadi's insistence that these burgers were fantastic and we must all try them, my party of seven trekked out to Crows Nest to sample 'Counter'.

The American chain is really not much more than a burger place with a small twist.
You're given a clip board and asked to select from 150g, 300g or 450g of beef, chicken, turkey or veg pattie. This determines the starting price of your burger ($13.50, $16.50, $19.50).
You'll then go on to select 4 items from the salads section (any more incur a surcharge and any 'premium salads' too incur a surcharge) a sauce (which is served on the side anyway) and a choice of bun: hamburger, english muffin or wholemeal.

Along with this there's a small menu of american sides including beef and cheese fries, onion rings etc and, for the more health conscious individual, the salad in a bowl (no bread).

After a moderate wait our burgers arrived and silence befell our table as we attempted to cram these massive burgers into our comparatively small mouths.
Mission accomplished though and everyone got through them (some ignoring the sauce entirely whilst others lapped it up).

Probably not worth $13.50 for a burger (with no side salad/chips) but nice for a change (nicer if Crows Nest isn't a 30min drive)

I'd recommend the sun dried tomato vinaigrette as the sauce and chips to share for the table.
I have it on good word that the milkshakes/malts are fantastic but as we were all on a budget that night, none of our party sampled them. Apparently 'peanut butter' is the way to go!

*Image sourced from
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi53UApyOk4VxuYiRK2c1wsAO7z-eKxavAv2MNmptIUPwJ6oargpIsCiwIBLDb7P58umG9RmZ-boQhQFYjs6aqrjyx1nlbeBjGThPkco2zI_okWmWWT0u95WlB7XjX1ctxteZZlbHSS-gU/s1600/DSC_0265-0910.jpg

photos cont.

The lobster trilogy: lobster tail, beef steak and a prawn
bomb alaska


the chicken with prosciutto chef rudi's signature dessert (dark chocolate brownie, milk chocolate mousse and white chocolate shell)
pastry swans on a bed of chocolate sauce filled with marscapone

The Volendam

So recently I returned from a cruise around New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji with the family on the Volendam.

The boat held around 2,000 people and had one main dining room and one more exclusive restaurant where you'd pay $10 for lunch and $20 for dinner (on top of money already paid for cruise)along with the usual buffet deck.

The food in the buffet was average - breakfast's were nothing spectacular but quite passable. Lunches weren't to my liking and I can't comment on dinner as I never tried it! Outside by the pool though was a grill area which served up some pretty decent burgers, some appalling fries and some pretty amazing pizza!

We'll focus on dinner though as that was the largest of any meal

The menu was split into a number of sections: Starters, Appetizers, Entrees, Chef's Suggestions, Daily Menu, Dessert.

So along with a number of breadrolls one would consume somewhere between 2 and 4 courses. The selection was so great some nights though that certain members of our party would elect to try a couple of different starters. Being on a cruise ship, if you wished to order everything on the menu, you could! Alternatively, if you ordered something and did not like it, you could simply order something else! (if you did like it and wanted another you could do this too!)

A certain chicken dish with a tangy orange sauce and prosciutto was one of my favourites along with a half decent chocolate souffle (YUM)

The presentation of each plate was always fantastic so i've included a few photos for you...

If you're a food lover (for quality, quantity or presentation) i recommend a cruise! Not only is a great way to see the world, without worrying about transport and accommodation - and the tiresome packing and repacking- but there's always something to do on board, and there's all different food every where you look!

Every afternoon in the dining room there would be afternoon tea. I decided to partake in this twice. Although the mini sandwiches were nothing flash the scones with cream and jam were VERY good!

The dining room also served a more formal set down breakfast and lunch. Although I didn't try the lunch (never enough time!) I did do the breakfast on one of the last mornings. You were presented with a menu (as opposed to the buffet) and given a choice of different sorts of eggs, fruits, pastries, breads, cereals, waffles, pancakes etc and whilst the quality of the food wasn't amazing (mind you it's all stored on the ship for the duration of the cruise!) the presentation was lovely as always.

If buffets and dining rooms aren't even your thing, there's always room service with a breakfast menu, 12pm-10pm menu and 24 hr menu. (the choc chip cookies and milk went down really well with an afternoon movie and were quite satisfying between a 12:30pm lunch and an 8pm dinner!)

An Introduction

The whole world seems to be blogging these days. Quite fond of writing myself, I see no reason why I shouldn't join them!
Can't hurt right?
So, this is the beginning of my blog.
At the moment I'm thinking it will focus on food as that's what I'm currently writing about and something I enjoy writing about (and eating).
The blog, like other forms of stream of conscious writing, will probably take on a mind of its own though and who knows what I'll end up 'blogging'.

I must say though, I'm quite inspired by a friend's photo blog that started off with some amateur photographs from around home and little tid bits of writing and turned into something that I quite enjoyed reading - a travel blog with some amazing stories and fantastic photos to accompany them.

In an effort to keep this introductory post an introduction - let me say that I'm currently on the verge of starting work on a food section for Sassi Sam's blog (http://www.sassisamblog.com/category/news/) which I've been doing a bit of writing for in the recent months.

Starting an internship in PR has also inspired me to step up the writing and achieve more of an online presence - thus today my twitter was also born! (http://twitter.com/samis1988)

I think my next post will be about my recent experience cruising on the Volendam - part of Holland America's cruise line - and will include some dinner photos as the food was really quite great (and today's dinner of heated up pie was none too inspiring)

x