Hot Tomato (Nex)

Hot Tomato is one of those casual western food places you'll walk past without giving it a second glance and think it serves crappy pirated western food. I'm happy to say that its actually not :)

The place was packed when I went on a Sat afternoon for lunch, with a mostly young crowd. A quick glance through the menu told us why.

The prices are extremely reasonable and definitely affordable for even those on a tight dating budget. For any main course, you just need to add $4.50 for a garlic bread, soup of the day and a choice of soft drink or coffee/tea. Given that the cheapest main on the menu is $4.90 (plain alio olio), this is truly value for money. Garlic bread - Each person only gets 1 piece but it is fairly sized and tasty with the garlic spread and herbs. Mushroom soup - I was expecting Campbell-ish soup like many other (sometimes more expensive places) serve but this is quite good! Home-made and had the quality similar to what a proper restaurant would serve. Thumbs up!

Teriyaki chicken chop ($8.90) - This came with a big slab of chicken complete with skin on a bed of alio olio and served with a side of greens (iceberg lettuce?) drizzled with some vinegrette-like dressing. The teriyaki sauce was good and the alio olio al dente. The only grouse I had was having to remove the skin which contained most of the teriyaki sauce but the chicken itself was fresh, thankfully.

Service was alright and we didnt have to wait long for the food. The visit exceeded my expectations I must say, and the prices makes the value really hard to beat.