After being introduced to this Polish restaurant years ago by a friend of Polish heritage, I have yet to be disappointed by the food.

My birthday dictated I must do something special to celebrate, so a trip to The Polish Place was called for.  An overcast day threatened to mess with my plans, a light shower did fall but thankfully passed quickly.  Most of the seating is outdoors to take full advantage of the view afforded by the elevation of Mt Tamborine, so bear this in mind.  The indoor seating could be good on a cold winters night, I’m sure I’ve seen a fire place…

After standing around like shags on rocks for too long, finally a prepubescent lad seated my companion and me.  After another long wait our server appeared, to save waiting any longer drinks and meals were ordered at once.  A polish beer, chicken soup ($10) and Cabbage rolls for myself, a lighter, local beer, tomato soup and Pierogi for my companion.  The Polish seem to quite favour dill, cabbage and pork/bacon - luckily for me so do I.  But please do not be put off by this, we all know the improvement bacon can make to ANYTHING.

Our beers arrived shortly after, quickly followed by our soups accompanied by bread rolls.  Delicious was the first thing to come to mind.  The tomato soup ($10) obviously homemade and not like any other I’ve tried.  My chicken and pearl barley soup - warm, comforting and creamy.  Unfortunately, our entree plates were still with us when our mains arrived: a meat pierogi ($26) garnished with bacon bits and the pork-filled cabbage rolls (~$25) with a creamy tomato sauce.  One of the rolls had seemingly been sitting for too long and was a little crunchy.

The thing that gets me about this place is the increase in price since we first started going there, it would be roughly $10/dish within the last 5-6 yrs… To me this makes it an expensive lunch.  I haven’t had the pleasure of dinner at this Mt Tamborine venue but have noted the prices are higher again. (noted from memory so might be slightly higher or lower) and the very average service:  seems to be high school kids without any training or guidance.  You can almost feel like you’ve been forgotten.  The view while sweeping, doesn’t compensate…  Would be nice to get better value for money for mine. Oh, and watch out for the birds.

 The Polish Place

333 Main Western Rd, Tamborine Mountain, QLD, Australia, 4272

Phone +61 7 5545 1603

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After a few social drinks at an inner city pub, a quick but tasty meal was sought after.  Boardwalk was suggested, "great pizza"!!  OK, let’s give it a go.

On a Friday night should have known better…atmosphere was crap!!  Drunken youngsters everywhere!!  An attempt at being a sports bar might be being made, with the rugby, league and basketball all on wall-mounted tv’s. 

A varied, interesting menu was on offer.  We chose the Bug and Chorizo Risotto and Lamb Pizza, to share.  You order at the bar, take a horrid "number on the metal pole" table number and find yourself a seat: either inside with the drunken hoards or outside seated under glaring lights.  A beautiful position, down by the waterside…possibly gone begging.

Drinks from the bar - a pint of Cascade and a LL&B from a bottle!!  Easy enough.  This is the least a Brisbane, inner city cafe should be able to get right.

Meals were served in a reasonable timeframe.  The pizza was as promised - GREAT!!  Lamb mince on a thin pizza base, eggplant and a tangy mint yoghurt garnish.  The risotto was flavoursome with a zesty chorizo sausage, however the rice was overcooked.  Soft and a bit gluggy.  No  al dente arborio rice here - a little disappointing.

Maybe a different night, maybe if I’d not been tired…could have been a different experience.  My recommendation would be DON’T go on a friday night and see if you’re experience is any better…

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This cocktail recipe comes to you courtesy of the Lennox Thai Garden in Lennox Head, Australia.

Blend to your taste passionfruit, strawberries, fresh lime juice and chilli, and shake with Bombay Sapphire Gin and Cointreau.

Now you will know why they call this a Thai Slap.

Delicious!

It surprises a lot of people that Harvest Cafe is literally just off the Pacific Highway at Newrybar, 5 minutes south of Byron Bay. It is one of the most popular venues for many of the locals in the surrounding area, has won numerous awards and has great meals and a varied wine selection.

During the week, Harvest Cafe is a lunch time venue only, and is open for lunch and dinner on weekends.

For the geeks, they have wireless internet, and it is not unusual to find a few of the laptop and latte crowd hanging out there.

Dog lovers will be happy to know they can accommodate your friends out the front, but call to book ahead.

Also in the area are a couple of antique shops, so it is well worth the stop if you are driving through or visiting Byron Bay.

Our lunch was on the less adventurous end this time around, ordering the steak sandwich and the beer battered barramundi. I also enjoyed a fresh watermelon and grapefruit juice and my dining partner a Chai Tea.

Harvest Cafe Steak Sandwich.

Harvest Cafe Beer Battered Barramundi.

Harvest Cafe  Watermelon and Grapefruit Juice.

Harvest is licensed and has a great choice of wines, beers and aperitifs. Try the chilled Limoncillo for an after dinner refresher on a hot night.

Food: Rating:   Lunches and dinners are made from local fresh ingredients whenever possible.

Atmosphere: Rating:   Converted 1900s house with casual and informal dining. Fireplace and couches for a cosy winter night. Staff are outstanding - pleasant and attentive and always friendly.

Harvest Cafe is located directly off the Pacific highway at Newrybar.

(02) 6687 2644.

There’s no doubt that Pasquale Italian Restaurant in Byron Bay is popular, and for good reason - the food is fantastic.

On this night we enjoyed a Bruschetta for entree, and Prawn Risotto, Chicken Parmagiana and Crab with Angel Hair Pasta for dinner.

