Category Archives: Restaurants

The Magic of Mikla Restaurant – Istanbul

September 17, 2016 OurWorldinReview Leave a comment

Sometimes when you are travelling, it involves some sort of life celebration. Perhaps a honeymoon, a wedding anniversary or a special birthday – there are times when you just want to create a moment to remember. When that travel bug strikes and it incorporates a special date, we try to organise something special for the night. Here’s our review of Mikla Restaurant.

In April 2016 our travel took us travelling through Dubai, Turkey and Greece. We were scheduled to be in Istanbul on our wedding anniversary and Josie was able to secure a table for two at world-renowned celebrity chef, Mehmet Gürs’s stunning Mikla Restaurant.

Mehmet Gürs is partner and owner of 19 restaurants and cafes around the world. Mikla Restaurant would be one of the jewels in his culinary crown. The restaurant is located at the top of the Marmara Pera Hotel at Meşrutiyet Caddesi 15 34430, Beyoğlu, İstanbul and features stunning views and incredible food. Mikla is currently ranked number 56 in this year’s annual “World’s Best Restaurants list” which is truly a remarkable achievement for Mehmet and Mikla.

Upon entry onto the top floor of the Marmara Peru Hotel, you are welcomed with a large display case of all the beautiful wines Mikla has on offer. At the reservation desk you will be met by the restaurant’s Maitre d’. Once inside you are shown to their casual bar area and offered refreshments. From the balcony you are greeted by the stunning views of Istanbul until you are ready to be seated at one of their comfortable tables.

Mikla's views of Istanbul — Mikla’s views of Istanbul

Mikla Restaurant offers its customers a fixed three course al la carte menu for TL185 per person or around AUD$80. The three fixed courses have five or six dish selections per course so you can mould your meal to your liking. The other menu option available to you is Mikla’s impressive seven course tasting plate for TL265pp (AUD$120). Adding in the six matching wines will bring it to TL430pp (AUD$190). As this was a special occasion and we knew we may never get the chance again we opted for the seven courses with six matching wines.

As expected in a quality fine dining establishment the waiting staff were excellent. They were very attentive to our needs and knowledgeable of the food and wines they were serving. Unbeknown to us the seven course, six wine tasting menu ended up being eleven courses and seven wines due to exceptional Turkish hospitality and an innocent fish bone remark.

During the superbly cooked fish dish below, I happened upon a small bone, put it to the side of the plate and continued enjoying the wonderful treat. When the waiter came back to clear our plates he asked if the meal was okay. I told him it was the best fish dish I had ever had, and with that Aussie joking spirit casually mentioned the small bone. The waiter immediately apologised, cleared the plates and returned to the kitchen. Not thinking much about it, we continued to enjoy ourselves. Suddenly the waiter was out to the table, he apologised again on behalf of the chef and proceeded to give us an extra course and glass of wine. All that because of a tiny little bone. We weren’t asking or expecting anything extra, so we were surprised. Of course we respectfully accepted the extra course and wine.

Although the meals weren’t large they were beautifully constructed and very filing. By the time we got to the last plate, we were feeling full, warm and a little tingly inside. Especially with all that wine being consumed. Surprisingly, if you happen to finish your glass of wine before the next course Mikla’s waiters will offer to once again fill your glass with the current wine you are drinking.

Overall Mikla is a stunning restaurant producing excellent quality food, which we can’t recommend any more highly. Value of money is excellent, even if the cost seems high. Mikla sets no time limit on how long you can take to consume your meals, so just settle in and take your time. Enjoy the experience, the food and wine and make sure you take some photos of the stunning view on offer of Istanbul. Learn and gain some knowledge of food and wine from your waiting staff, and you shouldn’t be disappointed.

Make sure you plan your travel in Istanbul so that you get to Mikla Restaurant. We were staying just off of Istiklal Caddesi so we were able to walk to and from the restaurant. So visit their website, make a reservation today and don’t forget to tell them Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you!

Rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Decor = 10
Atmosphere = 10
Service = 10
Price = 10
Food =10

Overall = 10

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Australia, Restaurants

Whipped Bake Bar Cafe – Brunch at Semaphore, Adelaide

September 14, 2016 OurWorldinReview Leave a comment

Whipped Bake Bar Cafe has become a local institution since it opened on Semaphore Road in 2008. It is predominately a place to get breakfast, brunch or lunch, or to grab a coffee and a sweet treat.

We decided to grab a late brunch on a busy Sunday. Semaphore Road was crowded with people out enjoying the sunny spring weather. While we were able to be seated immediately, there was a continuous flow of new customers for the whole time during our visit. Whipped has three distinct seating areas – tables for two as you walk in the door, a middle section with larger group tables, and then an outside area – and all three were full. Its outdoor area is well protected from the weather and heated in winter, and is also dog friendly.

