I love Grocery Outlet, you never know what you'll find there. Today I found, of all things, Tortuga Caribbean Rum Cakes. I had never heard of it until a few weeks ago when I started researching my upcoming Cayman menu. Apparently, these cakes are a very famous Cayman product, known throughout the Caribbean. I was planning on making a rum cake myself (from this recipe), but I'm thrilled at finding the real thing. And at Grocery Outlet, no less!

Of course, the price is also unbeatable - $1.50 for the 4oz cake. Not cheap in the abstract, but Amazon sells the 16-Ounce cake for over $13, twice the per-ounce price. The cake gets great reviews at Amazon and other places. I'm not sure if I'll save it for when I serve my Cayman menu or whether I should just eat it and buy more if I like it.

I originally tried (and reviewed) Knudsen's Ice Creamery in 2004, soon after they opened. We went several times after that, but for some reason we hadn't been back in a couple of years. We finally went yesterday (9/5/09) and, as usual, we had a great time.

Knudsen's had not changed much since our last visit, it looks pretty much the same, but the food and service had improved, while the ice cream had gone downhill. Mike and I shared the sliders ($10), four little sandwiches, each with a different filling: grilled chicken (bland), angus burger (quite nice), bbq pork (very nice) and pot-roast (ok, also somewhat bland). It came with a small portion of fries (standard) and fried onion shavings (ok). The girls had the chicken nuggets ($3 - 5 per portion) and they enjoyed it. In Mika, my 7yo's words, "they are better than McDonald's chicken nuggets" (note, we don't take her to McDonald' s, but family members do from time to time).

I was disappointed by the ice cream, however. It's now made in-house rather than by Fentons. I thought that the flavors were very mild. The maple nut we had was pretty good, but the peanut butter cup ice cream tasted as a malted chocolate ice cream, there was barely any peanut butter in it. Mika's mocha almond fudge, in particular, had an off taste that I disliked. She was happy with it; her only complaint was that it wasn't as creamy as the ones I make (but I usually follow Ben and Jerry's recipes).

The hot fudge and caramel sauces, on the other hand, were quite good.

In all, we had a very pleasant meal at Knudsen's, but I'm not super eager to return.

Knudsen's Ice Creamery
3323 Castro Valley Blvd
Castro Valley, CA
(510) 582-2775
http://www.icecreamery.net/

2004 review
2006 update

2010 Update: Double B has closed. Sylantro Vietnamese Cuisine has opened in its location.

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I thought I had written a review of Double B Ranch & Grill a couple of months ago, when Mike and I had dinner there. However, I can't find it anywhere, so it must only have been written in my imagination. Of course, a couple of months are a long time and I now don't remember the meal in great detail, so I'll do the best I can :-)

My general impression of Double B Ranch & Grill was that it was an OK restaurant, but grossly overpriced for the atmosphere and food. The restaurant is located in a strip mall, and the inside looks like it, though it's been spiffed up with a cowboy theme. The menu is brief, specializing on grilled items, with prices in the mid-to-high teens for most entrees - even for lunch!

I had a cheeseburger ($10), despite the fact that they will not cook it medium rare (one good reason to not go back). It was OK, a bit dry as it was overcooked. The cook also forgot to take the piece of paper that separates cheese slices, so I found myself eating paper! Not a big deal, however, just somewhat amusing.

Mike had the ribs (and he had them again at a subsequent lunch visit) and he liked how off-the-bone tender they were, but he found them too dry. The BBQ sauce was OK, nothing spectacular. The portion was generous (it should be, for $17!) and came with beans (which he liked) and run of the mill steak fries.

In all, it wasn't a bad meal but not one I'd have again at those prices.

Double B Ranch & Grill
967 Manor Blvd
San Leandro, CA
(510) 352-1874

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

Marga's Food Page

A reader asks whether someone can confirm that there was a Prings satellite restaurant in Hayward (on Mission, near Cal State) in 1965. If you can confirm, please let me know (marga@lacabe.com. Thanks!

