Here and There Archives - Page 10 of 21

March 26, 2017August 30, 2023

Best Western Atlantis Hotel, Melbourne

We just had a short weekend getaway to Melbourne at end of February. And for this trip we stayed at two hotels, the first leg at Best Western Atlantis which location is very close to Southern Cross Station. In fact, on of the reason we chose this was for its location – thinking it would be so convenience to get to train station and still in the CBD.

This time we flew to Avalon Airport and caught the Skybus shuttle back to Southern Cross Station. That was our first time flying to Avalon Airport and it was not bad at all. Yes, it is far from CBD but the shuttle bus helps and was not that expensive either. But if you travelling in group of 4 or 5 people, maybe get a hired car would come cheaper 😛

Anyway, the trip from airport to CBD was fine – as I remembered the only part where we got stuck in traffic was when it got closer to CBD. The drive took about 50 minutes from airport to Southern Cross station. From there it was an easy five minutes walk to the hotel. We got to the hotel around 11.20 am and was surprised that the room was all ready.

We were at room 1528, floor 15th – a City View room. The room is pretty basic but sufficient. There is a window overlooking the street and buildings around back of the hotel towards CBD. A double size bed that has past its prime time, couple of fluffy pillows, a desk and an old looking couch. As for the bathroom, I am happy that it is clean and everything worked fine. Note that they only provided a tube of shampoo, a tube of conditioner and two standard hotel-sized round soaps. Since we brought our own toiletries, I don’t have much to say about those provided ones.

Rooms are cleaned every day before lunch (I think), it has always been done by the time we came back after lunch. Air conditioner worked well. Once it reaches the set temperature, it will turn off itself then on again when it is couple degrees above the set temperature. This might be a problem with light sleepers and it makes little noise when turning on.

The hotel offers paid buffet breakfast that we didn’t try. But appeared fairly busy every morning when we walked past the breakfast are. While we were there, they didn’t have free wifi in the room. However, prepaid wifi is available by contacting the front desk – from memory it costs about $30 per day.

To summarise, this hotel is good value for the price and location being close to Southern Cross station and many tram stops. As for comfort, we’d rate it average – nothing wow, but not too bad either. After all, it costs only around AUD 100 per night, so do adjust your expectation 🙂

(Best Western) Atlantis Hotel

300 Spencer St, Melbourne VIC 3000

Phone: (03) 9600 2900

atlantishotel.com.au

February 10, 2017

Manmaruya, Ashfield

We still experience the worst of summer here in Sydney, where temperature reached up to 43 degrees in the west. Last weekend was no exception, it was really hot while we were out here and there mostly all day on Saturday. We spent first half of Saturday looking at property inspections around Ashfield and decided we should grab quick lunch in the area. After all there are plenty of choices to choose from at Ashfield, but we ended up at Manmaruya. Also on the note of Sydney heat, I think I will not do any more baking or much cooking indeed until it is cooler again 😛 So stay tune for more recipe posts probably in a little while…

We got to the restaurant around quarter past twelve and there were still plenty tables available. We ordered the special lunch bento boxes whereas hubby tried their cold ramen.

Those lunch bento boxes are really good value for your money no doubt, huge portion of rice and generous amount of delicious meat with salad and some small side items. As for the cold ramen, it really came like the normal ramen but with cold broth. The broth is so refreshing, it is a little bit tangy but very tasty, just perfect for a hot day. By the way, you can always upgrade your ramen portion to a bigger size if you feel super hungry 😀

Manmaruya Japanese Noodle Bar

217 Liverpool Rd., Ashfield NSW 2131

Phone: (02) 9799 6889

manmaruya.com.au

February 5, 2017

Jongga Jip Korean BBQ, Eastwood

Finally we got to try Jongga Jip in Eastwood after passing it with big crowds in front of the restaurant so many times. Chinese New Year celebration came with excuse to eat out and after all the considerations, we decided to go to this place for its numerous good reviews. I was hoping it would be a nice (read: not so hot) day, but as it turned out to be over 30 degrees in the afternoon – nevertheless still we had good time and great meal. And what is more exciting than having Korean BBQ is those side dishes, right? 🙂

We got there at 6 pm and there were still plenty of tables available. But since it was our first time and it was a weekend night, so we reserved beforehand just to be safe. We were given table at the corner, perfect! Menus were distributed promptly and so were water. We might have over ordered this time as the platters came and there was just not enough spaces on the table. But to be fair, those 12 side dishes already took up so much space on the table anyway… So what we did was hit those side dishes first and let the waiter took them away to clear some space on the table for our order.

