Mr Feedback

I had a day off today (rarity these days), so I ventured into downtown. I may make a trip to Central America later in the year so I am checking out ticket prices. It seems to cost around $3000 mark for a return economy fare, and up to $11000 for a first class fare (for those filty rich despicable people - lol!). Unfortunately, I will be traveling in the former class.

All of the flights are ex-LA, so I walked into Flight Centre on Elizabeth Street to ask them if they had any idea about V-Australia’s prices. According to V-Australia’s site, direct flights to LA start mid December, although they seem to change the date from time to time. When I checked the site - which was a couple of weeks ago, they had no indication of the price. I checked after going to Flight Centre and it seems during low season it will cost around $2009 (conditions apply of course).

The funny thing was, the Flight Centre lady had no idea what V Australia was. I told them it was Virgin’s initiative to fly to LA from Australia. Still not ringing any bells. I was thinking if she has driven in any major freeway in Melbourne, or watched TV, or heard the radio in the last few months. Only 1 of the staff members had heard of V-Australia. I almost burst out laughing when I exited the store.

Have you heard of V-Australia? Is it fair for me to expect them to know what it is? I thought it was.

Store
Namaste Indian (City)
225 King Street (Corner of Lonsdale St)
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Ph: (03) 9642 2264
Fax: (03) 9642 2265
Email: namaste2@aapt.net.au

I was driving in downtown a couple of weeks ago, and saw a pretty flashy restaurant almost on the corner of King and Lonsdale Street called Namaste Indian. So I gave it a try a couple of days ago.

The ambience
Cramped restaurants are not my style, as you can tell from my previous reviews here, and here. Namaste Indian is in stark contrast to most restaurant these days, where owners cramp customers into tiny corners and fit as many tables and chairs as possible. The restaurant is ultra-spacious which is excellent, and is moderately decorated. You really can go there, and have a great time. If you want a bit of privacy, ask for a table in the lower level (there have a split level set up).

What really brings them down was the location of the restaurant. There are two men’s clubs right next door, specifically Men’s Gallery and Goldfinger. If you bring your family, I wouldn’t suggest parking near these venues. There is plenty of parking on King Street itself. I imagine the awkwardness setting in walking past these clubs to get to the restaurant, and I thought it really did them a disservice. By the way, I do not intend to speak lowly of people who visit these clubs, but it’s just the setting of a family restaurant in close vicinity of men’s clubs does not go hand in hand.

The food
I thought the food was delicious. So did the people whom I went. The menu is laid out nicely, but I thought it was a bit bulky. This was largely contributed by the lunch and dinner menus they had. They had the usual variety, but what was lacking is the variety in the desert menu. The presentation was appropriate, and what I really liked was the staff actually specified which dish was which.

The price
I don’t mind paying extra for a bit of space. Compared to other Indian restaurants, Namaste Indian was a bit dearer, but I thought it was worth it. We ordered a decent entree, mains, naan breads, coffee, and 1 desert - all for $140.60.

The service
There were two staff for the whole restaurant and on a busy Saturday night, I think this is a bit stingy of the owner. The service was amateurish, but in a pleasant. For example: the waitress brought out the masala tea, and when asked what it was - she replied: “I don’t know really, sorry - let me check!”. We had a chuckle. Then, we were charged $3 extra which I explained to the waiter, and he apologised. Yet when the bill went through to my card, he had charged the extra $3. He said: “Sorry, I got confused with another table” (he did return us the extra $3). The first thing anyone ever has asked me when I sat at a restaurant was: “Any drinks to start with”, however at Namaste we were greeted with: “What sort of dishes would you like?”.

The staff at all times were courteous, but the service was amateurish. I suspect both of them were international students, working to try and make ends meet.

Inside tips
* Always check the bill at the end of a meal. You will be surprised how many times mistakes are made. Furthermore, when you pay by EFTPOS or credit card, ensure you check the final amount because these amounts are typed manually onto the system, and is error prone.

Suggestions
* Thanks for a lovely meal, and experience. Perhaps a bit more training for your staff is required, and also I would suggest getting more people on board on busy weekend nights.

Rating - 6.5 (great food, lovely place, service was a let down - but entertaining!)
I was expecting: great good - got it, nice atmosphere - got it, and great service - sometimes got it. More training is required for the staff, but I would certainly recommend it to friends and family. The location is too late to change, but stick to King Street for parking if men’s clubs easily offend you.

