Mr Feedback

Store
Tort’s Famous Catering
Australia on Collins
260 Collins St
Melbourne, VIC
Tel: (03) 9670 7824

I had a wander around Australia on Collins, and it’s like another world there. I have never been to this place before, and actually ran into it because it was the quickest way to the nearest Police Station. Yep, I got arrested! (kidding by the way). They have a nice little food court on Floor 1, and that’s where I found Tort’s Famous. In my pledge to start eating something other than Indian or Italian, I ordered here.

It’s a neat kitchen, and you can freely see the good preparation. In fact, seeing the food prepared is one of their unique specialties. They have a combo meal for $10.95, which is decent. The service was great, although I was one of the few who ordered from there. The food itself was aaright! I wasn’t a great fan of the chips (or tort chips they call it). The tort itself was quite tasty, and healthy at that. It’s a bit like a Subway sandwich, except its wrapped in a TORT (read more here). They have a few stores in Melbourne (although I had never seen one before), you can find them here. Their menu is here.

If you want organize office catering, then you can do so on their website. The more I think about it, maybe some of my catered food comes from here.

There are plenty of options there, but I am just not a Tort person. I guess I shut down when things become healthy, :-).

Rating: 6/10 (great place, good service, but I am not a tort person)

Bhoj Docklands
54 New Quay Promenade
Docklands VIC 3008
Phone (03) 9600 0884
Fax (03) 9600 0865

As you can see, food is my primary source of well being. I love food, especially Indian and Italian which make up all of my restaurant reviews thus far. I promise I will venture outside these realms more often in the future.

I organized a wedding lunch at Bhoj Docklands and found the whole experience quite shocking for a restaurant situated in a prestigious location. It looks pretty good from the outside though, which is deceptive to the level of the customer service you receive.

The pre-service
I visited the place a couple of weeks before the day to suss it out. I noticed them a few times during my visit to the Melbourne Docklands, so decided to give them a try. I went with the $38.50 p/p banquet deal. The guy who explained the whole deal to me, didn’t make sense from the outset. I avoided this warning sign, and decided to go ahead with the booking. Silly me! Read the rest of this entry »

Paradise Indian Restaurant
Shop 34, 190-200 Jells Road
Wheelers Hill, VIC 3150
Phone (03) 9561 6661

I have been to this Indian restaurant quite a few times, mostly for the South Indian buffet lunch menu on the Sunday. People I know really love the food, but not so much me.

The service
The wait staff are really pushed on the Sunday. The restaurant gets very busy, and often there are only 2 employed serves, in addition to the owners doing a bit of work themselves. Often the front counter is unmanned for people wanting to pay their bills, or who wander into the restaurant. They really need to employ more people to have a better level of service. Often you need to attack them, and keep reminding them of things you want. When you sit down, water or drinks never come unless you ask.

Be prepared to be up front with the wait staff. I often notice the wait staff change quite regularly, almost every time I have gone there (>10). It says something about the restaurant.

The food
I have only gone on a Sunday, so read this segment with caution. The Sunday (South Indian) menu has “limited” options from a buffet perspective, but you can ask for more options. They are “specially” made to order, so don’t be fooled by the “limited” options. You need to ask them though, otherwise you can easily be fooled. Some of the things you can ask is: uthappam, rava dosa, plain dosa, masala dosa and many more items.

The deserts when I have gone there haven’t been great but this is your first Indian restaurant, I can see you will easily be impressed.

The ambience
The place is quite dark, even on a bright Sunday afternoon. The lighting needs some work, but the ornaments on the walls are quite attractive, especially the hanging sarees. The roof - or what roof! The pipes are visible, and this leaves quite an ugly feeling. Unlike La Spaghettata (which I recently reviewed), there is more space though. Watch out for tables located in the back corners, - its really hard to get the wait staff attention so avoid them.

Inside tips
* Avoid back corner tables
* Don’t be afraid to ask for more during buffet hours
* Sometimes they have great live music, but there is no way of finding out unless you ring them.

Rating - 5.5 (I don’t give halves generally, but this restaurant doesn’t deserve a 6/10)
Service times, and ambience let it down. The food, and value are good by themselves but unfortunately restaurants need more. I see some people agree with my views on Eatability.

