Zilver Bondi, Westfield Bondi Junction (17 Sept 2016)

Level 6, Westfield Bondi Junction
500 Oxford St, Bondi Junction NSW 2022
http://www.zilverbondi.com.au
https://www.instagram.com/zilverbondi/

Salt & Pepper Lobster Love

When my awesome brother @plus1guest wants to take the family out for a Salt and Pepper Lobster treat it's happy days. But in the true traditional of how my family works it also comes with my dad doing a mini research trip of at least 5 restaurants in advance to check the price of the live lobsters, the state of the tanks and the ease of parking — and I think he sometimes even enquires whether there's a Seniors Discount available just in case. It's also a drawcard if they can do a good crispy shredded beef and we take into account past experiences as well. So after the countless emails, suggestions and change of minds we finally decide on Zilver Bondi.

For our table of five (minus the 2 kids which thankfully are being looked after by a very kind friend) we choose a 2.008 kg Salt and Pepper Lobster ($477.90, $238/kg). We've found 2 kg+ is a good size to provide decent chunks of meat in the tail. They've done us proud here and we're happy. The 2014 Rock Bare The Clare Riesling ($40) seems to have been a good choice to enjoy with the lobster with some nice buttery notes and not being overly sweet. Steamed oysters with soy sauce, ginger, shallots ($8.50 each) are huge. Maybe a little too large as they're bigger than a mouthful to try and eat but flavours were good. We've had the Peking Style Shredded Beef ($24.80) here before and happy again with it. Nice amount of crispy batter without being to thick and a tasty sauce. Stir fried scallops and vegetables with xo sauce ($42.80) have plump scallops in a tasty sauce that goes well with the Zilver special fried rice with crab meat, fried scallop, crab roe and egg ($24.80). We had to get nicely made Steamed BBQ Pork Buns ($8) for the Mrs as this is one of her favourite yum cha dishes. Fruit platter ($18) ended up being served complimentary and we had to get a Deep fried ice cream with caramel sauce ($9.80) for some nostalgic dining.

Kingsford Chinese Restaurant: Chinese, Kingsford (10 May 2014)

426 Anzac Parade, Kingsford NSW 2032

Everybody Sang Tung tonight

Surviving the test of time Kingsford Chinese Restaurant has remained popular and consistent. Sang Tung Chicken ($12) is considered by many as their signature dish and is also a family favourite of mine. Tasty with crispy bits of yumminess. Deep Fried Calamari with Pepper & Salt ($12.80) is another favourite that's been a must order any time I visit. It's tender, tasty and crispy — what more could you ask for, oh yes it's reasonably priced as well for the portion size. This time I take a gamble on ordering the Pork Chop in Vietnamese Style ($11) for the first time and so glad I did. Tender and tasty as hoped and becomes another favourite. Can this place do no wrong? Well I guess the Chinese Mushroom with Seasonal Vegetable ($12.80) isn't the most pretty of dishes. It tasted OK in its foreboding gluggy sauce and if the bulbous and slippery mushrooms were sliced up would have made it a lot easier to share and eat with chopsticks. Always gotta have me Fried Rice ($8) which was good too. 

Bill came to $56.60 for four which in my world is great value for the standard of dishes and the chinese tea is complimentary which is always a bonus for customers. I guess don't expect service to be overly friendly although this time around they were pretty nice and helpful but probably because our lunch time visit wasn't too crazy busy. Your toilet awaits through the back door, down the dreary and slightly smelly outdoor passageway, past the dirty mop drying against the fence and into the single stall complete with wonky hand gel bottle sitting inside previous wall mount ed soap dispenser. What more could you ask for besides the wall mounted paper dispenser perhaps being filled up if that's the norm.

