Honestly, I wasn't all that impressed with this particular pub, but then again I suspect that this…read moreparticular pub is probably not trying to appeal to people like me. I guess it is because I found it to be a little fancier than what I tend to appreciate when it comes to such place. Okay, the service was nice, but really, when it came to the atmosphere, it honestly wasn't all that great. Since there are some rather decent pubs in and around North Sydney, this is a place I'd certainly pass by in the future.

While not quite up to Disneyland's Swiss Family Robinson par, (But what is, to be fair?) this is…read moreexactly what I had hoped for from this aptly named venue. Whimsical lighting, hanging plants, decorative birdcages, cosy nooks and the rogue gnome or two made this open plan indoor/outdoor establishment feel like a jungle escape in the middle of the concrete jungle that is North Sydney. Clearly a great place to come for a classic cocktail or five, Treehouse would be an ideal venue for hosting some spectacular event. And while I can't comment on the beauty of the food as I was just there for a quick coffee, I did take a peek at the menu and made a note to come back for the handmade gnocchi with sautéed zucchini flowers, goats curd and parmesan crumb. I may have to cycle, jog and swim there from my house to justify it, but I have a strong feeling it would be worth it.

I had low expectations.. I knew it was a touristy area.. I knew it would be overpriced.. I knew it…read morewouldn't be anything special.. With all that in mind, this place meets my expectation as a hungry person needs her food.. The waitress was inexperienced, perhaps a summer part time intern.. She didn't know anything we ordered on the menu and was confused.. But she didn't mess up our order! The pizza portion is small... With a small salad on the side, it's an okay lunch size... It's in the Rocks/nurses way.. It's crowded.. That's about it.. Just don't expect too much going in, you will be okay..

When the powers working, this place has great potential…read more We arrived around 1830, orders taken by 1900, but only delivered salads and breads until around 2040. The power went out at 2000 but the food seemed to stop there. We didn't hear much until around 2045 when staff told us the kitchen ran on electricity so the food would be further affected, but served us the chorizo which was prepared at the table. We left shortly after as we still had a chance to make another restaurant. Nice ambiance, it can get quite noisy inside if there are some large groups. The electricity is known to go off from time to time, and from what we were told it was due to the wiring and the age of the building, and that they were limited to what they could do due to its heritage listing. The staff could do well to communicate the impact of this to guests though. They were quite friendly none the less. The building itself is beautiful, and retains this beauty even if you are in the dark.

You cannot judge this pub just based on its apprearance from the outside because once you step in…read moreyou feel like you're in a suave restaurant! Kitchen is run by Head chef James Wallis and sous Chef Alvin Valfuna ( I only know this as it was on the menu :P) Staff were very lovely and courteous. We got to sample a few entree's including the ox tartar, wild boar terrine, yellow fin tuna, beetroot carpaccio and the hiramasa kingfis. My favourites were the kingfish and the Ox tartar. For main I had the 250g rangers valley wagyu skirt steak with served with hand cut chips, zucchini, lemon and olive oil - cooked med well the steak was perfection! Loved the hand cut chips - little crispy on the outside. Dessert was also a delight with my favourites being the pumpkin panna cotta and and the coriander ice cream (weird but tasty). Overall, It was a great first visit and I will indeed be back!

Sometimes I wanna feel cool when I'm drinking. (Sometimes not, but that's another story)…read more You'll always feel cool at the Tilbury, 'cos it's that sorta place. The crowd is sharply-dressed but laid back; this isn't a pregame pub, or a uni bar, or a hipster den. It's a perfect inner city oasis, a big, airy, well-lit castle packed with discerning people doing discerning things. I want to be one of these people. Can they smell a pretender? They haven't yet. And I'mma keep going until they do. The food is excellent gastro pub fare, and the big wooden deck area is worth the price of admission alone, and when you consider there isn't a price of admission it's really costing you more NOT to come here, isn't it?