It's been over five years since the last time that we ate at Pyzano's in Castro Valley. We usually either get pizza delivered to our house or go to Angelina's in San Leandro, we like their pizza and they have a little section where children can sit and play.

Our plans for tonight were to go to Berkeley, get a slice of pizza at Blondie's or Fat Slice and walk around. Alas, there was a home football game and it was impossible to get to Berkeley, much less find a parking space close to campus. So we postponed the visit to another time.

Meanwhile, Camila wanted pizza so, after some deliberation, we decided to go to Pyzano's. I was hoping that they would have their cooks tossing the pizza dough and that Camila would get a kick out of it - unfortunately it appears they are not doing that anymore.

I was kind of surprised to find Pyzano's only half-full on a Saturday night (about 6 PM), but I guess the economy has been affecting everyone. I should also say that Pyzano is pretty pricey for a pizzeria - I think Camila's mini cheese pizza was about $7, while our large "Primo" (pepperoni, salami, smoked ham, bacon, Italian susage, and linguica) was about $23. Drinks were an extra $2.50 each, not cheap. But Pyzano makes up for the prices by serving a high quality pizza. The thick dough is very tasty by itself and works great with the other ingredients. All the toppings in our pizza tasted fresh and went well together. We really liked it.

We also ordered a portion of meatballs ($8 for 5 meatballs and 4 slices of cheesy garlic bread), and I have to say these were the best meatballs I've eaten at a restaurant. They were incredibly light, with very little filling, and perfectly seasoned. They came in a tomato pasta sauce that reminded me very much of the one once served at Pirro's (a little Italian restaurant in Berkeley which I used to go to when I was in college). The garlic bread was also good, in particular when dipped in the sauce.

In all, we had a very good meal - and so much pizza left over that we'll be eating it for the next couple of days :-)

Pyzano's Pizzeria
3835 E Castro Valley Blvd
Castro Valley, CA
(510) 881-8878
www.pyzanospizzeria.com

Marga's Restaurant Reviews

I'm not sure how I got this wine but I took it today to a pic-nic and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It's deep, but easy to drink, somewhat fruity. Very light tannins. Just nice :-)

Restaurant.com is selling its gift certificates for 90% off (use code NINETY). That means that a $25 gift certificate costs $1 and a $50 one, $2. There is usually a minimum purchase, about $35-$50 for a $25 GC and $100 for a $50 GC.

I've used restaurant.com gift certificates several times now, and I've not have any problems with them.

Grocery Outlet is selling a 1qt carton of Land o lakes heavy whipped cream for $1.50. Safeway usually sells their 1 qt carton of Lucerne regular whipping cream for about $4.50 - 5.50, so this is quite a bargain. HOWEVER, the expiration date on the cream is 9/22 - which means that it's only good for the next 10 days or so. But if you want it for something right away, it's a good deal. As for myself, I'm making strawberry ice cream now, and I'll figure out what else this weekend.

Last weekend we found ourselves hungry on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley. We'd had pizza the night before, so I didn't want to have it again, but I wanted to have something cheap. We saw Naan n' Curry, and wrongly assumed that it'd make for a cheap meal. That it didn't do, I think I paid $24 for lunch, much more than an Indian buffet would have been, but the food was definitely better than what we'd had the last time we ate there. The portions, however, were in the small side - specially the lamb tikka masala. We had no leftovers besides naan.

As I mentioned, I got the lamb tikka masala. The lamb was tender but somewhat dry. The sauce was very nice, well balanced with a minimum amount of spiciness There was plenty of it, which we were happy to eat with the plain and garlic naan that I also ordered. Mike had the lamb chops tandoori and he was quite happy with it. I thought that the spicing hadn't really penetrated the meat, but it was OK.

All in all, I think that Naan n' Curry is too expensive for what it is, and I rather go to a buffet next time.

