Simon Food Favourites: Live Entertainment Venue

Showing posts with label Live Entertainment Venue. Show all posts

19 June 2011

Kelly’s on King: Irish Pub and Bistro, Newtown (19 June 2011)

285 King Street, Newtown NSW 2042

Irish hideaway in Newtown

Some casual birthday drinks brings me to Kelly's on King which extends over 2 floors including a renovated courtyard and terrace for smokers. The live music sang all the tunes you'd probably want to sing along to and if you're the adventurous type or drunk enough you might be inclined to start up the dance floor moves precariously positioned next to the front entrance. A poster promotes the kitchen food has changed and includes most of the pub grub basics you'd be after in a pub like this. The Hand cut chips ($6) are homemade and quite nice with flavour and have a decent crunch. The rustic looking Club sandwich ($15) was quite filling although I'd probably try one of their steaks next time. You'll find Guinness on tap and Bulmers Pear Cider which is quite refreshing. My Gin & Tonic was served in quite a small glass so it doesn't last long. There's a machine for self-serve Hot Nuts which I didn't see being used but wondered if they'd be any good.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Casual and cosy atmosphere, Live music, Drinks seem reasonably priced compared to other bars although spirits are served in a very small glass, Affordable bistro menu, Terrace available for smokers

CONS: Small glasses used for spirits, Music can get quite loud and the place crowded, Expect to see some daggy dancing

WORTH TRYING: Hand cut chips

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Hand cut chips ($6) — pretty cheap and quite tasty

Club sandwich with chicken, bacon, egg, lettuce, tomato, cheese and bbq sauce served with chips ($15)

Gin & Tonic — served in a little small glass, usually plastic when later in the night

Hot nuts machine

Downstairs seating

Live entertainment

A selection of beers on tap including Bulmers Pear Cider

Pool Comp poster

Downstairs courtyard

New food, New Kitchen, New sunny courtyard

Eat Do See lifestyle video — gives you a good idea of the courtyard and atmosphere of the place although watch out for the cheesy eating of dishes and dancing

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14 August 2010

Piano Room: Swanky bar with a view, Potts Point (12 August 2010)

1 Bayswater Road, Potts Point NSW 2011

http://www.pianoroom.com.au

Pity about the plastic glassware

My expectations of the Piano Room were pretty low due to the fact that they have a dismal 4.1 score (16 reviews) on Eatability which didn't inspire much confidence in the establishment. Most of the negative comments are about the service or lack there of. It was actually quite funny reading through the comments because it sounded like my worst nightmare but I had some $50 vouchers from the Angela Wilson Media Launch goodie bag to use by August so I had nothing to lose except my pride if the bouncers didn't let me in. I tried twice to email the venue to be added to their 'guest list' and ask if I needed to book a table to eat but had no response. On the same night I was intending to visit with 3 other friends I received an email from Caroline from CNR Communications that a 5 week Burlesque competition was starting and we could be added to the guest list so that was great timing. Upon arriving around 7.30 pm there was no bouncers to be seen except a service staff cleaning empty Red Bull cans and rubbish from the entrance way. We walked straight in to a fairly empty bar and grabbed a nice cosy seat near the window with views down William Street.

With no wine list or drinks menu available at the bar — and hence no prices listed — I was a bit worried about ordering drinks but our energetic and fast talking bar man rattled off the prices of a couple of their Sauvignon Blanc bottles which we ended up ordering. Unfortunately all drinks are served in plastic glassware which is in stark contrast to what the decor and ambience of the place is trying to promote. And because of this rule any bottles purchased need to be kept behind the bar which made it inconvenient to get your top up when required — although thankfully our bar man was able to pop around from time to time before it got too busy. Licensing laws they say but I've never experienced this before unless it gets to witching hour late at night in bars and pubs when they swap glass for plastic or if you visit the IVY pool below the IVY Penthouse. An excellent live music band played familiar songs although at times were a tad too loud and made conversations a bit hard to hear.

