Rangoli Indian Restaurant Review

3/ 60 Fitzroy St
St Kilda
VIC, 3182
Ph: (03) 9593 6599

Food
Indian Cuisine. Banquets available. Some delicious spicy chicken in the entree. A massive amount of food laid out for the main courses in the banquet with delish naan and great vegetable curries. More than I could ever manage to eat and some unusual desserts not found at all indian restaurants.
Service
The service was wonderful. We had a delightful waitress and the host was very charming as well. The accomodated us with our small child and provided a high chair and extra space partitioned from the others.
Value
A bit more expensive than your average indian restaurant in Melbourne. Banquets are generally over $40 per person.
Decor and Atmosphere
Spacious and very well presented. They have done a great job doing up the old St Kilda Railway Station building. A modern feel and heaps of tables. Suitable for large groups.

Chinta Ria Restaurant Review

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94 Acland St
St Kilda 3182 VIC
Phone: (03) 9525 4664

Food
Malaysian Hawker Style Cuisine. The food was well presented and delicious with large portions. Features ikan bilis and nasi lemak and some scrumptious seafood dishes.
Service
Prompt and professional
Value
Reasonable value, up to $30 for a main meal but some cheaper dishes available too. No banquets.
Decor and Atmosphere
A charming atmosphere that was very comfortable, not too snobby but classy enough. Enjoy outdoor dining on the footpath in the warmer months or be cosy indoors in the winter.

Ajiya Japanese Restaurant Review

Shop 11a Metropol
60 Fitzroy Street St Kilda
Phone: (03) 9593 9853

Food
Japanese Cuisine. Not a very large selection, but there are some good options on the menu. There are some different meals than what you would generally find at a japanese restaurant like Japanese burgers and chips, but they also have some of the more traditional dishes. They offer free Miso soup to everyone as an entree. Also an interesting dessert choice of green tea and cookies and cream ice cream - not separate but together in the one ice-cream- and actually it was very refreshing.
Service
Lovely, friendly, very helpful and polite service. They go out of their way to make sure you are looked after.
Value
Good value. Most japanese restaurants I find are quite expensive but this is very reasonable. Probably because it focuses on takeaway as much as dine in. Not so upper class.
Decor and Atmosphere
Well presented and modern, but more of your casual dinner or lunch than a formal night out at a classy restaurant. Very comfortable and clean.

Belucci's Restaurant Review

129 Beaconsfield Parade
Albert Park Vic
Phone: (03) 9690 6288

Food
Traditional Italian Cuisine, the Tuscan way of cooking. There are two types of italian dinner menus to select from. All dishes were delicious. A la carte presentation, generally with larger plates and smaller portions. We enjoyed tasty bread and calamari entree, the sweets were gorgeous including refreshing gelato.
Service
Wonderful waiters, extremely professional, friendly and polite. The hosts, Belucci and his wife were there to greet and welcome us with a kiss. They were absolutely delightful and charming.
Value
Not one of your bargain value type restaurants. Prices and service are a bit more upper class here. Mains are generally priced over $20 each.
Decor and Atmosphere
Belucci's is found in a classic building along Beaconsfield Parade next to the beach. Built in the 1890's the building was a terminus for cable trams but has housed restaurants since the 1960's. It has a warm atmosphere with a great deal of unique character and views to boot.

Tien Tien Restaurant Review

2/29 Fitzroy Street
St Kilda, VIC 3182
Ph: (03) 9537 0889

I was told by one of the friends I dined with that Tien Tien meant "every day". Special mention and thumbs up to the management as we went to Tien Tien at 'Earth Hour' and they had all their lights out and served all meals by candlelight for the hour.
Food
A large selection of thai, malaysian and vietnamese cuisines. The soups were reasonable and the mains were very enjoyable from our selections of thai lemon grass chicken and malaysian curry with rice. Decent sized portions.
Service
Competent, professional and prompt.
Value
No banquets available. Mains from $13 to $25 generally.
Decor and Atmosphere
Funky lights, but particularly lovely by candlelight at earth hour. Well presented and warm atmosphere. Comfortable seating.

Gurkhas Nepalese Restaurant Review

190-192 Chapel Street
Prahran
Ph: (03) 9510 3325

Gurkhas have several restaurants in Melbourne, located at Brunswick, Richmond, Carlton, Melbourne and Prahran. This review is for 'Gurkhas Brasserie' in Prahran.
Food
Nepalese Food, a cuisine from the Himalayan Kingdom. I have to admit I'm not much into vegetarian dishes, but the 'Gurkas Special" vegetarian appetiser was refreshing and scrumptious - a vegetable mixture topped with yoghurt, sauce and plum sauce. I particularly enjoyed the goat curry in the mains and the chilli chicken wasn't bad. The nepalese rice pudding was a great way to top off the meal as a sweet and tempting dessert. All of this was provided in their 'simple feast' banquet option, along with tea or coffee. Also available are main courses from their 'vegetarian bazaar', 'meat bazaar', 'seafood selection' and 'gurkha grill' and most of these are reasonably priced individually as mains.
Service
There were plenty of waiters on hand and they provided prompt and professional service.
Value
Some excellent value options with 4 banquets to choose from starting with the 'simple feast' at $21.50 per person, and most individual mains at reasonable prices as well.
Decor and Atmosphere
Dim lighting, tastefully decorated, photos and pictures to set the cultural atmosphere.