The menu contains many breakfast and brunch style items ranging from toast and muesli to a full breakfast of bacon, eggs with all the extras. There are also burgers, frittata and wedges if you are not after breakfast. They have a wide range of coffees, teas, smoothies, juices and other drinks also available. The kitchen at Whipped runs from 7am to 2:30pm, after that coffee and cakes are still available until 5pm.

Our order was for Smashed Avocado (avocado with lemon, rocket, poached eggs, goats cheese on toasted ciabatta and served with a haloumi cigar and a balsamic reduction) and the Grilled Haloumi Burger (grilled haloumi, roasted capsicum, roasted Swiss brown mushroom, caramelised onions, lettuce, tomato relish and herbed mayo + chips). We washed it down with Pinky juice (watermelon and apple) and English Breakfast Tea. The prices for each meal were reasonable at AUD$16.90.

Our meals were brought to our table in a reasonable time even though the cafe was quite busy. They were delicious and just the right size servings to fill us up without being too big. The cakes on display were tempting but we decided to leave them for next time.

Whipped Bake Bar Cafe caters well for customers with particular dietary requirements. There are many vegetarian meals on the menu, and also coffees are able to be made with milks including soy, lactose free, almond and coconut. The menu is seasonal, and therefore has just changed over to the new spring offerings.

Whipped Bake Bar Cafe is located at 35 Semaphore Rd, Semaphore, so do yourself a favour and give them a go and remember to mention Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you.

Rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Decor = 8
Atmosphere = 8
Service = 8
Price = 8
Food =8

Overall = 8

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Australia, Restaurants

Checking out the Checkside Tavern, Adelaide

September 7, 2016 OurWorldinReview Leave a comment

Not so long ago the Checkside Tavern was in a prime position to attract customers into its bars or dining areas. Unfortunately in 2014 football games moved away from AAMI stadium to the newly renovated Adelaide Oval. In doing so taking with it a majority of the Checkside Tavern’s match day customers.

For our international readers, Australia has its own brand of football. Australian rules football, or AFL is our national football competition consisting of 18 teams from around the country. A few years back AAMI stadium at West Lakes was the main football stadium. South Australia’s two national teams, the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Power shared the ground each week to play their games throughout the AFL season. Sadly, all the AFL games are gone, but AAMI stadium remains the training ground for the Adelaide Crows and the Checkside Tavern still operates.

Ourworldinreview decided to head off to the Checkside Tavern recently to see how they were coping since the halcyon days of football.

The Checkside Tavern is located at Turner Drive, West Lakes and is attached to the exterior of AAMI stadium. I can still remember during game days the tavern thriving with local supporters. Those days are gone and the tavern mainly relies on the support of its local residents and West Lakes Shopping Centre customers. When arriving at the tavern you can see that the loss of football has had an effect on its popularity. Although it still has that football feel to it, with large photos of the local SANFL (South Australian State football league) teams in action. Additionally they also have a few signed guernseys framed on the walls to maintain the local football theme.

The main dining area with SANFL print photo's — Main dining area with SANFL print photo’s

The tavern is a long thin building with function rooms, a gaming area including a horse racing outlet and of course the dining area. We noticed a steady stream of older patrons utilising the facility for a quiet evening meal and conversation. Checkside offers affordable pub fare with no frills, and all meals come with access to the all you can eat salad and vegetable bar. They also have special meal deals on certain days like;

Tuesday – AUD$18 Steak night
Wednesday – AUD$19 Burger and Beer
Thursday – AUD$15 Schnitzel night
Sunday – AUD$15 Sunday Roast

Checkside’s menu isn’t extensive but there is sufficient options for customers to select from. Vegetarian customers only have two dishes to select from, but have full access to the salad and vegetable bar.

Checkside has counter service, so once you have selected your meals you will need to line up and order. We decided to order four dishes to try. Our choices were the Grilled Barramundi, the basic chicken schnitzel with gravy, their Chicken Burger Old Fashion with the Lot and the Moroccan Encrusted Lamb Rack. Once the meals were ordered we sampled the salad and vegetable bar. It was well stocked with either fresh salad dishes or warm delicious vegetables.

The mains arrived quickly and weren’t fancy. No decorative flair here. That’s okay, because they’re just trying to be a normal pub, selling standard pub food. Quickly the chicken schnitzel with gravy was the first to arrive and the verdict was the chicken was cooked nicely and the smooth textured gravy was beautiful.

Next came the Chicken Burger Old Fashion with the Lot consisting of a seasoned chicken patty topped with bacon, egg, beetroot relish, mixed lettuce leaves, Edam cheese and tomato with a side of chips and aioli. It was a large burger, so it was awkward to attack at first. Our recommendation is to cut it into portions for easy handling.

Chicken Burger Old Fashion Style — Chicken Burger Old Fashion with the Lot!

The Moroccan Encrusted Lamb Rack was served on a bed of buttered mashed potato with mushroom scented jus. Again a basic presentation but the lamb was nicely cooked. My only fault was the buttered mashed potato was slightly lumpy.

