EatNow – Taking Over Online Ordering

 
1. Once you select your suburb a list of restaurants in your area will appear for you to browse and choose from

2. You then select a restaurant which shows you the Restaurant address, Customer Reviews, and any deals the restaurant offers

2a. If you select the “Skip To..” located on the top right corner – you can jump to particular sections on the Menu

3. When you select the dishes you wanted – a popup shows the options you can choose for the dish

4. Once yo have selected all your dishes – you select the Shopping Cart to view your order to proceed

5. If you are a new customer to the App or Site – you will be asked to Register

6. Once you have registered you will be taken back to the Shopping Cart page and the opportunity to select a deal (if the restaurant you select has offers available)

7. At this stage you can still modify your order should you need to. If there are no changes – select Continue.

8. Next you will be prompted for a payment option – Credit Card, Paypal or Cash (either on delivery or if you go in-store to pick-up

9. Once you have made your payment – you will receive a pop-up message telling you the next steps

10. An email confirmation is sent to you with the details of the order, as well as giving you a tax invoice

11. An SMS is sent as well stating the order number and the time of delivery, as well as contact details of the restaurant should you need to get in contact with them

 
12. When you return to the App – you can review your order and if you enjoyed this particular order you can re-order the exact same order

13. You can also leave a review for the restaurant

 
The delicious food from Swan Thai Restaurant

I was invited by EatNow to try their online takeaway feature in order to show the ease and convenience of using this service. For those of you who haven’t heard of EatNow they are an Australian owned and operated business that was founded in 2010 by a few hungry Australians, that aims to provide excellent coverage for takeway food and home delivery Australia Wide. EatNow belong to Australia’s Number 1 Online Takeaway Group – Catch Group and have 4400+ restaurants listed and are continuously looking for new restaurants to add to their list – in fact if you can’t find your favourite restaurant you can suggest it via their website to let them know.

There are also special offers and discounts that are offered to you when you make an order – for example the restaurant that you are ordering from could have a special deal. There is no sign up fee at all and the site is free to use – and you receive an instant SMS confirmation once your order has been placed.

I decided to test out the app version of EatNow as these days almost everyone is constantly on their phone and use apps regularly to get things done. I downloaded the EatNow app from the Google Play Store and proceeded to start the app up. If you have your location services on your phone – the suburb of the area you are located in will come up, if not you simply enter either your suburb name or the postcode – then select your suburb.

Next a list of restaurants will come up relating to your suburb. There are also two tabs that you can choose from – PICK UP or DELIVERY. I wanted to see the list of restaurants under DELIVERY. You can view at a high level the rating that fellow EatNowers have given the restaurants, as well as the cuisine (e.g. Italian, Pizza, BBQ & Grill, Dessert etc.) and dietary requirements – such as Gluten Free, Halal etc. Here you can also see which restaurants you can PRE-ORDER (this means that you can place an order with them before the actual restaurant is open or even for the next day) at as well as restaurants that have special DEALS associated with them.

We felt like Thai food for dinner on Sunday night so we picked Swan Thai. Once you click into the restaurant you can browse their menu. If you are a regular and know what you want already there is a button located at the top right hand corner which says “Skip To..” – this allows you to go straight to the menu section you are after to choose your dish. From this page you can also view Customer Reviews and see any deals (if any) the restaurant has.
I am not a regular so therefore I decide to scroll thru the menu. I see a dish that sounds delicious – Fresh Thai Basil Stir Fried – there is a description of the dish as well. I click on this and a pop up appears allowing me to choose if I want Prawns, Beef, Vegetable or Chicken. One modification that I would suggest here would be a comments section if you wanted to make any modifications to the dish such as making the dish less spicy or spicier, or if you wanted to have both chicken and prawns in your dish. I did have a look at other restaurants and you get the option to modify dishes – such as with pizza’s – you can select which toppings you want to add and at an Indian restaurant it allows you at this stage to choose the spiciness.
I pick Vegetable and then click the Add to Cart button. You can view your cart at any time by clicking the icon located in the top right hand corner. Once inside your cart you can easily use the + and – buttons to add extra quantity. The Cart also gives you a sub total.

Once you have finished picking out what you want to order you click on the Shopping Cart Icon and scroll down to select which Deal (if the restaurant you have selected offers one) you want, followed by the delivery time. Something cool to note is that if the restaurant is already open – there is a delivery time set as default to “ASAP.”
For first time users you will be required to click “Continue” – once you do this you will be taken to “Sign In” page – where you can register as a New User or login with your Facebook Account. I register myself as a new user. You receive an email confirmation about signing up to EatNow.

