Cazalys Palmerston Club

Upon entering the club the non members were unceremoniously told that we needed to hand over photo ID, no explanation given. One club member in our party asked several times if she was required to sign us in - she was rudely ignored. I handed over my student ID card and was told to stand in front of the camera, still no explanation. I asked the young lady behind the counter if there was any written document pertaining to this ritual and was given a look of bewilderment. I had to explain again what I required from this club. Obviously they had nothing prepared and on hand at the counter, I was told that the Manager would bring something to me at my dining table.

When the "Privacy Statement" arrived roughly half an hour later we all read it with interest. Apparently giving my ID to them upon entry gives the club permission to store my information for up to 365 days, share my ID with other clubs using this system and the Police.

I can understand the club wanting to maintain a safe environment for their members, but I did feel that having to hand over my ID plus get my photo taken was a bit obtrusive. If the lady behind the front counter had explained politely why we were asked to do this, or had written information to hand out straight away, it would have been more appropriate.

Anyway, over the first hurdle.....

The club was busy, always a good sign.

Four of us dined this evening, and we were all satisfied with our main meals.

Schezuan Chicken - not a huge meal, but adequate for $15. Very tasty.

Chicken Kiev - tasty, moist chicken, creamy pepper and mushroom sauce.

Stir Fried chili Prawns - an enjoyable meal.

The salad on offer is basic, bordering on boring.

Fresh fruit - rockmelon - a pleasant way to cleanse the palate after spicy dishes.

After having such a tasty main meal we all decided to try our luck with desserts. We shouldn't have!

Baked Cheesecake - bland with a texture not typical of a baked cheesecake. We were adamant this was not baked.

Cream (creme) Brulee - only had a very thin Brulee topping.

Pavlova - small and mushy, lacking the crispy meringue that I love so much.

Sticky Date Pudding with Ice Cream - Pleeeeeease, where is the customary custard that traditionally goes with a sticky date pudding?

Service was great, meals were served promptly, staff pleasant. A drink waiter came to our table several times.

Coffee machine behind the bar - with skinny milk, a bonus.

Poky machines handy in the room next door, free coffee and nibbles for punters.

Later on in the evening the thump, thump music started in the bar next door. Time to go!

The bouncer had kept a watchful eye on us all evening, I wasn't sure if it was because I'd asked for information about the ID process or if he was just doing his usual job. As we were leaving he asked if we needed a taxi called. I thought this was a very helpful gesture and certainly not one offered by bouncers in other local sporting clubs.

Palmerston Tavern

Yes, yes, yes...thankyou! At long last, an enjoyable meal for all.

As I entered I noted the number of customers. We were quite early, 7pm, and already quite a few people were there. It's a large dining area, there were several big tables laid out for group bookings, with a smattering of customers sitting at them, making me think that bigger group bookings were still to arrive. As the night progressed the customer flow was steady.

Friday night turns out to be the Fish Special night. Two of us decided to order the Picatta Barra, and the third lady ordered a schnitzel. You order at the counter, we were lucky and did not have to line up in a queue.

Our meals were served in less than 10 minutes. We were all quite surprised, and pleased, at their promptness. This started a discussion on what techniques the chef would be using in order to pump meals out quickly. As both the fish and the schnitzel could be cooked quickly we felt safe that our meals hadn't been half cooked previously.

I'd ordered the Picatta Barra as I'd never heard of it before. I was amazed to find my piece of fish wrapped in a batter of egg, making it look like an omelet. It was actually quite tasty. The meal was very small, but in proportion to the price of $13. If I had known how small the meal was going to be I would have ordered an entrée to go with it, but this is more to do with how hungry I was on the evening.

My friend who ordered the schnitzel really enjoyed her meal too. It was pleasant to hear positive comments from all.

The one thing we felt needed improving upon was the accompanying salad. Our salad was served in a very small dish, probably less than a cupful, and we all felt it was inadequate.

The only other thing that I myself thought should be changed was the lack of decaffeinated coffee.

Overall, the Palmerston Tavern was a pleasant experience. Service was prompt, staff were friendly, food was great.

Red Lantern - Palmerston

Well...where do we start.

Grimy looking windows, If you walked past through the day time you would not want to enter these premises. Luckily once inside you realise it's the transfers on the windows that make them look this way.

Very ordinary attire worn by the waitress. She looked very much like she was going out for a jog, tight leggings and all.

Comfortable chairs - quite a pleasant change, and a proper tablecloth on the table. Elegant looking menus. Dimmed lights but no candles at the tables.

We waited about half an hour for the first meal to be brought out, and around another ten minutes before the others arrived.

Two of the ladies ordered Laksa Soup, one without pork. When the soups arrived they were told that the chef had not wanted to make a mistake so both soups had no pork. Now, is this a qualified chef, or is he just a cook who does not know what he is doing?

Both of these ladies did not like their Laksa soup. Too watery and no flavour. It was also interesting to note that later on in the evening both of these ladies had headaches and did not feel well.

My meal was quite tasty, prawns with cashew nuts, although I was a bit put off by the odd aroma when it first arrived. I couldn't work out if it was the over abundance of bamboo shoots or the cooking oil used.

The fourth meal was satay prawns, this meal went down well too. I would have to say though that both the prawn meals were quite small.

