Travel – A Tale of Two Parramatta Restaurants Reviewed

If you're new here at 2thinknow, and you're interested in the latest ideas on trends, companies and innovation, subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for your visit!

TRAVEL COMMENT, Parramatta, Sydney – Tonight and last night was a tale of two vastly different meals, 100 metres apart.As I stated last night, I have added the travel & fine food journal of inspiring meals and destinations back into the Global Innovation Conversation.

Restaurant Review: Criniti’s, Church St Parramatta

Tonight’s dinner. A beautiful veal parmigiana on a bed of real vegetables. Potatoes with taste. Broccoli with flavor (hard to get these days). Sweet carrots.

No mash. No chips. No salad.

No wonder the place is packed.

Prompt service for the most part.

The best restaurant in Parramatta, although it can be loud on some occasions. Not atmospheric via global standards, but you eat food not atmosphere, and it’s great for groups.

Two courses and a glass of wine would be about USD$50 for a nice meal.

The flavor was well worth it.

Restaurant Review: RedSalt, Crowne Plaza Parramatta

Last Nights’ dinner. All a bit much. I eat here a lot because I stay at the hotel. The lamb and mash is not bad. The grilled fish and mash is ok.

There are two big faults here. Too much salt in the food (like in the name).

And food that is made to a price and is neither fancy nor mainstream. It’s mushy middle.

Last night I had a chicken risotto. In my opinion the chicken was like leather and tasted like fish, the risotto salty, and the portion very small.

My experience here is that taste derives from the fact they don’t use good ingredients all the time. They rely on the sauce to rescue the meal.

There are better places for the Parramatta steak and mash. And there are better places for finer dining. Like Criniti’s.

At RedSalt the food is very poor value, at around $USD 50 for a two-course meal and a glass of so-so wine. No flavor.

The sad thing is that before it’s make-over over a year ago, the food was far better.

One of the most annoying aspect of RedSalt is the fact that the staff keep re-arranging tables around you at both breakfast and dinner. It’s a very commercial restaurant, and there’s not the appearance of much love in this one.

The Crowne Plaza hotel is the best available in the Western suburbs of Sydney, but eat at Criniti’s instead (except when you really need wireless internet). Most guests eat outside.

I should mention mostly I find the hotel a very good 4-star with a few exceptions, and to be honest most hotel restaurants are dismal, being overly commercial.

The foregoing are my opinions. If you have a different experience feel free to post a comment.

Take care,

Christopher

Connect to Christopher Hire.

Speaker. Author. Editor-In-Chief. Executive Director of Innovation, 2thinknow.

Filing. Food, Beverages & Wine, Sydney & NSW, TRAVEL, Travel & Tourism, [English]
Tagged. 2thinknow, Australia, Creative Inspiration, fine dining, food, food & wine, hotel reviews, Parramatta, restaurant reviews, Sydney, Travel