I've lived in San Leandro for over ten years, but I first heard about Bakery Street today, when Mike mentioned he'd seen it mentioned online and had ridden by a sign saying "bakery sale". He wanted to give it a try and I wasn't going to say "no". I might have as well, I'm not in the least impressed by any of the baked goods we sampled.

Bakery Street seems to be mainly a wholesaler of baked goods (cookies, bars, cakes, scones) and a maker of speciality/wedding cakes. The pictures of some of their whimsical cakes in their websites look very cute. They have a tiny store attached to their factory, apparently open only Fridays and Saturdays, where they sell packaged baked goods to the public. Some prices seem good, some not so good. For example, their Red Velvet cakes get very good reviews in Yelp.com and were available at Costco, but at either $8 or $12 for a very small cake, I wasn't that eager to get one. Instead, we got a 9oz package of madelines and a 14oz package of chocolate chip cookies, for $2 each. We also got a couple of plain croissants and 2 custard croissants, each individually packaged in plastic, for $1 each.

The croissants were OK. The custard ones reminded me of cheese danishes, but with a very generous amount of custard. The croissant part wasn't particularly flaky or tasty, but it wasn't too bad. Not bad for $1, but not great either.

I'm used to getting Donsuemor madelines at Zocalo for 75-cents each, so I relished the prospect of getting almost a dozen for just $2 - but I guess you get what you pay for, as Bakery Street madelines just aren't that great. They seem a bit lighter than the Donsuemor ones, perhaps less sweet, but whatever it is, there is no boom of flavor in your mouth as you get from a really great madeline. I wouldn't bother buying them again (well, for $2, perhaps I would, but still....)

The chocolate chip cookies were worse still. They were dense and flavorless, the chocolate chips were clearly low quality (you could barely taste any chocolate) and the various hydrogenated vegetable oils in the cookies did not help the crumbly texture. But the problem was the flavor, it was just not there. I would not buy them again.

In all, I'm not impressed.

Bakery Street Inc
1465 Factor Avenue
San Leandro, CA
(510) 357-8880
http://www.bakerystreet.com/

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

I am sad to inform that Marita's Sweet Potato Pie Co. has closed its San Leandro location @ Bancroft and Dutton. According to their website, they still have a location in Richmond's Hilltop Mall. This happened just months after they expanded into the old Cornerstone Cafe location in the corner. While I wasn't a regular customer @ Marita's, I really did enjoy their cakes and I had the red velvet cake for my birthday often. I hope The Golden Tea Garden in Hayward will still serve their red velvet cake, I'll report next time I visit.

A new bakery, Angelina's Pastries will be opening in the original Marita's space on Bancroft. I'm told that it's a venture by the people who own the building, but I know nothing else about it. Stay tuned.

I am also told that Mae's Southern Comfort will move from its Victoria circle location to the Cornerstone location in the corner. I haven't seen anything to indicate that, and I have my doubts as to whether Mae's is actually a functioning restaurant as it never seems to be open (I think they open at 1 PM and close at 7 PM, I guess they cater to afternoon eaters exclusively), but they have a bunch of reviews in Yelp, so apparently some people do manage to get food here. If they do open, I will give them a try.

My friends Charlotte and Vienna and I try to go out to tea once a month or so. We've been doing this for years, so by now we've visited most of the tea houses in San Francisco and the western part of the East Bay. However, Vienna had not been able to come with us when we visited Samovar a few years ago, so it was time for a re-visit. We chose the Yerba Buena location as it's the most convenient to BART and headed there last Sunday.

The Yerba Buena Samovar location is quite nice. It features a small tea room, stylish and modern and a terrace overlooking the main grounds. It was a bit chilly on Sunday so we had tea inside.

Samovar offers a relatively small, but varied, assortment of teas, and a variety of food items. It's expensive - plan to spend $20 (plus tax & tip) for a pot of tea and some goodies. Probably the best deals are the set teas (English, Moroccan, Russian & Indian, I think) which include a pot of tea and sweet & savory offerings for about $19. Both Vienna and I had the English Breakfast tea while Lotty went for the Moroccan.