Quite a few people at the restaurant although not fully booked out. Lots of people ordering take aways. It started to get a bit warm as the air conditioner worked overtime.

They allowed us to pay the bill separately, with no fuss. A plus.

As we were paying our bill a couple left the restaurant telling the staff at the counter that they had only been served their entrees and had been waiting two hours for their main meal. They were not prepared to wait any longer.

Oh I forgot, my plate had a big chip out of it.

Overall I found it inadequate and would not recommend this restaurant to anyone.

Kenny's Fusion Grill - Palmerston

NOTE - this restaurant has now closed. 

Kenny's is fairly new to Palmerston and is on a site that has seen several other restaurants. One of my friends commented that this might be an omen.

We watched in awe as amazing meals were brought out to other tables. The meals looked huge and customers seemed to be enjoying them immensely.

Our meals arrived. I was disappointed with my choice. Thai Chicken Salad. The chicken was a bit dry and there was far too much chili. I do like chili, but this was too much and spoiled my meal. The salad was pretty basic.

There was much consternation and discussion at the table over how the rice had been presented. A mound of rice with a cherry on top. NO chef would have been trained to serve rice in such a fashion. NO woman wants to be confronted with food that imitates a part of the female anatomy.

Our meals were not as big as those we had seen served to other customers. We then realised they had most likely ordered the specials - quite pricey specials I might add.

I noticed the chef (or is he just a cook) looking through the window of the kitchen door. He kept looking out at the customers. This was a bit off-putting.

Service - Not once were we asked if we would like to order a drink. Kenny's is byo, however they do have soft drinks in a fridge.

Decor - not changed since the last owners had it. Still has the pizza sizes painted up on the wall. Tacky!

For me it was disappointing.

The Hub - Palmerston

The Hub has been around for years. Family oriented sports club, situated next to CMAX cinema.

Over the years the Hub has changed chefs several times. Some good, some not so good. I had heard on the grapevine that the present chef was okay, so decided to book a table for Friday night.

Line up and order your meal, typical club style. Menu hasn't changed in years. Same old thing.

Staff are pleasant and do their job adequately.

The salad bar had the usual salads offered, I tasted most of them and found them all to be quite tasty indeed. The potato salad was divine.

We didn't have to wait too long for our meals. I ordered the Chicken breast with garlic prawns. I'd have to say the chicken was a bit dry. It's hard to find a restaurant that doesn't over cook a chicken breast. The sauce with the garlic prawns was too salty. I love my chips, but these ones just weren't crispy enough for me. I actually left some on my plate!

Surrounded by local children - I had forgotten that families come here for dinner. I felt like I needed to hide. Maybe they should set up an area with tables that have no children.

Decor - how many colours can you see? It looks like they bought all the paint that was on special at Bunnings.

Gaming - spend your money and get a lovely hot chocolate and piece of fruit cake. Now, that was pleasant.

Overall - I was hungry so the meal hit the spot. But it was a club meal, nothing overly special.

Hog's Breath - Palmerston

Newly opened restaurant, one that I had been eagerly awaiting.

It's a long, narrow restaurant giving one the feeling that we are squashed in like sardines. The seats are quite narrow and hard to sit on. Obviously not meant for customers to partake in long, leisurely meals. Very busy, very noisy.

Service is great - smiling, happy employees. Bending over backwards to assist.

The meals were quite good although rather small for the price. The amount of meat on the ribs would have been one mouthful.

Split bills. This is fantastic. Hog's Breath has the facility to allow split bills on their registers.

K-Tong in Palmerston

K-Tong has been in Palmerston for a few years and has a fairly good reputation.

This night K-Tong was a big disappointment. To be honest, I'd eaten there previously and had really enjoyed the meals. But this night they just couldn't get it right.

Service - they certainly weren't falling over us, it was as if our table had the plague and they were warned to keep their distance.

When the final ladies arrived and sat down we waited and waited and waited for service. Finally we called a waiter over and asked for glasses and water.

The young lady taking our meal orders seemed confused and perhaps didn't understand English that well, she had great difficulty understanding that she needed to write up two of the meals as separate orders. Eight ladies at the table. Six ladies ordered meals to be shared. Two ladies ordered separately.

The shared meals came out far too slowly with not enough on the plate. Sitting around for quite some time waiting in between dishes. One of the dishes we believe they forgot all together as the waitress started clearing away peoples' plates before the final dish was served. At that stage one of the ladies, who was rather upset, told the waitress to "forget the final dish, it's too late now, we don't want it!"

Now as for the two ladies that had ordered separately. One ordered Laksa, a soup dish. Her meal was the first one served. The other lady waited, waited, waited and waited, quite patiently, until such time that she was completely starving and feeling a little left out so inquired as to where her meal was. Ten minutes later a rather haphazardly slapped together dish was served. It looked like they were trying to make up for their mistake and cooked two pieces of fish, both crumbed, and had slapped them onto a plate on top of each other. Quite bizarre.

Paying the bill - oh no, one of those restaurants that does not like people paying separately. How hard is it to use a calculator and work out what each person pays?

Overall the experience was quite disappointing. Service was poor. Food not as good as previously experienced. And we were made to feel like aliens because we wanted to pay separately.