Shellharbour: La Marina Tapas Bar and Restaurant

A little bit of Spain in the seaside village of Shellharbour, an hour south of Sydney and one of New South Wales’ best kept secrets. La Marina spanish restaurant was the venue for Stan’s 51st birthday and Australia Day celebrations.   Free almonds   PARILLADA DE MARISCOS (Min. 2 persons) 36.00pp BBQ’d seafood platter. A…

Melbourne: Restaurant Review: Post Mao Cafe

Walking down Little Bourke Street in Melbourne is quite an experience. We were greeted by a hostess from the Post Mao Cafe, aka Chairman Mao’s Unique Chinese Cuisine. Specialising in Hunan cuisine, their chef‘s master chef is 93 years old and used to cook for Chairman Mao Zedong. The waitress showed us the menu, pointing…

Restaurant Review: Tandoori Junction, Shellharbour

The next time you feel like some scenery, why not head down to Shellharbour, just half an hour south of Wollongong, NSW which is home to a small beachside village where there is so much to see and do. We had just watched the matinee session of the musical ‘Hair’ put on by the Roo…

Warilla Sporties Bistro – Rip Tide

chicken schnitzel from Warilla Sporties, originally uploaded by Vanessa Pike-Russell. Having lived in Wollongong (Keiraville and Gwynneville) since 2002, I have recently moved back to Lake Illawarra and have enjoyed revisiting restaurants, bistros and cafes from my ‘old stomping grounds’. One of my favourite eating places is Warilla Sporties bistro ‘Rip Tide’ that has some…

Restaurant: Essence, darling harbour, sydney nsw 2500

essence restaurant, darling harbour, sydney nsw 2500, originally uploaded by Vanessa Pike-Russell. Tasting plate consisting of baked cauliflower custard with parmesan crisp, pressed braised pork cheek with apple chutney, pan fried dory fillet with confit cherry tomato and aubergine caviar and thai style duck salad wiith seared scallop and palm sugar dressing. ($35 including a…

Collegians Wollongong – $5 steaks on Wednesday, Veal and Seafood Torino

$5.50 scotch fillet steak with chips and sald You just can’t beat the prices of Collegians Wollongong. Every day of the week they have a special lunch meal ranging from three to six dollars ($3-$6). Menu includes Chicken Schnitzel with chips and salad ($3), Sausages and vegetables ($3), Rissoles and vegetables ($3), Roast Chicken with…

Restaurant: Oriental Expression – yum cha – scallop and vegetable dim sim,

I was in the mood for Yum Cha so we headed down to a favourite restaurant of ours – Oriental Expression on Keira Street, Wollongong. Our first visit was on Valentines Day, for their set banquet menu and second on Chinese New Year, both very memorable experiences. Today would be no different. We were escorted…

Lemon and Garlic Scallops with squid ink pasta at Antics Restaurant,

Lemon and Garlic Scallops with squid ink pasta at Antics Restaurant, Wollongong NSW 2500 Australia, originally uploaded by Vanessa PR. Lemon Scallops $24.50 I had never heard of squid-ink pasta before this meal. I really liked it! After doing some googling I found out the following: Squid ink, which is also available from the Cuddlefish…

Crown Thai – Musman Curry

To celebrate the birth of my nephew my husband and I had lunch at Crown Thai.We ordered our favourite – the Crying Tiger with glass of wine $9.50 and a musman curry with tender beef and potatoes ($8.50) The beef was so tender it just melted in the mouth. The curry was flavoursome with potatoes…

Seafood Platter for Two ($40) from Addisons Seafood Restaurant,

On July 23rd, 2007 my nephew was born. The next day was my Mother’s birthday and we wanted to celebrate both events. After a late lunch at the Ocean Beach Hotel we made our way down Addison Street to the famed Addisons Seafood Restaurant. The weather had grown chilly and the warmth of the restaurant…