Marga's Foodblog

Khana Peena Indian Cuisine - Oakland - Buffet Review

2009-07-04T01:19:37Z

A couple of days ago I went with my friend Mauro to lunch at Khana Peena. He likes it quite a bit, but I was not crazy about the buffet. It had many of the usual dishes: chicken tikka masala, a lamb curry, chicken tandoori, naan, rice and so forth. It was $10, including soda. The place itself is very nice, in particular the outside patio which has benches and pillows and lots of fresh air. Inside it looks a bit more elegant than your run-of-the-mill Indian restaurant. I wasn't thrilled with the food, though. It was OK, but I thought the curries needed more "ummph", not necessarily spiciness, but something to complete the flavor. The chicken tandoori also wasn't very flavorful, but most importantly, it was quite undercooked. The rice and naan were nice. I wouldn't be rushing back to Khana Peena, but I won't mind if Mauro suggests it again. Khana Peena Indian Cuisine 5316 College Ave. Oakland, CA 510-658-2300 Marga's Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

My Ultimate Tandoori - San Leandro - Restaurant Review

2009-07-02T16:28:10Z

As I announced a couple of days ago, La Bella Italia has become "My Ultimate Tandoori". Its old Italian menu is not changed, but it's now complimented by an Indian menu. The new menu offers a plethora of entrees from all over India ($8-13 a la carte, $12-17 with plain naan, rice, salad and lentils), including quite a few vegetarian entrees. There are several appetizers and desserts in their take-out menu, but they were not included in the dine-in menu that we were given (after asking for it, they gave us the Italian menu by default). Appetizers in the take-out menu include vegetable (but not chicken) pakoras for $5 and chicken samosas for $6. They also have a variety of naans ($1.25 - 4), but not kabuli naan. Though not in their menu, they do serve lassis. I had a sweet lassi, which was OK. For some reason it was pink - it tasted a little bit of curd, but mostly of sugar; it was extremely sweet. I think next time I'd ask them to make it less sweet. Dinner started with their usual rolls and butter - the rolls were warm, but a bit stale this time. They also brought us papadums, which were very crispy but too spicy for my taste. They were not served with the cilantro and sweet-sour sauces that usually accompany it at other restaurants. For dinner we had our "staples": chicken tikka masala ($9), lamb korma ($10), a plain naan ($1.25) and an onion kulcha ($3). I also ordered rice ($2, I think). The tikka masala and korma sauces were quite similar - the korma being more spicy (we ordered them medium). They were thick, flavorful, without much in the way of sweetness. The tikka masala lacked any pretension of smokyness, and the korma was probably bolder and less creamy than other kormas I've had. I wasn't crazy about them, but that's probably a matter of individual taste. I did eat them all (helped by naan), I just didn't love them. The chicken, unfortunately, was quite dry and the lamb a bit too tough. I'm not an expert on identifying rice grains, but I can tell you that the rice served here was not basmati. The grains were pretty thick, and it was stickier than it should have been (perhaps it was a tad overcooked). It also tasted very plain, without the nutiness of basmati. Interestingly, I found that the curries were horrible when eaten together with the rice - fortunately we had the naan. The naan and the kulcha were quite nice, and I would order them again. Dinner came up to $40 after tax and tip - a little steep, I think. Service was good, though the waiter failed to let us know about the Indian menu, and he did not tell us what we could order off-menu (such as appetizers, desserts and lassis). In all, we had a pleasant meal but not one we would be rushing to have again. The food at Favorite India, in Hayward, is considerably more to my linking and its entrees are a dollar or two cheaper. My Ultimate Tandoori delivers with a $30 minimum order; Favorite India does as well, but only to parts of San Leandro. Still, I'm quite happy that Ultimate Tandoori has opened and I imagine I will go back with friends when we don't want to have an Indian dinner in the city. I'm also planning on trying their lunch buffet ($7 without a drink - 11 AM to 3 PM daily) (see update below) My Ultimate Tandoori 15015 East 14th St. San Leandro, CA 510-278-5899 Daily 11 AM - 3 PM and 4 PM - 10 PM San Leandro Restaurant Reviews Marga's Indian recipes: Balti Bengali

