North Sydney Restaurants

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It was a case of lovelier the second time around for my husband and I when we gave this cafe a second look upon the invitation of its very hardworking owner, Chadwah Issa. Chadi as he is called has Lebanese ancestry and has been in Australia since he was a little boy of two years old coming from Beirut in Lebanon.

In our first visit, I did give the cafe a bit of a hard time so to speak as the menu was quite boring. But, after reading Chadi's email, I decided to give the place a second visit, to the behest of my husband. Normally if we complain about the food at a previous restaurant we've been to, we do not return. My husband for one gets paranoid that if we come back, the chef might "spit" on our food.

Well, my plan was to go there and casually order and not identify ourselves. However, the owner recognised us immediately upon our arrival. He said a quick hi as the place was super busy! It was a far cry from the time we went there months before. The decor was quite enhanced this time, with menus scrawled over the mirrors and the blackboard in front of the shop. There are more food products, a lovely and tasty looking spread of baked goods, and many more additional items which made me doubt for a while, did I come to the right place?

Indeed, the place has been invigorated with a whole new menu which Chadi told us he changed for only two weeks. It seemed to be working as the place was packed, particularly the outside area were tables were full of diners, enjoying the weather and the water features at the adjacent town plaza, filled with a giant Christmas tree, refreshing fountains, among others.

We ordered bacon sandwich for my husband and a simple ham and provolone cheese sandwich on sour dough bread for me. They were both good! Bread was fresh this time around compared to the stale and dry brioches we had last time.

Dave had a long black and I had my usual decaf latte which was ok. You cannot go wrong with decaf..unless sometimes a few cafes scrimp on the actual coffee. but mine was alright. Nothing fancy, but I really still prefer the coffee at Nadia's. So this is another constructive criticism, decaf coffee could still be improved!

But it is a thumbs up for us this time, Chadi, congrats to you and your team!

Favorite Dish: As this is only our second time, I would say the best one is my husband's order of simple bacon sandwich but with a lot of green salad and tomatoes. I tasted it a bit and it was better than I expected for a simple bacon sandwich.

They have other selections which include mushrooms on bread with pesto , you get to choose the type of bread you like, similar to the Subway style. When we were there, there were a few take away orders of bacon and egg sandwich which seems to be popular. I might try the avocado and ham sandwich next time on rolls with plenty of green salad. The ingredients are really fresh, especially the breads which make for a great place to start your day.

So I shall end by saying, I might return for a third time and try Chadi's other creations! We did try to pay full price but he insisted for us not to, so we accepted a discount which we put back in the tips box which was full of different denominations proving the customer love to go back and reward the four man staff there on busy days.

Chadi, 27 years old, who lives in Lilyfield is a good example of someone who has persevered and is reaping the rewards of his hard work! Best of luck to you and your staff mate!!May I add the friendly staff is a big deal for most people like me so well done once again! (And they didn't spit on our food, we watched with eagle eyes when they were making our orders!)

For a coffeehouse, it is a bit of a disappointment!

Despite just drinking decaf brewed coffee for years now (can't take 100% caffeine anymore or else I can't go to sleep), I was surprised to get a lousy coffee in this so-called coffee lovers' place!

The brioches we ordered (on specials at $4.50) with ham & cheese were also yucky! We've tasted better somewhere not necessarily Italian quality like the ones we ate each day in Milan or Venice which I will not expect form them.The bread tasted stale and just unappetizing! I must add the salad greens filled us up more, thanks to the balsamic dressing.

I cannot say much too for the decor, which was uninteresting- just one long hall, the kitchen was exposed to all, the tables are at the far end of the room though there are small lounges ( just a few, enough to take 2-3 people!) A lot of space is wasted on the hallway going to the inside tables which were probably just 4! How will they make money?

A lot has to be changed in this place if it is to survive!

The only saving grace was he middle-aged looking woman who served me the lemon tart, I actually ordered lemon meringue pie, but hubby says not to complain anymore, she was friendly and smiled a lot, but not the other two servers/employees there, they just had bored looks on their faces! Mind you we were there early so I cannot give them the excuse that they must be tired.

We were not surprised that at around 10, not many people were there!

Favorite Dish: Nothing really! Don't go there if your fussy with coffee and food like me, you might be sorry! (I shall check soon, if they've changed.)

Essentially a pub, VC Bar offers excellent pub food comparable to some of the better restaurants in the area (At a quarter the price)

Favorite Dish: AU$8.00 : Grain-fed 250g-eye fillet with creamy mash and red wine jus

Need i say more?

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The place has a practical set-up: you don't have to wait for someone to get your order. You go to the cashier, order and pay and you're given a number to put on your table and the food gets delivered to you when it's ready!

Decor is modern, though the tables are a bit small especially for a family of four. Kids' meal are very good & tasty, I was tempted to order from it too.