The tea comes in a smallish (2-mug size) wide glass pitcher - it looks relatively nice but it lets the tea cool very quickly, not really what you want for your tea. The cups are little mugs with no handles, cute enough but a bit too small for me. Milk and brown sugar are available. I found the English Breakfast tea to be perfectly fine, no complaints (other than the temperature).

The service came with a huge quiche (mushroom or salmon), a smallish cherry oat scone with Devonshire cream & jam, a few greens with a vinaigrette and a few slices of fruit. I always thought I wouldn't like quiche given that I don't really like eggs (though I love flan), but this time I thought I'd give it a try. I'm glad I did because it was delicious - smooth and flavorful and not eggy at all :-) The scone was pretty good as well. I cannot complain about the quantity of the food :-)

Service was very friendly - we stayed late as the place was filling up and at no point we were made to feel we should leave.

In all it was a very nice, if expensive, experience:

Samovar Tea Lounge
730 Howard Street
(above the waterfall in Yerba Buena Gardens)
San Francisco, CA
(415) 227-9400
http://samovarlife.com/
Su - W 10am - 8 pm
Th - Sa 10am - 9 pm

Marga's Tea Room Reviews

Yesterday we drove back to San Leandro from Vancouver, WA - a trip that took us 11 1/2 hours, including a couple of stops. One of such stops was at the Starbucks in Red Bluff (it must be the one on Main Street, by I-5). I was very sleepy, having woken up at 3 AM the previous night (for no good reason) and was in need of some caffeine. It was 3 hours after lunch and the kids wanted a treat. I figured that we would stop for dinner in an hour or so. Mika was pretty insistent that I buy her something to eat, but I really didn't want to spend the money (those pastries at Starbucks are not cheap) and I told her so several times. Well, it seems that the barista overheard me and she told me, after I placed my order, that they were sampling their marble cake and offered me slices for the whole family! I didn't quite understand her when she made the offer, I thought she was offering a sample of a new drink, so I accepted happily. I could not believe when she gave me the cake slices!

I'm taken aback by her kindness. I imagine she assumed that we didn't have the money for the treats (not a bad assumption in this hard economic times) and she felt compassion. What a wonderful thing! I hope she didn't have to pay for the pastries (it was already 5, I assume that they discard the pastries they don't sell each day) and that she's allowed to do that by Starbucks. In any case, I'm going to write to Starbucks and thank them.

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

Zocalo Coffeehouse, my favorite cafe in San Leandro, has revamped its website to make it more interactive. The Zocalo website lists events happening at the coffeehouse - but also some news and events in other parts of San Leandro. You can also subscribe to Zocalo's newsletter and keep abreast of what's going on.

Golden Tea Garden is by far my favorite tea house in the East Bay. Today I visited it for the fourth time in four months and once again I had a great experience.

This time I tried the Margaret's Hope tea (after researching and finding out it is, indeed, black) - and I liked it more than the English Breakfast or Earl Gray. It's a Darjeeling, but one that can stand up to milk and sugar. It's particularly good if you let it seep for a while. Mika (my 7-year old daughter and companion) once again had the caramel tea which she loved.

Golden Tea Garden now offers a "wee tea" for children 10 and younger ($7). It consists of a small pot of tea and a little plate of goodies. Today they consisted of a bite-size brownie, a petit four, two mini-sandwiches (the chicken salad one was quite good), two slices of green apple and a bag of gummy bears. Mika was happy with the petit four and gummy bears, but declined to try the rest. Instead, she went for the cakes in my "Tea Garden sampler" ($13), which consists of a large pot of tea and 3 desserts. Every time I've gone so far, the 3 desserts are three huge slices of cake - definitely enough to share (or to take one slice back home). Today there was a peach one that I really liked, a pink champagne one that Mika loved, and the perpetual red velvet cake that is a favorite of both of us. Yes, we both ended up in sugar coma.

Service, once again, was wonderful - and once again Mika got to be a princess with a complimentary jewelry set. She also loved trying the hats in a big box by the entrance.

My only concern with this tea house is that it's so empty on Sundays. I really, really like it, and I really want it to survive - so go!

