QFF Restaurant Reviews

[Grooba]

Now that we are able to earn FF points at certain restaurants as outlined in Frequent Flyer - Earning Points - Restaurants I thought it would be helpful to have a reviews thread based on this list, within the QFF forums. I had a look around to see if this was more applicable in a different forum but felt it would be best included here.

With a 3 points per dollar spent on the QFF card, then another point per dollar using an appropriately linked credit card, there’s quite an incentive to try out some of the listed restaurants.

As more reviews are written I'll link to them below and order them state by state.

This idea was first posted on FT but after a quick chat with serfty I have posted a mirror here in the hopes that more people will contribute and I will update both threads accordingly.

NSW

• Mand’s Indian Restaurant
• Rhodes Phoenix Chinese Restaurant
• 
  [*]19 JUN 09 BAVARIAN O'CONNELL 28MAY09

 

[Grooba]

Mand’s Indian Restaurant

To kick off the list, last Saturday night I decided to take Ms vec out to dinner at Mand’s Indian Restaurant @ Eastwood, NSW.

Mand’s Indian Restaurant
255 Rowe St EASTWOOD, NSW
BYO and Licensed
http://restaurants.qantas.com.au/Res...|1||0|0|9,10,8

Located right in the heart of Eastwood this Indian restaurant is an easy 5 minute walk from Eastwood train station. We arrived around 20:15 on Saturday night without a booking. We had previously walked past the restaurant earlier in the day to have a quick peak inside and see if we could get a feel for the place. Nothing overly special inside with simple seating arrangement, we decided to try it out for dinner.

The restaurant was about 60% full when we arrived and we were greeted with by a young waiter with a nice smile and promptly seated. We had brought a bottle of Shiraz with us and were surprised to see on each table there were wine glasses pre set, no need to request them. I’m normally an instant Vindaloo man when we have Indian but Ms vec always has a go at me so this time we tried something different.

Lamb Madrass
Chicken Do Piaza
Masala Onion Kulcha
Boiled rice

After ordering we were brought out the standard mint youghurt and papadams while we waited for our order. The papadums were freshly prepared - warm and crunchy, not like I have had before at other restaurants where they are cold and soft.

Shortly after, the meals came out and were both very tasty. Ms vec had the Chicken do Piaza which was mild with a nice thick onion based flavor. I had ordered my Lamb Madrass to come out with a Vindaloo heat factor and it was just right. The Masala Onion Kulcha was delicious with 3 different types of onion all minced up with some spices, something different from the standard Naan bread. Dipped into the Madrass sauce – mmmm lovely!

The service was great, attentitive when required but not intrusive the entire time. It really annoys me when the waiter constantly comes asking you this and that. I know they are just trying to be poilite and attentitive but asking once is enough!

We were the last ones to leave about 22:00 with no pressure on us to depart. Presented the FF card to the waiter along with my credit card. The bill was settled through the ANZ EFTPOS terminal and the FF card was then swiped through the same ANZ EFTPOS terminal. A receipt for both the CC payment and the FF credit were printed and presented, easy.

Highly recommended for a cheap and tasty Indian meal.

Total bill $38.00

Food: 9
Ambience: 8
Service: 8
Value: 9
Overall: 8.5

 

[munitalP]

good thread

 

[docjames]

I can add that BHOJ at docklands was excellent (although it's been a little while now since we've been there) although it worked out slightly more pricey than we originally thought.

Also, the Breakfast Creek Hotel is always a winner too. Will try and post a full review next time we go there.

Great thread - maybe it should be a sticky given as when it gets fuller (no pun intended), it may be read frequently but not posted?

 

[serfty]

List of All restaurants (Alphabetical)

 

[simongr]

Re: Mand’s Indian Restaurant

We were the last ones to leave about 22:00 with no pressure on us to depart. Presented the FF card to the waiter along with my credit card. The bill was settled through the ANZ EFTPOS terminal and the FF card was then swiped through the same ANZ EFTPOS terminal. A receipt for both the CC payment and the FF credit were printed and presented, easy.