Update Today I went to lunch to My Ultimate TAndoori with a couple of friends. The buffet lunch had regular salad, raita, plums (I think), vegetable pakora, chicken tandoori, a seafood curry, a lamb curry and chicken tikka masala (I think). It also had rice, some spinach dish, daal, a vegetable curry (I think) and, for dessert, gulab jamun and a rice pudding. The buffet was $7, with drink and tax it came out to $10. A hot butter naan is served at the table. All in all I thought it was an average Indian buffet. The naan and the gulab jamun were simply delicious. The chicken tandoori was a little uneven, the first piece I got was very good and flavorful, others less so. The meat curries tasted about the same as they did the other night. They were thick and tasty, but they were missing something. Perhaps they have not simmered for long enough. Once again I found the chicken somewhat tough, and I preferred to eat the curries with the delicious naan. I didn't try the vegetable selections. One of my friends really liked them mixed with raita - the other one didn't do so and found them too spicy. In all, it was an OK buffet, though not one of the best I've had. I expect that I'll go there from time to time and you should give it a try too.

San Leandro Restaurants in Restaurant.com

2009-07-01T17:35:49Z

The economic situation is being tough on San Leandro restaurants - and many of them are resorting to coupons to get people in the door. Whereas a few months ago, there were only a couple of San Leandro restaurants in restaurant.com, now you can find quite a few of them. Restaurant.com lets you buy $10 gift certificates for $3, and $25 gift certificates for $10. There is usually a minimum purchase ($35 or $50 for the $25 gc) which may exclude alcoholic drinks. The real deal, though, is that sometimes you can get these certificates for 70-80% off (keep an eye on dealdetectives.com), so our savings can be really substantial. The San Leandro restaurants on restaurant.com now are: -Biggies Brazilian BBQ -El Amigo Mexican -Los Cabos Seafood Mexican Restaurant -Luke's Grill -Porky's Pizza Palace -San Gaspar Restaurante -Sweet Fingers Restaurant -Tito's Mexican Restaurant -Vo's Restaurant There are also a bunch of new restaurants in the surrounding areas, so remember to check out restaurant.com before going to dinner anywhere.

Ciao Bella Italia, Namaste My Ultimate Tandoori

2009-07-01T02:35:47Z

It has happened! San Leandro has finally gotten an Indian restaurant. We've hoped for it, begged for it, and it's finally here. Alas, I haven't been there yet, so I don't know how good it is, but it's here. My Ultimate Tandoori has opened in the space previously occupied by La Bella Italia. The owners of La Bella Italia are themselves Indian (from the Punjab, I'd guess, as they are Sikh) - but their true love is Italian food. Alas, La Bella Italia was not very successful in its current location, I rarely saw anyone there, so they seem to finally give in and give San Leandro what it really needs: an Indian restaurant. They'll continue serving Italian food, however. We had desert there last month, and it was quite good, so they'll hopefully keep that. As for the new menu, it includes your usual North Indian dishes (they have chicken tikka masala and lamb korma, my favorites), but a bunch of others as well. Indeed, I wonder if their menu is not too ambitious. They have a daily lunch buffet for $7 (11 AM - 3 PM). I hope I'll get to go this week - I'll let you know what I think. My Ultimate Tandoori 15015 East 14th St. San Leandro, CA 510-278-5899 Daily 11 AM - 3 PM and 4 PM - 10 PM