Feb. 2010 update. I returned to the Golden Tea Garden with my friends Vienna and Lotty a couple of weeks ago and once again we had an amazing experience. The food was excellent, the service first class and the little touches as cute as always. Vienna had the tea with sandwiches this time, a newish option, and she raved about everyone one of them - the chicken salad was a particular favorite. Lotty had the scones, which were also first rate, and I had my usual "garden sampler" which includes 3 huge slices of cakes. This time they featured a no-sugar-added chocolate cake which I found a bit dry and not very chocolaty. Vienna and Lotty really liked it, though, they appreciated it being less sweet than the usual kind. We also tasted their new gluten-free raspberry cream cake which is absolutely delicious.

Of course, Mika was jealous that she didn't get to go - so I'll be taking her there soon, I'm sure.

The Kids' Tea

The Dessert Sampler

The Golden Tea Garden
22630 Main Street
Hayward, CA
(510) 538-4832
http://www.buylocalcampaign.com/teaGarden/
Th-Su 12 - 8 PM

Original Review

Reviews of Bay Area Tea Houses

Note: My complete review of the Golden Tea Garden is now available here.

I'm planning to write a full review of the Golden Tea Garden, a new and fabulous tea house in Hayward. But as the editing of my restaurant reviews is soooooooooooooooo slow, I figured I'd write about it here first.

I went there last Sunday with my friends Charlotte and Vienna and we had the best time. The little place is darling and very relaxing - they have harp music & a running fountain. The food (mostly sweets) was delicious and moderately priced and the service was out of this world. Indeed, at this point I'd say it's one of the two best tea houses in the Bay Area (the other one being Lovejoy's). I am planning to return this weekend with my daughter (they don't have teas for children, but Mika likes fruit teas) - and then in May with another group of friends.

Golden Tea Garden
22630 Main Street,
Hayward, CA
(510) 538-4832

Tea Houses Reviews

I've driven by Coffee Time countless times, but I had never had a reason to stop here. I usually do my coffee-drinking at Zocalo, and I rarely hang out in the Marina area. However, today I went to lunch with my friend Aamani to Zen's Filipino Cuisine and we wanted to get a coffee, in lieu of dessert, afterwards. So Coffee Time it was.

Coffee Time is a very small coffee shop. Inside there is barely space for a counter, a tiny kitchen and a few knick knacks. The place has character, however, like something you'd find in a beach town. There are three or four tables in a small covered patio outside, right next to the parking lot. It's a very relaxing place to seat in a sunny afternoon - even when you get to witness a police arrest (they did it very quietly).

I didn't ask Aamani how her iced coffee was. My peanut butter chocolate drink was mostly air, but it was refreshing enough. Not sure if I'd order it again. But if I lived in the neighborhood, I'd definitely frequent the place.

They serve a variety of sandwiches for lunch, perhaps one day I'll give them a try.

Coffee Time
2105 Doolittle Dr
San Leandro, CA
(510) 895-5997

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Update 3/10 Cafe Americano is now under new management. They are serving simple breakfasts (bagels, eggs, bacon,sausage, ham), cold sandwiches (ham, roast beef, roast chicken, pastrami and turkey - all $5), salad sandwiches (egg, tuna, seafood, chicken, all $5) and several hort sandwiches, most $5. For the vegetarians they offer avocado & cream cheese sandwiches ($5). They continue serving coffee drinks at *very* reasonable prices. That said, I haven't check them out so I can't opine on the quality.

Cafe Americano opened a block away from my house a month or two ago, but it wasn't until today that I visited it. I generally hang out at Zocalo, which is much further from my house but has a play area for children. Cafe Americano is very nice, it has newly painted orange walls and multi-colored chairs, but it's small and there is no space for kids. It has, on the other hand, a full sandwich menu making it a great place to get both a latte and lunch.