I think Bananapalm is a solid 3.5 stars. The food is tasty, but I'm from southern CA so I don't…read morereally have to travel too far for good Vietnamese food lol. However, this place is definitely pricier than most places I've been to. I will say Bananapalm is way nicer though. I appreciate its upscale feel and datenight ambiance. It doesn't seem to get much foot traffic because it was pretty empty during dinner in the middle of the week. We ordered the beef curry ($24 AUD) and the stuffed prawns ($16 AUD). I was very happy with both dishes, but like I said, it's on the pricier side. The stuffed prawns were pretty much just one large shrimp egg roll cut in half. The curry is a decent portion and can be shared between two people (probably not if both people are starving lol). You have to pay for rice separately though ($3 AUD/bowl). Overall, Bananapalm is a good place for Vietnamese food, but I wouldn't mind skipping it if I found myself in Coogee again.

This is my fave restaurant in Coogee. I've had my birthday party here & many special dates. The…read morefood is amazing kinda modern Vietnamese. The salt & pepper squid is delicious & my absolute fave main course is Lamb shank curry. Great ambience & there's a good distance between tables so you get a sense of privacy.

I really enjoy coming to this place. I have been here twice in the last 6 months for dinner only…read more Do not be fooled, when you first walk into this restaurant, you certainly wouldn't think much of it, but head upstairs and before you know it, BOOM you think you've been transported to some sweet abuelas 'trendy' terrace in Portugal (not that this place is Portugese) but there's that sense this place was plucked right out of Lisbon.. sooo pretty. Overall, this is a good restaurant/cafe. I will base this review on the last visit I had here - there was a group of 12 of us upstairs. The highlight of the evening was our waiter - talk about getting involved !! This kid was all up in our business .. and WE LOVED IT !!!! The food here is solid - especially the Portugese Espetada (skewered beef fillets hanging from what looks like Excalibur - The Sword !!!). This restaurant will not disappoint - great for a group gathering or an intimate dinner for 2.

If you are also sick with those 'chic' restaurants, this is the restaurant that you could bring in…read moreyour family and friends. It's casual and kid-friendly. I have to say they deliver the food better than I was expected. It seems nothing too special on their menu compare to some other restaurants. But wait, they just surprise you within tiny detail either from presentation or the flavor. I love this place. They don't show off their techniques on purpose but they treat you as an old friend. If you want to find out how. Please check the image page.

$9.80 for a single bottle of tapped gas water - like sodastream style - is simply disgusting. It…read moreisnt even Voss water. Blown away at that simple fact. The staff are unwelcoming and rude. But this may also be because there wasnt one person in there that could hold a conversation in English sadly. Wont be going back ever again! Note: most restaurants/cafes charge $4 per person for tapped sparkling water and its an all-you-can-drink system. Charging $10 per bottle is just rude. You are re-using bottles and using tap water... I dont see where you get off charging this price.

Great food and attentive staff. My husband and I stopped in here for dinner one night and we each…read moreenjoyed our meal. He had the chicken and I had the steak with ox tail croquette. I thought that the croquette was the weakest part of the meal and it wasn't bad, just not phenomenal. The staff were friendly and attentive. They even suggested some attractions to see in the area. I hope to be back before we leave!