Previous reviews of Kingsford Chinese Restaurant:
13 April 2009
http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com.au/2009/04/kingsford-chinese-restaurant-13-april.html
15 Sept 2008
http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com.au/2008/10/kingsford-chinese-restaurant-15-sept.html

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Reasonably priced, Efficient service, Tasty dishes, Complimentary Chinese tea, Free street parking in the area

CONS: Be prepared to wait outside when busy, You'll be the goldfish in the bowl if you sit at the front at night with waiting customers looking at you, I've seen nicer toilets

MUST TRY: Sang Tung Chicken, Deep Fried Calamari with Pepper & Salt, Pork Chop in Vietnamese Style, Fried Rice

VERDICT: Very popular for a cheap feed of tasty dishes

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Complimentary Chinese tea — didn't seem to be a charge on the bill

Sang Tung Chicken ($12)
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Deep Fried Calamari with Pepper & Salt ($12.80)
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Pork Chop in Vietnamese Style ($11)
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Chinese Mushroom with Seasonal Vegetable ($12.80)

Fried Rice ($8)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Bill $56.60 — it's all Chinese to me

Prime spot for waiting customers outside to look at you

Watch out for the trip hazard

Thankfully the hand dryer worked as there was no paper towelling left

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Wokmaster Randwick online ordering courtesy of Menulog, Randwick (9 Aug 2013)

Shop 48b, 73 Belmore Road, Randwick NSW 2031

http://www.menulog.com.au/wok_master_randwick

When you're too lazy to cook

Thanks to Menulog for inviting me to test their online ordering system with a $50 voucher code. To use the voucher my fellow diners and I decided on Wokmaster for Chinese in Randwick. It's literally a 2 minute walk away although my voucher was for delivery only which in the end took an hour to arrive due to Wokmaster being so busy that night. There's certainly some stiff competition for online restaurant ordering which all offer the same menu prices but if you check around there's sometimes special deals on one website and not on the other like the free bottle of soft drink I got with my order. The Menulog website is well presented and easy to follow through although I did discover a frustrating issue when I entered my order under pickup and then when I needed to change to delivery it cleared all my order so I had to enter it all again. Would be great if this was fixable. Also with the free drink offer I couldn't specify which drink I would have preferred. The payment form was easy to fill in and the confirmation of payment clear to understand. I was supposed to get an SMS confirmation for the delivery time but this never happened so after about 30 minutes I actually called Wokmaster to double check if my order did go through and it did but I shouldn't have had to do this so not quite sure what went wrong here.

My order arrived safely, well packaged and no spillage. Delivery person was friendly but frantic due to being very busy that night with deliveries. Ordered online at 7.12 pm and arrived at 8.15 pm. Fried Rice ($6.50 small) was good and the Braised Chicken with vegetables in oyster sauce ($14.80) was my preferred dish of the night although vegetables a tad over cooked as they were very soft in texture. Shredded Fillet Steak Peking Sauce ($14.80) didn't fair too well for delivery as this dish is best eaten as soon as possible before the batter softens and starts sticking together. King Prawn Cutlets ($10.80 4 pieces) were OK but crumbing had gone a bit soft after long delivery time. Sweet & Sour Pork ($14.80) was quite sweet and batter had gone a bit soft and soggy by the time we got to eat it. I would have preferred to order pizza but my fellow diners were keen for Chinese. I think we could have made some better choices for a Chinese home delivery like dishes that weren't cooked in a batter which tends to not hold up well for a home delivery. I'll remember this for next time.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Easy to use online ordering system, Many restaurants available, Sometimes online discounts or deals are available, Getting home delivery means you can keep drinking at home

CONS: Didn't get an sms confirmation of delivery time, Delivery can take a lot longer than ordering a pickup, Not all restaurants may be available in the system

MUST TRY: Remembering to compare other online ordering systems to see if any special deals are available

VERDICT: I'd happily use Menulog again although my only concern is that I never got an sms confirmation of delivery time so I'm not sure if this is a system fail or restaurant followup fail

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Menulog search for a restaurant or via postcode

Menulog menu ordering — easy to follow, check order and amend although if you started with pickup and then need to change to delivery it will clear your order which is frustrating

Payment form easy to use

Order confirmation clear although I never received an SMS confirmation with the delivery time so not sure what happened there

Wokmaster order $64.20 minus $50 voucher

King Prawn Cutlets ($10.80 4 pieces) — decent size with prawn crackers underneath

Shredded Fillet Steak Peking Sauce ($14.80) — usually has a crispy batter but doesn't fair well for a takeaway delivery 

Sweet & Sour Pork ($14.80) — quite sweet and batter goes a bit soft after takeaway delivery

Braised chicken with vegetables in oyster sauce ($14.80) — survives a long delivery time

Fried rice ($6.50 small), Boiled rice ($2.50 small) — good old classic fried rice stands up to a long delivery time

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