Our final dish was the lightly seasoned grilled barramundi fillet served with chips and side salad. The fillet was nicely cooked, so no complaints all round.

Overall the Checkside Tavern is your standard pub offering no frills affordable meals. The meal presentation isn’t great, but that’s not what they are trying to be. They know they are a pub. This is probably why a lot of their customers are of the older generation, because they can get a good meal at a cheap price.

Although many people have forgotten about the Checkside Tavern, they haven’t forgotten about us. So if you are looking for a quick no fuss, no frills cheap meal, then visit the Checkside Tavern. Their friendly service with a smile is welcoming and honest.

If you are in the city the best way to get to West Lakes is by taxi or you can catch a public bus to West Lakes. Once you get there remember to tell them Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you!

Checkside Tavern Rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Decor = 6 Atmosphere = 6 Service = 7 Price = 9 Food = 6

Overall = 7

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Australia, Restaurants

Welcome to the Jungle Room, Kent Town Hotel, Adelaide

August 30, 2016 OurWorldinReview Leave a comment

Just east of the city at the far end of Rundle Street sits a hotel that offers its customers a unique dining experience. The Kent Town Hotel is unobtrusive from the outside but once you step through those doors, you enter a different landscape. Welcome to the Jungle!

The Kent Town Hotel has themed their establishment on living in the jungle. You can imagine Tarzan swinging through the canopy, calling to his animal friends. Then once he arrives back at the tree-house there is a huge feast awaiting him on a long wooden table.

The Kent Town Hotel has three different sections based mainly around the Jungle theme, the Crafty Monkey Bar, the Rooftop on Rundle and the Jungle Restaurant. All three sections offer their patrons an enjoyable experience, from playing 8 ball on the billiard table, to the night-time dunking machine on the roof.

Our experience at the Kent Town Hotel was to celebrate a 21st Birthday. The dinner was held in the jungle restaurant and upon entry you are greeted by a large sitting gorilla guarding the eating area from predators. As you walk around the room other animal statues like the elephant are in place to give the room that extra Jungle Book feeling.

Gorilla statue — Gorilla guarding the entrance

The long tables, chairs, model trees, slippery dips and canopy walkways all add to the atmosphere of the place and the food style enhances the theme. The Jungle restaurant serves Churrasco BBQ cuisine which is South America cowboy styled barbecued meat on large metal skewers, which their friendly staff glide around the room cutting off portions for everyone. The Jungle restaurant offers different dining packages for its customers, but our package for this special night was the AUD$45 pp Churrasco experience which was extremely delicious and extremely filling.

The Churrasco experience offers its diners a selection of 8 different BBQ meats and 7 different accompaniments. If you are like me, you want to try all. I encourage you to pace yourself. Don’t go out too hard eating heaps of the first meat. You can always have seconds afterwards once you’ve tried them all.

Another encouraging aspect is that being a BBQ meat restaurant they still look after their vegetarian customers. Our vegetarian had a sampling plate with 8 vegetarian options, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Vegetarian Plate — Vegetarian sampling plate with 8 different option

The Kent Town Hotel is located at 76 Rundle street Kent Town, across the road from a Bunnings Warehouse. The best way to get there from the city is to either jump into a taxi or try a local bus heading towards The Parade, Norwood. For a fun night and a lot of good food, head to the Kent Town Hotel and The Jungle restaurant. Remember once you get there tell them Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you!

Rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Decor = 9
Atmosphere = 9
Service = 9
Price = 9
Food =9

Overall = 9

Inside seated area in the Rooftop on Rundle area

Australia, Restaurants

Free Books and Breakfast at Queen Street Rescue, Melbourne

August 21, 2016 OurWorldinReview Leave a comment

Street sign with Queen Street Rescue — Queen Street Rescue

Cafes and restaurants are abundant in Melbourne. When travelling, it is always nice to catch up with friends and try a new place to eat. Therefore, when some friends suggested meeting in the Melbourne CBD for a late breakfast, we jumped at the chance to test out Queen Street Rescue. We met up at 11:00am, to sample their breakfast and have a look at a special little area for their customers which is mainly unknown.

Even knowing that we had the opportunity to sleep in, we were awake by 07:00am. Isn’t that always the way, you have a chance to sleep in but your body doesn’t want to cooperate. Damn you body clock! We didn’t sleep in, but at least we could take our time before checking out of our hotel.

Queen Street Rescue is located at 1/189 Queen Street, Melbourne right next door and attached to the Adina Apartment Hotel. We’ve actually stayed at this hotel a few years ago. From what I can remember the apartment rooms were large and spacious and very comfortable.