Friendly, but cold sounds a bit misleading - so what I meant was - “they are friendly, but the place was freezing”. There was no heater in the room I was in, and Adelaide was cold that day.

The service
Continuing on from my Wotif.com (reviewed here) experience, I rang the reception straight after I booked the place and they had confirmed it. They were very helpful in guiding me through Adelaide, and told me where to park the car in downtown. Usually check in was 1400hrs, but they were happy to get me early, because I was leaving that very night.

The location
It’s certainly not walkable from the Airport. It’s right behind it, and is within a taxi cab fare of 10 dollars I would say. In fact the Adelaide Airport Motel is also not within walking distance, and as they were fully booked - thats how I got to know about the Aviators Lodge. They have a small restaurant within the motel, which has meals at reasonable prices.

The cost
I paid $89 through Wotif.com. Interestingly, I asked them for a tax invoice which stated $80. Looking into it closely, the way it works is: I pay Wotif.com who then pay the motel. I.e.: The motel bills Wotif.com, and this is stated in the tax invoice. Essentially, Wotif takes a booking fee of $9. Not bad for a company who basically acts as the middle man, and almost all of their bookings are automated.

Inside tips
* When you book accommodation, its worthwhile ringing them up directly to find out the price and to see if they will offer the rooms for lower prices - considering they will be empty if not booked. You may be able to “undercut” sites like Wotif, but what you will find is that the motel will charge you their standard rates, in which case last minute accommodation sites (like Wotif) will save you money.

Suggestions
* I was freezing my a– off that day. The room did not have a heater. Is this standard? If so, fit some heaters because it was like an ice age in the room.

Rating - 8/10 (good place, please install heaters)
For a 3 star motel, a heater is a must! I will stay there again, and would recommend it to friends and family (but warn them of their heater less status).

Ok, Australia has a “new kid on the block” when it comes to discount airlines. So what’s all the fuss about? I wanted to find out, so I booked my trip to Adelaide recently on Tiger Airways!

Is it any different to JetStar or Virgin? 
Yep, it’s bloody dam cheap. I had 2 weeks notice to go to Adelaide so I looked at all the fares from all the airlines (excluding Qantas because I know they’re expensive). I used Tiger Airways to Adelaide, and Virgin on my way back because those were the cheapest tickets I could get.

I avoided Jetstar, because you have to add in the cost to going to Avalon Airport  (Melbourne) as opposed to Tullamarine for the other airlines. Travelling to Avalon is a real pain in the a–, so Jetstar was not an option. Besides, their fares were more expensive anyway.

I bought my Tiger ticket for a mere $39.95. They have silly taxes though: what the hell is a luxury tax? It cost me more to get to the airport by taxi than it did to fly from Melbourne - Adelaide. That is just plain WRONG! LOL!

Furthermore, you have to pay “extra” if you want checked in baggage (which I did not have):
* 0-15kg: $5.00
* 15 + 5kg: $15.00
* 15 + 10kg: $25.00
*15 + 15kg: $40.00
** Sports equipment is extra ($30.00)

Doing the sums…
So things can add up, if you manage to get a $39.95 fare + GST ($3.95) + 30kg checked in baggage, then you would be spending: 83.90 + whatever they charge extra for using your credit card + luxury tax. You really need to do your sums before booking.

Charging customers for checked in baggage seems appropriate, because from an airline perspective they would save $$ on fuel costs (which are soaring!). So when the plane reaches Adelaide, and there’s more fuel remaining, it means less fuel is required to fill up (to come back) therefore cost savings for the airline.

So is it worth it?
For me, it was worth it because I only had hand luggage. Tiger Airways is ideal for the day traveller with hand luggage only. Remember, a laptop is not counted, so you can take an additional baggage. I took my laptop, and my suit. No hassles!

The process and planes…
You get a crappy terminal, and you need to walk onto the plane but when you are paying less than your taxi fare to the airport to travel 700km - who cares! There weren’t many people on my plane so I had two empty seats next to me, so I put my feet up.

What’s “not worth it” and has the colour red? 
Those silly Premium Economy seats that Virgin have introduced. Totally ridiculous. They simply added a cup holder to the “middle seat” and added a few inches of leg room. Yeah yeah, you get priority this and priority that, and free entry into “The Lounge” who really cares if you’re only travelling 1-2 hours. It’s suitable for business travellers who cancel a lot, so why not just call it Business Class.