Indeed, it was in search of lunch that we went there today. I had their spicy tandoori lamb kebab wrap, while Mike had their regular tandoori chicken kebab wrap. I liked mine much better. The ground lamb kebab had a strong lamby taste and it was nicely seasoned. It was spicy but not too much. My only complaint was that there wasn't enough meat for the vegetable content (but it was a pretty large wrap, and at $5 definitely well priced). It was also a bit on the thick side, so it was difficult to get both the lamb and the veggies on the same bite. Mike really liked the chicken kebab, though the chicken seemed overprocessed to me. I'd definitely stick with the lamb.

They also offer a whole array of "American" sandwiches which I may or may not try again, as I said, I may just stick with the lamb :)

I didn't try their coffee products, but they also have a whole array of cold drinks. We had a strawberry smoothie ($3.50 I think) and I was disappointed. It was more like a shake, consisting of ice cream and a strawberry product, and it tasted like fake strawberries. Mika drank quite a bit of it, but wasn't too enthusiastic, and Camila didn't drink hers at all. On the plus side, the smoothies are very large, and they were very nice in serving one smoothie in two cups.

Most of the pastries I saw were in plastic wrapped and did not look very appetizing. However, they had three types of refrigerated cake, including chocolate and carrot. They had canned and bottled drinks as well.

Cafe Americano also offers wireless but their service seems to be spotty, at least it was this afternoon.

Given that this place is so close to my house, I'm sure I'll go back again, probably when I don't want to prepare my own lunch :)

Cafe Americano
2150 Washington Ave (at Marina Blvd)
San Leandro, CA 94577
(510) 895-8044

My friends Lotty, Regina and Vienna (and occasionally our friend Frank) and I get together monthly for tea. Sometimes we go out and sometimes we do it at our homes. As many places as we try, however, we always end up going back to Lovejoy's.

There are many reasons for this. One of them is that Lovejoy's is the most comfortable tea room we've found. It looks like your quirky grandmother's living room, and the place invites you to stay and linger for a long time. Another is that the service is superb, a little bit contrived in that they are super-friendly, but your tea is topped and your requests are quickly fulfilled. But probably the main reason we keep going back to Lovejoy's is that the food is superb. Their scones are always warm and fresh and just fluffy enough. Their chicken salad sandwiches are even better than mine. And their tea - I always get the English Breakfast - is quite good as well.

Today was not different than usual. We went at 3 and stayed until they closed (must have been around 6), talking and enjoying the food, the ambiance and each other. We'll probably be back soon.

Once again, Vienna, Lotty and I went to Lovejoy's for tea. Yummm. The tea (English breakfast) was excellent, and the large, warm scones with double Devon cream and strawberry preserves, are out of this world. Indeed, I ordered the cream tea so that I could get two scones :-)

The tea services are pretty expensive, in particular after you compare them to The Golden Tea Garden in Hayward, my new tea hang out, but the atmosphere is so relaxing, and the scones so good, that it's definitely worth going there as an occasional treat. Still, given the limitation of their menu, I think the Golden Tea Garden is a better choice for little girls (who love cake), so I probably wouldn't bother taking Mika there.

Lovejoy's Tea Room
1351 Church Street
San Francisco CA
P: 415.648.5895
http://www.lovejoystearoom.com/

Original Review

San Leandro, like the rest of the country, is undergoing a heat wave. Unused as we are to high temperatures, our homes are not prepared to take them. In our particular case, our house has no insulation to speak of, and heats up like an oven in summer. It's hot.

So thanks god for Zocalo, the cafe on Bancroft. Zocalo is already my favorite place to hang out - not just because I can drink an iced mocha while the kids play in their corner, but because I always run into someone I know and often I like too. But in this wave heat, their strong air conditioning is the real draw. I guess one of the advantages of remodeling is putting new equipment, and the A/C works remarkadely well for such a large space.

so if you're hot and thirsty in San Leandro, head to Zocalo for some cool.

March 2011 Marita's has closed, its Richmond branch is open at the Hilltop Mall

I've written about Marita's Sweet Potato Pie Co. before, and I'm not sure I have much more to say about it, except that we stopped by the other day for a small Red Velvet Cake loaf ($10) to take as dessert to Desiree's house, and it was very well received. The cake itself, once again, wasn't anything special. Indeed, I don't think it's a chocolate cake died red, but a plain cake died red, but the cream cheese topping was wonderful.