We made our way into the cafe and sat at a booth and waited for our friends. The interior of the Queen Street Rescue has a beachy feeling. In fact it reminds of the cafe in the popular Australian series “Home and Away”. There are colourful chairs and some rustic furnishings. It feel like a welcoming room with a large bookshelf along one side of the wall next the main entrance.

colourful chairs and tables with large bookshelf — Such a comfortable colourful room, with a large bookshelf along the wall

In the Melbourne Central shopping centre there is has a unique library, aptly called The Little Library. Travellers and locals can exchange books for free. Here you can have a look at what novels people have left and exchange your book for another on the bookshelf. We thought this was the only place this free exchange occurred and was surprised that the Queen Street Rescue offers the same. They have a large bookcase which is filled with free books for its customers to take with them as they leave the establishment.

The Queen Street Rescue changes its menu throughout the day to cater for the different meal times. At night it also becomes a nice place to have some quiet drinks. They also allow for functions, so it is an option if you are planning a get together with friends or colleagues. This morning they had a good variety of breakfast dishes ranging from AUD$7 for basic toast up to AUD$23 for their “Big Breakfast”. Of course I ordered a Big Breakfast, whilst Josie had some toast. We also ordered a Cafe Latte and Chai Latte, to wash it all down.

The Big Breakfast was just that, Big. It usually comes with eggs of your choice with a serving of buttered toast, wilted spinach, baked tomatoes, a continental sausage, some crispy bacon and a cheese hash brown. Everything on the dish was excellent, the bacon was crispy. The scrambled eggs were smooth and creamy, the continental pork sausage was good and the cheesy hash brown was superb.

The toast served were large thick slices which came with a good choice of condiments from vegemite, jam or honey. The Cafe Latte and Chai Latte’s were perfect, so perfect we had some more whilst chatting away about past and upcoming travel plans.

There were a variety of other meals ordered by our friends, and they all looked just as tasty as ours.

The Queen Street Rescue is a welcoming, comfortable place to relax and chill out. You can have something to eat or drink, you can read a book or just meet up with some friends. The counter service is efficient and the meals are delivered to you table relatively fast. It serves alcohol, so would be a perfect place to pop in for an after work drink too.

The overall price is good for the quality of food being served. The restaurant is clean and their books on offer are mainly popular fiction. You should be able to find something to read no matter what your genre.

When you’re in Melbourne and have some time to spare, give Queen Street Rescue a shot and remember tell them Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you!

Rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Decor = 8
Atmosphere = 7
Service = 7
Price = 7
Food =7

Overall = 7

Australia, Restaurants

NNQ restaurant for a taste of Vietnam – Adelaide

August 15, 2016 OurWorldinReview 2 Comments

Travelling throughout the world, there is one piece of advice that I’ve learnt which I would like to share with you. Sometimes the gems are hidden in the suburbs! During exploration in a new city we have come across a place that has that special quality on many occasions. Nghi Ngan Quan or NNQ restaurant is one of those hidden gems not too far from the Adelaide city centre. NNQ is located at 65 Woodville Road, Woodville. It is inside a glorious old heritage bank building and offers Vietnamese cuisine of the highest quality.

On a recent night out we decided to stop by at NNQ for a quick meal before attending a local music concert. It is important to know that NNQ don’t do bookings for groups under six people. For small groups they work on a first in, first served basis. This seems to work well for them as they always have people popping in for a quick bite. Don’t be put off by not being able to book because the number of tables allows them to turn over their customers quickly. If you do happen to wait they have a nice comfortable bar area, where you can order some pre dinner drinks. Waiting times can vary, but we haven’t waited longer than ten minutes to be seated.

On this occasion we were shown straight to a corner table and given time to read the menus before being offered further service. NNQ’s food menu is extremely large with maybe ten pages of available dishes. Much the same can be said for their drinks menu, with various quality wines to choose from. Take your time, and select the dish that best appeals to you. Then match it with a nice glass of wine and enjoy.

The restaurant’s floor plan is pretty big, with seating available across two floors and an outdoor al fresco area. The restaurant is nicely decorated with neutral grey colours and comfy wicker styled chairs. There are numerous pictures hanging on the walls depicting Vietnamese culture and scenery. These pictures always encourage me to go on a holiday (but, that could be just me).

stone tables, wicker chairs restaurant setting — NNQ’s neutral colour decor and wall hangings. Where do I sit?

With such a large restaurant the service staff do a great job of ensuring they look after everyone. Our lovely waitress was extremely helpful and encouraged us to try something off their new menu. We ordered entrées, selecting the chicken satay skewers and the suggested wonton soup. For our mains we decided on the grilled lemon-grass and chilli chicken and a serving of the salt and pepper soft-shelled crab. These dishes were accompanied by a side of rice.

It isn’t too long before our entrées arrive. The two chicken satay skewers are covered with a rich peanut sauce. The chicken thigh meat looks overcooked, but on tasting, it proves to be perfectly cooked. The wonton soup is a lovely flavoured broth topped with coriander and spring onions. Additionally those wonton parcels are delicately simple but tasty.