Fat Fish Restaurant - San Leandro - Review

2009-06-26T04:41:12Z

I'm not a big Japanese food eater (indeed, I don't eat sushi), but my husband and kids like it, so we go to sushi restaurants from time to time. Of the handful of sushi restaurants in San Leandro, Ozeki Sushi Teriyaki was our favorite. I even liked their teriyaki. It changed names (to Fat Fish), and probably ownership, quite a while ago - and we hadn't gone back since. Today, however, when I agreed to have Japanese food for lunch, that's where we headed. I'm sorry to say that the food quality has gone down considerably. Even though I'm not crazy about the other Japanese restaurants in town, I would definitely not go back to this one. I had the beef teriyaki plate ($8). The beef was tender and lean, and the portion was quite generous, but the beef had not been salted and, in the words of my husband, it was "the blandest piece of meat I've ever eaten". The teriyaki sauce tasted mostly of soy sauce (and yet, not a salty soy sauce). A little salt improved the meat considerably, but not the point of actually calling it "good". Unless you like bland food, take my advise and skip it. You may also want to skip the Lion King roll (a California roll with baked salmon & tobiko). Mike speculates that the salmon & tobiko had been added to the top of the pre-made roll and quickly microwaved - the roll had both hot and cold spots. Needless to say he was not impressed. The miso soup and unagi ($1 per piece) were fine. In all, a disappointing experience. Fat Fish 14701 E 14th St. San Leandro, CA 510-614-8900 M-Sat 11:30 AM - 9:30 PM Sun: 5 - 9:30 PM San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Requirements for "best new chef"? Be male and white

2009-06-09T15:31:33Z

The last issue of Food & Wine magazine has an article about the "best new chefs" and a picture of 11 of them in the cover. Mika, my 7-year-old, took a quick look at it and noticed "there is only one girl". And indeed, she's right. There are also no noticeable minorities. Do you need to be male and white to be noticed as a chef in America? Or are only white men becoming chefs? Top Chef, the Bravo TV reality series, seems to have little trouble finding a good number of women and minorities for its show (though most winners have been white males) - so I don't believe that good, new women & minority chefs are not there, perhaps they are just not cooking at the "bistro"-style restaurants where many new chefs establish their reputations. Or perhaps they are cooking more ethnic cuisine.

On Salting Meats

2009-06-09T00:39:02Z

Food & Wine Magazine has an article in its latest issue on the question of whether meats should be salted before they are cooked. There are few issues that are as controversial in the area of cooking. Some cooks are convinced that if you pre-salt meat, it will dry out. Others think that pre-salting greatly enhances the flavor. Harold McGee, the food scientist author of On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, for his part, states that while lots of salt will dry meat, "the small amount of salt used to season food has a hydrating effect: Salt helps the cells hold on to water" But that's all theory. What's actually the truth when you hit the skillet? Food writer Oliver Schwaner-Albright set to find out. He got some meat, salted some a day ahead, and the other right before cooking. Then he roasted chicken and pork ribs, seared steak and braised lamb shanks. The results? Inconclusive. The pre-salted chicken was more flavorful and moist while the pre-salted ribs were awfully dry. There was no consensus on which steak was better, but the pre-seasoned lamb was definitely more delicious than the other one. So no golden rules, it seems that what works best will depend on the type of meat and preparation. Oh well, I'll have to continue salting by instinct (or recipe) :-)

Food & Wine Magazine

2009-06-09T00:01:35Z

Though I love to write about my experiences with food, I'm not much of a reader of food writing. I use cookbooks mostly for recipes (though some, like Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook are so much fun that even I cannot resist them), barely page through cooking magazines, and cannot make myself follow any food blogs. I'm just not a food reader, what can I say? It's probably for that reason that I did not fall in love with Food & Wine magazine when I started receiving it. It contains lots of long articles about things I care very little about, it has an altogether "posh/foodie" sort of feeling (so very 2005) and I can never find any recipes I want to make. I got the July issue today and I was just about to write lambasting it when, to my great surprise, I actually found some articles I wanted to read (e.g., one on the guy who won Top Chef). First time, I think. Still, one good issue will not make me renew my subscription.