In addition Marita now has a website, http://www.maritasbakery.com/, where you can check out their offerings. Their website is only half-developed, though, and they clearly based it on standard format. This makes for some funny reading, for example in their mission statement you can read how they'll strive to give you financing for your purchase and how the owner, John Doe, is a member of a number of Metropolis organizations.

And they do deliver, though they have a $25 minimun order and they charge a $10 delivery fee for all orders under $100. So far they only deliver throughout the East Bay, though they hope to expand (so all of you in San Francisco who are hungering for Red Velvet Cake, may get it soon).

Anyway, it's a locally own (AFAIK) and small business, and I like that it's there.

Cafe Sorriso opened about a month ago in the old Lateda location, in front of the downtown Safeway in San Leandro. Lateda was much loved in this community, but it had to close after the owners increased the rent to impossible levels. I'm not sure how the economics will work for Cafe Sorriso - the sad fact is that cafes in San Leandro (save, I imagine, for Starbucks) are not big money makers.

The new Cafe Sorriso looks wonderful. On the outside, it's benefited from a coat of orange paint that makes it look sunny and friendly. I'm partial to that particular yellow-orange color, so I may be biased here. Inside it looks brand new. The "kitchen"/food preparation area has shrank a bit in size and is now composed of brand new impecable stainless steel surfaces - while a new counter has appeared making an L-shape with the old one, where they feature the day's pastries and take your order. Back there there is a wall with miniature tea pots and small mugs - I thought they were just for decoration, but apparently that's what you get if you order tea. I didn't pay attention to their tea offerings this time, but I certainly will in the future (which reminds me - I have to make reservations for our April and May monthly teas!).

The rest of the restaurant features new paint, a lot of dark wood lintels, a new fake-fireplace (but still nice) and new, stylish furniture. There are a couple of fake-leather (or cheap leather, didn't look closely) couches with a fake-marble coffee table, and otherwise crowded tables and chairs. But everything looks very nice and comfy. Cafe Sorriso's space is quite small, so there isn't an area for children - but they do have a couple of toys and story books in a shelf, as well as a lot of newspapers. The sofa area is large enough that a couple of patient kids can hang out for a little while - but still close enough to the rest of the scene that it took my 4 yo no time at all to make friends with another little girl sitting nearby. Still, I'm not sure of how child friendly this space will be if we have to sit at one of the tables. I'll report on that later.

The menu features teas and coffees - but alas, I didn't take the time to look at those. Instead I concentrated in the half-dozen or so 'smoothie' offerings (including a mango lassi) and the 3 or 4 shakes (all $3.50, I think). I'm convinced that if independent coffee-makers want to stand up to Starbucks they really need to spruce up their cold drink offerings (does anyone really go to Starbucks for coffee? It's the frapuccinos that keep them coming!). I didn't see any Frapuccino-style drinks here (though truth be told, I was feeling hurried by the server) but the smoothies sounded yummy. I settled in a "strawberry vanilla surprise" while Kathy went for a vanilla shake. I don't know what the "surprise" on my smoothie was, perhaps that it wasn't really a smoothie - more like a shake with a heavy ice cream base. I saw frozen strawberries and strawberry torrani added, but I don't know what else. The result was quite good, it reminded me of the shakes at Vo's, though it wasn't quite as yummy. Still, some kids at a nearby table who were also savoring it seemed to like it very much and I certainly would order it again. The vanilla shake started good, but it didn't hold up. It probably had too much ice, for at the end it was thin and tasteless. If you order it you may want to ask for "easy on the ice".

We were hungry but none of the limited soup or sandwich options sounded appealing (of the latter they have a turkey, a veggie and a ham and cheese, I think, for about $5) so we instead went with a couple of pastries ($2 each). These were dry and not very tasty - unexcusable given that the cafe is just a few feet away from Safeway where they could easily get better quality baked goods.

In all, I'm quite pleased with Cafe Sorriso and I will go again. Unfortunately, they don't seem to offer WI-FI.