Highly recommended for a cheap and tasty Indian meal.

Total bill $38.00

Sounds great - I might have to try this one very cheap as well...

Out of interest - how long did it take for the points to post?

 

[Grooba]

It's now the Thursday after and the points have still not been credited. Not too worried as it quite often takes 2 weeks or longer to get the credited points from Travelex when exchanging money at SYD.

 

[Grooba]

Rhodes Phoenix Chinese Restaurant

Rhodes Phoenix Chinese Restaurant
Level 5, Rhodes Shopping Centre, 1 Rider Boulevard,
RHODES, NSW 2138
BYO and Licensed
http://restaurants.qantas.com.au/Res...|1||0|0|9,10,8
http://www.phoenixrestaurants.com.au

Situated at the heart of Sydney’s burgeoning inner west in the Rhodes Shopping Centre. The scale is bold, the style sophisticated, providing the perfect compliment to a bit of retail therapy for locals and day trippers alike.

With a few hours to kill on Saturday morning and the fact Ms vec wanted to check out Ikea and get some ideas for the new house, we headed off to Rhodes Shopping Centre. Remembering the Phoenix group of Chinese Restaurants was part of the FF dining lists, our lunch was confirmed.

After heading up to the restaurant we happily suprised that (and I should have known) the lunch time festivities were all about YUM CHA!!!

By the time we arrived at the restaurant it was 14:30 and as the place closes at 15:00 to set for the dinner period it was time for some fast service, and fast service we got! Typical yum cha service, seated nice and quickly, the carts were at our table almost instantly.

Firstly was a serving of Dim Sims (how can you not have dim sims at yum cha) followed by a serving of steamed beef balls. The dim sims were soft and moist with a succulant prawn nicely centred in the middle. Accompanied by some simple chilli sauce and a touch of sweet and sour they were mouth wateringly good. 4 to a serving, my mind was itching for the lady to come around again.

The steamed beef balls sounded good and looked even better. I haven't had these before nor have I seen them on a menu so we had to try them out. 3 to a serving and a fraction smaller than a golf ball, they came with a special sauce which tasted like worstershire sauce and white vinegar, something to that effect. They were delicious!

By now it was about 14:45 and we were running out of time. The carts that were looping around were slowly dwindling in numbers, we could now only see two doing the rounds with regular food, one other with the deserts.

Next we grabbed some steamed greens and soem sort of stir fry noodles with beef. Both were very tasty and complimented each other quite well. We watched that trolley head out to the kitchen and not return, leaving only the desert trolley and one other. When the other came around I was almost jumping out of my skin - DIM SIMS! Had to grab another tray, along with a second helping of chilli sauce. Ms vec had the majority of the noodles/greens whilst I chowed the dim sims with a huge grin on my face.

Last calls were made by the staff but we were well and truely full. It was now 15:00.

Up to the counter to pay the bill feeling nicely satisfied we were presented the bill. I replied with Visa and the QF card to which I was promptly advised that we had to spend $50 or more to be credited QFF points! As we hadn't spent more, I was devistated. I couldn't see any disclaimers about this either in the shop or on the QF website. No argument was made and the bill settled, all I could think about was weather or not this was part of the deal. I've since had a further look through the website and can not find any mention of this minimum spend. After going to the Mand's Indian Restaurant a week or so ago and spending $38 we were able to use the card. I'll investigate...

Other than this dissapointment at the end of the sitting, the actual restaurant and service were great, and the food was excellent.

Food: 9
Ambience: 6
Service: 9
Value: 7
Overall: 7.5

 

[moa999]

19 JUN 09 BAVARIAN O'CONNELL 28MAY09

Had my first points post (almost three weeks after a meal). Location Bavarian Beer Cafe O'Connell St Sydney - right in the middle of the CBD.

