Restaurant South Yarra

It took me a while to come up with a suitable name for this website.  You will agree that Restaurant South Yarra is the best title for a website that deals solely with restaurants in South Yarra.

I love cooking at home but of late I found that there are several restaurants that serve up hot and wholesome dinners at a reasonable price.  Considering that I’ve been swamped at work, it made it much easier to just drop into my favourite restaurants for lunch or dinner.  I found myself drawn to a café too for a sumptuous breakfast at least twice a week.

I am very adventurous too and like checking out new restaurants and tasting new cuisines.  Although I enjoy eating alone, I do take my friends or colleagues along on several occasions.  As you can guess, my friends are very eager to accompany me!

Most times, I found a new restaurant to my liking and ended up adding it to my list of favourites.  But there were two occasions when I regretted stepping into a restaurant without checking its credentials.

The first was when I had just reconnected with a childhood friend after several years and decided to try out the new restaurant that had opened just around the corner.  The restaurant did not take reservations over phone and they encouraged me to drop in any time.  I thought I would send a mail just in case but later changed my mind.

The restaurant was located in a beautiful place with seating in the garden amidst exotic plants and a section of the restaurant was tucked away indoors.  We were both immediately drawn to the garden and found to our delight several free tables.  We ambled along to a table and just as we were going to sit down, a waiter materialized near us and said that we cannot sit there as it was reserved!  My hackles rose as when I had called for a reservation, they said there was no need to reserve a table.  When I told him that, he shrugged and said that nothing could be done and that we had to go inside to be served!  It was such a lousy start to a beautiful evening and going by the attitude of the waiter, I didn’t want to make it worse by hanging around any longer.  I just took my friend to an old but  good restaurant a little further down the street instead and had an excellent meal.  I didn’t visit that restaurant again and within a year, I found that it was closed for business.  Not surprising, eh?

The second bad thing associated with restaurants was a bout of food poisoning after I had eaten at a new restaurant for the first time.  I should have been more careful as I was put off by the dull and dreary ambience and the indifferent waiters as soon as I stepped into the restaurant.  But, it was one of those days when I was bone weary and very hungry.  I just wanted to drop into the nearest chair and eat whatever was available!  I did not even think of leaving the place and finding a decent restaurant.

I ordered quite a spread and it was one of those Indian restaurants that serves up hot and spicy food.  I normally enjoy Indian food but I wasn’t quite prepared for what was served that day!  But, as I was very hungry I ended up cleaning up my plate as the food was very tasty although a bit too hot for me.  I guess the fatigue and the spicy food got to me and by the time I reached home, I was feeling so uncomfortable.  I crawled into bed and tried to get some sleep.  But I was soon up with a really bad stomach.  I was sick the whole night and couldn’t go to work either for the next two days!  I swore then that I would never again step into a restaurant that I didn’t know about!

So, in Restaurant South Yarra, I will be bringing you all I can find on restaurants in your locality and city.  I will compile restaurant reviews from reliable sources and add my own observations and comments from experts.  You will also find several links to authoritative sites and tourism websites on everything on restaurants, food, eating out, fine dining, and anything that is remotely related to restaurants.

