Hungry Hearts

You will find Hungry Hearts at the Oasis Shopping Village, Palmerston.

hhearts@bigpond.net.au
www.hungryhearts.com.au
ph 8932 8042

And why were we here on a Thursday? And for lunch?  Well, the holidays caught us out again, with this Friday night being New Year's Eve we had to meet for our weekly feast early. We decided to try out Hungry Hearts and I was pleasantly surprised. I'd always thought it was just a coffee shop. Well I was wrong!

We ordered from the special's menu.
Nasi Goreng $12.90; a huge plate full of delicious Indonesian rice topped with a fried egg.
Fettuccine with chicken, mushroom and spinach in a creamy sauce $14.50; a large serving, really pleasant sauce, a very enjoyable meal.
Tuscan chicken and vegetable pie with salad $8.50; homemade old fashioned pie, large salad. A really nice meal  served with NO CHIPS. Well done. For once, a chef who feels comfortable about serving meals with no chips.

Pleasant staff, yummy cappuccino, and glasses of water - we were well looked after.

Their normal menu looked really interesting too. They have a wide range of food from breakfasts to snacks, meals, desserts and cakes. Something for everyone. Prices are reasonable.

Hungry Hearts also cater functions.

I'm glad I tried them out. No longer will I walk past this shop thinking it's just a normal coffee shop.

Elements

Elements is located at the Free Spirit Resort, right beside BP Palms, close to Palmerston.

www.darwinfreespiritresort.com.au

ph. 08 8935 0888

Due to Christmas Eve being a Friday evening we decided to dine out early this week, hence we lobbed at Elements on a Tuesday evening. As it turned out, Tuesday evening is Sri Lankan night, $19.95, all you can eat, including salads, hot meals and dessert.

 None of us would have ordered these meals ordinarily, but we saw it all laid out in the bain marie and the delicious curry aromas were very alluring. Lamb curry, chicken curry, rice, fish and eggplant were on offer. We tried a bit of everything, then went back for seconds for the ones we liked in particular. A delicious meal, one that we all enjoyed immensely.

The salad bar had an interesting mixture of salads and accompaniments.

A traditional Sri Lankan pudding was on offer. The look of it didn't appeal to me, however, I'm glad I took the plunge and tasted it as it was absolutely delightful. They also had a traditional plum pudding, one that tasted very much like it was home cooked. They had a delicious syrup to complement the plum pudding. Lots of healthy fruit salad was also on offer.

One thing that impressed us was the professionalism of the staff. Chef kitted out in traditional  "chef wear." All the staff dressed smartly in their uniforms. All the staff were very pleasant and hospitable. Even the chef came out and spoke to us, asked us if we had enjoyed our meals. We were waited on like royalty.

Water served at the table and a strong, tasty cappuccino went down well with the meal.

We checked out their standard menu, some interesting meals to be had there and quite reasonably priced. They also offer children's meals, one of which is  roast, including vegetables. Well done!

There was only one thing that I didn't like - the number of flies hanging around the food. They really do need to find some way of covering the bain maries.

 Elements is an open air restaurant, we were lucky on the night that it wasn't too hot. Plenty of fans overhead made it very comfortable.

This is a great place to eat. You can enjoy a swim in the pool, as long as you are spending your money either at the bar or in the restaurant. So far I can only vouch for the Sri Lankan food but I think you should  go and check it out, I'm positive you will be pleased.

The Arch Rival - Palmerston

Archies without a doubt would be the best place to eat in Palmerston. Three of us dined here this week and we all enjoyed our meals.

We decided to try out the $14.95 specials: Cindy's Malay Chicken Laksa, Oven Baked Pie, Thai Green Chicken Curry. All three meals were presented nicely, were ample servings and tasted delicious.

Staff were pleasant, all had smiles and were extremely helpful. This was quite a change from previous experiences we've had at other Palmerston restaurants.

We scrutinised the menu and were pleasantly surprised to see a wide range of dishes. There would be something here for everyone to enjoy.

Just one comment where Jason could improve upon - the kid's menu needs revamping. I really don't like kid's menus that serve lots of chips, and the chicken nuggets must go. Kids deserve a nice meal too. It would be pretty easy to cook up a small steak and serve it with salad. Too many children are obese these days, restaurants need to do their part in educating children in how to appreciate good meals.

Overall we were very pleased with The Arch Rival, I would have no qualms in suggesting this restaurant to others. A big thumbs up to Archies.

Eventfully Yours

This Friday evening we spent with colleagues and friends at our workplace. The company and atmosphere made the night. The catering firm "Eventfully Yours" served us with a mediocre meal.

Entree of seafood, prawns and oysters - no thought put into how we would wash our hands after peeling prawns. We had to organise our own finger bowls.

Traditional roast turkey was pressed, processed meat.

Honey Glazed Ham, looked like they had bought the ham at Coles, sliced it up and poured a tiny bit of sauce over it.

Barramundi fillets oven baked with a local kumquat butter - the fish was a little dry, cooked too much.

Roasted glazed pumpkin and carrots - these were okay.

Creamy scallop potato bake with cheese - not enough cheese I felt.

Egg plant parmesan topped with cheese and parsely - this was delicious.

Thai style salad with coriander - unusual, perhaps a little too much coriander.

Fresh bread rolls with butter portions - the first bread roll I've had since we started our blog.

Dessert - Cheese platter and Tartlet Fingers - The lemon meringue tart was dry and gooey.

The caramel tart suspiciously looked and tasted like it had tinned caramel as the filling.

The cheese and bikkies were nice.

Catering firms really should train their staff better. It's quite rude to take away someone's plate before they have finished eating.

I was hungry so I ate, however I felt that I could have prepared the same meal myself. Nothing special.

Quizzes and party games, what more could you ask for? It was fantastic listening to Sand sing once again.

We did have a great night.

Palmerston Tavern - Revisited

Just the two of us headed out for dinner this week so we chose to revisit Palmerston Tavern.

I decided to order the expensive steak and seafood dish, mostly because from the previous visit I remembered that the cheaper meals were quite small. I wanted to fill up. I made the right choice. The meal was much larger in size and certainly filled all the gaps. I'd have to say though that the steak was a bit thin. I still had the complimentary few leaves of lettuce disguised as salad. Lots of chips. I'd prefer more salad, less chips.

My friend had the salmon. It looked a bit dry.

No bread roll. Why aren't restaurants serving bread rolls any more?

Their cappuccinos are actually very nice. I started the meal with one and had another later while in the gaming lounge.

The pokies were kind to us :)

We finished our evening at Maccas. I just love their 50c icecream in a cone. Beats paying top dollar for a dessert in a restaurant any day.