New kid on the block in Crowie. Open a week so and in we go…read more Originally slated to be a bar with food, now a restaurant with apparently great drinks. Really wanted to love it. Liked the fitout, dark and moody and tasteful, staff solicitous and generally excellent. Pre dinner martini was excellent, wine list seems wide and eclectic, menu looks very interesting if a little pricey. Waiter suggests 5-6 dishes - 3 from the small plate menu (entrees) at $12-$18, 2 from the larger dishes (mains) at $24-$30, and maybe 1-2 deserts. Ouch. So, we did. Four from the small list, one from the large and a desert. Smalls, sashimi, artichokes and asparagus w smoked feta, parsnips and duck ham, and prawns with corn and corn butter. Main, choice of fish, chicken or beef, waiter suggested chicken 'the best i have ever had' so we went that, although the flathead in filo did sound nice. Desert, raspberries w stuff But. A few buts, regrettably. The sashimi was a little dry, although with the compressed cucumber it was served with it was v nice. Prawns, cooked sous vide, actually a bit rare for us, but the corn and corn butter was lovely. Artichokes, by far the tastiest dish of the evening, the smoked feta a delight, and all in all flavoursome. Parsnips and duck ham - well, we had a problem here. Evidently the chef had substituted carrots for parsnips, since it seems the duck ham was the hero. Sorry, we wanted parsnips and the waiter didn't mention the substitution. To be fair, when we pointed this out they deducted it from the price, so can't complain on that front. But rather have been told and known, so no surprises. Chicken, breast cooked in stock from the carcass, indubitably soft and tender, but frankly a little tasteless. Desert, raspberries with honeycomb crumble (I think) and ice cream. So, observations. Food presentation was outstanding, as was the service. But, to our palates, it was all fairly subtle flavours. Bland even. Hate that word. The hero of the dish should be first in the description. Twice we were told the hero was (duck ham and honeycomb) yet they were listed s secondary ingredients. Guys, sort out your menu descriptions. Also, the venue is quite noisy. Think they might need to engage a sound guy and put some baffles around. To be fair, first week, should improve, waiter was grateful for our feedback rather than resentful which is often the case. We'll be back tor another look in a month or two.

Had a wonderful dinner at Annata last week. It was our anniversary, so we ordered up big, with 4…read moresmall plates, 2 mains, a dessert each, plus cocktails and wine. (Expect to spend $200 for 2 people to do the place justice.) Unfortunately, I didn't take a photo of the menu, and the menu on the website is slightly different, so I can't name all of the dishes, but will try. First up were the oysters with pickled black fungus. I've eaten plenty of oysters, but have never previously had them served this way, and it was a delicious flavour combination, the kind that makes you love oysters all over again. The other stand out for us was the duck ham from the dish with the heirloom carrots - so, so tasty! We also had a standout vegetarian dish (I think it involved cheese?) plus the prawns with corn, which was a quirky but good combination. For mains, we had the fish dish and the pork, sharing both. I think it would have been easier to have one each, as they were difficult to share. My pick out of the two was the fish, with a superb combination of flavours. However, the next table along had the beef skirt, and it also looked excellent. The highlight, however, was probably the dessert. I selected the passionfruit tofu, while my husband had the cherries with dark chocolate. They were very different flavour-wise, but we each loved our choice. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from passionfruit tofu, but it was just like creme caramel in consistency, but with a strong passionfruit flavour. Loved the toasted rice, coconut and basil - such an excellent combination of flavours! After the Belle D'Annata cocktail, I had a glass of rose and the French dessert wine. Loved the tasting notes supplied for both (skip forward to the section on wine by the bottle for most of the notes), and both were excellent choices. Would love to go back and try more of the wines - they have a very eclectic selection, just what I love. Good luck to all the crew and thanks for a wonderful dinner!

It's a pleasure to have found an above average Vietnamese restaurant in Sydney, consider how picky…read morean LA Yelper can be. I have the compulsion to write this review for Madame Nhu, because it's one of the few Vietnamese restaurants I've visited that can get me to actually finish an entire bowl of Pho. I don't like noodles. Therefore I'm super picky. Most of the Pho noddle places in the States use cheap slammy rice noodles that quickly get soaked into the soup and create a bowl of glue. The noodles used at Madame Nhu is, on the other hand, chunky, elastic, and textured. They sit well in the flavorful soup and seduce for slurping. I had the #3 beef brisket pho and finished it in 20 minutes. I didn't realize how committed I was in consuming this simple bowl of joy until I was done. Madame Nhu appears to be a very hippie joint for both local crowds and visitors. Beer and wine are available. We didn't have an chance to taste any appetizers but the fried tofu dish and calamari on the next table looked delicious too. Highly recommended.

Great food and value in a good atmosphere. Was biking through and just happened to stop. Will…read moredefinitely be back and will be recommending to friends! Thanks!