Naan n'Curry
2366 Telegraph Avenue
Berkeley, CA
510-841-6226
http://www.naancurry.com/
Hours: 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM

Original Review

Marga's Restaurant Reviews

My fresh oregano and thyme have passed on to a better life - but here I'll post recipes I find that use both or either and that I can make again when I get some new herbs:

Grilled Lamb Chops with Salmoriglio Sauce

Grocery Outlet is selling a branded tin that includes a 20-teabag package of Twinings tea (Lady Gray or English Breakfast) for $3. This is actually /not/ a good deal - as you can often get said package for $2.50 on sale at the supermarket - but I ran out of tea so I bought it. I think I can use the tin for crafts (or to hold craft supplies), so it may be worth those extra 50 cents I paid for it. But I'm not at all surprised that that particular item didn't sell well at regular stores.

I also got Kellogs Cocoa-peanut butter puffs for $1 for a box, Haagen Dazs Hawaiian Lehua Honey & Sweet cream ice cream and Zambeedo Creme de chocolat ice cream. Both are $1.50, I think. I actually liked the sweet cream ice cream quite a bit. It has an amazingly creamy texture, and a nice, light flavor. There isn't much honey to speak of, but when you get some mixed in with your ice cream, it's quite nice. I'd buy it again. The same cannot be said about the Zambeedo ice cream, which leaves *much* to be desired. First of all, it was melted and re-frozen (a not unusual problem with frozen products at Grocery Outlet), and second, it had a very, very light flavor, not at all chocolaty. Again, it's no wonder this product ended up here.

Finally, I got a 2-oz bottle of McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract for $3 (it sells for $11.50 at Safeway). Alas, once I got home I realized that it contains corn syrup (?!!), so I won't be buying it again. Maybe that's why it's not selling well at the regular stores?

And that's about it for now.

A couple of days ago my friend Mauro and I met for lunch, and he suggested going to Ohgane Korean BBQ Restaurant. They have a lunch buffet ($9 or $10) and he'd enjoyed previously. I'd never been to a Korean buffet and it's been ages since I've had Korean food, so I eagerly agreed.

I can't really comment on how good the buffet was, as I stuck to the meat options. But Mauro was quite happy with the vegetarian and seafood entrees. The meat entrees, basically Korean BBQ, were very good - in particular the short ribs. They had a smokey, meaty flavor I really liked.

The restaurant itself is sort of generic and not particularly inviting, the buffet dining room is large, with long tables that you share, and with sort of a dinning commons feel.

In all, it was a good buffet, though somewhat expensive, and I'd go again.

Ohgane Korean BBQ Restaurant
3915 Broadway
Oakland, CA 94611
(510) 594-8300

Marga's Restaurant Reviews

My friend Rachid Habibi has opened a cafe in Berkeley. Mo'Joe Cafe is located at 2517 Sacramento St., on the corner of Blake. The cafe is pretty new and serves fair trade/organic coffee (of course) and a wide variety of teas. There are smoothies and fresh pastries, and for those looking for lunch, they have sandwiches and paninis made to order on locally baked breads. They serve soups and salads as well, with house made dressing.

The cafe displays pieces from local artists and they occasionally have music and poetry events.

And if all that was not enough, they get almost 5-stars from yelp (with 22 votes so far).

If you live in Berkeley or just find yourself in Berkeley, give it a try.

Mo'Joe Cafe
2517 Sacramento St.
Berkeley, Ca
(510)704-8500

Hours:
M-Th 6:30-6pm
F 6:30am-8pm
Sa 7am-8pm
Su 8am-6pm
www.facebook.com/MoJoeCafe

I've had pretty bad luck with pesto sauces - to the point that I was wondering if the problem was my basil. But yesterday I made one that I actually liked. Here is the recipe (based on this recipe at allrecipe.com).