Eating in Barcelona

2009-06-08T16:13:42Z

I had been looking forward to my short trip to Barcelona almost as much for the food I was going to taste as for the places I was going to see and the people I was going to see. With the advent of restaurants such as El Bulli (where I have not been and which does not serve Catalan food) and Manresa (in the Bay Area), Catalan cuisine is achieving some sort of recognition in the US. My sojourn through Catalan cuisine was quite successful and I now wanted to see what Catalan dishes would taste like when cooked right. Alas, I ended up being disappointed, not as much as in the cuisine, as in my own experience with it. The first problem was that for whatever reason I became a bit stomach sick after arriving in Barcelona - whether the culprit was airline food or a Burger King burger from Kennedy airport, I will never know - but the fact was that I didn't feel like eating anything my first day in Barcelona. A small lunch at Restaurante Taxidermista in Barcelona's Plaça Reial was my first introduction to Catalan food - but its brief menu only allowed me to taste pa amb tomaquet (bread with tomato) and some Catalan sausages. They were both very good, however. I didn't eat again until the next day, when I ended up by accident (i.e. telling myself "I'll sit down at the next restaurant I find") at a Galician restaurant somewhere. Here I had some more pa amb tomaquet, some ravioli with sauce and some grilled quail - neither of which impressed me. Once again I skipped dinner that night. The next day was the start of the meeting I was attending. I had lunch with my colleagues at Restaurante Mango, on Aveda. Diagonal 635, very near my hotel. Mango does not actually serve Catalan food, instead concentrating on pizzas, salads, pastas and paellas. I had the Tropix pizza (E12) and it was good, though nothing special. My colleagues seemed happier with their salads and pastas - so maybe pizza is not the way to go here. That evening we had the buffet dinner at Restaurante Contraste, the restaurant of the Hotel Princesa Sofia, where we were staying. This was probably the best buffet dinner I've had. Though the selection wasn't terribly broad, everything they had was fresh and great tasting. I had a simple salad (beware that there are no ready-made dressings, though) and then two of the three pre-made entrees. I think one was cannelloni and the other some stewed meat, very good though a bit salty. There were plenty of desserts, I tried the crema catalana which once again did not impress me - but most of the other bites were quite good. They also have a grill station which I didn't try, my suspicion after several meals is that Spanish/Catalan beef is not particularly good in the first place. Other people seemed quite happy with their selections, though. I think the buffet is about E45-50, but we got a special group rate. In any case, if you want to eat at the buffet you may want to inquire whether it's cheaper if you pay for it when you register. The next two lunches were at the University, where we were served 3-course meals which included wine! Leave it to the Catalans :-) The food was quite good though not terribly exiting. Our second dinner was at a popular restaurant in the Gothic quarter - unfortunately I don't remember the name. We had popular Catalan tapas/appetizers such as croquettes, tomato bread and several things I didn't recognize - but everyone seemed quite happy with them. I had the veal with brie, which seems to be a popular dish in Barcelona, and it was nice but also not too exiting - the veal wasn't as tender as you'd wish. I ate it assuming that baby cows are not mistreated in Spain the way they are in the US - I hope that's true. Our last dinner was at La Botiga, also close to the hotel. It was also quite good. So, what am I left with? Well, my impression now is that Catalan food as randomly served in Barcelona is good and solid, but not magical. My standards, however, may be too high - I've been cooking a lot of really good Mediterranean food lately (you'd be surprised at how many "C" cuisines are in the Mediterranean), and, if I say so myself, I'm quite a good cook, so it takes a LOT to impress me.

Restaurante Taxidermista - Barcelona

2009-06-08T15:58:26Z

I had my first meal in Barcelona at Restaurante Taxidermista about a week and a half ago. I was quite hungry after having roamed around the old part of the city for a while, but I was being too picky as to where and what to eat. I wanted to eat outside, somewhere that had a prix-fix menu that fit my mood. My pickyness was irritating me to no end, so I finally cajoled myself into agreeing to sit down at the next empty table I found at the Placa Reial, where I was as I was carrying on this internal conversation. That ended up being the Restaurante Taxidermista, not altogether a bad choice. The main reason why the Restaurante Taxidermista was not a good choice was that it has a very limited menu, a few appetizers, a couple of sandwiches, maybe some seafood stuff I glanced over, nothing much or much varied. I could have done better elsewhere. Still, there I was, and there I was eating so I ordered a portion of pa amb tomaquet (E 1.75), literally, "bread with tomato", a dish consistent of (French style) bread brushed with a generous amount of olive oil as well as, well, fresh tomato. It sounds simple, and I had meant to make it when I cooked Catalan food, but it is such a Catalan specialty that I wanted to try it. And indeed the dish is no more and no less than the sum of its ingredients, it tastes just like you expect it to taste (though perhaps fresher, given that we are more used to having cooked tomatoes on our bread), and that´s pretty good. I enjoyed it. I also had a plate of butifarra, two Catalan sausages with sweet sauteed onions (E 4.30). The sausages didn´t look that great, but the onions were nicely caramelized (clearly with the help of some sugar), and the sweet and hearty flavors went well together. I also enjoyed it. And that was it. Really. I did have a small coke (E 2.30) and got some Italian ice cream on the way home, but that was it for my first Barcelona lunch. Pretty sad. Restaurante Taxidermista Placa Reial 8 Barcelona Spain 93 412 45 36 http://www.taxidermistarestaurant.com/ Marga's Restaurant Reviews