The bar food menu seemed reasonably priced and we ordered a selection to graze on. The Cheese Plate ($18) with your classic selection of 3 types of cheeses was well presented and decently portioned for the price — much better value than Berta that's for sure. Satay chicken ($13) came with a spicy peanut sauce and cucumber relish and was tasty and tender. I was very impressed with the Roasted pumpkin arancini, bocconcini stuffed risotto ball ($9) which I'd happily order again. The tasty Chicken and prawn sping rolls ($13) were large in size and freshly cooked to a crispy outer shell. The impressive sized Prawns wrapped in jamon ($17) were a table favourite although weren't deveined so unfortunately I found this tainted the taste of the prawn a bit. I think a more interesting side instead of mixed lettuce leaves would make it even better — perhaps some tzatziki dip as well. I enjoyed the wafer thin slices of cured meats and tasty olives in the Antipasto ($18) although I couldn't work out where the white anchovies were, which was listed on the menu. The house made dips weren't the tastiest I've come across like at Sultan's Table but they went nicely with the grilled ciabatta. So in the end I was quite impressed with bar food on offer which was tasty, good quality and fairly reasonably priced for such a swanky style bar.

As a special treat of the night three burlesque performance came on around 10 pm. I didn't quite catch the names of the performers but I think the first act was 'Schimmy' and the third act was 'Coco' but my favourite of the night was the second double act which reminded me a bit of the cheeky and sexy Oui Oui Paris performers I saw at Alliance Francaise De Sydney Bastille Day Party — I wonder if they'd be interested in performing at my birthday :-)

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Nice decor and comfy seating, Tasty bar food, Good live music, Interesting view

CONS: Plastic glassware, Bottles of wine need to be left behind the bar, Very dark, No wine or drinks menu available, Questionable service and attitude comments on Eatability, Air con was a bit chilly

MUST TRY: Roasted pumpkin arancini, bocconcini stuffed risotto ball

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Waihopai Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough NZ

Cheese Plate: Vattle valey (Wattle Valley?) brie, Signature ble (blue?), Vintage cheddar with quince paste, fruit bread and lavosh $18

Satay chicken with spicy peanut sauce and cucumber relish $13

Roasted pumpkin arancini, bocconcini stuffed risotto ball with garlic aioli $9 (6 pieces)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Chicken and prawn sping rolls with spicy peanut and cucumber relish $13

Prawns wrapped in jamon with shaved fennel and olive oil $17 (3 pieces)

Antipasto - marinated vegetables, cured meats, white anchovies, olives with house made dips and grilled ciabatta $18

Live music band singing well known hits

Bar area

Seating area

Burlesque performer 1 'Coco'

Burlesque performers 2

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Burlesque performer 3 'Schimmy'

Private seating area

Toilet mirror — nice!

Toilet liquid soap — where's the Aesops or L'Occitane which seems to be so popular for this area?

View looking down William Street

Piano Bar is located under the famed Coca-Cola neon sign

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15 June 2010

Notes Live: Australian Burlesque Festival 2010 - The Big Tease!, Newtown (11 June 2010)

75 Enmore Road, Newtown NSW 2042
http://noteslive.net.au

Burlesque Feast

This is the first time I've visited the Notes Live venue which is quite a nice intimate venue. Tonight's performance is a burlesque event called 'The Big Tease!' as part of the Australian Burlesque Festival 2010. It was wise to have a ticket which included dinner so you could get allocated seating and hence hopefully a better view. I'm always a bit wary of food being served at large venues because my expectations are of wedding style food of limited choice which is generally prepared a bit in advance and not quite cooked to order. I was actually surprised at the dishes served and found them quite tasty although perhaps a little on the luke warm side.

The Salt and pepper baby squid with lime aoili ($12) was quite tender with a light crunchy coating. The Salmon fillet with asparagus spears, shaved fennel and tomato with caper beutte noisette ($22) was nice and I really like the shaved fennel in the dish. My Eye Fillet steak with roasted chats, sautéed mushrooms and wine jus ($26) was perhaps a bit on the pricey side for steaks although it was a quality cut of beef with no grizzle to be found. Ordered medium-rare it came out perhaps a bit towards medium and wasn't as hot as hoped but still enjoyable. The mushrooms were quite scarce on the plate.

Service was friendly although a bit absent at times to order drinks and there was quite a delay between serving entree and mains, it ended up being about an hour wait so I think the kitchen was struggling a bit. Water glasses were available on the table but I needed to ask for water as it seemed to have been forgotten. The burlesque show was very good and included many of the elite burlesque performers of Australia and some overseas talent. Sapphira the MC kept the crowd entertained between acts and I look forward to next years event and hope it'll be in a similar intimate venue which has a good open plan and raised stage.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Intimate venue, Convenience of food available, Easy to get drinks at the bar, Seating allocated for dinner tickets

CONS: A bit of a delay in table service for drinks, Limited menu

MUST TRY: Checking guide for future events

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