Switch Lifestyle (II)

As we walked by one beautiful Saturday afternoon, ET and I thought we'd give Switch another try and see if their music had mellowed down a bit...It hadn't.

Nevertheless we both went the pasta route with ET ordering Chicken, Bacon and Mushroom Fettucini and Garlic Prawn and Calamari Linguini for me.  There was a bit too much oil and the serving was a little too much, so I had to leave some of my pasta on my plate.  ET, meanwhile, polished his off even though he had to first cut up the chicken as the pieces were too big for him.

Switch Lifestyle

Shop 8129-8131 Melbourne St, Knox OZone, Wantirna South

Switch Lifestyle

We've driven by Switch Lifestyle numerous times but ET has never really noticed it before, so he was a bit surprised when I suggested we try it out for breakfast.  I went the usual route of French Toast which  was cut nice and thick and served with enough sauce to cover everything without drowning it.  And note the sauce was not the usual clear, runny maple syrup.  The verdict - yum.  Although now I'm re-reading the menu, I think I was supposed to get caramelised bananas.  I think I was robbed! ;)

ET thought the Switch Breakfast was tasty and even found the mushrooms flavoursome.  It was only then that he realised how good brekky can be, if done well.

We have no complaints about the staff and water was served freely but the loud pumping music really doesn't suit the breakfast crowd, specially when there were several families with babies as well as the older generation dining there at that time.  Even so, I have a hard task finding a different place that serves a good breakfast without trekking across town and having to wait to be served.


Switch Lifestyle
Shop 8129-8131 Melbourne St, Knox OZone, Wantirna South

Sakura House

Although I was craving Vietnamese cuisine, try as we might, we couldn't find any in the surrounding area.  Shame.  But seeing Sakura House as light-filled and roomy, we decided to give it a go.  ET was pleased with the tall indoor water feature but we didn't like the rude scratchings on it - it ruined the effect quite a bit.

But on to the food.  As usual I was starving so we opted for a platter for starters - the name of which escapes me.  I was pleasantly surprised with the large assortment and it was all served in twos so it was nice and easy to split.

ET enjoyed the spring rolls but it was too light in color for my liking.  You can barely just see it on the bottom left of the photo, covered in mayo.

The octopus balls had ET quite perplexed (topped in pickled ginger beside the spring rolls) but I've since realised that I just don't like octopus balls.  Full stop.  I would like to know, however, how they got the prawns so straight?  (See top of photo below)

ET was amused by how many edamame he had eaten compared to me, so we just had to take a photo of all the shells as proof:

Sashimi was Et's choice for main as he wasn't so hungry.  Although not bad, there were some tiny pieces next to ones twice as thick and a bit tough so they obviously need to work on this.

I went for the grilled salmon main.  After struggling with trying to get the noodles out from under the salmon, I was much disappointed with its rubbery texture.

One thing ET & I agreed on was how nice the miso soup was.  Lucky the mains came with this along with rice, pickled cabbage, salad and chilled tofu which I rue not trying.  But I was, after all, quite stuffed by this stage.

Staff were a bit haphazard on the night.  At one stage two approached us but neither one took our empty plates away.  I also said to another "Can we have some water please?" only to be given one glass of water even though ET & I both had empty glasses from our previous drinks.  Nor did they ask if ET would like another drink when his glass was already empty by the time the mains arrived. It wasn't until the manager came to clear our mains that he immediately bought another water for ET and asked if he would like another glass of red.

Sakura House
425 Burwood Hwy, Shop 2222 Knox O Zone, Wantirna

Bar Bosh

Bar Bosh makes decent coffee and when I asked for water later on, I noticed they dispursed it from a hot water urn.  But when served to me, it was so cold it almost made me shiver.  Specially for a chilly morning, I would have preferred the water not to have been so cold.

Anyhow, for breakfast I chose the Spanish Omelette and was surprised to find it to be as big as the plate!  I tried to take a picture of the whole thing without being conspicuous and almost succeeded.  Anyway, I felt it somehow lacking in flavour even though there were chorizos in the dish.  Usually chorizos are spicy enough to keep me reaching for a drink.  But perhaps the capsicums I asked them not to put in the dish would've made the difference in the taste?

ET ordered the Big Bosh Breakfast although he was highly indignant that it was listed as "Strictly no alterations" when no other item on the menu had such restrictions.  Once served, his comment was: it needs better plating.  Beside the eggs on top of the Turkish bread, there's bacon, hash brown then sausage on the very bottom.  Not that you can tell by looking at the photo below.

I almost forgot the best bit - when asked if we wanted pepper, both ET & I almost feel off our seats when the giganormous pepper grinder was brought over to our table.  The thing was almost as tall as our waitress!  We were in such shock & our eyes as wide as saucers that I forgot to take a photo : O




Bar Bosh 
509 Burwood Hwy, Knox O Zone, Wantirna

Red Salmon

We arrived early to find Red Salmon relatively empty.  But by the end of the evening the place was completely full.  Considering this place is within a strip of cafes & restaurants, this can only be a good sign.

We started off with the 3 dips.  When guessing the flavours, both ET & I were reluctant to name the hummus (perhaps it had a little more tahini than we were used to?).  The red dip was beetroot but we both loved the pumpkin dip.  I did find it strange that the turkish bread seemed to have a glaze on the top of it though.

I went for the Red Salmon Original which I think was closer to well done than medium, as per the menu's description.  Have a look at the photo and you be the judge...

This time ET was the one to change his order so we wouldn't be eating the same dish.  He ordered the Eye Fillet steak but again, I think he got the better dish!

Water wellness passed my test but at one stage I tried to get several waitress' attention to no avail as they were talking to one another but not looking at the dining area.  I believe a bit of improving is needed as we ordered extra turkish bread (seeing how small it was & how much dip we had left) and a different waitress came over a while later to confirm we ordered more bread before we were finally served.

And just in case you're wondering, the picture above is the view from my seat, looking up at the ceiling.  For some reason they have lamp shades attached to the walls as light fixtures.  Interesting.




Red Salmon
509 Burwood Hwy, Shop 2223 Knox O Zone, Wantirna