The 126 restaurant tips and how we are incorporating it here.

Earlier this year we were given a 126 restaurant tips guide by AGFA but we have been too busy with the Melbourne Marathon to really promote good practice.

On Social Media
We have Instagram, twitter and Facebook. Many restaurants these days try to promote their wares on social media which gives them a competitive edge. Most restaurants have Instagram and many well-known ones invite their bloggers out to share and like their dishes.

Some restaurants respond to negative criticism and ask for help which is the right thing to do for their business. The good business manages their customer reviews well on Zomato and Facebook and they follow their customers.
Email sales are a must for any good business.

Ambiance matters
For a restaurant to do well ambiance matters. People don't want to go to a dirty restaurant.

Costs and the Good food and wine show
Paying the correct wage is a must. If restaurants don't pay the correct wage then the staff are not happy and will want to work elsewhere.
The cost of the food reflects on the quality of it.
Buying good wine for most upmarket places is a must.

Business plan
Each restaurant should have a good business plan and one that is five years long. It needs to be really detailed down to the wire.

Other events and promotions
Successful businesses nowadays have a stall at the many local markets such as the farmer's markets. This is a good way to promote dishes to new customers. This is a great way to get new customers in the door.

Most cafes and restaurants are featured on Groupon, LivingSocial and the Entertainment book and you can buy one off us here. You can read about what we are doing to help the Salvos here.

Oakdene vineyard and Portarlington

We went to Ocean Grove for the day just to visit a friend. Yep me, Friend A and B. Here Oakdene had some nice views and the cafe there was great.

Friend A and B didn't really like the food all that much. But I enjoyed the pizzas and they would be great with a glass of wine. Here we ordered potato pizza and ham and mushroom pizza. I could taste the truffle in the potato pizza and I liked that very much. A white wine would work well with this.

Gardens

Linguini

Pizzas

As well as marinara, fish with apple slaw and crab cakes. I have had better marinara in the city which was worth the price tag. This marinara here was not fresh and the linguini was about a day or two old. It broke easily and there was too much sauce to it.

The apple slaw was very vinegary. Here the fish had a lot of batter and it was hard to eat. But the batter was crispy. It was a beer battered fish,

Whilst going around the vineyard and exploring my friends had coffee and they didn't enjoy it that much. I saw that they had high tea going for $45 which is a little bit pricey. They also had $5 tastings for their well known wines. For me that is also expensive seeing as city gives it for free. But I did love their dukkah.

The pier

The pier again

After lunch we went to Portdarlington which is about a ten minute drive away. There, there was lovely sea on a lovely sunny day. Here there was a mussel stall selling mussels at $5 a kg. Friend A wanted some so she got.

And then we walked off lunch. Around the bay we went and enjoyed some of the sights and here are the pictures.

Do come up for a road trip away from the city when you want a break.