Sushi Hub (Hawthorn, Vic)

Fresh and yummy cold and hot dishes and a great selection of Japanese drinks. The nicest dishes aren't usually on the train but have to be ordered. It takes little time for them to arrive, though

Fast and friendly staff.

Good priced. 

Sushi trains are one of my fav things in the food world. The reason I go to a food train is because of the variety, the freshness and the fact that you have most things already on display, so you don't have to order anything unless you really want. And that is, precisely, what this place fails at, because most of the nicest things aren't on display, just the average ones, the rest have to be ordered. This being the case, part of the enjoyment of the train adventure vanishes like a puff. Said differently, this is more a la carte and takeaway sushi place than a proper sushi train, even though there is a train

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McDonald's (Flemington, Vic)

You know, when you to to Maccas you aren't expecting a gourmet burger or meal, right? Yet, not every Maccas is the same. I decided to review this place because my experience was really good here. The place was very clean, the staff were fast and friendly, and my burger was perfectly assembled, pretty as if for the races, and calling for a photo. The chips, however, were a bit too 'mashy' for my liking. If I had to repeat and go to another Maccas, this is the nicest one I've been in a long time!

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Plenty Thai Restaurant (Perth WA)

Shop 15, Shafto Lane
Perth WA 6000
Phone: (08) 9481 0090 
Email: plentyfinefoods@gmail.com
Website
Facebook
Hours:
Lunch  11am-3pm weekdays, 1pm-5pm Sat
Dinner 5pm-9pm Mo to We + Sat, 5pm-10pm Thu and Fri

Plenty Thai Restaurant is located in the lovely Shafto's lane, one of most vibrant charming areas in the CBD, and serves authentic Thai and Asian Fusion food. There are plenty of reasons to visit Plenty!

THE PLACE - The place is spotless clean, luminous and pleasant despite its functionality. It has many lovely decoration details, like the cute test-tube flower vases, the nice lamps, and the little Miró-ish floating thingy. The serving area is clean and well presented, as well as the self-service water area. Plenty is very popular with corporate crowds, mostly (nicely-dressed young) men, but also with young Asian students. Plenty offers take-away service and pre-order take-away by phone and email.  

THE FOOD - They claim their dishes to be authentic Thai and they look like! This is not sophisticated Thai, but home-style and street-stalls Thai food, and it looks and tastes great. The dishes are very spicy and hot, as real Thai food should be, and the serving generous, so you will not leave hungry. The food trays are constantly replaced, and the food is really fresh. Just the colour, appearance and taste of it will tell you that. 

 Beyond the traditional finger food, they have green and red curries, pad dishes (Pad Thai included), spicy soups (Tom Yum included), stir-fry dishes, minced meat and green papaya salads, and a small selection of packaged Thai sweets displayed beside the water jars, with a mix of mini-muffins, fried nibbles, bean-paste sweets, among other things. 

PRICING - Prices are fantastic. Lunch combos are 7-8.5$, and la carte dishes go from 5 to 14$, while dinner dishes go from 5 to 17$. The packed sweets are 6 bucks per tray. You pay the same you would be paying in a food court, but the quality and variety of food is ten times better. It is is exciting finding a business that does provide good food at bargain prices without compromising quality!  

THE SERVICE - The service is friendly and both the business and the staff are eager to serve and satisfy any of your requests. 

• They have an interesting selection of readings on the solo dining walled table, a Thai street food book included!
• They do have tap water jars, but they use a "Brita" jar to filter it (I saw them refilling it). 
  
• Sometimes, the staff fills in the water glasses of the clients, all over the place, which is something rarely found in Perth restaurants unless we are in a posh one. 
• Sometimes they approach you and ask you how is everything, if you like it, if things are too spicy for you, and so on. 

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
1/ Their green blackboard is difficult to read, as green is never a good background for coloured inks. They should use a black pen to allow the writing to be readable.

2/ The walled table is not very appealing as it faces the wall and it is very narrow. It would be great having the big tables in the middle of the room replaced with smaller ones, which could be joined for groups. A good deal of visitors are, indeed, solo visitors and pairs/couples.

MIND
The food is very spicy and hot, so if you do have a problem with chillies and spicy food, abstain. On the other had, if you like Thai food you know that Thai food is originally spicy and hot.

 ***

Plenty is great value for money, has a great location, good tasty food at terrific prices, and a pleasant dining area. They do not pretend to be anything, just deliver what they promise.  