Chicken Satay with peanut sauce from NNQ — NNQ’s Chicken Satay Skewers topped with Peanut Sauce

Once you start consuming your food, the NNQ staff are so efficient that they ensure that your table isn’t too long without food. This doesn’t have to be the case, but you may want to tell them to take their time bringing out each course ordered. Our mains are quickly brought to us and the lemon-grass and chilli chicken has a subtle sweet and spicy flavour with a delayed little chilli kick for your taste buds.

Plate of food — Lemon-grass and Chilli Chicken, watch the chilli kick you may need a glass of water!

The salt and pepper soft-shelled crab is superb, the crab is well coated and has a balanced salt and pepper flavour. The dish is beautifully cooked with no excess oil dripping off the crab portions. The dish is accompanied with an onion salad, topped with coriander.

soft shelled crab on plate — NNQ’s salt and pepper soft-shelled crab

NNQ does have numerous desserts you can choose from and their fried ice cream is to die for (but not on this occasion, we have a concert to attend).

Overall NNQ is that gem that when you visit Adelaide you should definitely give a try. The price of they food is excellent with main dishes ranging from AUD$12 – AUD$40, but most main dishes are around $AUD16. Exceptional value for the quality of food you are receiving. Take away is also available if you prefer.

To get there, it is a short train ride from the Adelaide Railway Station on either the Outer Harbor or Grange lines to Woodville. Once you get to Woodville, head south down Woodville Road. NNQ is the first building on the right and you should be able to see the sign. There is plenty of free parking available if you are driving.

NNQ also has a sister store in the city called Little NNQ located at 125 Gouger Street, Adelaide. So when you are in Adelaide and decide to try this hidden gem, tell them Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you!

Rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Decor = 9
Atmosphere = 9
Service = 9
Price = 9
Food =9

Overall = 9

Australia, Restaurants

Gazi Restaurant – Melbourne, where it’s all Greek to me!

August 7, 2016 OurWorldinReview Leave a comment

Melbourne is a fascinating melting pot of multiculturalism. Your ability to access a wide range of cuisines is within reach inside the bustling CBD. One of those culinary delights is George Calombaris’ Gazi Restaurant.

When we arrived there was a line up out this door and down the street. — When we arrived there was a line up outside Gazi’s door and down the street.

George Calombaris is one of the judges on Australia’s version of Masterchef. George’s Gazi restaurant is located at 2 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, on the corner of busy Flinders Street.

The winner of our last giveaway suggested we head to Gazi restaurant to experience what it has to offer. After our recent trip to Greece we were tempted by the thought of some more excellent Greek food.

Gazi is extremely popular with the residents of Melbourne, so I do recommend booking well in advance. We called in at lunchtime to book and were offered the last two seats on their communal table. If you can’t book, then you can try waiting in line hoping for someone to finish early so they can fit you in. Another option is to look at their takeaway option, and dine in the comfort of your home or hotel accommodation.

Our booking was for 8:30pm and upon arriving at the restaurant, there was a line up out the door of customers trying their luck to get a spare table. As we made our way through the crowd to the front reception, we were greeted by the restaurants maître d’hôtel and quickly escorted to our table. Due to the popularity, the Gazi staff try to fit as many customers into their service area as possible. They have communal long tables where small groups can sit together if they wish, or you can be seated by the bar. They do exceptionally well at turning over their patrons to allow more customers in to taste their exquisite Greek cuisine.

Bar seating — Gazi Restaurant’s bar seating

The interior of the restaurant is very well set out, with single tables along the Flinders street side of the restaurant and group booths alongside the Exhibition street side. The main floor is a mixture of small tables that can be grouped to make room for larger parties, and of course the communal long tables next to the bar. The roof decorations were very interesting with small terracotta pots set at different heights to create a terracotta wave. The restaurant had that nightclub bar atmosphere with mood lighting and up tempo house music pumping loudly around the room. In my opinion the music was probably too loud on this night, as it was hard to converse with my dinner guest.

The staff is in one word, exceptional. They always knew when you were ready to order or ask for assistance. The service was quick and attentive, even with a packed full restaurant that was already on its second sitting for the night. The staff even offered to hang up our jackets on little coat hooks well positioned around the room.

Gazi offers a solid menu, with many modern Hellenic dishes available. If you choose from the a la carte menu then you are looking at paying around AUD$28-$30 for your main meals. The best option and value would be to select their “Doing it Greek Style” seven course tasting plates for AUD$49 pp or the 10 course tasting plate for AUD$69 pp.

For our meal we decided to try the seven course tasting plate with some wine. The wine list is extensive with some quality wines from around Australia and Greece. Glasses sell for around AUD$12 and bottles from AUD$50 for an everyday quality bottle to a AUD$260 indulgent red or white.

The first course to arrive at the table was fresh soft pita bread and two quality dips, a creamy tzatziki and a beautiful sweet flavoured Beetroot feta and walnut praline. I could have honestly been happy just snacking on these quality dips for the whole night. The staff offered more bread each time we finished what we had, which was nice given the dips were large serves.

