Zest's main competition is probably Mocha Joe's, and I'd say they're arguably cheaper and better quality. The food quality is top notch, and considering the price, it should be...

The decor inside is quite modern and the service is fast enough. Zest is situated in Glen Waverley - which is known primarily for all the Malaysian-Chinese restaurants, so it already has a point of difference, and is probably better than its competitors (Mocha Joe's, Shine) based on its price and quality.

Approximate cost: $18

There's quite a few Italian restaurants in Lygon Street, but Papa Gino's still stands out. It's the most family oriented of all the venues in the area, what with the good service and cuisine for all tastes. It has a vibrant interior decor but it is probably nicer to sit outside to eat and watch the world go by you whilst you eat.

I had the canneloni, but my friends ordered several other dishes and all of them looked (and presumably tasted) great. The one that was probably a little less than average was the steak, but that can't be blamed, as it's not necessarily a steak house.

Approximate cost: $15

Pie in the Sky has had great word of mouth for the area for a while now, and I can see why. It's a great place to stop by for a bite whilst in the area. The pies win a lot of awards for a reason, the beef and the pastry is quite outstanding. I had the beer-battered pie, which was as good as the awards say.

I'd say the price of the pie WITH sides is a bit too much, considering the price of your usual pie, but with all the positive word of mouth and extra business, you can understand the rationale. Also, I'd say that maybe they could cut down on the amount of items on their menu and streamline it based on the more popular items instead.

Approximate cost: $12

Generally, pho is a great, cheap food option - and this place is no exception. There are only 2 pho places in the Bayswater suburb, and this one is probably the better of the two.

The best way you can determine the quality of pho is by the broth and the beef. The broth isn't laden full with MSG, which is always a plus. Also, the beef is of a pretty good quality and is cooked/uncooked to the right specification. Having sliced rare beef as actually rare, without it being totally cooked by the soup is important, and this place does it well.

The only con, would be the service being a slight bit slow, but maybe that was because the restaurant was slightly more busy than usual.

Approximate cost: $8

I'd heard great things about Straits but honestly, I thought it was just slightly better than average. There aren't that many great Malaysian hawker style restaurants in the area, so that helps Straits out as well. I might need to go again to try other dishes as well, as I've only have the Char Kuey Teow.

Approximate cost: $12

We were on a short trip on the Great Ocean Road and decided to have a one night stop in Lorne on the way. Everything in Lorne is in close proximity to everything else, and the Grand Pacific Hotel was no exception.

The service was quite good, and whilst it was a bit pricy, so are most hotels in the area around this time of year. I rated the quality one star lower than I would have, mainly for two things. We got the deluxe king room with both a spa and a king bed. We were a bit disappointed because the spa was a bit smaller than we expected, and the king bed was just two single beds strung together. Other than that, it was rather homely and eventually wasn't too bad for a one night stay.

Approximate cost: $160

Glen Waverley is pretty Asian-oriented, so there's more than enough places to get bubble tea. The location away from Kings Way makes it less attractive to most customers, but their product is as good as any. Plus there's a lot of options and customizations for any bubble or milk tea lover!

Approximate cost: $4

It's a decent Italian restaurant in terms of quality, but the service doesn't always respond, and the food can be a bit pricey compared to other similar themed restaurants.

Approximate cost: $20

I'm baffled by all the negative comments. Yes, it's called Ra-Ramen, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily a Japanese Ramen restaurant. It's more of a Taiwanese noodle and dumpling cafe, and it delivers on that.

Plus they have free slurpee.

Approximate cost: $11

It's always full, so that's a good thing and a bad thing. Good in that it shows that the restaurant is popular, but bad in that it's very difficult to get a table, considering it's quite small and will inevitably be packed on a weekend for dinner. The service will tend to be a bit lacking because of these issues.

It is authentic Korean food at a decent price. Just a tip: don't get the cold fruit noodles. Whilst that may sound exotic and interesting, it just doesn't work. Everything else is great though!

Approximate cost: $15