Jonahs Restaurant - A special Lunch treat for Bigbear

Hi Everyone just a photo post today of a lovely lunch i had with BigBear a few months ago to celebrate his birthday! It's not very often that we go out for a fancy meal which means that whenever we do (special occasions) we both feel very spoilt!

Lunch was amazing! Because we came from Ettalong on the ferry, they offered pick up at the wharf and drop off after lunch as well, that was sweet - on the ride up i realised if we had tried to walk i wouldnt of made it up the very steep hill in my high heels :s It felt like we were going up and up and up a never ending steep winding road. But wow the view from our table was breathtaking (we didnt get a window seat but the view was just as nice)

Scallops with a Spanish onion and red wine compote, compressed grilled pineapple

with cardamom and pistachio vinaigrette $30

Half dozen Sydney rock served with lemon and raspberry vinegar mignonette $28

Hand cut sebago chips with rosemary and thyme salt. $12

Black-Angus Beef Scotch fillet, Rangers Valley

Polenta cake, broad beans and red wine jus $48

Kingfish and Crystal Bay prawns, S.A and Queensland

In a ginger and kaffir lime vegetable nage with baby spring vegetables. $48

Pre-dessert

passionfruit pannacotta

All about chocolate $16

Apple tart "like a Tatin" with Granny Smith and Calvados sorbet $18

Petite fours

My favourites were the scallops, the chocolate dessert, and the hand cut chips! Altogether the bill was high, and close by there was a table of 8 people so we were wondering how much their bill was ... four figured for sure !

After lunch we were invited out to the patio where there were blankets for us to sit and enjoy the view (it was a windy day so i took up the blanket offer) and then we were driven down back to the wharf to catch our ferry back to Ettalong.

Lunch was so nice, and i hope you enjoyed it Hun!

Wetherill Park Tafe - The Restaurant

My friend Dabinh told me about this restaurant, which is located at the TAFE that she works at. After about 2 months we finally got seated for lunch (after a few cancellations and postponing).

The Restaurant is run with the students of the Tourism block, a chance for them to experience first hand how it feels to work in the industry - i think this is a great idea!

I know a friend of a friend (as cliche as that sounds i am not making this up lolz) that has dined at the restaurant every fortnight on a Friday night for the last EIGHT years. WOW i know. Their dinners and lunch days vary, each month there are only specific days that they take bookings, i'll leave some details at the end of the post on how you can find this out.

bread roll with butter

Dabinh said usually the rol is warm but today it seems that we got our one cold. And cold was the butter as well, too cold to spread with :(

love the flower decoration!

entree: pumpkin basil and feta cheese tart

My friend is a vegetarian, so they made up a separate dish for her. A simple kind of tart, no dressing on the pumpkin and feta it seemed, and the pastry slightly cracked and dry, the olive oil and balsamic vinegar would've been better in the tart rather then decorated on the plate.

entree: bucatini with garlic prawns

The size of my entree was medium sized, i had 3 large prawns, and was fascinated at the type of pasta it came with - bucatini (thick spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through the center). The sauce could've been thicker as i found it a bit plain, but the pasta was cooked al dente.

main: olive and sundried tomato pasta

This pasta dish wasnt as dry, but as a vegetarian main, i think some more ingredients could've been added. Dabinh enjoyed it though, and the serving was massive!

main: salmon with satay coconut sauce and citrus mash

My main was the last to come out, i liked the arrangement and the coconut satay sauce - i wish i had more! It was delicious i loved the flavors and my salmon was cooked well. The citrus mash paired well with the salty sweet sauce, i really enjoyed it :)

dessert: little mango served with fresh cream

We decided to share dessert since the entree and mains were quite big, the pool of caramel/toffee sauce was sticky and sweet, underneath the layers of mango was a semolina based cake i think. A really simple dessert which we both enjoyed.

All entrees mains and desserts were $6 each (a bargain totally!), and i was very full from lunch, when i got back to my desk i was in food coma sleepy mode hehehe. I'd love to come back for dinner one night, at $25 it won't affect the wallet much!

The Restaurant offers dinner, which is 3 courses for $25.

Contact the restaurant for enquiries and available dates through

Elizabeth McDermott: Elizabeth.Mcdermott5@det.nsw.edu.au

Phone: 02 9829 9740

Cafe Macaw

155 The Entrance Rd The Entrance NSW 2261

ph: (02) 4334 1724

A day trip to Port Stephens one weekend, and wanting to visit the Entrance on the way up, landed us here on a gorgeous Saturday, hungry for lunch.

Cafe Macaw had lovely outdoor seating, why would you want to sit inside on a day like this? We were greeted & taken to our seats, menu's were given shortly after. So far, the service was good. Until after we ordered our food. We were waiting & waiting ... for what seemed an eternity..

From the time on my photo's, we were seated at 11.35am. Coffee served at 11.40am. Food came out at 12.02pm. This seemed a long time for us cos we were hungry but really, we were waiting too long :( & they forgot my extra serving of aoili sauce (which came out quickly thank goodness).

Our soy cap came in a generously large mug ($3.80), and was full bodied tasting, perfect i'd say, and i'm not even a coffee drinker.

Grilled vegetarian burger $13

My burger buns were slightly dry, but had a nice crunch to every bite i took. Inside there was grilled zucchini & pumpkin, roast capsicum, sautéed onions, mushrooms, cheddar cheese, lettuce tomato, home made pesto & aoili sauce.

I took the huge lettuce leaf out, as most of it was the hard part of the leaf (i prefer the soft), everything else in the burger was yummy, had all of my favorite fillings, but i wish they had buttered my buns haha. I'll have to remember to specify these things next time.

The thick cut chips were.. hollow! Didn't have much potato in them, but were still crunchy and good, especially dipped i n my extra serve of aioli sauce.

Grilled Mediterranean Vegetable Penne $13

Richard's penne was a little bit on the dry side. But that's me, i prefer heavily sauced & flavored meals. I think he liked it. It had zucchini, pumpkin, capsicum, sun-dried tomato, basil pesto & olives, topped with freshly shaved parmasen.

Before lunch we had a walk around the beach - the Entrance is a beautiful place with lovely beaches & clear blue water. Took some non food photo's below, enjoy!