I love Gloria Jeans flavoured coffees. The shop at Highpoint is really tiny, and not inviting to stay there for long, so perfect for takeaway. Not as nice or complete as other shops of the franchise. The staff are very hard-working and friendly, and service is always prompt, but paying 6+ bucks for a small flavoured coffee is a bit too much and really I doubt that I will go back.
10/02/2018
Dumplings Plus (Highpoint Shopping Centre, Maribyrnong Vic)
I prefer this shop on the ground to the one on the 2nd floor in Highpoint.
I like their steamed dumpling baskets; they are generous in size, fresh, and the filling is good. My fav dumplings are the chicken & ginger, and the prawn & chives. My main complain is that they tend to be over-steamed, so the dough gets a bit dry and sticky after being on the hot cabinet for a while. Also, I found big chunks of shell from the prawns inside the dumplings.
Good cheap jasmine tea pots.
Very friendly accommodating staff.
If you cannot finish your dish, ask for a takeaway container!
It has a very friendly staff, quick service and an ample seating area, however, the tables lacked small dishes to put the sauces.
Rustica (Hawthorn, Vic)
I've been here a couple of times, and I like the place.
The menu, to be fair, wasn't that innovative, but if you do well what you offer, then you win me over easily.
I had the Babaganush eggs and wow, I could not fault the dish. All the flavours worked beautifully together, a great mix of textures, the eggs were perfectly poached, and the whole ensemble was flawless. I felt tempted to lick the dish!
I love Rustica doughnuts, they are sweet but not overly so, and full of flavour.
Coffee is good.
Fast service.
My main complaints are the seating area itself, and the fact that the staff aren't especially friendly
9/30/2018
House of Marley Positive Vibration 2 Wireless Headphones
GOOD THINGS
> Good quality sound.
> Good bass.
> Cool design. Very classy and elegant, and they blend perfectly with brown hair.
> Buttons and connecting sockets are discreetly located and barely noticeable, so the set looks very polished.
> Good Bluetooth range, so I can move around my apartment without the quality of the sound changing of the connection braking up.
> It can be easily folded into itself and it is easy to carry.
SO-SO
> The Battery life. Not too bad but not too good either. Be sure to switch off the set if you aren't going to use it because, otherwise, the battery drains fast. If you switch them off, it will last you for several days of casual listening.
> The phone cord is a bit short and a bit too thick to carry it outside home.
> The design of the switch on-off button could be better. I would have preferred an on-off button that works without having to hold it, just by pushing it once.
NOT SO GOOD THINGS
> The earphone pods are too small even for small adult ears, like mine.
> The earphone set is too tight and pressures the head too much. As one can adjust the length of the pods but not the tightness, this set can give you a headache if you want to use it for more than a couple of hours at the time. This is my case, and I have a small head.
> No indicator of battery percentage left. I mean, even if there was, the indicator is at the base of one of the pods, so if you are wearing them you won't be able to see them. It would be great to have a notification bubble appearing on my device showing battery levels. Just a suggestion!
Overall, a good pair of earphones, but there are too many things needing improvement to ignore.
9/22/2018
Colori D'Italia Pizza - Pasta - Cucina (Melbourne CBD)
GOOD
A bit of everything sort of cafeteria.
Generous portions.
Good priced.
Fast service.
Clean spacious premises.
Lovely staff.
Great location.
NOT SO GOOD
The food., bland, unseasoned, lacking flavour. I visited for an early lunch, when the pre-prepared pasta dishes had been just cooked, and the pasta was already a bit on the soft side, not on the al-dente side. I think it would have been overcooked if I had visited 10 minutes later.
MIND
During the day, which is when I visited, this is more a cafeteria (a la hospital) which offers a bit of everything, mostly pre-prepared food, than a cafe or restaurant. They have a selection of rolls, sandwiches and prepared Italian dishes (fresh pasta dishes, meatballs) for you to choose from. Except for the breakfast and pizzas, which are cooked on order, the food they were serving was all pre-cooked. On the other hand, for those prices, you cannot expect real Italian either.
A bit of everything sort of cafeteria.
Generous portions.
Good priced.
Fast service.
Clean spacious premises.
Lovely staff.
Great location.
NOT SO GOOD
The food., bland, unseasoned, lacking flavour. I visited for an early lunch, when the pre-prepared pasta dishes had been just cooked, and the pasta was already a bit on the soft side, not on the al-dente side. I think it would have been overcooked if I had visited 10 minutes later.
MIND
During the day, which is when I visited, this is more a cafeteria (a la hospital) which offers a bit of everything, mostly pre-prepared food, than a cafe or restaurant. They have a selection of rolls, sandwiches and prepared Italian dishes (fresh pasta dishes, meatballs) for you to choose from. Except for the breakfast and pizzas, which are cooked on order, the food they were serving was all pre-cooked. On the other hand, for those prices, you cannot expect real Italian either.
Industry Beans Lt. Collins (Melbourne CBD)
I visited at around twelve. Due to the photos of food on Zomato, I
thought that they would be serving cooked prepared food. However, this
is not the case. They serve coffee and have a small cabinet with
prepared rolls, sandwiches, raw balls and cupcakes.
The place is cute, modern and in a killer location.
Coffee was well prepared but one of those too-much-milk coffees that is spreading like a plague throughout Melbourne. It might be just the beans they use or the roasting, but it was a meh coffee, totally postmodern meh.
I tried one of their cranberries raw balls, and I have to say it was absolutely delicious, filling, filled with goodness, totally tasty, not greasy and not sweet. One of the best raw balls ever!
Staff were underwhelming, reactive to any comment or action,. Thank gosh for Mr "Skinny Water', who understood what customer service is all about.
MIND
> No large size coffee cups or takeaways.
> No cash accepted. That's right!
> Receipts on paper not given. If you want yours, you add your email and they email it to you.
The place is cute, modern and in a killer location.
Coffee was well prepared but one of those too-much-milk coffees that is spreading like a plague throughout Melbourne. It might be just the beans they use or the roasting, but it was a meh coffee, totally postmodern meh.
I tried one of their cranberries raw balls, and I have to say it was absolutely delicious, filling, filled with goodness, totally tasty, not greasy and not sweet. One of the best raw balls ever!
Staff were underwhelming, reactive to any comment or action,. Thank gosh for Mr "Skinny Water', who understood what customer service is all about.
MIND
> No large size coffee cups or takeaways.
> No cash accepted. That's right!
> Receipts on paper not given. If you want yours, you add your email and they email it to you.
Shade Cafe (Hawthorn, Vic)
Coffee was really good.
Food was nice, but not beyond nice, really; good serving portions, and good priced as well. However, it took about 15 minutes or so for my food to come out and, honestly, it was not worth the wait.
The staff were really lovely but there was an evident lack of coordination and attention to detail. There were a good deal of patrons when I visited, but the place was not full by any means.
This is a good addition to the Glenferrie coffee strip, but there are so many awesome cafes around that they need to step up their game if they want to survive.