Address: Tutti in Piazza, Melbourne Central - Ph: (03) 9639 6211

Had a quick stop over yesterday for lunch at Tutti in Piazza, which is a take away Italian fast food restaurant located in the food court of Melbourne Central. I haven’t been here before, but attended the food court a number of times.

You cannot fully analyse a fast food joint as you would a normal restaurant, and one would not expect marvelous service anyhow. The food was alright. I had the pumpkin gnocchi, and it was borderline cold. I asked for take away container as I could not finish it, and the serving lady obliged which is always helpful. Cost was $10.50 for a large dish, drink and garlic bread piece - so there is value there.

For me, the food was cold, which is a sitting duck for someone to get sick from it. It is a very popular fast food restaurant in the food court. I saw plenty of customers having food from there, so certainly it has its market. I had a quick glance at the serving culture, and hygeine principles are general followed.

However, my food was too cold, and they lose a fair few points for that.

Rating - 6/10 (average food, heat your food up more)

After my dinner the other night at La Spaghetatta I needed something sweet to top off the evening. Something portable. I went to Gelatissimo, which was pretty much across the street just before Grattan St. The range of ice cream is extensive, and the prices are very reasonable. I chose the pure chocolate cone ice cream ($3.90), and it was delicious. My interaction with the staff was very short, so I cannot write a proper review - but what’s with the loud music and singing by the staff.

I know you are having fun at work, but choose better music.

Rating -9/10 (delicious ice cream)

Address: 238 Lygon St, Carlton, (03) 9663 6102

I had dinner last night at La Spaghettata, the food was great (a bit pricey though) but restaurant was quite cramped. Here is what I thought:

Dinner for two: entree (2), main course (2), non-alcoholic drink (1) = $94

Food
I started with the Bruschetta for the entree, and it tasted very nice overall. I thought the tomatoes which were dressed onto the toasted bread were a bit raw, and perhaps needed a bit more grilling. The sauce was quite nice. For the mains, I had the Ravioli with spinach and ricotta. The serve size was smallish for the price (about $19), but it was cooked well, and the sauce amount was just right.

Service
What do you call those guys outside the restaurant ushering you into the restaurant? Anyway, that guy made a good case of the menu and wooed us into the restaurant. Once in, the first table we had was slanted - so we moved to another place. The service was excellent, and very prompt. We had our meals, and paid the meal within 75 minutes, which is excellent considering how busy it was last night. The waiter explained the menu options well, and it was as described. So bravo on the service!!

The ambience
Don’t go expecting to have a quiet dinner. We were sitting next to a group of birthday revelers, and it was quite noisy. The restaurant itself is quite small, and the tables are small. This is where we lose some points. The area is very cramped. We sat next to the fireplace, and my head was almost against the wall. There was absolutely no room to move. This was quite obvious when we tried to leave after payment - we literally had inches to squeeze ourselves through. So perhaps a bit more space won’t hurt, and that means - reducing the number of tables for a more free experience. In fact, the menu was so big it would not fit on the table opened up!

Value
We had a full meal (entrees, drinks, and mains) but thought the price tag was a bit on the high side. I was expecting about $75-85, but this is compensated by the excellent food.

Suggestions
* The cramped space is a major issue. I would be interested to hear anyone else’s thoughts who have been to this restaurant. Reduce the number of tables, and give us some more space to breathe.
* Keep the service going, and the promptness of food delivery is really your plus point
* I asked for a menu to take away with me, and there was none there. So perhaps a few on hand would be useful - I know you guys have 50 million choices on the menu!!

Inside tips
* If you are into sharing, try the Mixed Pasta For Two (you get 3 pastas for the price of 2)

Rating - 7/10 (your cramped space really hurt you)
I had a good time there, but the cramped space made it really annoying. This is something that needs to improve. I would recommend people to go there for the food, however.

Just a follow up about my Pizza Hut experience. For those that have not read it - here it is again! I got a reply to my email re delivery policy (dated: 17 March) 2 days ago. I didn’t know that Pizza Hut’s customer relations team are called “Yum Customer Relations”.