Pesto

• 1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 small garlic cloves
• 1/4 tsp. chili powder

A few days ago I bought a two-pack of Kraft Grated Parmesan cheese. Each jar is 16 oz, and I was getting 2 for $7, so I thought it was a very good deal. Wronnnng! It wasn't until I'd open a jar that I realized the cheese expired Oct. 6th. Now, I realize that Grocery Outlet sells items that are close to expiration date, but 2 weeks? For a packaged cheese product? Who in the world can possibly consume 2 pounds of grated cheese in 2 weeks?

Yes, my bad - in the future I'll check expiration dates very carefully. But also Grocery Outlet's bad for selling such products.

*Update* My blog entries are automatically forwarded to my twitter account, and one of my followers there is Grocery Outlet. Well, they looked into this matter and they are sending me a couple of coupons for the cheese. They will also make sure that, in the future, they will split up containers and lower the price on items, as they get closer to the sell-by date. This makes a lot of sense, I'd have bought one can for $3, but not two for $8 so close to the sell-by date.

Anyway, I'm impressed at how Grocery Outlet dealt with this issue.

I got the Bella Cucina Rocket Blender at Macy's a couple of months ago. It was on sale for $20 with a $10 rebate, so, after tax, I only ended up paying $12 for it (score!). Right now it's $30+ shipping at Macy's, and $27 at Amazon - quite a bit more.

I'd seen the ads for the Magic Bullet on TV, and this one seemed to work on the same principles, just at a much cheaper price. The reviews at Amazon were mixed, according to them the little blender works well, until it stops working altogether, sometimes after a few months. The parts are somewhat delicate, so it's probably a good thing that we have to hand wash it anyway (as we don't have a dishwasher).

I've used it for smoothies quite successfully, it crushes ice quite well. Recently I used it to make pesto sauce, also quite successfully. But it wasn't until yesterday that I had an opportunity to try it for grinding spices - and I'm happy to say it ground cumin and fennel seeds beautifully. This is very important for me, as I haven't had a way to easily grind spices. The mini chopper won't do it, a simple pepper mill doesn't do it either (at least with any ease), and a mortar and pestle are too hard to use, IMHO. So I'm thrilled. I finally can use whole spices and grind them as I need them.

This week we discovered Crunchies at Grocery Outlet. Crunchies are basically dehydrated fruit, but very airy and light. They are made by removing the water from the fruit in a refrigerated vacuum (at least, according to the box). The results are very flavorful, extremely light, crunchy foams of fruit. They supposedly keep their nutrients, but you can eat a full fruit in 2 bites.

Each box of Crunchies comes with 9 packages, 3 of each kind. One contains strawberries, another a mixture of mangoes, strawberries, apples, raspberries, blueberries and peaches, and the final one mangoes, bananas, strawberries, pineapple and oranges. Each package of dried fruit is equivalent to one serving of fruit (which, btw, is either 1 piece of fruit or 1/2 cup of fruit, depending on the fruit in question). Of course, one package of crunchies is unlikely to make even a small dent in your hunger, but it's a very easy, very healthy snack. And quite perfect for when you are craving something sweet.

I'll check later how much the Crunchies were at Grocery Outlet (I can't find the receipt), they have a msp of $9!!!

One of my favorite products at Grocery Outlet is Smithfield cream cheese bars (8 oz for $1.30). Not only are they cheap (which significantly lowers the cost of baking a cheesecake), but the cream cheese has a nice, solid/stringy consistency that is wonderful for New York (and other) cheesecakes, and a vibrant, fresh flavor. I have gotten nothing but compliments for the NY cheesecake that I've been making with this cheese.

One thing to keep in mind, some of the cheese packages may be marked with the "Spanish" date notation (day-month-year). The ones currently on sale expire on "02-12-09", which means on December 2nd, 2009.

And for those of you planning to make cheesecakes today, Grocery Outlet also has honey maid graham crackers ($2), sugar ($2.50, I think) and jumbo eggs ($1.50 a dozen). If you do use my recipe, note that it's for large eggs, so reduce by one if using the jumbo size.