Bavarian Bier Cafe

Two story pub/ restuarant in the former Republic Hotel. Upstairs is classic Bavarian style bar with hanging glasses around a central bar and some booths.

Downstairs (generally quieter) has tables and some more booths.
Good attentive service - great pretzels for starters.

The menu is mostly bavarian although a couple of other items nad very Meat and Potato based. Delicious food albeit heavy and heart-attack territory.

I had the Bavarian Tasting Plate which comes recommended. Others had the Brahaus Stew (also good) and the Schnitzels.

Will defintely return when I burn off the calories consumed!

 

[Alanslegal]

Nice reviews Vec and excellent idea to have this kind of thread.

Just a reference suggestion for future posts, that we include date of dining and actual points postingsm, so then we can have an idea when to expect the bonus points

Guess I'll be taking a look at the restaurant list to see where to eat this weekend

 

[Grooba]

FYI..

My dinner at Mand's Indian Restaurant was had on 09MAY09 and the points were credited on 19JUN09.

 

[Alanslegal]

Guess I'll be taking a look at the restaurant list to see where to eat this weekend

Restaurant: Bavarian Bier Cafe - York Street Sydney
Date of dining: Saturday 27 June 2009
Date of QF points posting: TBA
Meal Cost: $52

The BBC was a last minute dining option having not made any reservations that night. I simply rung up 30 minute prior to arrival and asked for a table for two, although being fully booked they would accommodate me.

Arrival at the 30minute mark and was taken to a table on the main restaurant floor, as it had a similar layout to moa999's review of their sister O'Connell Street restaurant, with it being two levels. The main level was very busy and I could tell it was indeed booked solid.

I went for the safe option and tried the Bavarian Tasting Plate which consisted of Succulent Pork Belly, Sausages and Schnitzel all served with Traditional Bavarian Condiments. Whilst my dining friend went for the house special being house special Braised Beef Cheeks with Mash, in a floating Wine Sauce.

My choice of drink was the 3 Pure Bier Flight which was 3 x 200mls samples of biers.

Service was efficient and with a smile, and the waitresses looked FAB Also the guys aren't too bad either :mrgreen: But the main meals took a while to come out but once it did, we gobbled them up quickly even though they were good hearty servings.

We cheated in the sense that we also took advantage of the Entertainment Book Buy 1 Main Get 1 Free Main coupon, but our bill came $52 for two including a small tip. (should add we had a Salad as well)

At bill time, I handed my Entertainment Card and my QF Card, which the QF card is swiped through an exclusive machine and a receipt was given showing my QF number, the amount of the bill, and "Your points will be posted within 7 days" printed. I then later settled my bill using my CC.

Overall, very good atmosphere and a quality meal. The biers are good as well. Definite thumbs up but advance bookings would be recommended.

 

[zzyss]

We cheated in the sense that we also took advantage of the Entertainment Book Buy 1 Main Get 1 Free Main coupon, but our bill came $52 for two including a small tip. (should add we had a Salad as well)

At bill time, I handed my Entertainment Card and my QF Card, which the QF card is swiped through an exclusive machine and a receipt was given showing my QF number, the amount of the bill, and "Your points will be posted within 7 days" printed. I then later settled my bill using my CC.

Restaurant: Kobe Jones, King Street Wharf, Sydney
Date of dining: Sunday 6 July 2009
Date of QF points posting: N/A (see below)
Meal Cost: $297 for 7 people

First, I have to say that unlike the Bavarian Bier Cafe where Alanslegal dined, Kobe Jones wouldn't accept both QFF card and Entertainment Card. The waiter just outright said "you can't use QFF at the same time as the Entertainment Card". Bummer.

