Guylian Belgian Chocolate Cafe Review - Darling Harbour

Food	★★
Setting	★★★★
Service	★✰
Total	7.5/15

Dessert Platter

There are three Guylian Cafes in Sydney, but unfortunately we went to the one in Darling Quarter.

Let's start with the good part, I quite like Darling Quarter, it has trendy restaurants and an awesome playground for kids which at night turns into a playground for the young at heart.

And here comes the bad news, we went on a Saturday summer afternoon, the cafe was quite busy, but there were only two waitstaff serving the tables so the service was painfully slow. I feel for the waitstaff though, they really are doing all they can, but the management should have rostered more staff on a busy day like Saturday. Another let down was the signature dessert platter we ordered, for a cafe famous for their chocolate, the platter doesn't really have that much cocoa in it, but instead it felt like what Cadbury Chocolate had become, mostly sugar and very little cocoa.

Pros: Nice setting, family friendly environment.
Cons: Slow service, chocolate not that great considering the price.

Izakaya Samurai (Sushi Samurai) Review - Neutral Bay

Food	★★★✰
Setting	★★★✰
Service	★★★★
Total	11/15

At least once a month I get cravings for sushi, and this month I decided to try Izakaya (Sushi) Samurai because we were in the area and with the entertainment book we get 25% off the total bill.

Izakaya Samurai use to be called Sushi Samurai Neutral Bay and since the name change they have installed touch screen menu ordering systems to all tables. The menus do help when the restaurant is busy, but if there are more than 2 of us at a table, it becomes quite difficult for everyone to see the menu. The staff are super friendly though, so that's a plus, and they also have a wide variety of fresh food to choose from. Overall a decent place for some above average Japanese food at a good price.

Pros: Wide range of food and drinks, above average food, super friendly staff.
Cons: Touch screen menu could be slow when there are more than 2 people at your table.

Outdoor dinning area

Touch Screen Menu

 For more information visit www.izakayasamurai.com.au

Central Coast Weekend Away

A few friends and I stayed a weekend at The Entrance NSW.

Here are three places that we visited.

1. Long Jetty (105 Tuggerah Parade, Long Jetty)

When the weather gets warmer this is a nice place to spend the afternoon.

There are three jetties near The Entrance. Parry's Jetty, Walkins Jetty & Long Jetty. Long Jetty's Tuggerah Lake foreshore reserve has picnic areas, Toilets, Children's Play areas.

A bike track runs along the foreshore between Chittaway Bay & the Entrance.

Long Jetty (-33.352937, 151.486296)

Photo taken by Rhys Pope

2. Norah Head Lighthouse (Bush St, Norah Head)

Nothing more than a lighthouse.

Norah Head Lighthouse (-33.281733, 151.578188)

3. Silky Oak Drive, Morisset
This is a great place to have a close encounter with kangaroos, lots of them! I went there 3 years ago and there were more than 100 kangaroos, but this time there were only about 50. I've seen people feeding them bread, but apparently bread is bad for them and can cause digestive issues. Also be careful with the larger roos, as I've seen them attack people. This field is actually part of the Morisset psychiatric hospital, so it is best to not disturb the patients in the hospital by keeping the noise down.

There is a picnic area near Eucalyptus Drive, Morisset, that's next to Lake Macquarie if you arrive early in the afternoon and have some time to kill.

Kangaroos (-33.126570, 151.513660)

City Extra Review - Circular Quay

Food	★★★
Setting	★★★✰
Service	★★★
Total	9/15

Journo Burger with the lot ($24.50)

Whenever I stay up late, I crave for food, and this is where 24 hour restaurants come in handy. But what happens when you want something other than McDonald's? Off the top of my head there are two 24/7 restaurants in Sydney - Pancake On The Rocks at The Rocks and City Extra at Circular Quay and Parramatta.

The City Extra at Circular Quay caters more to tourists and late night party people. It has the view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge from most of the tables on the first floor, I can image how popular they'll be during Vivid Sydney and the New Year Fireworks.

On this particular day M had the Lasagne al Forno ($25) and I ordered their Journo Burger with the lot ($24.50). I did enjoyed the burger and fries very much but I could tell a lot of what I paid for is the location of this prime real estate. This is even more evident in M's Lasagna, it was also quite good, but definitely not $25 good. However we were quite happy since we received around 50% off with the entertainment voucher.

Pros: 24 hours, wide menu choices, all day breakfast, location, friendly staff.
Cons: Price reflects their location.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Lasagne al Forno ($25)

City Extra Circular Quay

For more information visit www.cityextra.com.au