You then are taken back to the Shopping Cart page and this is where you fill in your Delivery Address, Mobile Number and enter your payment details. At this stage there is a Comments section where you can add any comments you want to make for your order. As I mentioned earlier I think it would be handy to do it at the dish level. Once you have entered all these details in and press Place Order you will receive a pop up that tells you that once the order has been accepted by the restaurant you will receive an SMS and an email will follow.

About 1 minute later I receive an SMS telling me my order number as well as a delivery time (in my case it was 45 minutes). It also has the phone number of the restaurant in case we need to make any changes. I check my email and there is an email confirmation with the same details as well as giving you a tax invoice.

The home page of the app has the list of orders that you have put in so that you can view what you have ordered. There is also an option to re-order the same order that you have placed another time, as well as to leave a review for the restaurant. There is also a list that starts to populate with “My Recent Restaurants” which I think is handy to have if you generally are ordering from home and want to have it as your regular.

The order arrives 15 minutes before its mentioned arrival time – so the order gets to me in 30 minutes. The food comes packaged well and was still very warm. The fried rice and curries came in a plastic container with the roti in a brown paper bag.

The Fresh Thai Basil Stir Fried Vegetable was delicious and spicy – just how we like it! The vegetables were fresh and crunchy. The Thai Style Fried Rice Vegetable and Black Pepper and Garlic Stir Fried Chicken were just as delicious – fresh, wholesome and all round tastiness. The Roti Bread was crunchy, crispy and came served with a satay sauce – perfect!

The experience with the EatNow app was brilliant – simple, intuitive and easy to use. I would definitely be using the app again to order in and would recommend it to everyone to try it out – especially for those lazy nights when you don’t feel like cooking or just want a late night snack.
You can also subscribe with EatNow to save your details which greatly increases the speed and ease of ordering your takeaway next time and important updates – or follow them on Facebook and Twitter. Definitely 5 Pandas for service!

So just to recap, the general order process is simple:

– Search for restaurants in your suburb
– Browse by restaurants or cuisine
– Filter results by user reviews, distance, latest deals/offers, minimum delivery
– Order using the interactive menus – want extra spicy or hate mushrooms? No problem with our customisable options
– Get real-time notifications and a confirmation of your order, letting you know how long your order will be
– Secure and safe payment options, PayPal, Visa, Cash
– With EatNow you can order food from your mobile, tablet or PC
– Download the award winning EatNow App – 2013 Winner of the Oria Best App, Online Retail Industry Awards

Check out EatNow

Twitter: www.twitter.com/EatNowAu
@EatNowAu

Instagram: www.instagram.com/eatnowau
eatnowau

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eatnow.com.au/timeline?ref=page_internal

Swan Thai
25-27 Lake Street, Caroline Springs
Tel No: 8358 5555

Opening Hours
Lunch:
Wednesday to Sunday: 12:00pm – 3:00pm
Dinner:
Monday to Sunday: 5:30pm – Late

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Five Plus Smoothie – Green, Healthy and Delicious!

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Menu:

I was invited to the launch of Five Plus Smoothie to enjoy breakfast with a difference. Five Plus Smoothie is located near the corner of Swanston and Little Lonsdale streets in the Melbourne CBD – next to Melbourne Central. Vivian Lam (Director) has worked with nutritionist Samantha Ward to create this wonderfully healthy place. The ideology and the main reason behind Five Plus Smoothie is to get the daily intake of five serves of fruit and vegetables (that nutritionists recommend) in one delicious tasting smoothie.

Lam is also one of the people behind Hot Star Chicken and Gong Cha (which has taken Melbourne by storm!!), Mekong and Rice Paper. Lam got inspired to create Five Plus as she wanted to look and feel young and healthy not only from the outside but from the inside and most importantly make it an easy way to achieve this even if you find yourself on the go.

