20200628 The Paradise Hotel SUNDAY LUNCH

Stephen and I met with Ian and Richard at the Paradise Hotel on Sunday. We were sitting in a very sunny spot next to the french windows in bench seats with Ian and Richard having a birds eye view of the television for the footy. The crows were playing and we arrived just before 1/2 time.

We ordered during the 1/2 time break. I ordered the Salmon, Stephen ordered the lamb shanks, Ian had the Southern Fried Burger and Richard had the salt and pepper squid.

Con arrived during this time and we enjoyed watching Ian and Richard's reactions to the game even though we had our backs to it. We had a bowl of wedges which came out about 45 minutes after ordering.

The main meals took about 1 hour and 15 minutes to arrive. Just before they were served the waiter came out and told me the chef had burnt the last of the salmon. I changed my order to the snapper in red curry sauce with rice and asian salad. My food came out a bit later than the others but worth the wait. It was very tasty. I would give my meal a 7.5 out of 10. Stephen gave his lamb shank an 8 which means he thoroughly enjoyed it. His only comment was that it needed more vegetables.

The waiter gave us a $50 voucher which Richard held onto for our next visit to the place.

Chad arrived just as we were leaving, so we stopped to have another drink with him at the bar style table near the bar. Richard and Ian left. Richard wanted to watch the Norwood game which was on straight after the other game.

We read the Sunday Mail and commented about the lack of objectivity in the papers. Chad's school had an article in there about cyber bullying and education around safe use of the internet.

We left shortly after that. Another outing with the lads...

20200626 Cafe Bravo and Buongiorno TURN: Elizabeth

We chanced our luck by going to the Norwood pub at 6pm. Chad was already there with a table outside with with only 2 chairs. He finished up his beer and we went to Cafe Bravo where I had booked from 6-7pm. We scored a round table for 5 which was very comfortable.

We all had beers and were merry until 7pm. Richard had gone across the road to Buongiorno but they said there was no booking. He came across to Bravo. I went across at 7.05pm to check the booking but they had given away the seats so I ventured back to Bravo and we decided to eat there instead.

Stephen was hitting the Asahi beers and Con and I had the pale ales. 5% alcohol content for the Asahi and 4.5% for the pale ale. The Asahi is a smaller bottle however.

Well, the main meals were a bit of a disaster this week. Nobody really enjoyed their food.

I had Salt and Pepper squid with salad. I was very disappointed that it didn't come with chips. I gave away about half of my serving to the guys.

Richard had the pasta which he said was bland. It was however a generous serving size. He said he would have liked bread with it.

Chad ordered the Bravo pizza and said it needed a few more extra ingredients to make it stand out.

Con also had the Bravo pizza which he called bland and lacked flavour.

Stephen had the Tuscany pizza which had lots of goats cheese which he had to scrape off to eat. He added salt and pepper to try to increase the flavour, but was disappointed in the taste.

All in all a disappointing effort.

The scores were:

Me - 4

Con, Chad, Stephen and Richard - 6

We finished up and went across to Buongiorno for dessert. Stephen and Richard bought a chocolate mousse cake which was very rich but very fresh. Coffees all round. Good old Buongiorno! Saved the day from being a total disaster.

We're off to Con's choice next week. An Italian social club on the Parade just passed Portrush Road. Can't wait.

20200621 Cafe Bravo SUNDAY LUNCH

Richard, myself and Stephen met up for lunch at Cafe Bravo. Con joined us later for a coffee.

I had Salmon, with blended cauliflower, beetroot and broccolini with a side of sweet potato fries. 7.5 out of 10 from me.

Stephen had the Pollo Penne. Nice enough but without bread. 6

Richard had a pizza. 6

Richard bought Stephen and I cakes for dessert and a coffee as a thank you for fixing his computer. I had the orange and poppyseed muffin again which was lovely, and Stephen had the mudcake. Richard had the lemon curd muffin.

All in all a lovely afternoon, albeit a bit chilly to sit outside.

20200612 The Norwood Pub and Bravo TURN: Stephen

This is our first Friday night outing for nearly 3 months. Winter has definitely set in and we're rugged up in our winter jackets, hats and gloves.

It's Stephen's turn to choose today and we choose the Norwood Pub. I rang up and booked a table for 4 as Chad said he wasn't going to come. We couldn't get a hold of Con but sent him a text message.

We booked for 7.30pm little realising that we weren't going to get a seat or stand in the pub until then. So we changed the booking to 6pm when we went there at 5.30. We went to Bourgorngo for a beer while we waited.

As we were walking down the road to the pub at 6pm, Con joined us. He had changed the booking to 5 since Chad was now coming and already at the pub.

Richard joined us about 6.20. Ash was on zoom with us for about 15 minutes.

We had the table in the front bar dead centre of the bar. Gee its nice to buy beers at a pub again! I had 3 drinks - naughty I know.

We ordered our meal around 7.15. I had calamari and chips with mushroom sauce, Con and Richard also had the calamari. Stephen had beef schnitzel and Chad had chicken schnitzel.

Scores:
Con - 5
Chad - 6
Richard - 6
Stephen 6.5
Me - 7

Standard pub fare. Nothing to write home about.

We went to Bourgourno for a cofffe but couldn't find a seat so Richard went across the road and scored a table at Bravo. We had muffins and coffee - Stephen and I shared an orange and poppyseed muffin. Yum. Even though we were sitting outside, it wasn't too cold.

20200530 The Adrian Owen House Gravity Movie

This is the first time that the gang has been together since March. The following people were present:

- Richard
- Chad
- Elizabeth
- Stephen
- Albert
- Patrick

We fired up the BBQ and had a mixture of sausage, steak, burgers and salmon all with fried onion.

I cooked roast potatoes and made my usual salad.

There were drinks aplenty.

We had a lovely meal followed by a viewing on the new 4K 85 inch television of Gravity.

I made apple crumble with ice cream and Chad brought two big buckets of popcorn. By the end of the day we were all stuffed.

No pictures of today unfortunately. We were mindful to keep social distancing as much as possible.