Yes, Sizzler. Mike wasn't happy about it, but I'd seen it there, on the corner of Davis and East 14th, for years now, and I thought that sometime I should review it. And why not? Yeah, it's a lowly chain, but once upon a time that lowly chain represented the epithomy of culinary achievement to me. Growing up, or at least during that period that constituted my growing up in America, we were poor. Our idea of a fine meal out - on those rare occasions when we had one - was Bob's Big Boy (and really, their double cheeseburgers rocked). Sizzler was a couple of steps up from that, a place where we'd go in the most special of special occasions, and in particular if my aunt Gladys was paying. And indeed, I think I had my graduation dinner at Sizzler's.

But times have changed, at least for me. And like it or not we look down at Sizzler's. I haven't had their food in many years, so it may be unfair, but we didn't recall it as being particularly good. Our visit a few days ago, didn't really improve our opinion.

Mike had their cheeseburger, which he couldn't have made to order. It was well done instead - I guess they don't trust their meat. In any case, it wasn't dry. Still, he prefers the much cheaper burgers from Nation's instead.

I ordered the ribs. Yes, I know, Sizzler is a "steakhouse" and I should have ordered the steak, but they just didn't look good in the pictures. The ribs weren't bad. The BBQ sauce was generic, the type of stuff you get from a bottle, but the ribs were tender and meaty enough. Of course, they couldn't compete with those from Chili's.

The kids had the equivalent to the chicken nuggets, and I thought they were pretty good for chicken nuggets. They didn't taste frozen.

The fries that came with our meals were sort of wimpy. The cheesy toast was very good, however.

The really low point of the evening was the service. I wanted a refill on my drink, and not only the waiter never came to ask me if I wanted one, but he was nowhere to be found.

In all, it was an OK but not special experience, and I don't see why I'd go back.

Sizzler
201 Davis St
San Leandro, CA
(510) 483-0110
http://www.sizzler.com/

Most of what I asked for in my Christmas list was cooking stuff, so it's no wonder that lots of my presents (from both DH and my mom) was kitchen stuff.

Mike got me a Wüstholf Classic Ikon 6' cook's knife. It's small because he didn't trust me with something bigger. I can also tell you it's very sharp - I cut my finger just trying to get it out of the box. I'm now deadly afraid of it. And I need a sheath! I don't know where Mike thought I'd store it!

He also got me a 250w Kitchen Aid mixer. I saw it as a deal in Amazon.com (it was $110, I think) and he said to go and buy it. I still have it unwrapped it as I know what it is, and I would prefer to clean the kitchen and figure out where I'm going to put it first. Meanwhile it looks nice as a present :)

My mother got me a Nonstick Aluminum 5Q Tools of the Trade "Chef's Pan". It sort of looks like a paella pan, but with a long handle. I'm not big in nonstick or aluminum. Well, I'm not big on cheap pans in general, but I guess I should find some use for it. Not sure for what, given that it's not too different from a pan I already have and love - but we'll see.

She also got me a cheapy nonstick aluminum skillet. That should be more useful, though what I really wanted was a good quality frying pan. But my mother believes one shouldn't buy good quality pans because their bottom will turn dark anyway, so it's better to buy cheap ones and then replace them. I don't agree, but you can't look at a gift horse in the mouth.

I've been looking for a spice mill, and she said she couldn't find one so she bought me a salt and pepper set instead. And she got me a huge bottle of black pepper. I can't imagine I'll ever run out of pepper in this life time - specially considering that the children don't like spicy food. But I think my mother may have been confused when she bought it and thought the flimsy plastic container of pepper was actually a pepper mill.

She did better with a very nice set of mixing tools from Kitchen Aid. There is a heavy plastic bowl, a whisk, measuring cups and spoons, and a spatula. I did need a spatula, and a mixing bowl is useful (though what I wanted was a set of larger mixing bowls with lids) - but I got set of whisks last year and THREE sets of measuring cups/spoons. Now I have four.

On the plus side, she did get me a tureen before Xmas, which I really wanted and was really useful for serving soup at Xmas dinner.

So that was it for this year, next I think I'm asking /Mike/ for a good quality blender :)

A few weeks ago I went back to Matterhorn with my friends Eddie, Parker and Katrina. It was our last girls' night out, as Katrina was moving to Mexico for a stint and Eddie is moving away for good. I can't tell you how sad I am. But that night was happy, and we had great food and conversation.

We ordered two fondues, a cheese one (the Highlander - with cheddar and gruyere) and a meat one (I think it was the fondue bacchus), and extra sides such as shrimp, sausages and apples. The fondues were great, but I wouldn't recommend the sausages for the cheese one, their flavor was just too strong. The meats are high quality and come with a wide variety of sauces, I particularly liked a curry flavored one. There was a lot of food, and we ate an incredible amount.