I've been to Kobe Jones several times before - Japanese fusion isn't quite my cup of tea but others tend to enjoy it. The quality of the food is generally quite good, and tasty. We the dynamite scallop (apologies if the names of the dishes aren't exactly correct - a friend did the ordering), which was kinda like a chilli sauce and scallop risotto. The chilli flavour was just right and didn't dominate the scallop, and the creaminess of the sauce helped it to go down easy. The rice might have been a bit over done (i.e. too soft) for a risotto but right up our alley our group was entirely Asian (it's probably a broad generalisation, but Asians and Europeans do their rice very differently I've noticed).

The waiter stuffed up our order and also gave us a mushroom version of the same risotto-like dish, but since it was their mistake they gave it to us gratis.

We also had tataki, volcano rolls, dragon rolls, which are the usual sushi rolls and taste great, except there's a heaviness about them that I don't particularly like. It's like the difference between chocolate mousse and black forest cake.

There was also this weird Eel salad thing, which nobody liked. The noodles in the salad were bland, and had no dressing or sauce.

Dessert-wise, most of us went with the green tea creme brulee. We saw them on other tables and they're supposed to come out flambe, but ours went out almost before the waiter put them on the table. The ones that we saw on the other table, the couple was using the flame to warm their hands by *shrug* not a big deal since it's just decorative, mostly, but it definitely lacked that crunchy burnt sugar crackle on top (no Amelie-like scene, boo...) A bit dry and thick for a creme brulee, as if all they did was stir green tea powder through regular custard.

One of us had the trifle, which came with a layer of fairy floss on top, and went down well with everybody.

The evening was pleasant overall, but largely due to the company and not the food, so this being my 3rd (maybe 4th) visit, I'd still give it only 5/10.

(And a big thbbbt to them for not letting me use my QFF and Entertainment Book together).

 

[JohnK]

First, I have to say that unlike the Bavarian Bier Cafe where Alanslegal dined, Kobe Jones wouldn't accept both QFF card and Entertainment Card. The waiter just outright said "you can't use QFF at the same time as the Entertainment Card". Bummer.

....

(And a big thbbbt to them for not letting me use my QFF and Entertainment Book together).

If you still have the receipt from the restaurant I would wait a few weeks and then submit a claim to QFF service centre for the FF points. Don't mention that you used the Entertainment card but simply have not received the FF points.

 

[garyjohn951]

From the Qantas website

Points from restaurants may take up to eight weeks to be credited to your Qantas Frequent Flyer account.

 

[Alanslegal]

If you still have the receipt from the restaurant I would wait a few weeks and then submit a claim to QFF service centre for the FF points. Don't mention that you used the Entertainment card but simply have not received the FF points.

That may work, guess YMMV, but from my past two experiences when the restaurant swipes your QF card, you get an exclusive QF receipt. Thus you may need that to submit for the claim rather than the credit card 'customer' copy receipt which you also get.


Anyway, my next visit;-

Restaurant: Phoenix Chinese Rhodes
Date of Dining: Saturday 4 July 2009
Date of QF points posting: TBA
Total Cost: $130.00 (for 6).

The Phoenix proudly displays "Earn Qantas Points Here" brochures at the main entrance desk but does not state there is a minimum spend requirement. Its a bit of a bummer to hear them decline Vec's card when the spend was below $50.

Anyway, our party of six arrived at The Phoenix around 1pm and the restaurant was busy. We were seated within five minutes which is sweet, given that some larger & well established Yum Cha restaurants can take up to an hour or so just to get BIS!

Simply:-

The decor is a stunner and is very modern with its black, red and white highlights.

Having been to countless of chinese restaurants in my life, and esp. enjoying yum cha as my favourite, I can say that the food was really good but I will eat lots of interesting dishes such as Tripes, Chicken Feet etc
If you're not that adventurous, the Steamed Scallops, Prawn Dumplings, and the dessert Egg Tarts are highly recommended.

The food trolleys were slow to circulate around the large restaurant but I really like it when roving waitresses top up the tea pots with hot water, ensuring that we are never left empty.

I managed to pay the bill and use my QF card which means at least 520 QF points will be posted to my account within the next eight weeks