The second tasting plate to arrive at our table was a classic Cheese Saganaki with a modern kumquat syrup twist. The kumquat syrup brought a sweetness to the cheesy texture so we found ourselves scrapping our beautiful máti decorated plates to try get every morsel. The blue máti eye symbols on the plates are found throughout Greece to ward off evil spirits so they are a nice touch.

Our third tasting plate to arrive was a Chicken Tyrokafteri with walnut dressing. This wood fire spitted meat is succulent and the walnut dressing gives it that extra crunchy texture. Such an excellent dish definitely worth considering when you visit. The accompanying dish was also well presented, but not what we were expecting. Gazi’s Tiganites Palates is basically chips with crumbled feta, dressed with garlic oil and oregano. A nice combination of flavours, but we didn’t associate chips with Greece so were surprised to see it. Saying that, we could not fault this dish, and struggled to finish the whole bowl.

Tiganites patates and Tyrokafteri with walnut dressing

At this stage we are getting a little full and start to leave some of the dishes unfinished, because we know we have three dishes remaining. Our ever attentive waiter brings out our fifth and sixth courses together. The fifth is a salted green bean salad topped with almonds and the sixth is Tuna Kebabs. The green bean salad had that hint of salt and were perfectly blanched thus having that perfect crunch. We divided the Tuna Kebab between us and devoured the beautifully seared tuna holding in the flavours of the sea.

Looking at each other we knew that dessert remained and wondered if we could possibly fit it in. When the waiter brought out our Loukoumades covered with Honey Nutella, we forgot that our stomachs were full and ate the dish with our eyes. These beautiful fried balls of goodness were delicious so topped off an excellent night in a stunning city.

Overall George Calombaris’s Gazi Restaurant is a fantastic place to eat. It has a hip casual dining experience feeling, with fine dining quality food. From their website you can get there by catching the 35, 70, 71 or 75 trams getting off at Exhibition and Flinders. If you are in Melbourne then try Gazi Restaurant, and tell them Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you!

Rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Decor = 9
Atmosphere = 9
Service = 9
Price = 7
Food =9

Overall = 9

Australia, Restaurants

Roll’d Vietnamese, where you can eat for a cause! – Melbourne

August 2, 2016 OurWorldinReview Leave a comment

We all need to eat, so why not eat for a cause? Head into Roll’d Vietnamese street food stores and that’s exactly what you can do. Buy a “Blue Box” for AUD$10.90, and AUD$2 from your purchase is donated to the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation in Vietnam.

Purchase a Blue Box to donate to Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation

Back in 2013, we took a backpacking holiday for a month to Singapore and Vietnam. In Singapore, we stayed in a popular backpacking hostel on Joo Chiat Road called the Betel Box Hostel. Here we met now-owner Tony Tan, and his enthusiasm about life and Singapore was inspiring.

During one of our many conversations about our travels, he told us about a children’s foundation set up by an Australian teacher, Michael Brosowski and a Vietnamese university student Pham Sy Chung. This was our first introduction to the important work that the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation performs.

About Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation

The foundation is aimed at rescuing at risk children from homelessness and being exploited. In particular, those that have been trafficked into various forms of slavery. At the time of our travels, Blue Dragon had major centres in Hanoi and Hoi An. We visited their restaurant in Hoi An, where some of the rescued children were running the establishment to learn new life skills. If you are travelling and happen to visit beautiful Hoi An then make your way to 46 Bach Dang St, and eat at the Blue Dragon Restaurant. Their menu is small, but the food they do cook is cooked well, with that home made quality.

Blue Dragon Restaurant, 46 Bach Dang St, Hoi An

The Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation has done some fantastic work and as a result has had an impact on the lives of 68,000 children. It has around 65 staff members, caring for approximately 1,500 children in Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Hue, Hoi An and Dien Bien. (Source: Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation).

You have a chance to help this worthwhile foundation by purchasing one of their delicious supporter meals. The Blue Box contains two freshly made Bao buns (sweet steamed bread buns), filled with your choice of five combinations and a drink from a wide selection in store. The buns were soft with just enough flavoursome filling. We tried barbecue chicken, beef and lemon grass, roast pork and crackling, and crispy prawns. While all were good, our favourites were the chicken and pork. Tofu is the fifth option for those looking for a vegetarian meal variety.

Beef and Lemongrass and BBQ Chicken Bao Buns — Beef and Lemon-grass and BBQ Chicken Bao Buns

Where to find Roll’d Vietnamese Stores

Roll’d Vietnamese street food stores are located in Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia, Queensland and the ACT. They also have a store scheduled to open in Adelaide sometime this year. If you are hungry, then check for your nearest Roll’d location here. Support the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation by buying one of these special and tasty meals. When supporting Roll’d Vietnamese an exploited child in Vietnam will be safer and grateful.