They only have one choice of chocolate fondue for dessert, but it was very good as well, though perhaps a little too runny for my taste. I like the ones I make at home better.

The only sour note of the evening was the service. The waiter/waitress was MIA all evening.

Still, if I was in the mood for fondue, I'd go back.

Original Review

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

Mae's Soul Food is the newest venture to open on Victoria Court in San Leandro - at the space occupied until a couple of months ago by Joplin's. Indeed, it was to Joplin's where we were headed today, for a burger, when we noticed that the sign with that name was no longer in front of the business. A new owner and a new menu greeted us inside, and always the adventurers we decided to give it a try. But for the fact that we got stuffed, it was not a bad call.

Mae's Soul Food specializes in fried food, their menu, indeed, is pretty short and basically includes fried fish, fried shrimp, fried chicken and fried pork, available in various combinations with or without gravy. There are also a plethora of side dishes, from candied yams to red beans and rice. There are also po boy sandwiches, made with, you guessed it, fried meats. Don't come here if you are watching your weight. Prices go from $7 for a 3 pieces of fried chicken to $17.50 for a seafood combo platter with shrimp.

I had the 3-pieces of chicken platter with french fries. The three chicken drumsticks were large and meaty, they were very nicely breaded and seasoned, and they tasted fresh and crisp. They also managed to not be oily. If I wanted fried chicken, I'd definitely come here. The fries were less successful, they were very thick and long, soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. Not my favorite type.

Mike had the chicken po boy sandwich, which was also enormous, and he liked it though he'd preferred less bones on his chicken. He also liked the crispy romaine lettuce in the accompanying salad. Mae, the proprietor, is proud on not skimping in either quantity or quality, and the results show.

Service, at the hands of her son, was good - but, as we were warned, it takes quite a lot of time to get the food to the table. It's made to order and it takes time for chicken to fry. Don't come here if you are in a hurry.

Atmosphere wise, the place is not very different from what it was Joplin's - there are still some Joplin posters around. They have, however, decorated with a nice array of beautiful wooden African masks.

My final warning is that they still don't have heat in the restaurant, so if you are coming here bring your jacket.

I should mention this is not the Mae's first venture as a restauranteur. Her restaurant was previously open in a high-crime section of Oakland, Mae decided to move to make it safer for her customers to eat at her restaurant.

Mae's Soul Food
585 Victoria Court
San Leandro, CA
510-382-9200

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

I got the following message today in response to my failed attempt at cooking Belizean rice and beans. I thought I'd share it with all of you who want to know how to do it right. Thanks Dorla!

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I saw your recipe for the above dish from Belize. I wanted to share my
mother's recipe with you, and see if you like this one better. The idea is
to make the rice somewhat fluffy, but not sticky, so after you add the rice
to the beans, as shown in step 5, stir (only once), after 30 mins the rice
will need to fluffed with a fork, and at that time, you will know the
consistency, and if a little water is needed, you sprinkle a little around
the edge of the pot and in the center, but I have made this recipe a
thousand times, and did not need any water. I also use long grain rice, and
it comes out perfect every time.

Ingredients

1 lb. Red Kidney Beans 2 plugs Garlic (crushed)
1 tsp. Salt 1 cup coconut Milk (either squeezed from grated coconut or
bought prepared, canned, or made from powered variety)
½ tsp. Black pepper
½ tsp. Thyme 2 lbs. cleaned Rice
1 medium Onion (sliced) 6-8 cups of water
(optional) 1 small pigtail or salt beef or pieces of bacon

Method

1. Wash the beans, then soak beans for 4 hours, using the 6-8 cups of water.
If you are using distilled water, then soaked beans only needs 2 hours to
soften.

2. Boil beans until tender, with the garlic, onion and pig’s tail/or salted
beef or bacon pieces. Note: pre-wash the pigtail or salt beef and cut off
excess fat. You can use a pressure cooker to cut down on the time.

3. Season beans with black pepper, thyme and salt. Note: You may opt not to
add the salt if you used salt beef or pigtail above.

4. Add coconut milk. Stir and then let boil.

5. Add rice to seasoned beans. Stir, then cover. Cook on low heat until the
water is absorbed and rice is tender. If necessary, add more water gradually
until rice is tender. Note: Usually, one cup of rice absorbs two cups of
water, although rice grains can vary in the amount of water they absorb. To
warm up leftover rice-and-beans, you can sprinkle with water to re-moisten.