I am sure you won’t have to look further than Restaurant South Yarra for inside info on restaurants.  The key to a good restaurant lies in its tasty and hot food, exceptional and courteous service, and a delightful ambience.  You will find out here how to look for all this and more when selecting a restaurant.
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I found several informative articles online on what to look for in a good restaurant and tips on healthy eating when eating out. I have compiled a few of these articles here in this section of Restaurant South Yarra.
The first article is on a common problem faced by many: how to choose an appropriate restaurant for a first date? This article gives you a few tips on how to select a good restaurant to impress your date.
The second article talks about how to eat healthy even when you eat at a restaurant. I am sure you have found yourself in a quandary when out to lunch or dinner with friends or relatives while you are struggling to stick to a strict diet. This article gives you several tips on how you can avoid being sucked into eating a lot along with the others.
Choosing a Restaurant For a First Date
By Matt D Fuller
Online Dating brings you together. When you chat and decide to meet up, be informed and hookup at the perfect first date restaurant.
Have you been on a first date that has been spoiled by the choice of venue? Too noisy? Too quiet? Terrible food? Terrible service? We all know that first impressions count. First dates can be scary enough without having to worry about selecting an inappropriate venue. An Australian online dating service has compiled this article to give your first date every chance of succeeding. Don’t make the mistake of choosing a venue that is just plain wrong.
Online dating is a great avenue for meeting other singles. Once you get past the chat stage it is critical that you are able to suggest a restaurant with confidence. Here are some factors that you may want to give some thought to when selecting that first date restaurant:
1. Price.
Check the price list of the restaurant before arriving. An expensive meal can be embarrassing for everyone. No one wants to just sit on a piece of bread all night because they cannot afford to order anything off the menu. Ridiculously expensive meals on a first date can also scream “trying too hard” to single girls. Most females consider an outlandish display of cash on the first date as inappropriate, embarrassing and unimpressive.
2. Not too quiet.
You and your date want to feel comfortable with the noise level. If the restaurant is too quiet you will both be feeling like you should be whispering. After using chat and online dating it is important that the two of you can engage in conversation comfortably.
3. Not too loud.
Having your first date in a very noisy restaurant is even worse than a quiet one. It is terribly frustrating if you cannot hear what your date is saying. No one wants to lose their voice from shrieking in a restaurant on their first date.
4. Not filled with awkward couples.
You want your first date to be a happy occasion. Don’t surround yourself with couples who are on the brink of separation.
5. Cosy with comfortable seating.
When you are having a fantastic first date you do not want the evening to end quickly just because the chairs you are sitting on are uncomfortable. A cosy ambiance will help you both relax, smoothing out the jitters, and add to the pleasantries of the evening. Your first encounter after online dating will run much more smoothly when you are both feeling comfortable.
6. Nice lighting.
No one wants to be seated under harsh unflattering fluoro lights. Neither does anyone want to be groping around blindly in the dark. Select a restaurant with nice soft lighting to better set the mood.
7. Nice music.
Unless you are confident of your date’s choice of music it is probably safer to select a restaurant with pleasant background music. If your date is not an opera aficionado, do not take them to a venue where there is going to be opera playing at loud volume.
8. Places that you can move onto that are close by.
No, we do not mean your place! It can be lovely at the end of a meal to move venues for a change of scenery. Perhaps have your coffee or sweets somewhere down the street that is an easy and pleasant walk.
9. Beautiful walk back to the car.
A restaurant situated in a beautiful part of your town will give you the bonus of a pleasant walk back to the vehicle. Beautiful scenery will inspire more chatting, and maybe even hand holding if you have reached that stage. Be wary of choosing restaurants in seedy parts of town as you do not want your lives endangered returning to the car. Being mugged will not leave a pleasant memory for your first date!
10. Dance anyone?
If you have been sitting down all night chatting, you may feel like expending some energy and stretching those legs. Are there any suitable venues for dancing nearby?
Your first date after online dating should be a pleasant experience. If you are unsure about the suitability of a restaurant, why not walk past and check it out before the big night? Chat and online dating are fantastic ways to meet Mr or Ms Right. Ensure the first date is a success by using the above guide.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matt_D_Fuller

Healthy Eating Out: 9 Strategies for Controlling Your Inner Pig at the Restaurant
By Debbie David

Healthy eating out is possible and can be really satisfying. Healthy fast food and healthy restaurants are out there. But even when you don’t get to pick where you’re eating out, you can still eat healthfully. Here’s how…
Eating out is great – no one has to cook so everyone can enjoy the meal. You know pretty much that you’re going to like the food. The waitress is there to make your dining experience whatever you want.
But eating healthfully in a restaurant requires some new habits because there is so much that can undermine our good intentions. Because restaurants are designed to get us to buy more food. The colors, the music, the lighting, what’s printed on the menu, how the server greets you… all these are tools the restaurant uses to get you to eat more. It takes cunning to escape with your good intentions intact. They want you to eat more than you want to eat.
When you go into a restaurant you’re already programmed to expect a huge meal. So what can you do about it?
The fundamental idea in eating well at a restaurant is to control what’s on your plate. Order something that fits your idea of healthy food. If you can order a healthful meal, and just eat that, there’s nothing to go wrong. Get the salad, or have two healthful appetizers instead of an entree with sides, or split a dinner with someone else.
You may feel that low calorie meals when eating out are aren’t appealing or that the healthiest dinner on the menu may just be too big. In that case, you need to reduce the amount of food on your plate.
• Eating a healthy lunch comes from less on your plate…Do some planning and control your fate
• The easiest approach is: when the food arrives, decide how much of it you want to eat, and move the part you’re not going to eat aside. You can be subtle; no one else at the table has to know what you’re doing. Then when you have eaten your goal amount, call the waitress and have her put the remainder in a takeaway container
• If you find that this strategy doesn’t work for you because you end up eating the take home share too, you can advance to strategy two. That’s to call over the waitress as soon as the food arrives to bring you a takeaway container; you can put the part you don’t want to eat out of sight.
• If that doesn’t work for you, the next strategy is to ask the waitress to put half your dinner into the takeaway container BEFORE she brings your plate to the table.
It’s harder eating a healthy lunch…When you’re sitting with the pig out bunch
What about eating in a family-style restaurant where people share food served on communal dishes – like pizza or Chinese food? What you intended to be a healthy lunch out can become a nightmare if you end up eating too much just because it’s available.
Restricting what gets to your plate is still the key.
• It can also be really helpful to just slow down. If you slow down, other people are going to help you out by putting the food on their plates or in their stomachs.
• If you know the group, sit next to the slowest eater.
• Once you have your meal, be the last one to start eating and then eat at the same pace as the slowest eater. Most people tend to eat at the speed the group is eating.
• What about all-you-can-eat places, or family style restaurants where your group always orders too much? You should avoid them if you can. But if you have no choice, you can still eat healthy. The first few times after you’ve decide to change the way you eat, you’re going to need to be especially aware of what you’re eating. You need to form a plan before you put the first thing on your plate. Take time to prepare!
Eating out – Diets sinking…Overcome with a little thinking
• Don’t drink soft drinks with meals.
• And if you’re drinking wine, alternate a glass of wine with a glass of water.
• Never eat a whole dessert.
• If you really want to taste something, arrange to share a dessert with someone and then allow them to have the lion’s share. And if you really are ordering just to taste it, there is no harm in leaving some of it on the plate; those last few bites aren’t of any benefit to you. You should choose the size of dessert you want to eat, not let the cake cutter in the kitchen decide for you.
If you are eating out and choose to order something that’s more food than you want, which of the strategies are you going to use get food off your plate? Are you going to separate out the take home portion when it arrives, or have the waitress bring you a takeout container as soon as she serves you, or are you going to have her take half of your meal off the plate before it arrives?
The restaurant’s goal is to make money, not for you to eat healthy. And they use the latest research to encourage you to eat more.
But if you choose the strategies above, you’ll stay on track for healthy eating out.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Debbie_David
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One thing I’ve discovered is that dropping into a restaurant without knowing anything about it, is not such a great idea. I’ve been put off by the abysmal service, or the dirty tables or silverware, and there was one instance when I had severe food poisoning after I had eaten at a restaurant. This section of Restaurant South Yarra is dedicated to all the points that you should be checking out before you step into a restaurant.