We've been here a few times (hubby & I) so we took the boys with us one weekend and found more reasons to go back. Service is good too though there is a tendency to wait longer for main meals. Coffee is great here too plus the pastries and banana cake, etc..

Favorite Dish: Aside from the great coffee (my decaf latte still tasted likereal coffee without the guilt!), I love the banana bread, my youngest the ham and cheese fingers which came with a serve of chips and drink (he had raspberry w/.c was good too!). The breakfast meal is substantial- bacon, eggs, 4 slices of toast with coffee and a big glass og orange juice for $15 (hubby's fave order).

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There's a new dining hot spot in Blacktown, Saigon Spice. It is by far the onlyrestaurant in the area that offers authentic, fresh and affordable Vietnamesedishes that you and your family will enjoy over and over again!We entered the tastefully decorated venue greeted bya warm smile from its friendly assistant Sol who ushered us to a table alreadyset with white bowls and shining cutlery. We were warned to come a bit late toavoid the rush of office workers who've become regular customers due to thegood reputation it is earning and the reasonable prices on offer!Owner Mary, born in Saigon and a resident of Sydney for several
decades is quick to admit her passion for Vietnamese food was nurtured by hergrandfather, Bay Tinh, who operated and cooked for the family owned restaurantin Marrickville for 25 years.

She shared proudly that her grandfather, now retiredhad even worked for the President of Vietnam as his personal Chef in the 70's.For added home style taste, Mary and her mother both do the cooking too!

Saigon Spice is a breath of fresh air with our search for genuine, unspoilt and affordable Vietnamese food well and truly over!

Favorite Dish: We excitedly sampled the very popular dish,Pho Bo or Beef rice noodle soup ($10) which was indeed the real deal! What a
relief to discover this unpretentious but satisfying dish is as good as it getshere in Saigon Spice!
As a regular patron of Vietnamese food, I expectedfresh crisp mint leaves and bean sprouts and chopped red chillies to be servedwith the soup. I was not disappointed. It was also accompanied with a varietyof sauces- chilli, fish or soy sauce which form part of this iconic cuisine!

We also ordered the attractively presented Springrolls (Cha Gio) and were amazed at how tasty they were even without the dippingsauce! They were substantial and were included in the regular Lunch Specials ofthe restaurant. At $6 for four pieces, eaten with rice or with the soup wouldmake a hearty meal for two indeed!
My dining companion who has only been to a Vietnameserestaurant twice in Sydney is delighted to also order the Crispy pancake ( BanhXeo), with a generous filling of freshly cooked prawns, and a combination of meat slices also served with lettuce, mint leaves, Julienne carrots and radish.

Mary even glady cut the pancake for us and gave us
pointers on how to eat the pancake made of rice flour and lentils. I likened
the experience similar to having the Chinese version of Sang Choy Bow! It was
simply delicious!

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This place is very popular due to the wide selection of dishes- there's even a sushi train and chocolate fountain aside from the usual buffet fare- carvery, Asian dishes, hot and cold food, salads, yummy desserts,etc..complete with free coffee and tea with the tariffs!It can be a bit crowded weekends but arrive early when they first open at about 11:30 am to get a good seats.

At about $13 for members and $14.50 for visitors, the price is a bargain!

Favorite Dish: I especially love the soups and the salads, barbecued pork (authentic Chinese) and other Asian dishes.

I've been having my lunches almost every week at Westpoint usually on weekends and almost always I just grab my fave dishes from this great fast food shop. The service is always fast, the food yummy and healthy and there's always plenty of surprises whenever I visit. You can choose two dishes and rice or noodles for less than $10 and there's also miso for a mere $1.50!

Favorite Dish: I love the tofu and vegies which is very healthy- using fresh ingredients, especially the tofu which is tender yet still nice when you bite it. The vegies are equally fresh and nicely cooked- just right, like the broccoli which is another fave of mine, the mushrooms and the carrots, cooked to perfection!

Another one I like is the crispy honey chicken, lately also the porkchops which taste like our FIlipino style tocino or sweet pork dish I used to love back home!

Then there's the peppered beef and mushrooms which are always nicely done.

Of course their range of sushi is also great, hubby loves their seafood sushis too!

This place is just inside our plaza, which is 1000 metres from our home so we come here often for a quick bite. However, it is not so quick if you order hot food like the chicken ramen or udon noodles which my son and I love so much. So makek sure you consider this. However the sushi train is always available with freshly made sushi of all sorts- salmon, octopus, prawns and other seafood are always nice, plus our fave ones- with tofu, and other typical sushi menus.

Favorite Dish: We love the Japanse tofu used as wrappings for sushi rice. My boys love the salmon and other seafood dishes. We also order miso soup and ramen which are really good. It is just surpising why it takes a long time for the hot dishes to be served, that's all but otherwise we love it here, we come here often!