Australia, Restaurants

Kingz Restaurant in Semaphore, Adelaide

July 28, 2016 OurWorldinReview Leave a comment

Adelaide is well-known for it’s many churches and pristine white beaches and the beach side suburb of Semaphore has been steadily growing into one of the city’s up and coming locations. Many new restaurants have opened over the last few years along Semaphore Road. It is a popular local strip that offers a wide range of cuisines. Kingz Restaurant at 39a Semaphore Rd, is one of those newly opened establishments serving delicious Indian food.

One of our favourite cuisines has always been Indian food. Often when the vegetarian in our house suggests we indulge in something other than home cooking, Kingz Restaurant is our choice. The difference this time was that we decided that we’d eat in rather than having takeaway.

Kingz restaurant has a small shop front, with big glass bi-fold doors that they can be opened up during the warmer summer months. The restaurant has limited capacity inside and they have some unprotected outdoor tables. It seems unlikely that people will use these tables during the winter as anyone sitting here would be shivering uncontrollably. To take advantage of this extra outdoor space Kingz Restaurant needs to find a way to protect their customers from the elements during winter.

The inside of the store is neatly set out, and they have tried to bring India to the restaurant with some Indian inspired prints on the walls. There’s a big screen television mounted in the corner which plays YouTube music videos of some of India’s popular musicians and Bollywood clips. The tables are well positioned giving everyone enough room to move around, but upgrading the basic wooden chairs would add to the comfort. The atmosphere was lacking, with only our table and one other occupied. There was a steady stream on takeaway customers throughout the meal as this seems to be the restaurant’s mainstay. You can see they are trying to bring a certain style to the place, but I think they miss the mark. Adding some traditional Indian artefacts or wall hanging might improve the atmosphere.

Well positioned tables, uncomfortable chairs

We have eaten their food on many occasions, but this time we opt to try a some dishes that we haven’t had before. We order the Lamb Korma, Chicken Biryani with raita, a serving of basmati rice and a glass of wine each. The menu is extensive and there is a good range of dishes for everyone’s tastes. We already know their Butter Chicken, Chicken Chennai, Daal Makhani, Malai Kofta and Haryali Gosht are excellent. The creamy Lamb Korma was no exception. The flavour and sizeable chunks of lamb soaking in the curry went down a treat. The Chicken Biryani was bright in colour and full of spice, nearly to the point of overpowering. Yet when the freshly made raita is added, those overpowering spices become well-balanced and tasty.

Creamy Lamb Korma, Chicken Biryani and Raita served with Basmati rice

The wine list was quite small with only one option if you happen to be drinking white or red wine by the glass. They do allow their customers to bring your own (BYO) wines so bringing one from home could be a good option.

Kingz Restaurant gives you value for money. Their serving sizes are generous, with us taking home some of each meal as we could not eat it all. Mains prices range between AUD$10.90 for the vegetarian based dishes going up to AUD$25.90 for their Mixed Seafood Curry. They also offer two banquet options for AUD$30 and AUD$40 respectively. A big tick in my book are the staff who are extremely friendly and quick to take your order when you are ready. Their service continued to be attentive throughout the meal without hovering too much.

Overall Kingz Restaurant has massive potential because the food they offer is very good. They are already popular with the locals for takeaway and delivery. With Semaphore’s most popular time being summer, with just a couple of minor fixes I can see everybody lining up to experience their hospitality.

If you are staying in the city, the best way to get to Semaphore is by train. Catch the Outer Harbor train from the Adelaide train station to Glanville. Semaphore is just a short five minute walk down Semaphore Rd. If you happen to try this nice restaurant, tell them Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you!

Rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Decor = 6
Atmosphere = 6
Service = 8
Price = 9
Food = 8

Overall = 8

Australia, Restaurants

Moonsoon Restaurant, North Adelaide

July 13, 2016 OurWorldinReview Leave a comment

Shop 2 & 3, 143 O'Connell Street, North Adelaide — Shop 2 & 3, 143 O’Connell Street, North Adelaide

We did a little bit of travelling in April, flying to the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Greece. Some of our good friends travelled the United Kingdom, whilst another friend went to Switzerland. Upon all of us getting back into the country we agreed to meet up for dinner and discuss how our trips went. For our meet up we decided to head to Moonsoon Restaurant in North Adelaide. Moonsoon is a fine dining restaurant that serves modern Asian cuisine with culinary influences from Vietnam and Thailand dominating their menu.

Moonsoon is located at Shop 2 & 3, 143 O’Connell Street, North Adelaide, near the Piccadilly Cinemas. Upon arriving to the restaurant, you are greeted by a big black steel framed glass door which initiates the styling of the interior. Once inside you see the continuation of the black and brown colouring throughout the restaurant. From the bar, the ambient light fittings, wallpaper and intricate name display, you can see that someone has put some thought into this restaurants appearance. This attention to detail and design sets up the atmosphere within the room, there’s just a natural warmth to the room. The table settings are all neatly laid out and the large leather seats are really comfortable. You know you can indulge in their food and refreshments without having to shift in your seat because you’re uncomfortable. The only design fault I could find in this restaurant is, they have a single unisex toilet. Therefore, you may have to wait a while to use their facilities when the restaurant is at full capacity.

