 |
| From Week 31-33, 2010 |
It's a new restaurant, and new restaurants are always interesting.
The location itself is intriguing- it used to be Bonta Vita, a deathly quiet Malaysian restaurant. Located in a spacious developing area near Townhall and going by the name of Regent Place, Azuma has found its home and with it came Azuma's Patisserie and its casual partner, Ton Ton. It took a while, but Ton Ton has managed to snag quite a bit of business with its reasonably priced authentic Japanese dishes and quick take-away and bento menu. The patisserie became a trendy hang-out spot, mainly for girls tempted by their sweet tooth and the pretty appearances of Japanese-Western cakes.
 |
| From Week 34-36, 2010 |
 |
| From Week 34-36, 2010 |
Oh, we got that for free the last time tt and I went there. Yoghurt ice cream, green tea flavor, soft-serve style. Hm... that's the second time I try it and discovered that yoghurt ice cream is not really my thing after all. The weird sour tang made my mind automatically thinks it's off.
Don't know about Azuma- never been, but I suppose it gets visited by higher-end business people. There's also an Ugg boot shop with its ugg boot man standing around at times, a barber/hairdresser, bags/clothes shop, girly cosmetic shop that closed down and will be replaced by something else soon. The middle level does quite well with Azuma. The bottom level, however, failed quite badly. It used to be a huge Asian supermarket that closed down pretty quickly due to its overpriced groceries and lack of advertisements- not many people knew about it. It's been unoccupied ever since. A "Prize Paradise" opened up next to it, with UFO catchers and arcade games like shooting hoops, but that closed down just last week too. The whole bottom level thus became completely empty. Definitely can't compete with Capitol Square, despite it being miles away.
The top level? Void of anything. From outside, it looks like a haunted level, with dim white lights and gray walls. Despite it being built a couple of years ago, it still looks like it's under construction.
 |
| From Week 31-33, 2010 |
Anyway, heading back down. Chef's Gallery recently opened in place of Bonta Vita, perpendicular to a new Gloria Jeans. A Chinese restaurant featuring Northern Chinese cuisine, it's only been open for a week and already, someone's smashed the door. Uncouth Sydneysiders...
Unlike Bonta Vita, ever since Chef's Gallery opened, huge queues have been lining up outside. It opens from 5pm, and at around 6:30pm, the restaurant will be full.
 |
| From Week 31-33, 2010 |
Its menu is a scribble of ink (calligraphy).
 |
| From Week 31-33, 2010 |
Open kitchen! It's quite entertaining watching chefs fling doughs out into extensive lengths and watching them spiral together to form thin strands of noodles.
 |
| From Week 31-33, 2010 |
Interior deco? Pretty good. More on that in the following entries.
 |
| From Week 31-33, 2010 |
If you click on the photo, it'll take you to my picasa where you can read about "mama dough" and "baby dough", from which the dough for its noodles are "tirelessly folded, stretched and pulled" and made to order. You know for sure it's fresh!
 |
| From Week 31-33, 2010 |
This concludes the prelude, a mere introduction to this new mysterious restaurant that appeared to gain success overnight, enticing crowds to the otherwise quiet Regent Place. It's already been a month or so and it's still going strong- visited it just two nights ago for BT's birthday. How long will it last?
2 comments:
Hmm still can't work out what they could open on the bottom/2nd floor that could be successful. The bottom floor is kind of secluded and hidden, perhaps a bar or internet cafe could work there.
Yum cha upstairs, karaoke/bar/mizuya-like place downstairs. Manga cafe will be good there too, we need one in Sydney!
Post a Comment