Colombo's - Balwyn - review

Name: Colombo's

Address: 250 Whitehorse Rd
Balwyn 
(03) 9836 6442
 
Food: Italian, Take away, Fast food

Average price: $7-$32 for dine in.

Complimentary: Nothing.

We ordered:
Main: Mushroom pizza
Tomato, cheese, onions, garlic,  mushroom, oregano

This was average. The base was slightly doughy and overall the flavours muted (mushrooms were as tasty as cardboard). After being spoilt with all of the gourmet pizza joints around the standard pizza is no longer satisfactory. Better than Pizza Hut but not Crust/Pizza Capers etc.

BBQ pork ribs with salad

Mr.M: I could only eat half of the ribs as they were horrible. The meat was gooey and the salad tasted old. The fact that this was almost $30 is ridiculous.

Dessert: Chocolate mousse

Supposedly homemade but this tasted like every other pizza places packet mousse - more about the cream and sugar than any real chocolate flavour. On a positive note the serving size was generous.

Service: OK. The food came out quickly but the waiters were barely seen even though they were all very friendly, no checking up on whether we liked it and you pour your water yourself. That said they were happy to box up any leftovers for us.

Atmosphere: Family budget. The atmosphere is pretty much the same as other restaurants of its ilk - think La Porchetta or Sofia's. In this particular branch the floors are tiled with wooden tables and chairs as well as an entire wall of sports memorabilia. The noise level depends on the number of patrons, at full capacity my guess is it would be quite loud.

Parking: Ample street parking as well as a Safeway car park across the road.

Website: www.colombos.com.au

Hours: Mon-Sun 11am-late

Would I return: Only if desperate, there are better lower budget fast food/dine in places out there.

Snow Pony - Balwyn - review

Name: Snow Pony

Address:
95 Whitehorse Rd
Balwyn 3103 VIC

Phone: (03) 9816 8911

Food: ModOz, Cafe, Organic
Average price: $4.90-$19.90

Complimentary:  Iced clockface cookies with our bill.

We ordered: Lemonade scones with bon maman jam & Chantilly cream - $3.50

A enjoyed this (served with raspberry jam this time) but didn't like the fact that the jam was served in one large jar rather than individual portion sizes. She was put off by the fact that another patron might have doubled dipped before her.

Spanish potato tortilla with manchego

This was average. The potatoes were cooked through but the dish was hot and cold, perhaps from being reheated rather than being made to order. It was also bland in terms of the flavour profile, I was tempted to add salt to pick it up a bit.

Hopkins River Eye fillet steak sandwich, beetroot & blood orange relish, caramel onions, bacon, roast tomato, aged Maffra farmhouse cheddar & a poached gooey egg - $21.9

Both S and Mr.M enjoyed this as much as they had previously. Still the best dish on the menu according to them.

Service: OK. When we arrived on a Saturday morning we were told a table would be ready in about 15mins, unfortunately that 15mins turned into 45mins, and when you are 8months pregnant standing on the sidewalk on a 7degree Celsius wintry morning it's a little too long when you only expected to be waiting 15mins. After being seated and ordering the food still took a while to come out as they were at full capacity, we also had to ask after the brownie which they seemed to have forgotten, so after hoping to eat breakfast at 11am we ended up eating at 12:30, by which point we were grumpy and hungry.

Atmosphere: A touch cramped. There are tons of chairs in front, inside and out the back. Mostly dark, neutral colours. The noise level gets really loud when full and if seated at the front you are subject to cold draughts whenever the door is opened.

Parking: Ample - large amount of street parking, not a super busy area.

Website: http://www.snowpony.com.au/

Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-4pm
Sat-Sun 8.30am-4pm

Would I return: No - the waits are too long for breakfast.

Snow Pony - Balwyn - review

Name: Snow Pony

Address:
95 Whitehorse Rd
Balwyn 3103 VIC

Phone: (03) 9816 8911

Food: ModOz, Cafe, Organic
Average price: $4.90-$19.90

Complimentary:  Nothing.

We ordered:


Mocha - $3.5

Affogato - $6

Organic Grapefruit juice - $5

Toasted banana bread with maple syrup mascarpone, fresh banana, berry compote + crushed pistachio - $14.9

This was rather good. The banana bread was a touch crumbly but that didn't matter much as you just scoop it up along with the mascarpone and tart berry compote. It is overall, on the sweet side.

Bruschetta - white bean + roasted garlic puree, baked pumpkin, olive tapenade - $13,9

Mr.M thought this was OK.

Hopkins River Eye fillet steak sandwich, beetroot + blood orange relish, caramel onions, bacon, roast tomato, aged Maffra farmhouse cheddar + a poached googie egg - $21.9

S loved this. Well, loved is an understatement for S who enjoyed it so much that he wanted to go back every week just so he could eat it again. Full of complementing flavours and cooked well.

Cost: $65.20 for two coffees and three breakfasts.

Service: OK. Don't expect your water to be continuously topped up but the food comes out at a decent rate.

Atmosphere: A touch cramped. There are tons of chairs in front, inside and out the back. Mostly dark, neutral colours. The noise level gets quite loud.

Parking: Ample - large amount of street parking, not a super busy area.

Website: http://www.snowpony.com.au/

Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-4pm
Sat-Sun 8.30am-4pm

Would I return: Yes - because there's not much of a selection on Balwyn.

Snow Pony - Balwyn

Name: Snow Pony

Address:
95 Whitehorse Rd
Balwyn 3103 VIC

Phone: (03) 9816 8911

Food: ModOz, Cafe, Organic
Average price: $4.90-$19.90

Complimentary:  Nothing.

We ordered:

Fruit salad - $11.90
our toasted museli, manuka honey, pot of cleo's yoghurt

Nothing special, what you would expect, another S would have liked some more muesli.

Smashed avocado - $18.90
thyme buttered mushrooms, marinated feta, torn basil, on wholgrain toast with poached egg

The bread was the Achilles heel. It was so tough and chewy that I have up trying to cut it and just tried my best to pull out the middle parts. Everything else was fine, although the mushrooms lacked a little. The poached egg was done well though.

Cost: $31.80 for 2 meals. 

Service: Horrible. Upon arriving we requested an outdoor table that needed to be cleared, to which the waiter responded, 'I will follow you out'. Well, 15minutes later I had to go back in to ask another waiter to clear the table and give us some menus. Another 10minutes later one arrived. After all of that the table wasn't even wiped and it was FILTHY. As were the glasses we were given. Small note - all the waiters were wearing baggy tshirts and shorts- none of which were the same so it was very difficult to even pick them out as staff. 

Atmosphere: A touch cramped. There are tons of chairs in front, inside and out the back, I couldn't even tell what the decor was as I was just trying not to knock someone over. From memory, it was just a standard cafe decor.

Parking: Ample - large amount of street parking, not a super busy area.

Website: http://www.snowpony.com.au/


Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-4pm
Sat-Sun 8.30am-4pm

Would I return: No - even though it's local.