Email from Pizza Hut:

“Thank you for taking the time to contact us. Pizza Hut do not have a policy on delivery times, if however the order is late we do hope that our customers call up the order line to inform them of this and we then inform the store and find out where the order is. On some occasions we do transfer our customers through to store managers so hey can discuss this with them. If the pizza is heaps longer than expected it is then up to each store manager as to if they are going to discount this, this is why we like our customers to let us know so they store can resolve the situation.”

So in short: There is no delivery time guarantee, and it is up to customers to sort out an agreement with the store manager. I think this is a bit poor. When you deliver something, you expect some sort of a guarantee that it turns up on time. It doesn’t have to be given for free if delivered late, but perhaps a Pizza coupon (similar to the Hot 2 You guarantee they have) would suffice.

P.S.: Good on Ray (see comments from earlier post) for getting a refund from Domino’s Pizza. At least I got my pizza, he paid for it and it never came.

I am yet to buy a car, so I trialled the Safeway (or Woolworths) delivery service the other day. Safeway is located a good walking distance from my home, but I am the type of person who likes shopping once a fortnight, rather than doing it more regularly. Keeps my budget in check, and also allows me to plan my shopping. Which means buying loads of stuff, therefore transport is a problem.

I bought 16 bags worth of shopping yesterday, and tested out the delivery service. Here is what I thought.

The shopping itself
Woolworths has a great website, where you can shop online. I am a huge fan of shopping online, and I regularly make purchases online (e.g.: eBay). However, shopping for groceries online is a bit of a hassle. Surprisingly, I found using the website difficult - not because of its design characteristics, but rather I find it much easier seeing my food before buying. I have not fully tested out the site, but I hope there is a functionality which allows for keeping tabs of your favorite products thereby reducing your searching time (or remembering your previous shopping list). The site does not provide photos of all the products at a glance unless you click on individual items, which can get annoying. Overall, a novel site, but not for me at this stage.

The delivery
After the purchase, I advised the “check out chick” that I preferred delivery. It was quite easy, all bags are tagged and bar coded. My contact details are given, and the lady explained that delivery will occur “before 5pm today” (and I get a card with delivery information). This gave me ample time to get back home, before the goods arrived. I live in an apartment, so would have preferred the groceries to be dropped off at my level. Instead, I was told to get them from downstairs. Fair enough I guess. My expectations are high, I know. The delivery time was 4.30pm - so punctuality was maintained.

The cost of delivery was less than $5. Now doing the sums:
* Cost of a tram ticket for 2 hours (Zone 1): $3.50
* There was no way I could have brought 16 bags by myself, which meant a taxi was required.

So delivery is an economical option for those without private transport. A big tick for Safeway for keeping things affordable.

Inside tips
* When using the site, watch for the “specials” link at the top - which details all your savings. This is a great feature of the site.
* It gives you running totals, so you know how much you are spending. This is something you do not get while doing shopping physically.
*Delivery is a great option if you have loads to carry
* Watch out, delivery for purchases made online can be more expensive!

Suggestions
* I can see a major market for busy couples who would like their shopping delivered, particularly those living in inner city apartments. So make delivery to the door, rather than to the building.
* The delivery card does not have information on whom to contact if you do not get your goods, so this would be a good idea. You do not want customers left out in the cold when deliveries don’t come on time.

Rating - 8/10 (delivery was a great deal!)
I suspect delivery is subcontracted, and thank you for making it affordable. If you can deliver to people’s doors (incl. apartments) then it will really attract a lot of inner city dwellers. As for your website, things look good here - but consider incorporating pictures that are easily accessible instead of making us click on each product link.

Ok, let me keep this simple. 3 large pizzas, 2 garlic breads, 1 pepsi (1.25L). Cost: $47. Order time: 10.15pm, Delivery time: 11.45pm. Do I need to say anymore?

On my return to Melbourne (from India), I ordered a few pizzas to be delivered at 11pm. I got out of the airport about 10.10pm so at 10.15pm ordered and specified the pizzas to be delivered at 11pm. I got home at 10.50pm. 11.15pm -> no pizza! My stomach was telling me to eat something quickly. 11.25pm –> no pizza! I tried to ring 131 166 but they had closed. The call centre guy guaranteed that delivery will happen.

By 11.30pm, I ran out of patience and with no way of confirming whether I was going to get my dinner I made a quick visit to the local shopping centre (which closes at midnight) and bought some food.