I can’t believe on their website they mention: “exclusive red leather seats”! That is just plain pathetic.

Overall my experience with Tiger Airways was positive, and I felt it was worth the money I paid. Too bad I had to fork out $119 on my return with Virgin, which was the cheapest I could get. The biggest advantage for Tiger is that they have their terminal at Tullamarine.

Note: This is a Commentary, hence the “C” in the title. Find out more.

I really love Wotif.com, and therefore it deserves a 10/10. If you have not heard about this great service, then where have you been for the last few years. Wotif.com has really dominated the last minute accommodation sector in Australia, and they are spreading their wings overseas.

I first used them to book a hotel in Halls Gap, where they refunded an extra night’s stay because I could not stay there. Unheard of in today’s online booking market.

The website
I had to find a hotel in Adelaide for June 20th, so logged on at 6pm on June 19th (my flight was the next day at 6.30am) and found a hotel near the airport. I booked it with ease, and filled out the required information and within 30 seconds my booking was made. Sure I am pretty internet savvy, and that sure helped the time. But really, the booking time was extremely fast.

The confirmation
So how live is this service. I waited for 30 seconds after I printed out my confirmation of booking. Called the hotel where I booked, and asked them if they had received my booking. Yep, they had! This was way too easy for my liking.

Suggestions
I think it would be really useful to send sms text confirmation of your booking to your mobile. A lot of people may not have access to a printer (like me), but almost everyone has a mobile phone (like me). A simple text message with the details of the booking (to show the hotel on arrival) will make life a lot simpler. I can’t see why airlines and other booking services could not use this technique as well.

Rating - 10/10 (easy to use, live booking, way too easy!)
I have booked accommodation to other sites, but Wotif.com takes the cake, eats it, and washes the plate! The efficiency is incredible, so this is going down in the Raj’s List. Do you use another site? Tell me about it!

During my recent visit to Sydney, I stayed at the Marque Hotel - Sydney. I went to Sydney for a skills workshop which was 3 days (each at least 12 hours) of grilling, so I thought a 3 star hotel was adequate.

The location
If you are traveling to Sydney, and do not plan to hire a car (remember, parking is expensive!)- then you really need to be near a train station. Location wise, The Marque Hotel is in a pristine spot. A stone’s throw away from Sydney Central Station, it took me about 2-4 minutes (depending on the mood of the traffic lights) to get to my platform, which was 25 (at the other end of the station). The hotel also has easy access to fast food joints, and also some restaurants nearby. Of course, sitting on the corner is George Street - means you have access to Sydney’s bustling downtown district.

The service
The front reception staff are always smiling, and welcoming. They did stuff up my booking by giving me a room with 3 single beds, but it was corrected (but not before my bags went up to the wrong room). I did not use much room service, as I never really had time but on the last day I spent a few hours just lazing around in the lobby. Sorry, but that is as much I can comment on service, I really never was in the hotel during business hours.

Their website is quite flashy, and very useful. Their email turn around was pretty good too (24 hours). They have an online booking facility as well through ihotelier.com service.

The hotel
I have never really stayed in a 3 star hotel before, so didn’t know what to expect. Looking from outside, it is very average. Their lobby, however, is immaculate, and very posh. But, that is where the extravagance ends if you stay in a regular room. The rooms are ordinary (but the view was great), and immediate thing I noticed was the curtains being pretty dirty. The TV reception was average too. I wouldn’t rate the rooms very high, but then again it was a 3 star hotel so you can’t expect too much I guess. The hotel also comprises of a roof top pool, sauna, undercover parking, conference facilities, air conditioning, a restaurant and bar. Details of their facilities can be found here. I never had time to explore all of these facilities, but I trust them.

The hotel itself seems to be undergoing some renovation, and according to their website - the more expensive rooms have more state of the art facilities - read more here.

The cost
I booked the rooms through Blue Holidays. The whole trip cost me about $400 (including airfares, accommodation), which I thought was not bad for 3 days. Parking would cost you about $25 per day at the hotel. Trust me, it’s not worth it - as Sydney transport is relatively cheap from point to point. They also have a airport drop off service, which is about $12 per person, quite competitive when compared to the Airport Link service (more about this later).