La Botiga 2 - Barcelona - Restaurant Review

2009-06-08T01:50:30Z

La Botiga is a 3-restaurant chain of mid-priced contemporary Catalan restaurants in Barcelona. A few colleagues and I had dinner at the one located near Avenida Diagonal last Tuesday night, and we were all quite pleased with the experience. We had a very pleasant dinner in the outside patio, the food was good and the service attentive and accommodating. La Botiga's menu offers perhaps half a dozen appetizers, plus some salads, and perhaps a dozen entrees (mostly priced E12 and under). My colleagues were all happy with their appetizers which included croquettes and fritters, very fresh asparagus with some sort of sauce and, of course, bread with tomato. They seemed to be pretty pleased with their entrees as well - and they were surprised that the hamburger surprised plate consisted of a stuffed hamburger patty with no bun. I thought my steak kebab lacked ummf and didn't like the undercooked potatoes it came with, but it was all in all alright. My desert of crema catalana was a little lacking BUT after having made it once and eaten it two or three times, I've come to the conclusion that crema catalana just can't compare with its French cousin creme brulee. Service was professional and quick - we never lacked for anything, and the waiter happily let me use a credit card to pay part of my bill. La Botiga 2 Gandesa, 10 Barcelona Spain 93 410 48 47 http://labotiga.angrup.com/ Marga's Restaurant Reviews Marga's Catalan Menu

Ben & Jerry's Organic Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream - Review

2009-05-25T00:02:20Z

Ben and Jerry's line of organic ice cream flavors (introduced in 2003), has not been doing very well. I haven't really seen them in supermarkets, and this week they made an appearance at my neighborhood's Grocery Outlet - for $1.50 each! I tried their organic vanilla and organic strawberry and they were both fine, not spectacular. These are not flavors I usually get, so I can't say how they compare to the originals. It's another matter with Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream, which is one of my favorite B&J's flavors. Alas, I'll have to continue eating the regular version (usually $3 on sale at Safeway), as the organic version just doesn't do it. The problem starts with the flavor of the ice cream, the chocolate is just not deep enough, it lacks that almost bitter richness of the original. In a blind test, I would not guess it was Ben & Jerry's. The lack of flavor continues in the brownie - which is also dry (how do they manage to make a brownie that is sitting in ice cream dry?) and non-chewy. Not a brownie you'd pay to eat. In other words - there is a reason why this ice cream is being sold at Grocery Outlet.