Eating out has become more of a necessity in recent years with the increase in work load and less time and inclination for cooking at home. I am sure you find yourself eating out more than you did several years ago. Several factors have contributed to this imperceptible shift from going out only to celebrate a special occasion to just eating out because it is the easiest way to get some food in your stomach!

Cleanliness & Hygiene:
Are the tables and chairs dust and stain free? Does the washroom smell clean and is it stocked with essential toiletries? Does the floor look mopped? Are there any cockroaches or rodents running around? Does the restaurant smell of stale food or any other nasty odours? Is the plate warm to the touch? Are the napkins and tableware laid out neatly?

Service:
Are the waiters dressed neatly in clean clothes with no stains? Are they courteous and eager to please? Do they appear knowledgeable about the food and wines? Do they communicate well? Is the food served within a reasonable amount of time? Are they unobtrusive and yet readily available to assist in serving the food?
When you call in for reservations, do they answer promptly and professionally? Do they discuss your need clearly? Do you find the reservation in order when you go to the restaurant with your guests? Are you welcomed at the entrance? Do they offer a drink while you wait for service? Do the waiters explain and apologize for any delay in service?
If you have any complaints, does the waiter apologize and try to rectify the mistake? Is the waiter able to explain the ingredients of the dishes and the types of wines?

Food:
Is the food hot while it is served? Is it exactly what you ordered? Is the food presented attractively? Does it smell freshly cooked and appetizing? Are other diners in the restaurant enjoying their food? How does your food taste? Is the food cooked properly? Does the menu have a wide choice for vegetarian, non-vegetarian, or dieting patrons? Is it a ‘well-balanced’ meal? Does the wine match your meal?

Ambience:
Are the tables and chairs neatly arranged? Does it look like a place you could comfortably relax in? Is the décor attractive with paintings, floor vases, etc? Is the temperature control set right? Is the lighting too light? Then, check if the tables and silverware are clean as sometimes I’ve found that the restaurant tries to hide its flaws with dim lighting! Are the waiters neatly dressed and courteous?
Cost:
Are the prices too high or do they seem to be reasonable considering the food, service, and ambience of the restaurant? How do the prices compare with other similar restaurants? Do you feel like it is worth spending that much?
Dining out at a restaurant about which you know nothing, is a recipe for disaster. It is good to try out new restaurants but it would be good to get some references from friends or read up restaurant reviews from reliable magazines or online websites.
If the restaurant is dirty or rundown, don’t even consider stepping in. The service and food are equally important. So, if you find the waiters dressed shabbily and ill-mannered or the food unappetizing, that is not the place for you. An easy way of finding out if the restaurant is popular is to see if all the tables are filled to capacity and if the diners are enjoying the food. Also, if the waiters appear content and smiling, you know that the restaurant knows that taking care of its employees is like taking care of its customers.
Do you find yourself planning another visit to the restaurant soon, and talking about your dining experience to your friends or colleagues? Do you have the urge to try out another dish the next time? Well, this can only mean that you’ve found a good restaurant!
Eating out can be a pleasurable experience if the restaurant has a clean and neat ambience, knowledgeable and courteous waiters, and tasty and hot food.
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