http://www.chifleyplaza.com.au
Japanese night in
So did anyone end up going to the VIP Shopping Night at Chifley Plaza?
It was quite similar in concept to the Westfield Bondi Junction Shopping Night with free flowing drinks for guests as they arrived sponsored by Kemeny's. It's quite a strange feeling walking into a shop, especially a fancy one, with a glass in hand but the shop assistants didn't seem to mind. I was keen to try the Azuma canapés but the trays of food were few and far between so you had to be on your toes to find it at times — especially when crowds flocked like seagulls when it arrived down the escalators from the restaurant above. The sushi options were quite nice but I thought the salad was a bit awkward to eat while standing with a glass of bubbles and rather uninteresting as a canapé — it made me think of Homer's dancing song ‘You Don't Make Friends With Salad’. The fried canapés served on a stick looked promising but arrived mostly cold which was a shame — I guess you can't ask too much when it's free although it doesn't give me the best impression of what Azuma is capable of providing as a fine dining restaurant.
The band entertainment by Slide McBride was great and sang a few familiar and classic songs to the shoppers passing by. Caffé Due Mondi were serving complimentary coffee, tea and hot chocolate which was welcomed because they make a great hot chocolate. Akira Isogawa was in attendance at his free fashion exhibition upstairs in the Japan Foundation which continues until 25 June 2010.
Other events at Chifley Plaza:
• 1 Dec 2010 - VIP Shopping Night - Promotion
• 2 June 2010 - VIP Shopping Night
SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Free drinks and canapes, Akira Isogawa fashion exhibition, friendly service staff
CONS: Smallish trays of food went quickly with hungry crowds turning into a flock of seagulls
MUST SEE: Akira Fashion Exhibition
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Drinks sponsored by Kemeny's
Bubbles — Charles Vienot Brut Supreme
Knappstein Shillings 2008 Clare Classic White
Vegetarian sushi canapé
I think this was a tempura prawn style
Sushi roll style canapés — scallop and salmon
Salad with soba noodles — you don't make friends with salad ;-)
Three of a kind — fried canapés of pumpkin, chicken and octopus.
Octopus filling
Pumpkin filling
Crowds on the lookout for canapé food
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7 comments:
Oooh some of those canapes look really good. Shame you almost had to fight to get some food!
This is why I'm not so keen on these events... I hate the crowds! And people go crazy when there's free food on offer!
I have to say I agree with Maria. Not keen at all on the bay-for-blood mentality some of the freeby--hungry types display at such events. Much prefer events such as auction previews at Sothebys, where the invitation-only crowd (to quote Matt Preston, 'clunk', as I name drop!) is much better behaved. No offence, but the nosh & grog's better quality too, more often than not. Or Fashion Week after parties - obviously not much food served there, but the grog's good! Gobsmack'd
Hewhe from the photos you definitely got to taste a lot of the canapes! I don't go to these events because I don't like fighting for food and some people just don't behave themselves when it comes to free food.
Canapes look delish! Yeah I would have felt interesting drinking and shopping at the same time. Cool stuff!
I'd like to try Azuma but based on your photos, the food appears to be more style over substance. Why did they both spacing out that sushi to look so posh? They need to think quantity. Any shopping bargains to be had?
hi john, free food does tend to get a bit competitive with the crowds unfortunately.
hi maria, if you hate crowds then the Merivale launch party won't be your cup of tea. it's funny how it doesn't really matter how polite one may be when it comes to free food to tends to bring out the worst in some people hehe
hi gobsmack'd, it was funny to see 2 old ladies standing at the bottom of the escalators just waiting for food to arrive and grabbing it. i've never been to a sothebys but sounds a lot more civilized. i'd love to be invited to a fashion week after party but unfortunately my social network doesn't seem to spread that far :-( be sure it invite me along next time if you're allowed :-)
hi lorraine, i don't blame you for not going to fight for your food but there's always the shopping discounts.
hi sarah, i think the drinks probably make some people by more so it's good for the shops.
hi madam wu, i've eaten there for Good Food Month and the sushi was quite good but i haven't tried anything else. you're definitely right about quantity rather than bringing a few pieces of sushi out amongst a large crowd. it hardly got 5 metres in a huge shopping centre before being polished off.
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