Cafe Sorriso
1501 Washington Ave
San Leandro CA
(510)351-3605
M-Sa 6 am - 7 pm
Su 6 am - 5 pm

Note: Marita's is now closed

For years, we've driven or even parked by Marita's Sweet Potato Pie Co. as we visited our friends Regina and Boris, who live in the neighborhood, or stopped by for a drink at Zocalo. I've always been curious to check it out, but the concept of "sweet potato pie" just does not appeal to Mike. In the last few weeks, however, I've started walking by Marita's once a week and have had my opportunity to give it a try, and another, and another :)

Marita's is a bakery but one that sells basically two things, cakes (mostly by the slice) and pies. The cakes are simple affairs, consisting of plain cake and frosting. The slices are displayed in two large display cabinets, one of which is filled by slices of Red Velvet Cake alone. The latter is their pride and joy. I liked it, the cake itself didn't taste like much but the creme cheese filling was delicious. Indeed, this seems to be the case with most of their cakes, the cakes themselves are not special but the fillings are just plain yummy. So far I've had the Red Velvet, the coconut, the butter cream and the yellow chocolate - I enjoyed the latter most of all. Still, I'm planning to taste them all in my weekly visits. The slices - priced at $2-2.75 each are quite generous, you shouldn't have a problem sharing one.

The full cakes ($13-18) are quite large, and they only seem to have a few on display so you may want to call ahead if that's what you are looking for. In addition to cakes, they serve sweet potato pie, peach cobbler, bread pudding and pecan pie.

The bakery doesn't have a place to sit, it's strictly a take-out operation

Marita's Sweet Potato Pie Co.
600 Dutton Avenue
San Leandro
510-562-3844

A Chinese bakery has finally opened a few blocks away from my house and I've been going almost daily. Yes, this is a habit that has to stop, but it's so easy to pick up a pork bun or a curry beef bun for lunch on my way home. They offer a large variety of buns with all sorts of fillings, they are huge and under $1. Of the ones I've tried so far the curry beef one is my favorite, the ground beef filling is somewhat spicy but very tasty. I love BBQ pork buns but these ones are not the best, their pork seems chopped rather than sliced and they are not very sweet outside. Still, the owner is very eager to please so hopefully he'll take my suggestions.

Of the sweets, the mini coconut cupcakes are my favorite. They are very coconutish and not too sweet. Their cakes taste mostly like out-of-a-box cakes, not really my favorite but Mika likes them.

In all, I'm very pleased they're around.

Note that if you pick up a take-out menu they come with a coupon for a free 1st birthday cake - though expires on 9/30.

East 14th Bakery
1780 E. 14th (@ Elsie)
San Leandro, CA
510-351-7318
Everyday 7am - 6 pm

The San Leandro Public Library is one of the those gems that make living in this city worthwhile. It's a pretty big library for a town this size, and despite horrendous budget cuts which, among other things, eliminated the monthly "Family Fun nights", it still offers a wide variety of books and other media in an inviting atmosphere. Moreover, it's the only library I know that features a used bookstore, a gift shop and a cafe.

The Bookmark Cafe is small, though rarely crowded. It offers both indoor and outdoor seating, though the outdoor tables are not shaded so we usually chose to sit inside. They sell a wide assortment of food items, though most of them are the pre-wrapped kind. They do have a coffee machine and a variety of coffee products, but as I'm not much of a coffee drinker I've never tried any. I have tried their smoothies, which suck (they seem to be made with syrup rather than actual fruit). They serve lunch items, though it appears they are mostly frozen/microwaved ones. A BBQ rib sandwich could only be described as edible.

So we usually stick to sodas, milk and its Otis Spunkmeyer cookies. The latter are great, the chocolate chips melt in your mouth as you eat them. Mika is a huge fan of them.

We go to the cafe practically every day. Mika has become quite addicted to the experience, and while I feel somewhat uncomfortable about giving in to her daily, I love hanging out there as well. And I know it's a nice memory I'm creating for the future :)

One of the (few) treats of going to LA to visit my parents is stopping by Edie's for some of their amazing French-style pastries. The pastries are beautiful and delicious, combining richness with lightness and winning flavors. They average about $3 each and the larger ones are big enough to share (if you're not too hungry). We usually split them four ways so we can all taste a little of each one. We always get them to go, but they are sold off a little European-style cafe that would be a nice place to stop by for a coffee if it was in a nicer neighborhood.

