Casablanca Cafe

Casablanca
18 Cambridge Tce
T: (04)- 384 6968

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We came here for our flat dinner because we wanted to save money. It didn't help when we spend money on before dinner and after dinner drinks.
This place is more of a cafe rather than a "fine dining restaurant".
The decor is very "safari" and very morocco (not that I've been there).

Items Ordered:
Chicken Bruchette
Lamb Bruchette
Royal Bruchette

Bruchette means kebab. It is served with salad and either chips or rice. The Royal Bruchette is a combination of all meats. Their menu also included targines, but we decided not to order it.

The Royal Bruchette includes chicken skewers, lamb skewers and kofta (mince). They ran out of lamb skewers and gave us two chicken skewers instead. They did this without telling us...so that was not very nice when we had to ask why there were no lamb skewers to find out they were out of lamb skewers.

This place was understaffed. Service was slow and unprofessional. Staff were not attentive.

Food: 6/10
Service: 1/10
Value for Money: 6/10
One Bill Per Table: No
Probability of Returning: 0/10

Cafe Istanbul

Cafe Istanbul
156 Cuba St
T: (04)-385 4998

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So we came here because Nash only eats halal. Nash never turned up, but we still had a great time eating here. There were some comfy-looking floor seating, but we decided on the chars & tables. The open fire was cool.

Items Ordered:
(1) Seafood platter (as mains): a mix of prawn kebabs, deep fried mussels & calamari, marinated mussels, smoked salmon and a spinach filo. This platter is better as a entree than main. The deep fried mussels tasted like something from a frozen pack, and the calamari lacked texture. Prawn had good flavour, and the filo was served with thai sweet chilli sauce (odd I thought). Everthing else was just ok...nothing stood out.
(2) Beef Moussaka: this dish was good. The potato and eggplant all mixed well with the ground beef. The side hummus was good, but the salad was a very uninteresting mix of iceberg lettuce and peppers.

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Overall Experience:
I ordered a warm glass of water, but the waitress gave me tap water. We had chilled water on the table, and she probably thought I wanted un-chilled water, but in fact I wanted warm water, as in warm-hot.
The waitress have good service, just delayed service. They need to increase eye contact with patrons to detect any assisstance required by patrons

Conclusion:
Food: 7/10
Service: 6/10
Value for Money: 6.5/10
Probability of Returning: 65%

Abrakebabra

Abrakebabra
90 Manners Street (opposite Burger King)
T: (04)-473 3311


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Now the first time I came here was for supper, and then again for lunch with Ernie & Iris. This place gets busy in the afternoon. It has a very cool "safari" theme tent inside seating which is cool.

Items Ordered:
(1) Mixed Shish: a combo of chicken breast pieces, lamb pieces, and beef sausage. Chicken was well marinated but a bit dry. Sausage was salty and dry. Lamb was really good. The mint sauce is awesome! A very filling dish for $14.
(2) Lamb Shish: lots of lamb for only $14, this is totally worth it. Everything on it is nice.
(3) Hot Chocolate: not too sweet, which is what I like; but could do with a bit more chocolate taste. I guess they use powder, so the more powder would increase the intensity, but made it so much sweeter....

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Overall Experience:
The shish is similar to the iskander, except the meats are whole instead of carved. Go for the shish.
Cheap, fast and good food in a quite a cool environment.


Conclusion:
Food: 7/10
Service: 76/10
Value for Money: 8.5/10
Probability of Returning: 65%