Must Winebar, Mt Lawley

Loud and busy bar with smart food and very attentive service.  Perhaps feels a bit to commercial in some ways (not sure about a menu that includes the brand of coffee, particularly when it is a mass market, ordinary brand)  

Food: Excellent

Chicken Liver Parfait, Grenache Jelly, Melba Toast - totally rich and delicious
Wagyu Beef Carpaccio - yummy, but no obvious value from Wagyu.
Duck leg confit with pork belly: perfectly prepared.

Feeling:

Generally relief at leaving the noise.  I am getting old.


http://www.must.com.au/

Venn, Queen St, CBD (next to 1901)

Great little new Bar in the CBD at the back of the shop.  Really nicely done.

Open for Breaky, lunch and dinner.

Breakfast: Omelet and salad where great, Pancakes looked and tasted great although they where not quiet cooked through.  (And "Maple" syrup is not the real deal, alas).  Nice coffee.

Overall: We will be back I am sure.

Venn.net

Whisper wine bar, Fremantle

Great wines from the little bar Essex street.

Not sure about the decor inside the ground floor.

La Vita Buona, Melbourne

Great wine and tasty cheese and small plates in downtown Melbourne (Nr Corner of Collins and Swanston Street)

Helvetica, CBD, 3.5 stars

One of the new generation of small bars. Great little I love it. Best early in the week when its not to busy.

Wines on the board are always good.

Basic food only.

Andaluz bar, CBD, 3 stars

One of the 1st of a new breed of bars in Perth, what a fantastic little place. Crazy busy on Friday nights and other times.

Highlights:

• Atmosphere, wine list, service

Lowlights:

• Food, not bad but only ok due the variation in quality from fantastic to very ordinary
  

Raffles Pub, Applecross, 3 stars

Downstairs at the Raffles on Canning Hwy.

I think we have probably been here 10 times. Surprised I don't seem to have written a summary of my experiences.

On the plus side: Food is consistently good, basic and not cheap but good. The steak sandwich is my choice most often. Location is great, nice way to spend a sunny afternoon or stop for breaky on a bike ride. Beer and wine selection is always sufficient to find something nice.

Other thoughts: Service is patchy. From great to very poor and actually rude on occasion. Actually now I think about when its good service its not very genuine.

The restaurant upstairs is ordinary (and expensive).

ECQ Bar at Quay Grand Suites Sydney, Circular Quay

Quiet, relaxed, right on circular quay what could be better.  They do some great wine and well prepared, if unimaginative food.

We alway think about having a drink here at some point in the day.

http://www.mirvachotels.com/quay-grand-suites-sydney/ecq-bar-circular-quay

Steves, Nedlands

Posh decor, tasty food, slow service and expensive wine


http://www.steves.com.au/

Winos Margaret River, 3 Stars, (08) 9758 7155

It surprises me that there are not more great places to eat (and drink ) in Margaret River. Why isn't this place a cool, quiet town in the evening with people out and about and some really great places to eat.

Winos appears to be one of the better places in this town. The atmosphere is immediately attractive, Noisy with a large bar area and relaxed comfortable looking restaurant.

We did not eat, but the menu looked interested. the wine was excellent and the staff knowledgeable.

The staff worked hard on the service and that paid off.

As the evening wore on it became less attractive and groups of locals took over the balcony with smoke breaks and the bar with the beer drinking!

Update of the food:  Good, not extraordinary, but good.

Must Winebar 4 stars (08) 9328 8255

The feel

This is nice, relaxing, happy staff, and busy, all good.

The food

Ok I didn't eat but the wine was yummy

The fulfillment

I will be back, with a smarter shirt