Purple Shells Restaurant Review

153 Acland Street
St Kilda 3182
Ph: 9525 4988

Food
Seafood and BBQ Chinese Restaurant. No added MSG. Mostly your standard sort of chinese fare as generally found around Melbourne. Large servings of soup which were hot and filling. Good selection of hot entrees which I enjoyed. The mains were a bit more luke warm and ordinary, but not too bad. Lemon chicken was a bit too battered and deep fried. They also have a vegetarian's selection, omelettes, roast dishes and prawn/scallop dishes available.
Service
The first waitress was a bit scattered, but a second lady took over and took control and looked after us.
Value
Good value banquets available. Your standard mains are reasonably priced. You'll pay a bit more for individual seafood and roast dishes
Decor and Atmosphere
Neat and colourful, not overdone. A few simple decorations.

Tamarind Spice Restaurant Review

257 Glenferrie Rd
Malvern Vic 3144
Ph: 9576 0597

Food
Indian, Malaysian and SIngaporean cuisines.. at least that is what it says on the menu, however the front window boasts a couple of extra cuisines such as Sri Lankan - a little confusing. If you look through the menu though I would say the dishes are 85% Indian, with just a few other dishes thrown in here and there. The food was of reasonable quality for the price. The 'chilly' (?) chicken was hot and spicy. A few quirky titles for dishes on the menu too with some questionable spelling.
Service
The waiter seemed to have a great deal of trouble understanding english. We tried over and again just to request a spoon. I guess he was trying his best though.
Value
The restaurant claims it has the best deal in town, and it comes pretty close. Extremely cheap banquets available - $30 for two people or $50 for 4 people! Every individual meal on the menu is under $14, so there is some really great value to be had here.
Decor and Atmosphere
Conservative, not flash, a bit b-grade. Sometimes you get what you pay for in that respect.

Afghan Gallery Restaurant Review

327 Brunswick Street,
Fitzroy Vic 3065
Phone: 03 9417 2430

Food
Traditional Afghan Specialties. A good selection of dishes, some interesting entrees with a little spice, mains had mostly mild tomato based sauces with rice. Afghan food also seems to feature beans in a few entrees and dishes. Very sweet desserts. I have to admit though I was just a little disappointed with the food only because the last afghan restaurant I dined at had taste sensations to die for, and this didn't quite live up to that standard.
Service
Mostly pretty good service, a little slow at times as they were busy. Polite and friendly.
Value
They had several good value banquets available to come in under $30 per person budget, or you can pay the extra $5 and have dessert included.
Decor and Atmosphere
I really liked the interior, it had an old style tavern atmosphere with exposed bluestone and wood on the walls, dim lighting. A little tasteful music. Some nice tapestries and pictures.

Jaisalmer Palace Restaurant Review

98 Bourke Street
MELBOURNE 3000

A brand new restaurant at the time of this review. We were unable to obtain a business card from them so do not have the telephone listing as yet. They did not yet have credit card facilities available either, though I believe that is coming soon.
Food
Traditional Indian. Generous servings, but not living up to my expectations of the high standards of indian cuisine in melbourne restaurants. An unusual start with a tomato based soup before entree. A rather dodgy tasting sausage in the entree dish. The sauces in the dishes of the mains didn't have the intoxicating spices and flavours I so treasure in traditional indian curries. A couple of the dishes I just didn't like too much - and indian is usually my favourite of all cuisines!
Service
Some peculiar waiters. Once we were seated they then told us to get up and stand aside while they reset the table. They asked my partner if they should bring dessert out while I was still in the bathroom, then they took away our drinks while we were still drinking them. Very flighty and fidgety serving. They were attentive but bizarre and out of sorts at times.
Value
Good value banquets available. All reasonably priced.
Decor and Atmosphere
The reason I was attracted to this restaurant is that the interior is very impressively set up. Some wonderful decorating, gorgeous carved wooden chairs (and tables upstairs). A delightful interior. No airconditioning which was a bit stifling on a hot summer night.

Chine on Paramount Restaurant Review

Shop 9 & 10, Paramount Centre
101 Little Bourke Street
MELBOURNE 3000
Ph: 03 9663 6556

Food
Chinese Cuisine. The standard type of chinese fare found in most chinese restaurants in Melbourne. The banquet was quite small compared to most, not entirely fulfilling. The presentation was very meticulous. Live fish and lobsters swimming in tanks to choose from if that's your cup of tea.
Service
A La Carte service, very professional with great attention to detail.
Value
Not great. Most dishes were quite expensive for chinese. The wine prices were out of this world. The banquet wasn't great value.
Decor and Atmosphere
Beige invasion with brown wood panels. Quite simple and plain. Easy listening elevator style background music. Probably more suited to the older folk.