Altar

So, I had a friend read my blog the other day to give me a bit of feedback, and he recommended I make my blogs more 'scannable'. I must have looked a bit blank because he sent me this link to illustrate his point. I had a read of it and decided to try to implement some of the suggestions in my next review, so bear with me.

Firstly, the author suggested using pictures, so I threw this logo in there. Nice, right?

Secondly they recommended headings and sub headings, so we'll try this one:

First Impressions
(Notice how it was bolded so as to grab attention? That was another tip.)

Altar on Mount Eden Road is in a large converted villa, very elegant and welcoming. There's not a lot of on site parking, but if you time it right you should be able to snag a spot on the street nearby. It was nearly empty when we walked in for a late lunch, and very spacious and airy. We were instantly greeted by a waiter who gave us a little table in a corner next to some wide open french doors leading to a courtyard and left us with menus and lemon water.

We had arrived just as the kitchens were closing, but they very graciously offered to keep them open long enough for us to order from the brunch menu before they closed to get ready for the dinner service.

Food
(Look, another sub heading.)

The article on 'scannable blogs' also suggested using lists to make key points clear, so here's a quick list of some things on the menu that caught my eye.

• eggs benedict - I'm a huge fan and this one sounded delicious, with the option of spinach, salmon or bacon as an accompaniment.
  
• homestyle hash - potato, salmon, salad, poached egg, hollandaise... what else could you need?
• lemon chicken sandwich - self explainatory.

Good list? My mom and I both ordered the hash, and it was absolutely stunning. A huge bowl of delicious baked potato cubes and salmon with a poached egg covered in hollandaise and surrounded by salad leaves. (I bolded that to emphasis its importance.) It was exactly what one wants for a late lunch, and despite it's being a generous serving, I managed to finish it. My brother ordered the lemon chicken sandwich and I didn't try any but I'm guessing the totally clean plate was an indication that it was a success.

Service

The service was great - very efficient and friendly - and the waiter was dead cute. Which may not be relevant to the level of service, but it certainly helped my enjoyment of the meal.

Now, I'm going to put a paragraph break in here because I'm meant to be using short paragraphs so as not to lose my reader in my big blocks of text.

It was a bit expensive, so this might be a bit of a special occasion spot, but the food was excellent, so I don't hesitate to recommend it, even if just for a coffee, to enjoy the service and the location. They also do tapas in the evening, which I'm very keen to try.

I'm also supposed to be doing block quotes, so here's one from my brother to finish off:

That was delicious! I'm so full! I'll just have a little bit of your potato...