We topped the night off with a brilliant Tiramasu. Leandra thought the waitress must have been from Melbourne…she emphasised the "oooo", as in Tiramsuuuu!

I love Leandra’s confession…"I haven’t been to Italy, but for Australia, that’s the nicest bruschetta I’ve ever seen…" 

And you know what? She’s right!

If you’re in Byron Bay, make it a must do.

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Atmosphere: Rating:    Lively during the holiday seasons.

Pasquale Italian Restaurant Byron Bay:
2/9 Bay Lane
Byron Bay NSW 2481
(02) 6685 8700

You’ve heard of the Bingo Wings and Tuckshop Lady Arms (ala Kyle Sandilands)…the waddles of fat underneath the tricep that people get?

Emily Everywhere of the Brisbane’s Courier Mail has discovered that internet chestnut that does the rounds every few years (even months), about the 1950’s home economics textbook on how to be a good wife.

I don’t know why, but Emily has chosen a very unflattering (and boob flattening) dress for her video blog, resulting in Bingo Boobs…waddles hanging out the top of your dress.

Emily Everywhere, what were you thinking?

You can see the full video here.

I have to admit, this was not our first choice for the evening, but on finding another venue closed, we decided to eat at the Lennox Thai Garden.

I should quickly point out now that this is a different Thai restaurant to Mi Thai, located at 76 Ballina St.

Lennox Thai Garden is located in a converted house, and while quaint, does not really lend itself to a restaurant feel. But don’t let that stop you. The food is very nice. I always believe a crowded restaurant is a good sign and Lennox Thai Garden is no exception.

We enjoyed a somewhat typical mixed entree of Thai Fish Cakes, Chicken Satay Sticks, Spring Rolls and Curry Puffs. Very pleasant, especially the spring rolls, which were fresh and pungent, and although deep fried, did not lack texture.

Our main meals consisted of Red Curry, Pad Thai, Green Fish Curry, Stir Fried Tofu, Peppercorn Duck Curry (a special that evening), Stirfried Ginger and Vegetables and rice.

Our table agree that the food was fantastic and well worth the visit. All the dishes had a depth of flavour, and the ingredients fresh.

This Thai Restaurant is licensed and has a great cocktail menu as well (try the Thai Slap for something unique). I am told that Sundays are cocktail afternoons with live music - a great way to wrap up your weekend.

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The service was somewhat chaotic, with some drinks not arriving until we reminded them, but to be fair, this is not a fine dining venue.

We had trouble locating this restaurant in the Yellow Pages and in Google. Hopefully that will change in the future.

Lennox Thai Garden Restaurant and Bar is located at:
49 Ballina St, Lennox Head
(02) 6687 7257

Open 7 days a week. Bar opens from 3pm.
Also a takeaway menu with 10% discount.

Quite amusingly, a robber demanded cash from two employees at the Health Information Pharmacy in Morningside, Brisbane, only to be told they were too busy then ignored him.

While I don’t think this is a case of bad customer service necessarily, it is a brave person who chooses to make that kind of statement.

Have our lives really become that frantic that we can’t have a good old fashion stick-em-up anymore?

A spur of the moment choice, driven by a connection to the owners albeit tenuous, led us to Cisco’s Mexican Restaurant at Springwood.  Initial impressions were good, a friendly greeting at the door, an inviting decor and helpful staff. 

Seated with menu’s, only a short delay before a drinks order was taken with the suggestion of a starter offered up and accepted.  Our chilled cerveca were served concurrently with our garlic and cheese bread.  I chose a burrito and taco combo for my Mexican dinner and my companion went with the hands-on-fajita.  I asked for the burrito to be chicken and the taco to be beef - an alteration to the menu, but cheekily accepted.  Another chilled brew for me, sadly, none for my driver…Probably a slightly longer delay than the hungry diners would have liked and our hot meals were in front of us. 

Large portion size made the fajita enough for two moderate eaters I would suggest, and my combo was a little more than I could handle comfortably.  But good flavour and mix of salad, rice and meat.  A few extra tortillas would have come in handy too.

No room for dessert for either myself or my companion, happily satisfied by this Springwood venue.

My question of whether it was mexican or not is due to the decor, music and table setings.  Murals graced the walls but aside from that nothing would give it away as a Mexican restaurant.  The music was the lady owners choice and while I loved most of it… it wasn’t exactly mood music for a Mexican meal (Matchbox 20, Pink, Adam Ant and other 80’s pop…you get the picture), .  The decor and table settings were simple and elegant but again not Mexican. 

However, having said that - it was a comfortable, welcoming restuarant with friendly, if quirky, staff.

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I have driven past The Balcony in Byron Bay so many times, and always assumed it was a fine dining restaurant.

After many years, I finally accepted an invitation, and to my amazement, I discovered The Balcony is a swinging hotspot with crowds of buzzing tables, a great rustic atmosphere and plenty of great food, wine and cocktails.

The menu is diverse with plenty of choices from fresh seafoods to tapas, pastas and more exotic and formal meals. Those who would like something a little lighter can enjoy a fantastic array of salads and fresh fruits.

The wine list is extensive, with plenty of choice for any appetite; you will find something perfect to accompany your meal. Try a variety of cocktails as well. There is something for everyone.

Desserts are generous and plentiful with some classics and some unique. No need to move on to another venue after your main meal.

The Balcony at Byron Bay is open for lunch and dinner until late.

The atmosphere is rustic (and very cosy in winter) with a mixed crowd of all ages having a great time. Check out some art while you’re there.

The menu is on the pricier side, but the flavours and the quality are fantastic.

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