The welcoming fit out and design is created by Brandworks and is complete with natural light, pale wood, white tiles and a beautiful display of terrariums. The highlight for me was the copper wall piping and lighting which brought warmth as well as the entire décor of the venue together. Most new venues are trending to this type of design – minimalistic yet funky at the same time. Five Plus does cater for people on the go – who are looking to get their healthy fix and head to work/school/uni – but there is seating available in the form of a communal table as well as some window seating. (Wi-Fi is also available for those who want spend even more time)

Five Plus features ten balanced, delicious smoothies made from fresh ingredients that are delivered daily with no additives what so ever! They are proud supporters of local farmers as well as caring for the environment by using BPA free cups that are biodegradable. The smoothies were designed together with the help of a nutritionist and can cover a range of benefits such as muscle development, weight management, energy & fatigue, brain function, hydration and anti-ageing just to name a few. The menu lists the unique and catchy names and is full of information. Each smoothie has the ingredients it contains as well as the main benefits of the drink. The staff are friendly and if you have trouble deciding which smoothie you are after – and trust me you will as they all sound delicious! – they are happy and knowledgeable to help you out by enquiring about the flavours you like as well as the benefits you want to achieve.

At the launch we were lucky enough to sample all of the flavours – served in small glass beakers which fitted right in with the overall theme of the venue. Guests and bloggers were also served healthy nutritious bites to eat – which was catered for by Healthy Byte. These included Small crumpets with cream, fresh blueberries and strawberries, muesli in a jar with rhubarb, chia seeds and pepitas, poached chicken sandwiches and rice paper rolls with broccoli, Enoki mushrooms and sprouts. My favourite would have to be the crumpets followed closely by the muesli a jar – fresh flavours and textures that worked well together with a tangy kick at the end.

You have a choice of the following smoothie flavours :

The Perfect Date – Oats, Almond Milk, Almond, Banana, Dates, Cinnamon and Ice. Benefits: Muscle, Brain, Skin, Energy and Weight Management.

Smooth Skin – Spinach, Almond Milk, Banana, Mango, Mint and Ice. Benefits: Skin.

The Good Life – Kale, Almond Milk, Bananas, Pineapple, Mint, Lime and Ice. Benefits: Energy and Fatigue, Nail, Skin, Hair and Immune System.

New Leaf – Spinach Leaves, Coconut Water, Cucumber, Celery, Parsley, Mint, Ginger, Lemon and Ice. Benefits: Immune System and Liver Detox.

Peanut Butter Cup – Oats, Almond Milk, Homemade Peanut Butter, Banana, Dates and Ice. Benefits: Muscle Development.

Choc Mint – Spinach, Almond Milk, Avocado, Dark Chocolate, Mint, Dates and Ice. Benefits: Brain

Fresh Focus – Spinach, Almond Milk, Green Apple, Chia Seed, Green Grapes. Benefit: Alkalizing

Sweet Heart – Beetroot, Coconut Water, Apple, Banana, Ginger and Ice. Benefits: Heart

Purple Patch – Almond Milk, Blueberries, Banana, Acai and Ice. Benefits: Anti-Ageing

My favourite from the menu is Smooth Skin – it was deliciously refreshing and what better way to give your skin some nutrients! For days after the launch I would go back every morning and start my day off with this smoothie – yum! My next favourite would have to be Purple Patch followed by The Perfect Date. The Perfect Date really fills you up due to the use of oats but it’s definitely one to try out.

Five Plus provides a refreshing, nutritious and healthy way in which you can achieve your fruit and veggie intake on the go. The staff are friendly and there are many different flavours to choose from – even for those who want a sweeter hit – you can try the Choc Mint or Peanut Butter Cup. Try it out now and I have no doubt it will become your regular morning pit stop!

Disclaimer: I was invited to the launch of Five Plus Smoothie on behalf of Harvey Publicity. All views and opinions are honest and my own.

Rating : 4.5 Pandas
Price: $
Menu – 10 different smoothies that have individual benefits – refer to the Menu picture above
Atmosphere / Ambience: Funky and Welcoming
Standout Smoothie: The Smooth Skin, The Perfect Date
Service: Friendly, Knowledgeable and Helpful. If you tell the staff what you want to achieve from the smoothie – they will recommend which one you should have.
Online Booking: Yes via website – http://www.vuedemonde.com.au/reservation
Restaurant Details and Location:
http://www.fiveplussmoothie.com.au/
265 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne

Opening Hours:
Monday to Friday: 8:00 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday & Sunday: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fiveplussmoothie
Instagram: Five Plus Smoothie

Flipboard Cafe – Cubbyholes and Fun!

Awesome stool made of recycled papers

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Menu:

I have found my new favourite café in Melbourne – Flipboard Café – located near the top end of La Trobe Street, near the RMIT City Campus as well as the scenic Carlton Gardens. Flipboard Café is the brilliant idea from architect Martin Heide together with interior designer Megg Evans after seeing potential between their studio – Brolly Design – and the rear of the jazz institution Bennetts Lane.