I returned at 11.45pm, and saw the pizza guy driving behind me trying to find the house. He was very apologetic, and explained that he was the “only driver”. I explained that if he was running late, is there any reason he didn’t call me (my number given to call centre) and inform me so I was aware. He apologized once more, and said it was an “oversight”. I appreciated his honesty.

He rang his manager to ask if he can give the pizzas for free since it had taken so long. To my surprise (and the driver’s), I was entitled to only 10% discount. After talking to the manager (took 15 minutes of hammering my point) myself, I negotiated a $20 deal. The manager’s reasoning was that: “I gave you an extra 45 minutes to make sure you arrived from the airport”. My point: “I did not ask for extra time mate!”.

In summary
* Total time taken: 90 minutes
* Cost: $20
* 1 of the pizzas did not have a hot symbol (although I didn’t make a huge fuss about this)
* No phone call from driver to warn of delay
* No way of me contacting Pizza Hut to confirm delivery (hot line closed)

Suggestions
* 4 simple steps of avoiding is: 1) tell the customer which store is making the pizzas, 2) give the customer a way of contacting the driver (pager, mobile phone), 3) Pizza Hut informing the customer of any delays, 4) Do not unfairly argue with the customer.

Rating - 0/10 (when you argue with the customer unfairly, the buck stops!)
Here’s my question: am I entitled for the pizzas to be free considering it took them 1.5 hours from the order time? The answer: I do not know. Pizza Hut’s website does not specify any time limits, except to say delivery times to Mt Waverley is 30 minutes. They do have a “Hot 2 you” guarantee. What do you think? I will be interested to hear your comments. I have emailed Pizza hut for clarification and will keep you updated. I am not so much worried about the cost, but rather the approach the manager took. It’s a matter of principle.

My family organized a function at Taj Coromandel in Chennai during my trip to India. I did not organize it, so I cannot comment on this aspect but I will comment on the customer service, food, and ambience. From what I heard, all planning was done through email - which is excellent for foreigners.

The service
Customer service has improved markedly over the years in India, and Taj Coromandel is no exception. It is one of the prestigious hotels in Chennai, and the Taj chain of hotels has an excellent reputation for customer service. But it does come at a cost. Our function for 25 people - buffet style Indian vegetarian dinner cost was Rs 38000 (approx: AUD $1027). Comparatively, it is quite cheap. A similar style buffet in Australia will cost a lot more.

There were 4 waiters looking after us, and were very friendly. The food was prepared on time, and was presented well. There was an issue with the bill, as we had been charged for 35 people instead of 25 people - but this was promptly fixed by the manager in charge and a corrected tax invoice was provided.

The food
We chose a South Indian style menu. There were other options, but ours was vegetarian. There were a few North Indian items, and also some pasta(my favorite). Finger food was also included, and non-alcoholic drinks were unlimited. The food was very nice, presented well - and with about 3 entrees, 6-8 mains, 3 desert, finger food, and unlimited drinks options - it was well worth the money.

The ambience
When I go to Taj - I expect excellent ambience. Taj Coromandel was no exception. The lobby was dimly lit, with plenty of customer service personnel available. The marvelous stair case leading to the Willingdon Hall set the tone, and the lobby was brilliantly decorated with its own water feature, Italian tiles and Mahogany furniture. The European elegance was visible throughout the hotel. The hall itself was very spacious, with comfortable seating and coffee table arrangements. I included a small presentation and they accommodated my needs with space for a projector, screen and my laptop. The decorations, and furniture quality were excellent and second to none.

When you enter the hotel, you feel like royalty and I have not experienced this feeling in other 5 star hotels I have stayed or visited.

Inside tips
* As a general rule (anywhere in the world) - check your bill. This is true in India as well, no matter how expensive the place you visit is.

Suggestions
* Do what you are doing.
* Ensure you bill customers correctly. I was a bit disappointed that I had to point out the mistake, but appreciate your prompt acknowledgment and correction. I suspect my experience was an exception, none the less you lost 1 point for this. I’m sorry!

Rating - 9/10 (Marvelous, but the billing let you down)
Taj Coromandel is a place I will be holding any future functions. I am very much impressed with their professional approach, and also the ambience of the hotel. Well done!