In regards to their menu, it is extensive. You will not be short for choices here. I know at some places this can be an issue, because being able to maintain the freshness of the produce and the quality of the food being served can be difficult with so many different dishes being prepared. Sometimes making excellent dishes on a smaller menu can be better than making good dishes on a large menu. In my opinion, Moonsoon doesn’t have this problem, they make their large menu work very well. I can’t go anywhere without also tasting their wine selections, and they have a really good choice of local and international wines. Additionally another positive note for them is they allow their customers to bring your own (BYO) wine, which we did for our red wine choice, but it was probably not required. Due to this solid wine list we also bought a bottle of their Babich Black Label Sauvignon Blanc at AUD$40 a bottle.

If you have trouble deciding what you want to eat, I suggest trying one of their banquet options. This is what we decided to do, so we chose the 6 course banquet at AUD$28 per person. The banquet consisted of a mixed shared plate, a Vietnamese salad, Green curry which we selected one with chicken and one pure vegetarian. The fourth course was a seafood hot-pot, followed by sizzling steak with black pepper. The main dishes were accompanied by steamed jasmine rice, and the banquet finished with lychees and ice-cream.

The mixed platter was the first course to arrive, this platter consisted of beef satay with peanut sauce, pork meat balls, soft spring rolls, rice paper, a variety of salad vegetables and a dipping sauce. The waitress serving us explained that the rice paper was so we could utilise the various ingredients on the plate to create our own cold rolls. To begin with we were unsure about making the cold rolls, but once someone got the confidence and started making one, we joined in. It was an enjoyable and relatively easy to do, just don’t over soak your rice paper. As a group we were happy with the mixed platter selections, and they tasted pretty good too.

Once we had finished the platter our waiting staff made sure we were finished with the dishes, cleared our plates and restocked us with clean ones. The second dish came out and the freshness of the Vietnamese salad stood out instantly. It brought me back to Ha Long Bay, where I first tried a Vietnamese salad whilst on an overnight bay cruise with my family. The sweet flavour of the dressing and the small pieces of chicken, mixed in with fresh salad vegetables, was lovely.

The third dish was the creamy green chicken and green vegetable curries, this was served with a medium-sized bowl of jasmine rice. I must admit over the years I have had many Thai green curries, from the “mouth burning, watering eyes, I need water curries” to the “sweet coconut intricately flavoured creamy textured curries” that you can eat all night long. In comparison to the many I’ve had all over the world, this curry probably rates as a good solid curry. It’s not hot, it’s more of a smooth simple curry, but not the worst I’ve had by far.

The fourth dish was our seafood hot-pot, which didn’t have that over powering fish stock flavour. It was more of a subtle winter broth with some nice sized prawns and Chinese vegetables. I don’t think I would have had a problem eating more of this dish. It was pretty small in comparison with the rest.

The fifth dish listed came out at the same time as the green curries. The waitress placed down an empty hot plate and warned us to sit back as she poured the sizzling steak from a bowl onto the plate. Immediately it sizzled and the sauce started to pour onto the table-cloth, maybe a touch too much sauce. Apart from the mess it made, it tasted great, the beef was succulent, the black pepper sauce was thick, fragrant and flavoursome.

Dessert was offered at the end, and two of our party opted to have coffees instead, while the rest of us decided to try the lychees and ice-cream. Not much to say about this dish, fresh lychees on what I believe was store-bought vanilla ice-cream. If it was fresh made ice-cream then unfortunately it was nothing special to rave about.

What I can rave about was the service the waiting staff gave us, constantly topping up our water glasses, and asking politely if we wanted more wine in our glass before pouring. The clearing and replacement of our dishes between some courses, plus ensuring everyone was finished with the courses before clearing everything away. There is nothing worse than waiting staff taking plates away whilst others are still eating. It is like they are trying to rush you out the door. Moonsoon’s staff make sure they look after you, even with a full restaurant so you don’t feel rushed. We were there for a good three hours, and were the last of many customers to leave for the night.

Like most Asian styled restaurants the prices of the food is reasonable, with main dishes ranging between AUD$17 -AUD$24. The best value for money are the banquets, because 6 courses for AUD$28 and you come away not wanting more food, in my opinion is excellent value.

For readers that are visiting from overseas or from interstate, the best way to get to Moonsoon’s from the city centre, is by taxi, or catching a public bus on King William Road. Make sure it goes down the full length of O’Connell Street. So, if you decide to try Moonsoon Restaurant, then tell them Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you!

Rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Decor = 9
Atmosphere = 9
Service = 9
Price = 9
Food = 9

Overall = 9

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