It literally resembles that of a Jenga game – the café is fit into a 20 square metre split level café that the duo built themselves. There is so much fun, seating all packed into such a little space. The highlight is definitely the outside row of cupboards at street level – where the doors open inwards to reveal cute little cubbyholes that seat two. Each little cubbyhole / booth comes with a “table” made out of recycled papers – these are uber cool and I want one in my house – as well as a beautiful filament lightbulb to set the mood.

Inside the café is all about the use of wood and smart use of space for seating – there are wood panels that flip down to produce seating, as well as a meeting space / platform on the top floor that you get to via the central staircase. Upstairs you can get bench seating that overlooks onto the bustle of La Trobe Street if you wish.

The coffee and food counter is located in a little corner with barista Lincoln Walker (ex Wide Open Road) at the helm. Coffee is from artisan local roaster Joshua Bailey and the La Marzocco coffee machine is used.

Flipboard Café offers a small variety of food – there are a few baguettes made on site, as well some quiches, pastries and soup. There is also a selection of gluten free options in terms of the sweet stuff available from Miss Si. There is a chocolate brownie that is all wrapped up but looks amazing! Next time I will have to try it.

On this visit I ordered a latte and one of the pastries with egg, spinach and fetta. The coffee had a great taste – sweet and nutty with the perfect amount of froth at the top and swanky artwork. The little pastry was divine – the pastry was flaky, buttery and you just wanted to savour each bite. The filling was tasty and flavoured well, and I liked the hit of spice in the form of pepper. Together both the pastry and the coffee worked well together.

Flipboard Café has successfully utilized the minimum space that they have to create a quaint, fun and unique style of venue. It really is a life-size version of a play house with some great tasting coffee and tasty treats. The little booth/cubbyholes are a brilliant idea and a great use of space and makes for a fun experience.

Rating : 4 Pandas
Price: $
Menu – Refer to pictures above. There is a selection of baguettes, pastries, quiches and soup, as well sweets from Miss Si.
Atmosphere / Ambience: Fun, Relaxed and Chilled out!
Service: Friendly
Online Booking:No
flipboardcafe.com.au
141 La Trobe Street, Melbourne
Tel No: 9691 3888

Opening Hours
Monday to Friday: 7:00 am – 4:30 pm

The Mess Hall – Favourite Seafood Pasta!

I had been to The Mess Hall years ago – prior to me ever starting this blog and remembered that the food here was pretty good. So on the night of the Stereophonics concert, I needed a place for food and The Mess Hall happened to be near where they were playing. The Mess Hall is quirky and funky looking place complete with wooden tables and interesting accents in the form of decor around the place. The staff are friendly and welcoming. The food served is Italian style and they are open for breakfast, lunch, dinner as well as for snacks.

The Mess Hall is a rustic and intimate menu and despite being simple is a great place to visit for a romantic occasion with its soft lighting. The menu is short and simple, with many dishes catching my eye but I settled on the Black & White Tagliatelle with Mussels, Prawns, Clams and Salmon. I have to say this has been on my favourite seafood pasta dishes ever! The pasta was perfectly cooked and the flavours were simple yet delicious. The Seafood was fresh and all cooked to perfection with each separate component complimenting each other. The serving size of the dishes are just as great as the actual food and are quite generous.

I did also get to try out their coffee which was nutty and creamy. As we had to rush off to the concert, I didn’t get a chance to check out their dessert menu but from the sounds of it – it sounds delicious! I definitely do want to come back and try out some of their other dishes for dinner – but high on my list is to come here and try out their breakfast menu – the corn fritters sound great.

Rating : 4 Pandas
Price: $$
Menu: http://www.themesshallmelbourne.com/ – you can find all the Menus under the Menu heading
Fullness: 100%
Atmosphere / Ambience: Comfortable, Casual and Cosy. Really great for a dinner date with that special someone.
Service: Friendly and Welcoming
Online Booking: No
Restaurant Details and Location:
http://www.themesshallmelbourne.com/
51 Bourke Street, Melbourne
Tel No: 9654 6800

Opening Hours:
Monday to Friday: 7:30am – 10pm
Saturday & Sunday: 8am -10pm

The Press Club – Food with a Greek Twist

The Press Club is a two-hatted restaurant owned by chef and restaurateur George Colombaris. The Press Club showcases Colombaris’ Greek heritage together with modern Australian dishes, and is one of the most popular venues in Melbourne.