Biggies BBQ Restaurant - San Leandro - Review

2009-05-23T18:14:08Z

Biggies BBQ has been opened for a couple of months already, but I didn't find out about it until the San Leandro Times did a story on it last Thursday. Of course I had to go - not just because it's my moral imperative to review each and every restaurant in San Leandro (except for those that are obviously bad), but also because I like Brazilian food. I will note that while Brazilians love meat and their espetos corridos are legendary, their meat is unfortunately not as good as that from Argentina. Then again, nobody's is. Biggies BBQ is a very most restaurant located in the Marina Faire shopping center in San Leandro. It looks like a shopping mall restaurant, it has no decorations or ambiance and the tables/chairs are the cheapy kind. But that in itself is an advantage, as it suggests cheaper food. We went there for dinner the Friday night after the article about them came out, and while the place was pretty empty when we got there, it really filled up by 7 PM or so. Alas, they weren't prepared for this - the lone waitress could barely keep up with the needs of every table, and every table in the restaurant was occupied. The kitchen seemed to have the same problem, while our appetizers came right away, we had to wait over one hour for our entree. And believe me, an hour with hungry/antsy kids is just not fun. Biggies' menu needs to be redone. As it is it lists appetizers, drinks, daily lunch specials, weekend specials and desserts. No, it doesn't list entrees, which makes it quite disconcerting. Apparently this is because they have different offerings each night (though only a couple of these), though they have the Brazilian BBQ plate ($13) every day. Many of the offerings, furthermore, are listed by their Portuguese name, and the menu doesn't explain what they are. This all means that the waitress needs to spend some time explaining the menu to each table - which, of course, makes service even slower. We started with two pasteles, which turned out to be large, square, fried empanadas-like pastries filled with minimum seasoned ground beef ($3 each). Despite the lack of meat I really liked them, the dough was both crispy and doughy and had a nice flavor, the meat was also nicely seasoned (not in the least spicy). The kids liked them too. We followed by what I thought was the esfirra ($3 each) but, looking online, might have been a joelho (not in the menu), a baked sweet bun filled with cheese and tomato (I think, though the waitress said it was ham). This was also very good. After an hour or so we had the Brazilian BBQ which consisted of two chunks of beef, a tiny Brazilian sausage and a small chicken leg. The meat was a little tough and overdone (medium rather than the medium rare I'd requested), but it had a great flavor. The intense marinade brought up, rather than hid, the gamy taste of the beef and I loved it. The only problem was that the marinade was too salty. The same can be said about the sausage and the chicken. The latter had a very crispy skin and moist meat. The meats were served with a large quantity of rice and (refried?) beans (which Camila liked). In all, I was very happy with the food, but Mike and I thought that it was a tad expensive - HOWEVER, I just realized that you can buy gift certificates for the restaurant (dinner only) at restaurant.com - a $25 gift certificate usually costs $10, so you'd save $15, but sometimes you can get them for as cheap as $2 (keep an eye on dealdetectives.com. That would be a savings of $23!!! I wish I had thought about checking restaurant.com yesterday! I don't know how they can make any money at those prices, which worries me a little (I want them to stick around!). I will definitely go to Biggies BBQ again - though in several weeks, when it becomes less busy :-) Biggies BBQ 13700 Doolittle Drive #110 San Leandro, CA (510) 352-2371 San Leandro Restaurant Reviews Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

Cooking classes in Castro Valley

2009-05-23T18:03:39Z

The Castro Valley Adult School will be offering several cooking classes this summer. These include Cake Decorating, Doughnuts making, BBQing and Mexican & Southern cuisine. Castro Valley has classroom with 3 kitchens in it, so the classes are very hand-on. The San Leandro Adult School does not have a kitchen-classroom but it has offered cooking classes in the past. Their class catalog/schedule for the summer is not yet in their website, and I haven't seen a paper copy - so I don't know if they'll have them this summer.

Mika made pancakes

2009-05-23T17:47:28Z

Mika made pancakes all by herself this morning! It's the second time she makes them, but last time she wasn't very clear about directions/proportions. She didn't relize that 1/4 cup of sugar was different from 4 cups of sugar :-) This time we took out all the ingredients together (good thing, because I put something in a jar that looks very much like coarse sugar - I don't know what it is, but I suspect a dangerous chemical), and we went over the proportions (what is a cup, what is a tablespoon and what is a teaspoon). The result was that she did very well - she even remembered that we needed to include sugar, which I'd left out when I copied the recipe! The pancakes came out great, very fluffy and great tasting! We didn't have any maple syrup (a visit to TJ's is in order), but we ate them with a strawberry sauce and whipped cream. The strawberry sauce was great, all I did was put a bunch of washed, cut strawberries in the blender, add a little bit of water and some sugar. How much of each will depend on your strawberries (how sweet they are) and blender. Mika really liked the sauce (I did too)! By itself, is also healthier than maple syrup - and cheaper! I learned the "recipe" in a cooking class on sauces I took at the Castro Valley Adult School. This time I actually cooked the pancakes myself, I'm a little weary of letting her cook by herself now. She's still a bit too short to comfortable see and handle pans on top of the stove and, like her mom, she can be a little clutzy. She wants us to have a tradition of Saturday morning pancakes. I know that traditions are really important for kids, and our lives are pretty disorganized, so that may be a nice thing to do.