Question about restaurants in Sydney

I'm just back from a visit to Sydney and I loved it. I found one
thing odd the while looking for nice sit-down type of restaurants
for dinner, I noticed that most of them were fairly empty (maybe one
or two couples sitting in a huge restaurant, even at 7pm or 8pm at
night). Is this typical? I realize it's winter in Sydney now, but I
was surprised by just how desolate a lot of the restaurants looked
(and I looked in several different areas). Even cafes weren't
brimming over with patrons. Maybe I'm just more accustomed to being
relatively crowded in Boston, but this killed some of the fun of
eating out for me.

Is it expected that you pay at the counter in restaurants? I noticed
that sometimes my waiter didn't bring a check to my table (or
sometimes, the check was brought, but never collected).

Hope these questions aren't too weird, I'm just curious about the
local customs...

-Emerick
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Emerick Rogul /\/ "how young are you, how old am i?
/\/ let's count the rings around my eyes."
------------------------------------------------- 'i will dare', the mats

There may have been specific reasons for the low patronage, but Sydney seems
to have an excess of restaurants currently. Summer evenings and weekends are
usually quite busy.

The method of paying the bill varies from restaurant to restaurant and
certainly at cafe type establishments paying at the counter is common. I
dined in Newcastle last Sunday at a slightly up-market place - no bill, just
front the cashier and you are presented with the computer generated account.

Hope that helps.

--
The Commissioner

www.the-commissioner.com




"Emerick Rogul" wrote in message
...
I'm just back from a visit to Sydney and I loved it. I found one
thing odd the while looking for nice sit-down type of restaurants
for dinner, I noticed that most of them were fairly empty (maybe one
or two couples sitting in a huge restaurant, even at 7pm or 8pm at
night). Is this typical? I realize it's winter in Sydney now, but I
was surprised by just how desolate a lot of the restaurants looked
(and I looked in several different areas). Even cafes weren't
brimming over with patrons. Maybe I'm just more accustomed to being
relatively crowded in Boston, but this killed some of the fun of
eating out for me.

Is it expected that you pay at the counter in restaurants? I noticed
that sometimes my waiter didn't bring a check to my table (or
sometimes, the check was brought, but never collected).

Hope these questions aren't too weird, I'm just curious about the
local customs...

-Emerick
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Emerick Rogul /\/ "how young are you, how old am i?
/\/ let's count the rings around my eyes."
------------------------------------------------- 'i will dare', the mats

You didn't say what restaurant, or where they were. I am sure that
the restaurants that cater for the tourist trade are finding it very
slow - at least in Sydney - but the more local cafes/restaurants that
cater to the locals still seem to be very busy. Most of us don't tell
others about them, don't want to spoil the atmosphere, but if you ask
nicely any local will be happy to point you in the direction of their
favorite local restaurants.

Tom

Its Winter in Aus, not tourist season so that means a lot less people in
restaurants, try pubs, most have ceased to be "ptomaine palaces"

--

"Emerick Rogul" wrote in message
...
| I'm just back from a visit to Sydney and I loved it. I found one
| thing odd the while looking for nice sit-down type of restaurants
| for dinner, I noticed that most of them were fairly empty (maybe one
| or two couples sitting in a huge restaurant, even at 7pm or 8pm at
| night). Is this typical? I realize it's winter in Sydney now, but I
| was surprised by just how desolate a lot of the restaurants looked
| (and I looked in several different areas). Even cafes weren't
| brimming over with patrons. Maybe I'm just more accustomed to being
| relatively crowded in Boston, but this killed some of the fun of
| eating out for me.
|
| Is it expected that you pay at the counter in restaurants? I noticed
| that sometimes my waiter didn't bring a check to my table (or
| sometimes, the check was brought, but never collected).
|
| Hope these questions aren't too weird, I'm just curious about the
| local customs...
|
| -Emerick
| --
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Emerick Rogul /\/ "how young are you, how old am i?
| /\/ let's count the rings around my eyes."
| ------------------------------------------------- 'i will dare', the mats