Ever since I started to watch Masterchef and there was a challenge where the contestants had to cook at The Press Club, I wanted to try out the Degustation menu with the distinctive Aphrodite dessert. However, I never got around to visiting and the dessert no longer exists, yet I still had to make to this famous venue. Previously, I had only come here late one night for a dessert fix and found the desserts were absolutely delectable, so high expectations were set for the food.

The Press Club is a classy yet welcoming place – there are dark floors, a wooden ceiling which have dangling light globes and beautiful textured wallpaper. Tables are decked out with a white table cloth and have a spot of colour in the form of an orange water glass (which I loved!), and are spaced out perfectly and is what adds the casualness to the place. The staff are friendly, passionate and knowledgeable and make the place even warmer. The kitchen is an open style theatre and allows diners to look at the chefs preparing meals. Just at the front of the open kitchen is a marble table which serves as a “Chef’s Table,” where diners can see the chefs plating up dishes right in front of them. The restaurant exudes elegance and class.

My friends and I arrived for a lunchtime meal and had three options menuwise to select from – Mini Symposium Degustation, The Kerasma or the Business Lunch. The Mini Symposium Degustation was 6 courses that each person on the table would get, The Kerasma was the ” To Treat and To Share” menu, where the entire table would have a selection of Tastes, Small, Main and Dessert dishes to share and lastly, the Business Lunch where you could either select from 2 or 3 courses. We decided to do the Business Lunch and I opted for the 3 courses.

The meal started off with complimentary bread that came with house-made salted cod roe butter. There were two different types of bread available – olive and plain. I wasn’t a massive fan of the salted cod roe butter (due to not being a massive fan of cod), however the rest of the table did enjoy it and said it complimented the breads, and was especially suited to the olive bread. The butter itself was airy, light and fluffy and the texture was perfect. For my first course I had the Peas, Pickled Mushroom, Marouli which I thought was a very fresh dish made from the freshest of ingredients. The ingredients worked well together and had a great after taste as well – clean and delicious. I would have liked more of the avocado to be added, but that’s just being picky.

My next dish was Salmon, Fosolakia, Skordalia. Fosolakia is the Greek for beans and Skordalia is a thick puree made of crushed garlic with a thick base such as potatoes etc. The Salmon was the perfect pink colouring and cooked to perfection with the right amount of crispness in the skin. Matched together with the beans and the puree sauce – it made for a great combination and was my favourite dish of the day. The fish was juicy and flavoursome and the beans provided the texture in the form a great crunch.

For dessert I had the Karythopita, Creme Fraiche, Cherry – which was a de-constructed cheesecake / walnut cake. This dish was good but not great. The crumble was fresh and tasted great. The main cheesecake / walnut cake part was nice and had great texture and flavour, but as a whole I thought this dish could have been a whole lot better. My friend had the Fruits and Sorbet Ice cream – three different house-made flavours of sorbet with fresh fruit. The flavours were deceiving and not what you would expect from the colours that you see. Worth trying!

Overall the food and ambience of The Press Club is fantastic and the staff are friendly and attentive. You can fire off any questions you have about the menu or drinks and they will tell you the answers, and if they don’t know it they wouldn’t hesitate to go and find out. Perfect service! The quality of the food is fantastic and you can tell that real care and love has been put into every dish.

The Press Club has announced on its site that it will be closing in March 2013 and a complete refurbishment of this space will welcome Gazi’, an informal restaurant inspired by the street food of Athens. For more information please visit their website – http://www.thepressclub.com.au/newsreviews.html

Rating : 4 Pandas
Price: $$$$
Menu –There are many menus to select from – Lunch menu (http://www.thepressclub.com.au/lunchmenu.html) – which consists of the Keresma, Business Lunch and Mini Symposium Degustation Menus, Dinner Menus (http://www.thepressclub.com.au/dinnermenu.html) – which is the Symposium Degustation where you can select from either 5 or 8 courses
Fullness: 100%
Atmosphere / Ambience: Classy, Elegant and Inviting
Standout Dish: Salmon, Fosolakia, Skordalia. Fosolakia
Service: Fantastic, Friendly, Attentive and Knowledgeable. Outsanding service!
Online Booking: Yes and Reservations are Essential – via http://www.thepressclub.com.au/bookings.html
Restaurant Details and Location:
http://www.thepressclub.com.au/index.html
72 Flinders St, Melbourne
Tel No: 9677 9677

Opening Hours:
Lunch
Monday – Sunday: 12pm to 3pm
Dinner
Monday – Sunday: 6pm to 10pm