"Bittersweet Christmas"

Greetings Avid Readers,

2010.12.25

And so, among many Ho-Family Christmas traditions, we have the odd occasion where we ditch the mundane luncheon and dinner at home, and head out somewhere different! Some years it will be in Sydney, some overseas, some at relatives' abode but this year, we planned for a unique holiday at:

"Fairmont Resort
1 Sublime Point Road
Leura NSW 2780
Blue Mountains"
http://www.fairmontresort.com.au/

LOCATION:
It was about a 1.5 hour drive from Sydney (excluding traffic), down the 'M4 highway' onto the 'Great Western Highway. Turn into Scott Av, followed by Gladstone Road and you're there! Easy! 

Here are some photos I took around the resort. I hope you enjoy them and may this brief page of photos allow you to escape your boring life reading about other people's lives on a blog, and may you be inspired to venture out and appreciate nature and mankind's good doing in landscape, architecture and food, just as I did this Christmas.

Outdoor Pool

Sun-Baking Chairs

Veranda to View

View from Veranda

Indoor heated Pool

Indoor heated Spa

Games/Arcade Room

Gymnasium

 

Deluxe Room Bed

Deluxe Room Bed 2

Toiletry Complements

Toiletry Complements

After a day of swimming, gym, snooker and sauna, we went back into our rooms and came back in an hour later glammed up for dinner. We attended their "International Seafood Cuisine" buffet at the resorts own:

"Jamison's Restaurant"
$79.00 per Adult
[Dinner Menu Here]

We arrived extremely early at 5:30pm, when the buffet opened at 6:00pm. So I took the liberty of taking photos of all the dishes before people destroyed them:

SEAFOOD:
Prawns, Balmain Crabs/Bugs, Rock Oysters and Crabs

SALADS:
Pumpkin Salad, Greek Salad and other Salads

CONTINENTAL COLD FOODS:
Tomato Salad, Smoked Salmon and a Deli Meat Platter

HOT FOODS:
Roast Beef, Roast Vegetables, Cherry Roast Pork

HOT FOODS:
Mango grilled Salmon Fillet and prawns, Lamb Tikka Masala

HOT FOODS:
Steamed Vegetables in Lemon, Lasagna

HOT FOODS:
Boiled Rice (lol), Roast Potato, another Roasted Meat dish

Cheese and dried fruit Platter

DESSERTS:
Fruit Bowl, Chocolate Mousse with Gingerbread Man

DESSERTS:
Christmas Log, Raisin Cake, Blueberry Cheesecake,
Creme Brulee, Strawberry Cheesecake and many more...

Orange and Lemon tart, Spongecake, Chocolate Mud Cake,
Butter biscuits and many more...

And for those who are awfully curious as to what things I ate, I took a photo of the plates of food I had that night. This place would have to be one of the best I've been to in the last 5 years (for Christmas), so I took a bit of everything because of how much respect I had for this place after just looking at it!

Entree & Seafood

Salad and Sides

Dessert

All in all the restaurant was excellent. The service was 'noob' at the start, but as the night went in their confidence boosted and had a good momentum going. There was also a kitchen-island in the middle of the buffet with a young chef slicing roast. He was very professional, but I thought he also served me in the self-serve area too. I paused after I said "oh that looks nice". He ended up slicing me some meat there and politely asked me if I wanted 'any sauce with that mam?'...

It wasn't until I was back at my seat that I realized that part of the kitchen-island was not his responsibility, and purely self-serve...For that, Jamison's Restaurant has earned a juicy value on the Leon-o-metre for service!


LEON-O-METRE:

• Food:         9.5 / 10
• Ambiance:  7 / 10
• Service:      9 / 10
• Value:        8 / 10

2010.12.26
The next day, we did the typical tourist thing and went to Katoomba to see the "Three Sisters"

God's great creation

And since we let our weight slip that week, we decided to eat at the same place (since it was POURING that night and we didn't want to leave the resort). Except tonight was a change in theme to 'Mediterranean Style Cuisine' which was basically the same, a few changes. The price was better too at $55 per adult.

Oysters, Prawns, Pesto Pasta and sun dried tomato

Caesar Salad, a potato lol, Salmon, Vindaloo Beef etc..

That's all for now,Keep Reading. Continue Enjoying.
Love Leona.