Location: 9/10
Layout: 6/10
Ambience 6/10
Food: 7.5/10
Service: 7.5/10
Pricing: 9/10

****
MESSAGE FROM THE OWNER RECEIVED VIA YELP on 23/3/13

 Moo K.

Teo Degas
Thanks for your review and suggestions. We did rearrange tables and it worked well. If you come by you will see new signs in graphic prints. Also we plan to do some change to high counter which does not work functionally especially for dinner. Thanks again for your kind support.
Plenty

MY REPLY

Thanks a lot to you for taking the tame to reply. I visited two weeks ago, and it was great. I love your food!

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Seoul BBQ Café (Perth WA) - CLOSED

Shop 2/ 166 Murray St
Forrest Chase
Perth Western Australia 6000
(08) 9221 1862

This open Korean barbecue café kiosk is occupying part of Forrest Chase's back corridors, and located in front of Crazy Clark's. There is a little kiosk with the counter and bbq kitchen, while the tables are spread by the wall and along the corridor. There is no waiter; so, once you pay, you get a number and wait for it to be called to go and collect your tray. 

Their meals include the most common Korean fast food specialities:  bibimpap  (bowl with a mix of rice, meat, an egg, some salad, and the very Korean sour cabbage Kimchi); Korean fried chicken ("karaage"), spicy barbecued squid and meats, grilled meat dishes ("bulgogi") etc.. The dishes are tasty, generous in size, and a decent quality for the price you pay. 

A set meal includes the main (tray with rice plus the meat/fish of your selection), plus three small sides (salad, miso soup, and bean sprouts). You can always order individual portions of marinated food, dumplings, or a bibimpap menu (with the rice bowl, miso soup and the chilli paste on the side just if you prefer to adjust the hotness to your palate yourself).

Average price is about 10 bucks, all menus below 15 bucks per meal.

The service is fast, even when the place is flooded with customers, which is most days at lunch time. They clean the place quite fast, and it is very clean and tidy despite the continuous movement of people. The staff are matter of fact, still very friendly and ready to help and explain anything to you.

The two main downs of the place are that they open just for dinner on Fridays, and that the seating area id in the open and, therefore, affected by the changes in temperature and pigeons occasionally wander around. 

This is not a glamorous gourmet place, but they deliver simple tasty Korean food cooked by Koreans at bargain prices in the heart of the city. Most recommended for fast lunches that are consistently good.

UPDATE
This place has closed down.

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Coffee Shot Missing. Help!

Most Perth cafés offering take-away options have tree sizes: Small, Regular and XL.

Here it is the sin spreading throughout our city. The small cup has one shot of coffee, the medium has two. And the large has... two and an a half shots instead of three. What?! What?! What?

They, of course, do not tell you, no written signs, they let you delude yourself. Delusion makes people happy. Placebo effect delivered to you with your cuppa and a big smile every day. Baristas are all so good-looking that you can't help it and smile back at them. Still, if you ask, they will tell you. 

These sort of policies are a bit of a cheat to consumers and coffee lovers who, like us, spend a little fortune on coffee, and expect their coffee to be perfect and wonderful every time every size. Moreover, the missing shot (or half a shot) makes a huge difference in the flavour of the coffee you drink, wherefore most XL takeaways taste bland and latte-ish.

If this was not enough sin, some cafés put one and a half shots in the regular, and two in the large, the small still having one. What the flack?!

I always ask them to add the missing shot or half shot; they smile and say "of course", but the coffee still tastes bland. I guess it is another dollop of delusional smile sweetened with an elusive shot.  

Many cafés have a great coffee indoors, but then it tastes watery and bland when prepared for takeaway. We pay a lot of money for our coffee, so please, deliver. Should we order two small coffee cups to get what we want?

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Pepper Lunch (Perth WA)

Shop 5g/ 95 Barrack St,
Perth, Western Australia 6000
(08) 9325 3532
Facebook
Hours   
   Mon - Thu: 11:00 - 21:00
   Fri - Sat: 11:00 - 22:00
   Sun: 11:00 - 21:00

Centrally located in Barrack Street, in an area that has become popular with little funky Japanese and Korean  eateries, Pepper Lunch is a nice fast food restaurant that serves Japanese fast food - simple, tasty, healthy, fun to cook, and good-priced.  