Pastries By Edie
21608 Sherman Way
Canoga Park, CA 91303
(818) 716-7033

Update December 2010.

Planet Coffee has been sold twice since our 2004 update, the last time a couple of months ago. I haven't checked it out since but I'll try to stop by sometime.

Update December 2004. We went back to Planet Coffee for Vietnamese Sandwiches a few weeks ago and this time we were not impressed by their Vietnamese Sandwiches. There was so little meat vis a vis the bread and veggies. The bread was also over-toasted. In all, I don't think we'll try it again.

Planet Coffee is a cafe in downtown San Leandro. Though we've lived in the city for 4 1/2 years, today was the first time we went in.

As a college student I *loved* cafes and used to hang out in them all the time. Mike, however, dislikes them so we've pretty much avoided them after we got married. It doesn't help that most cafes around here close early - Planet Coffee is closed by 5 PM so it's not as if we could go there and hang out in the evenings.

I became interested in trying it, however, when I saw and ad in the local paper that mentioned that it was under new management and that it was now serving Vietnamese sandwiches for lunch. I had heard that Vietnamese sandwiches were delicious and cheap, and I certainly wanted to try them.

The opportunity finally came today when Mike was over for lunch and there were no leftovers to share. We decided to stop by Planet Coffee after picking Mika up from school and we had a very nice lunch.

The cafe is actually larger than I'd imagined given its narrow facade. It's nicely appointed, with a mural of a European open-air cafe by a lake and nice, bright paintings of Vietnamese scenes. At 1-1:30 PM there was nobody there but us and a couple of people who came to get pick-up. In other words, we could eat lunch without Mika bothering anyone.

As you would expect, Planet Coffee has a typical cafe menu with a wide variety of coffees (they also sell coffee beans by the pound) as well as hot and cold drinks (smoothies, frappes and fresh juices). They serve breakfast (mostly eggs & bread concoctions) and a wide variety of salads and sandwiches for lunch. In addition to the Vietnamese sandwiches they have traditional American sandwiches (all around $5).

But we were there for the Vietnamese sandwiches and that's what we got. They have six different ones with different combinations of ham, head cheese, pork salame, grilled pork, grilled chicken and BBQ pork. They cost $2.75 for a small and $4.95 for a large, which includes a small side of potato salad. The sandwiches come with pate, pickled carrot & daikon, pepper, cucumber and cilantro. Mike decided on the large grilled pork and I had the small grilled chicken. They were both very good. We liked the contrast of textures and tastes between the meats and the crunchy veggies and the tastes all came together very nicely. We both liked the sweet grilled pork better than the chicken, and we both felt that the sandwiches needed morer meat. They were too bready as they were. Still, we very much enjoyed them. We felt that the small sandwich was a better value than the large sandwich, as there wasn't such a big difference in size between them.

In all, we'll likely go back to Planet Coffee for more Vietnamese sandwiches.

Planet Coffee
1423 East 14th St.
San Leandro, CA
510-351-5527
M-F 6am-5pm, Sa 6am-4pm

Tango Gelato is, as far as we know, the only creamery serving Argentine ice cream in the Bay Area (and possibly in California). If you've never had Argentine ice cream you are in for a treat. It's surprisingly light and dense at the same time (it's lower in fat than American ice cream but has no air mixed in), and extremely creamy. The dulce de leche ice cream is almost as good as what you can get in Argentina.

If you love sorbet, then you are in for a treat! Argentine sorbets, made with real fruit, are extremely flavorful.

On the minus side, it seems that Tango Gelato has started to cater to American tastes with some definitely American flavors (like green tea). And going to Tango Gelato requires a trip over the bridge (and looking for parking!), as Tango Gelato moved from its previous location in Fruitvale to San Francisco. It's currently located at 2015 Fillmore Street, between Pine and California streets.

http://tangogelato.homestead.com/