My mothers group started meeting here each week for coffees. THey have a fantastic room out the back which they let us use. Great because with 8-10 mums, bubs and prams, we take up a fair bit of space and it can be a bit chaotic! The coffees there are always great and from what I've heard, the food is superb too. (Have only had toast there myself which was very nice but some of the others have eaten lunch there several times.)

The room would be great for a function too. In the front section they've got a nice open fireplace and a deck out the front (hence the name I guess) which would be great on sunny days.

Approximate cost: $20

I haven't eaten a lot of Turkish food so don't have too much to compare it to but I enjoyed our meal here. A group of us met up for dinner and shared dips and some main meals between us. Everything was cooked really well (beautiful meats) and we had a great meal. A fairly casual place to go for dinner though - great if you are in a hurry or going somewhere afterwards.

Approximate cost: $10-20

Both times we've been to we've come back wondering why there are no Italian restaurants where the food tastes as good as it does here. But that was until we discovered Remezzo. After reading the reviews on WOMOW we had to give it a try. Mind you, we'd driven past it many times and never even noticed it!
Anyway, we were not disappointed. In my books, this place leaves Lygon St for dead. Great pizzas, tapas, pasta (esp the calamari linguini). We've been here twice now and both times it was crowded and fairly noisy - which I think is a good thing - but don't come here expecting a quiet, intimate night!
Service has always been excellent too - seems like the staff are all very genuine, passionate people. Once they brought out the wrong pizza but were so apologetic and said we could nibble on that one until another was made.

Approximate cost: $12-25

I've discovered this is the best place to buy flowers around this area (unless you want something extremely fancy that is). Their prices are reasonable and the flowers always seem to be of a good quality. They also have orchids in pots which make a great gift. (I once received one of these and loved it so have given them as gifts to several other people.)

Approximate cost: $10-40

Five of my girlfriends and I caught up for dinner here. It was the perfect place, with a great round table, beautiful decor, and an atmostphere that was neither too quiet and stuffy, nor too roudy. The food was divine. I had a spatchcock special while others had lamb or duck as mains. The sides were all superbly prepared too. Dessert were pretty special - I shared a sample plate which was perfect. All very rich food that you don't need to eat too much of!
Overall a great night - think we'll be going back there sometime soon,

Approximate cost: $35

I bought a KaiserBaas Keyring Digital Photo Fram (1.5 inch) for my Mum for Mother's Day (so that she could show off pictures of her new grand-daughter!). I actually bought the frame from Harris Technology as Lako Pacific are the distributers for this product. Anyway, she loved the frame but somehow the glass cover broke in her handbag. I called the helpdesk at Lako Pacific and they offered to send out a replacement screen at no charge at all. Excellent service and I'm now going to buy a couple more of these as presents for other people.

Approximate cost: $29.95 for the frame initially

Unfortunately I had to use these guys again! I went out this week and at the end of a great night I was very annoyed to find that my car had been broken into and that the passenger window had been smashed. Glass was all through the car and our navigation system was stolen (this was in the glove box but the mount was still visible). Anyway, the next day I called a few places and again found Instant Windscreens to be the cheapest. They came to my home and were able to replace the window while I was working. They also cleaned up the shattered glass as well.

Approximate cost: $240

I've been here a couple of times and each time has been fantastic. Recently I had a combined massage and facial which was just divine! There's a girl that comes on Wednesdays and Saturdays (Nicky?) who is a massage therapist and she is terrific. Does a great pregnancy massage too!

Approximate cost: $75 per hour

After looking around for some plantation shutters I finally stumbled on these guys. Their shutters are much more affordable than any others I found as they are made from some sort of reconstituted wood and imported from China (they call it Enviroshield). They also have the sold timber ones too but as we wanted ours in white, I couldn't really see any difference in the two types. I visited them at their showroom in Richmond and then they came out to measure and quote (although they also gave me a rough quote in the store). Once I decided to go ahead, they came and did a final measurement as well. The wait was quite long as it was over Christmas but once they came, I was really happy with the result. They fit perfectly and the quality seems great. I didn't find the service in their store to be all that helpful - two staff members were talking together and only answered my questions briefly when I approached them. However, the various guys that came out to measure and install them were also very good to deal with - always on time and very helpful.

Approximate cost: $1300

I've used Oscars about 4 or 5 times now for drycleaning and minor mending on clothes. They've always done a great job on the mending (although I've not yet given them anything very challenging). One day I was trying something on in a change room in Church St and I overheard the woman next to me saying to her friend how she'd buy something that didn't quite fit and just take it over to Oscar to do some altarations. She seemed to speak of him like he was a genius at that stuff so I'm sure he's good at some more tricky alterations.