Here are what we had there:

On the left are Marinated Pork and Ox Tongue;
On the right are all the side dishes

Left: Assorted BBQ Meat Platter; Right: Seafood Pancake (Medium); Top Right Corner: Jap Chae

Mostly everything were delicious: the ox tongue were thin and tender. So are the marinated pork, very tasty and nice cut hence not stringy. Seafood pancake was huge serving for a medium size and has generous amount of seafood in it. Unfortunately it felt a little floury, but hubby loves it. Jap chae was really delicious and also came in massive serving. I would suggest to rethink before ordering if you are sharing between two people only.

The meat platter was a little disappointing, mainly because the boneless beef ribs were chewy. But aside of that, everything else on that platter was lovely. If we are coming back again, we probably will not order the platter, but rather get the individual plate of the nice cuts we had tasted so far.

Overall we are happy diners at Jongga Jip and would love to come back. Although with so many choices available in that area, it may be a long time until we are back here again 🙂

Jongga Jip Korean BBQ

87 Rowe St, Eastwood NSW 2122

Phone: (02) 9858 5160

Open hours: 10 am – 11 pm

December 24, 2016

Ceci Korean Restaurant, Strathfield, Sydney

This is a very late post, never quite finished it all this time and while cleaning up my drafts saw it again. Anyway, we went here in June while mom visited us – in fact, this was the last dinner before mom went back to Indonesia again. We chose Ceci based on Zomato reviews and to tried a new restaurant in the area as well. Also mom loved the Korean black bean noodle (Jajangmyeon), but since not many Korean restaurants in Strathfield does it. Those reasons were what bring us to this restaurant.

We didn’t take many pictures here but here are the food we ordered:

Pork, Sausage, Vegie & Tofu Soup with Noodle – $38

The food were not bad, but not outstanding that made us want t0 go back again either. Jajangmyeon was a let down, too greasy and not tasty, the noddle was cooked a tad too long. Then the crispy chicken with spicy sauce, I guess would have been a better choice if we ordered just fried chicken without any sauce whatsoever. Seafood pancake was nice, tasty and not too floury. The noodle soup was also good with generous pork and sausages.

All in all, we had a decent meal, it was not really that horrible but may be just not to our liking. There are plenty of positive reviews on Zomato of this place, but maybe it was not our lucky day or what not. But considering there are many more Korean restaurants around, we would try many others than coming back here.

Ceci Korean Restaurant

37 The Boulevarde, Strathfield, Sydney

Phone: (02) 8084 3171

December 24, 2016October 25, 2023

Maenam Lao & Thai, Strathfield, Sydney

December is generally a festive month and truly the time when we have many gatherings and catch up sessions going on. Not just for Christmas celebrations, but there is also the end of year, then my husband’s birthday, also my sister in law’s birthday. And yesterday, we had dinner at Maenam Lao & Thai for my sister-in-law’s birthday. It’s the first time we branched out from our usual Green Peppercorn for Laos/Thai meal. Apparently, Maenam means mother river that divides as well as connects Laos and Thai.

Maenam is located in the main strip of Strathfield, few doors next to the Strathfield Plaza on The Boulevard entrance. The restaurant is semi open air, where the front part of the restaurant is totally open. There are plenty of seating, however the walkway in-between chairs are narrow so there could be awkward moments when you bump into other chairs when walking in/out.

The menu itself is quite extensive, with choices of salads, stir fries, curries, noodles, desserts, and drinks. And these are the food that we ordered last night:

So, the verdict? The food were delicious and tasty, love the ox tongue and crispy noodle most! The ox tongue is very tender without any chewiness at all, seasoned well and goes perfectly with the dipping sauce. The crispy noodle is tasty with that goodness thick gravy, and the noodle texture is lovely. This is something we have never ordered at Green Peppercorn, in fact I am not even sure they have it. I think their red duck curry is creamier and very slightly less sweet than Green Peppercorn. We prefer the Green Peppercorn’s version of deep-fried snapper with mango and green apple salad, mainly because the fish has been filleted and de-boned for easier eating plus the salad/sauce is more refreshing. Crispy pork belly is deliciously seasoned, cut in generous chunks which may be why some pieces are not as crispy as others, nonetheless tasted very yummy.

In general we’d still prefer Green Peppercorn, however if for any reasons we don’t feel like going to city for a Laos/Thai meals, this definitely be a great substitute. Price wise is in similar range and taste almost on par anyway. Just maybe, a reservation ahead will save you troubles waiting for a table if you coming in bigger group.

Maenam Lao & Thai Restaurant

31 The Boulevarde, Strathfield NSW 2135

Phone: (02) 9746 5882

http://maenamlaothai.com.au/