Mr AG and I met up with Mr MI and Mr CW at North Strathfield for dinner. We couldn’t decide on which restaurant to dine at, and came across a nice-looking Thai place called Thai Paragon, and decided to settle there (as it was starting to get cold from being out too much).

The place had a nice interior design, was dimly lit (with flickering table candles), and was warm. It was a busy restaurant, and it got a little noisy sometimes, but the ambiance was good.

We decided on what to order, and one of the waitresses came to take our order. It literally went like this:

Mr MI: Can I have some fish cakes?
Waitress: Anything else?
Mr MI: And a Massaman lamb?
Waitress: Anything else?
Mr AG: Can we have the chiken pendan?
Waitress: Anything else?
Mr AG: And a  Tom Yum Prawn?
Waitress: Anything else?
Mr AG: And a chili basil noodle with rump beef.
Waitress: Anything else?
Mr CW: Can I have a Pad Thai chicken?
Waitress: Anything else?
Mr CW: And a coke?
Waitress: Anything more drinks?
Mr AG: I’ll have a coke as well.
Waitress: So 2 cokes.
Mr MI: And I’ll have a pure blonde.
Waitress: Anything else?
Me: And water for the table. That’s all for now.

Excusing that, the food came out in a timely manner, and was well-presented (check out the flower plate under the tom yum soup!). The servings didn’t look too bad either for the noodles (though the rice had to be ordered separately at $2.50 per person).

Fish cakes and chicken pandan

Tom yum prawns

Massaman lamb

Chili basil noodle with rump beef

Pad Thai chicken

In total, the food was pretty good, and we were pretty happy about it. My chili basil noodles was tasty, not too chili, and the rump beef was tender. The tom yum food had a great flavour, though the prawns were obviously frozen, and there were too few of them (not that I’d eat them).

The service up to this point was good… a red flag presented itself when the waitresses kept coming over and taking our plates, briefly mouthing a “finished?” while taking it away. We had to stop them a few times because we were NOT finished with it. The same deal when the waitress actually took our fish cake away with the same “finished?” attitude… I mean, I guess I didn’t have a choice but to BE finished!

And when our table was cleared (and they did so pretty quickly), I had suspicions that they were wanting us to leave. My suspicions were confirmed in less than a minute when one of the waitresses came to our table, handed us the bill (we hadn’t asked for it yet)… and pretty much told us that the table was for someone with reservations, and indicated that we should leave.

Yes, people are waiting for the table, but the way she did it was not very polite… I mean, if she had made a small talk, and said it in an apologetic manner, I would be so happy to comply. But it wasn’t like that at all.

On the way out (after paying the bill), I have a habit of saying “thanks” to waitstaffs. Usually, they would smile back, and say thanks as we leave… but this one passed either unnoticed or unappreciated… or both really. That said, we all walked out of the restaurant feeling a little bit annoyed.

So in short, good food served by people lacking in communication skills = a “could be better” experience that could have easily been “a great experience”.

That ends my mixed review for Thai Paragon Restaurant, North Strathfield.

Thai Paragon Restaurant
Shop G2, 24 Bakhouse Quarter, George St
North Strathfield NSW 2137
Phone: (02) 9746 7005

Map:

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I knew I was going to be busy, but I didn’t think I’d leave the lab at 9:30 PM on a Friday evening.

AG came and picked me up again, and we were starved by the time I was done. We decided to dine at Angelo’s for some Portugese chicken, but of course, we were a tad late and they were already closing up. So we stepped next door for some Thai food.

I noticed that they changed from In the mood for Thai to Khing Thai. Anyhow, we ordered some usual stuff… and they were pretty good! Dearer than the usual Thai food, but a lot better than a lot I’ve tasted recently.

Salt and pepper calamari

Chrunchy on the outside, tender on the inside, and tastes great!

Pad Thai

Yes, I ordered another Pad Thai… but it’s yummy!

Massaman curry

Mr AG’s. He said it was lovely.

Khing Thai
1/240 Anzac Parade
Kensington NSW 2033
Phone: (02) 9662 0900

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Miss Jamie, Miss Fera, and I went out for dinner and movie tonight!

Pu-Cha: Deep fried pork, prawns, crab meat, egg, served with sweet chilli sauce.

This was tasty =9

Garlic and Pepper Quails: Crispy quails marinated in garlic and pepper.

Hot Plate king prawns Cooked in spicy sauce

Chilli Basil chicken With mixed vegetables, sweet basil and fresh chilli.

Sticky rice with Thai custard

Can’t believe, this warm and tasty treat is dairy-free We ordered 2 to share.

Chao Praya
33 Perouse Road
Randwick NSW 2031
Phone: (02) 9399 5509

Map:

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And we JUST made to it Ritz cinemas to watch Bridesmaids. The cinemas was actually quite full (I don’t go to Ritz very often, but maybe I should, because it’s only $8 on Tuesdays!).

Some might say this is a chick flick, but I really don’t regard it as such.

This movie was very enjoyable; funny, awkward/embarrassing, colourful, and has some emotional/sadface moments, and even gag-gross in some scenes (to the point where I had to turn away). Some parts were wrong, and some parts were just WRONG (must watch the end bit… it’s only then I think you’ll see what I mean)!

I thought it had a nice amount of friendship, jealousy/competition, and romance (I’m not the type to like a lot of this stuff, but I like the amount in this flick).

I especially like how the lead actress (Kristen Wigg) portrayed Annie; very likable and almost unlikable at the same time! But the way she makes a fool out of herself… oh the hilarity! Oh and for some reason, I thought Rhodes was adorable! :3

Anyway, we all enjoyed it a lot, it has good ratings on rotten tomatoes, and I recommend it.

I found myself finishing uni late again tonight, so I volunteered for Mr AG to pick me up… and thank goodness he was there when I was the last one in lab!

As I was concentrating on something, I heard a loud whoop whoop noise, and freaked out so badly! For the remaining of the evening, I had him stand right next to me in case I heard noises and freaked out again.

A bloke from another lab came and asked if I heard that, and apparently, there were fire trucks outside the building. As we left, the corridor doors were shut, and we pushed through and left as quickly as we could. Till now, I still don’t know what it was… perhaps a false call?

Anyway, we were glad to be out of there. Cold and hungry, we wandered into Taste of Thai (Randwick), and had a dinner there.

Pad see eiw

Jungle curry

Taste of Thai
23 Belmore Road
Randwick NSW 2031
Phone: (02) 9399 7911

Map:

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My ASOS order arrived at Mr AG’s on Monday, and I received it tonight! Yay!

ASOS Hitch Hem Coat (grey)

ASOS Corset Lace Back Mac (khaki)

Met up with my girls (haven’t seen them for ages!) for dinner… we went somewhere close to all of us; Tan Thai, Campsie.

Okay food, I guess.

Tan Thai Restaurant
148 Beamish Street
Campsie NSW 2194
Phone: (02) 9789 0003 ‎

Map:

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