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| Living On The Edge Sunglasses: Sportsgirl Top: Born In June Skirt: H&M, New YOrk Shoes: Windsor Smith Watch: Swatch Watch |
I recently bought this over the top, poofy, flowery, cupcakey, boxy white top! Now all of those words I just used to describe it make it sound horrible and unless you are careful it could go terribly wrong! I spotted it in a shop with KC a few weeks ago and asked her if it was too much. I often pick up things that are way over the top and ask if they have crossed the line. She assured me this one had! Back on the rack it went!
I was back in the boutique last week and I looked at it again. KJ was with me this time and gave me a very strange look when I picked it up. This time however, I had a vision. I told her to give it a chance and let me try it on. Of course it looked a million times better on than on the rack. The trick was you could only wear it with something simple, you had to have a small frame, be daring and not be afraid when wearing it. Otherwise, yes, you will look like an over the top wedding cake!
I stewed on it a little longer while I walked up and down Oxford St but ended up back in the shop to buy it. When I entered the shop a middle aged woman was trying it on. It was skin tight on her, pulled across her bust and had it on with flared jeans which she intended to wear it with. It was so very wrong. Totally age and body inappropriate. She did not make it look stylish! Anything but! Overall, I would say she looked like an old hippie slash cowgirl. It was not pretty.
KJ assured me that it did not look like that on me. The shop owner/designer also agreed and commented on how good it looked on me. She designs all the clothes in 'Born in June'. Her build is similar to mine and her vision for what the top should look like was exactly how it looked on me. Thank god!
You have to be daring and push the edges but sometimes it can go drastically wrong. There is such a thing as 'going too far'. I have to be careful, I am sometimes a victim of these things!
Last night KJ and I went to the newly redone 'Newtown Hotel' to have a nice Greek inspired meal at their upstairs restaurant, 'The Animal'.
As the 'Newtown Hotel' is owned by 'Key Stone' the owners of Gazebo, The Winery, Manly Wine, The Loft, Bungalow 8, Cargo Bar and Kit and Kaboodle just to name a few the expectations for decor were high. It did not disappoint. I won't go into detail about the awesome retro decor downstairs, the cute courtyard or the great ambiance because this post will go on for years! Let's just say the crowd agrees with me, it was extremely packed for early on a Thursday night! Upstairs was also quite busy. The wrap around balcony was full of people sharing Greek tapas dishes and enjoying a cold drink whilst watching the sunset.
When you walked up the stairs to 'The Animal' you were greeted by a large leopard type creature with a big sign that read 'don't feed the animal'. Once you arrived at the top of the stairs you were greeted by a hostess and escorted to your table. It is quite a large restaurant and at 7pm was only one third full but by the time we were leaving there was a line winding down the stairs. You are only able to book for tables of six or more. It looks great for a function with a big private party caravan available, equipped with its own stripper pole. Alternatively you can also choose the private cinema room.
The mood is dark and ominous with extreme mood lighting (you could actually hardly see what you were eating). The furnishings are dark and accented with dark leather or animal print. Each table featured hanging industrial lights overhead. The bar is definitely the main attraction with a big neon pink sign on the brick wall behind the bar which reads 'animal'. Cute.
The menu is quite large and designed to share. It features small bites, then shared starters and salads for entrees. The mains are defiantly a shared affair with a large selection of whole roasted communal dishes, all of which are meats. Just going by the title this restaurant is not really one for vegetarians!
I say you can always tell a good Greek restaurant by its 'taramasalata dip'. KJ and I ordered their 'real taramasalata and breads' with 'olives' for starters. Unfortunately, the tara was a huge miss. KJ was so disappointed with the dip it almost ruined her meal! It was not its usual pink colour but instead cream with a huge mountain of oil sitting on the top and without much flavour. The pita bread which accompanied the dip was even more oily than the dip. You could hardly eat it as it was so saturated in oil! The olives were a standard mix of green and black heated up and marinated in coriander, garlic and thyme. They were served with an empty tuna tin to place your pips in which was a quirky addition. I feel crunchy white bread would have been better as it would have absorbed the oil better.
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| Top Left: Olives $7 Top Right: Taramasalata Dip and Bread $12 Bottom Left: Whole Spring Chicken $21 Bottom Right: Braised Green Beans $12 |
We ordered the 500g 'whole spring chicken' butterflied and rubbed with fennel salt and thyme. It was extremely reasonably priced at $21. A side of green beans was chosen to accompany it. They came in a tomato puree and although nice was not my choice of how to best take advantage of such a crisp vegetable. They ended up becoming quite soggy and there was too much tomato which was quite overpowering. We would have been better off with the 'Greek Salad', it looked yummy! The roast chicken was tasty but really no more tasty than the roast chicken we cook at home! It was crazy that our main came in at under $30 altogether.
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| Purple Onion Private Caravan |
Overall, Greek is my favourite cuisine and I wasn't overly impressed. I enjoyed the environment and would definitely return for a drink and probably a snack but I am not raving about the food. It has been open less than a week. I feel they are still trying to find their feet. Hopefully they find their way. It has the potential to be such a hit!
The Animal
174 King Street
Newtown NSW 2042
Overall: 6.5/10
Ambiance: 8.5/10
Food: 5.5/10
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