Rating - 7/10 (for the cost, it was a good)
For the money I paid, I think I got a pretty good deal. I will stay there again, because of its pristine location.

Patisserie New York
Shop 12/ 360 Kingsway
Caringbah
NSW 2229
Ph No: (02) 9531-8688

I’ve been to this Patisserie a number of occasions and this is one of the shire’s hidden secrets.

Alot of thought and devotion has been put into each cake and I do feel guilty eating one of these masterpieces.

The Food
Patisserie New York has a wide array of exquisite cakes. My personal favourite is the Black Forest Gateau.

“Layers of chocolate Genoise sponge soaked with kirsch liqueur, with
sour cherries and fresh vanilla cream then totally enrobed in more fresh
vanilla cream with chocolate ganash spilled over with chocolate dipped
maraschino cherries.”

Freshly made and mouth-watering - I am so glad b’days come once a year. Black Forest Gateau - $35, Satisfaction - Priceless!!!

Inside Tip
Book 2 days in advance as the cakes are made to order. Check out the online order form.

Rating 9/10 - (well deserved!)
From their Art Deco stylized retail store to their mouthwatering cakes, Patisserie New York wins hands down..

Yummy Noodle Take Away
238 Macquarie St
Dubbo
NSW 2830
Ph: (02) 6881 8298

None of us can do a stir-fry in under 5 minutes, but the guys at Yummy Noodle can.On this particular day, nothing suffices but a quick stir-fry. So, we head down to Yummy Noodle on Macquarie Street.

The Setting
Main street of Dubbo. I know it’s a privately-held chain of Take-aways this side of the Blue Mountains and business is brisk.

The Ambience
I would say a lack of, but that doesn’t discourage me as I’m a regular. As the saying goes, don’t judge a book by its cover. Looking from the outside, the sign off the commercial Awning has faded away. The interior is pretty much like the exterior - basic.

The Service
Counter Service is handled by a Kitchen hand. Food is prepared right in front of your eyes. Searing Food, Fiery Flavours - you might forget you’re in Dubbo for a sec. Within 5 minutes, voila..

The Food
My favourites
- Yummy Hot Box, $ 9.20
- Special Fried Rice, $ 9.20

Tasty Food in New York style Noodle Boxes. Generous portions with ample amounts of meat

Suggestions
PS Don’t Skimp on Advertising & Marketing. Companies like Noodle Box have franchised the same idea. With 7 Asian-style restaurants in town & many local tourists, Yummy Noodle could be missing out. Yummy Noodle does depend on its regular clientele though.

Rating - 6.5/10 ( great value, good food, shop needs an overhaul)
I would finish that hard stroll in Dubbo Zoo with a noodle box.

I am experimenting with different looks of the site, with help from templates that I find on the internet. I hope you like this new look, but note that advertising models such as Google and AdToll have not been implemented yet. I thought I will give them a miss for now, and re-introduce them a bit later. For now, I am focusing on content. I still have a few more reviews to write, when I have time to do so. It’s been really busy at work recently, but others are stepping in for me in this role. Notably, I welcome SJacob who has posted his review of the restaurant Kalevu (see below).

I do welcome more people to write, so jump on board when you can and contribute.

Kalevu Restaurant
10 Princes Highway
Sylvania,
NSW 2224
Ph: (02) 9522 2532

Friday night without a booking. Nonetheless, We’re met with a smile at the door and escorted to a table

The Service
The waitress was friendly and obliging if you wanted ’something off the menu’.She knew the menu to the last T and we went by her suggestions. Good staff are hard to come by and these ones are an asset to Kalevu.

The Setting
Kalevu is in the Sylvania - at the base of Tom Uglys Bridge and beside Paul’s Hamburgers.

The Ambience
Contemporary setting. Mirrors rippling across the wall. Chef & owner Christopher is in the distance working on our meal.

The Food
1) Crispy Skin Snapper on artichoke puree, blistered trussel tomatoes, wilted spinach & crispy proscuitto
2) Braised then Char Grilled Duck on beetroot mash, asparagus Orange glaze

Do you need to say more? This meal did hit the spot. Modern Australian. Good portioned servings & well-presented.

Inside Tips
Head for the Early Bird Two-course Special for $36.50 ( as long as you vacate by 7pm)

Rating - 8/10 ( Excellent food)
It was our first time to Kalevu and going there, I would definitely recommend it. Perfect for a romantic evening out in the Shire.