The place is very clean and functional, still very pleasant, and attracts an eclectic group of people. The system works like this:
- You get an iron dish, that is really hot, with the food you order.
- You mix everything and allow the food to cook on the dish stirring it.
- You wait a few minutes for the food to cool down.
- You eat it. 
There are steak dishes, in which you get the meat/fish of your selection (beef, chicken, burger, salmon, or a combo) mixed with veggies and bean sprouts. Otherwise, you have kimchi or curry dishes arranged in a similar fashion but rice-based.

The selection of drinks is very limited, just a few drinks from the fridge, plus miso soup.

The staff are lovely, very friendly, and serve your fast. They have a menu with photographs, which also specifies which dishes are hot, so you know what you are ordering and what you are going to get.

Pepper lunch is a bit pricey for fast food, with prices going from 9-17 bucks, still very cheap, and you know what you are putting in your mouth.

Pepper Lunch is nothing to rave about, but it is a nice place with healthier food than traditional fast food (unless you choose the burgers), and attractive enough to return or drop by any time, as it is open ever day of the week from brunch to late dinner.

Location - 7/10
Layout - 6/10
Ambience - 5.5/10
Food - 6/10
Drinks - 4/10
Service 7/10

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Zambrero (Mt Lawley, Perth WA)

625 Beaufort St
Mt Lawley Western Australia 6050
(08) 6161 9436
Website
Facebook
Hours:
    Mon-Sun 11:00 - 21:00

Not every place selling burritos should be called Mexican, especially Zambrero. This could be called SubwayMex, as both Subway and Zambrero are similar in concept, preparation methods and service.

THE GOOD
- Zambrero has a spot on location on Beaufort Street, and has a semi-open seating area that allows you to focus on the street or just on your food at the central canteen table or the long one facing the wall.
- The food looks and tastes fresh, which is specially important if most of what you put in your meal is salad and veggies.
- Big is big here! So your burrito will appease the monster in your stomach.
- The prices are cheap.
- Service is terrific: the girls are delightful and will attend to you fast and with genuine friendliness.
- Their black board on the footpath always has funny sayings an jokes.

THE BAD
- My chicken burrito was indeed a chicken and rice sort of Indian burrito, which ruined the whole experience, as it was overcooked and did not taste good, and tasted Indian-ish not Mexican-ish.
- So many things put in a burrito and the taste is just OK.
- The tortillas are a bit not tortillas, but wraps...
- The burritos are not burritos but Mexican inspired wraps. They are ugly looking and I did not feel like taking my mobile out for a picture.  
- Go to Zambrero  knowing that this is not a Mexican place and you won't be eating Mexican food.

RECOMMENDATIONS
- Ask for a burrito whose meat is just grilled or roasted.
- Avoid the cheese, because is the usual cheap cheese that you find in any fast food chain, which can ruin any dish.
- Avoid the sauces, and ask for an extra dollop of sour cream instead.
- This is a perfect place for food emergencies: you are super-hungry, you want to eat right now, and don't want to spend much money, and want to leave full.

I might come back :O 

UPDATE
Free guacamole this week with any dish to celebrate the change in their menu.

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Trackside Bakery (Perth WA)

378 Wellington Street
City Station Complex
Perth Western Australia 6000
(08) 9325 3714
  
This is one of those places that satisfies the eating monster in you. You know, that monster in your stomach that awakes when you are super-hungry and fancying naughty fatty unhealthy re-fried food... like a pizza pie, like a fried crab stick, a corn jack, samosas, mini-pizzas with cheap cheese and tomato, or super-fried oily crunchy anything, or big sandwiches/pannini/rolls with anything fatty that looks colourful, or the usual boring tarts, "Donuts", cakes, which are never my thing as my monster likes it savoury. In a way it is sort of manly food, if you know what I mean. If you have one of those days, as I do, I go there, because, well, it is on my way to/from many places. I never feel guilty about these moments, but I do feel upset at being charged 20-30% more for the same items than in the shop down the escalator  (take as an ex. the corn jacks or chicken strips).

The coffee is average, but not bad.

The best thing about the place is the long wall table facing Wellington St and Forrest Chase, or better said the quotes and sentences written on the panels in it. They are really nice, a touch of sensitivity in this not-for-the-sensitive-eater industrial bakery.

The service is fast but OK/poor depending on the person at the counter, and on the people cueing. However, beware, the place can be really dirty at peak times.

The customers are a nice bunch of retires, tradies, passers-by, hidders-by, people-watchers, hungry-from-hell types, homeless types, schoolies, me, you, him. Humanity in its full splendour, or is it decadence?

On the positive side, there is a silver lining in every cloud, you know for sure that, the crowds being there all day long, the food is freshly fried and prepared every day.

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