Sunday Mika and I went out to brunch at Emil Villa's in San Leandro. It wasn't my first choice for breakfast, but we were without transportation and Emil Villa's is only a few blocks away from my home. We had an OK, but not very exciting experience.

I'm partial to sweet offerings for breakfast, and Emil Villa's offers french toast, pancakes and a pecan waffle. Both the french toast and pancakes come plain, no fruit toppings or anything special, and accompanied by corn syrup. I got the sourdough french toast ($7, I think) and was disappointed that the plate consisted of four, thick but small slices of french toast and nothing more. It was sort of expensive for the price, specially given how plain it was. Mika got the pancakes from the children's menu. The two pancakes were HUGE, one would have been more than enough for a child under 12. She liked that they were fluffy, but they were nothing special. She probably wouldn't order them again. I think they were $5.

Service was very good.

Emil Villa's is a very popular place for weekend breakfast, something which I cannot understand. Grant it, all the breakfast options in San Leandro are dismal, but both JD and Palomares Cafe in Castro Valley offer far superior breakfast options for about the same price.

Emil Villa's
1800 E 14th St
San Leandro, CA
(510) 351-7427

Original Review

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

I'm so happy with Hayward's Favorite Indian restaurant, that I have not felt the need to explore the other Indian restaurants in the area. According to my friend Alpana (who, btw, is a great family photographer - check out her website), a native of India, that has been a mistake. So it was on her suggestion that my friend Mauro and I headed to Aroma yesterday for their buffet lunch. Alpana was right - while I still love the California-Indian food at Favorite Indian, Aroma's more carefully crafted fare is definitely worth tasting.

Aroma prides itself in offering a higher quality product, using organic and fresh ingredients when possible. As the restaurant itself, their buffet lunch is small (11 or 12 items, including rice and dessert) and carefully crafted. During our visit, there were only 3 meat offerings (chicken tandoori, chicken tikka masala and lamb vindaloo), and that, of course, is what I tried. I was impressed, in particular on the tandoori. The perfectly cooked, moist chicken legs were infused with flavor and lacked the artificial red coloring that most Indian restaurants confer onto them. They were probably the most understated and best tasting chicken tandoori I've ever had.

I wasn't as fond of the curries but I had to confess that they were good as well. The lamb vindaloo had a nice quick, and tender lamb. The tikka masala was a bit too acidic for my taste, but it tasted fresh and bright. You can feel the quality.

Buttered naan is brought to the table, and the one had a very nice light consistency. I also tasted the dessert, some runny pudding made of rice flower with nuts and spices, and I enjoyed it quite a bit as well. Mauro wasn't as keen of it, but he did enjoy everything else he had.

While we only sampled the buffet on this occasion, Aroma has a full lunch and dinner menu, its prices are on the high side, however.

Aroma is located in a small space at a strip mall in Castro Valley Village, the small room actually looks quite cozy, the beautiful serving dishes and the faint scent of incense helps give it a non-tacky atmosphere. Service was very good, our drinks were refilled quickly and our dishes taken away.

In all, it was a great lunch experience. The buffet lunch for two, with a soda each, came to about $27 after tax and tip. Not a super cheap lunch, but this is not super cheap food.

Aroma Cuisine of India
3418 Castro Village Dr.
Castro Valley, CA
510-888-9555
http://www.aromacuisineofindia.com/
Everyday: 11:30am - 3:00pm, 5:00pm - 9:30pm

Marga's Restaurant Reviews

A new restaurant will be opening sometime soon at the old La Cocina de Raquel location (which previously housed andy & joe's, Taqueria, Kolbeh and Casa Maria #2 - all in the last 7 years). The new restaurant will be called Ming Tasty and will, presumably, serve Chinese food. I guess 5 Chinese restaurants within a 1/2 mile radius is not enough).

The new owners are spending over $200K in remodeling the place (wow!) and I can only wish them luck - they must have quite a bit of faith that the East 14th by Parrot St. location is not actually cursed. But in reality, the fact is that all the previous restaurants failed miserably because they served lousy/expensive food. If Ming Tasty is actually tasty, I'm sure it'll do well.

Other restaurant news:

The owner of The Englander is opening a new wine & tapas bar next door. The restaurant will be called The Vine and should be opening soon. I can't wait to try it.

Castro Valley's Pyzano's Pizza will be opening a branch in San Leandro, at the current Sergio's Pizzeria location. This is indeed a good thing as Pyzano's is much better than Sergio's.

The owners of Planet Cafe (which may be moving) are opening a new restaurant, to be called Creekside Bistro, in Creekside Plaza (Davis St. x San Leandro Blvd.). Seems like a great location for nearby businesses.

Finally, today I noticed that a new restaurant has opened (or is opening) near the Safeway on Washington Ave. (at the old Taco Bell location, I think). It's called Ha Ra sushi. Now, there are already three sushi restaurants in the immediate area, but none of them is very good. Still, is there a market for yet another one?

I also know that one of the restaurants on McArthur Blvd. will likely be closing, but no word as to which one it is yet.

Yesterday I took my girls to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. We arrived just as noon, and we were all starving - so we decided to give Caffè Museo, its restaurant, a try. The food was fine, but given the high prices, I was somewhat disappointed and I'd probably not go back.

I had their short ribs burger ($13) which actually consisted of shredded short ribs in a bbq sauce, served with coleslaw in a burger bun. It came accompanied with potato chips. The "burger" was OK - it had a very slight short rib flavor, but it really wasn't very different from a pulled pork sandwich, given the overwhelming bbq sauce. I wouldn't order it again.

The kids shared a Margherita pizza ($9.50), which they were happy with - but they aren't that picky. The thin crust pizza was probably 6-8" wide, fine for two kids to share - but definitely expensive.

Service was very good and the food came quite quickly.

Caffè Museo @ SFMOMA
http://www.sfmoma.org/pages/restaurant
151 Third Street
San Francisco CA
415.357.4500.
Th - 10:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
F -Tu 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Marga's Reviews of Venue Restaurants

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

Last Saturday we found ourselves on Market Street, near the Tenderloin, in San Francisco looking for a place to eat, and chanced upon Showdogs Gourmet Hot Dogs. As we had three non-gourmet kids on tow, I was a little reluctant to eat at a place where hot dogs cost about $6-9, but the kids were starving so we figured we might as well give it a try. I'm glad we did, while expensive, the hot dogs were very good and clearly made with good ingredients. They were a bit on the small side for the price, but perhaps it seemed so because we were all so hungry.

Aegea, a 6 yo, had a plain hot dog and while I didn't get to taste it, she thought it was very good. Of course, she's not that picky. Camila and Mika (5 & 8 yo) had the chicken apple sausage, which came covered with an apple chutney. They didn't like the chutney (it was too sour), but they loved the sausage itself. And indeed, they were very good - with fresh and distinctive flavors. Mika covered hers with ketchup, though, which I thought was a sin.

I had the wild board sausage, which came with some other type of chutney (this one was pretty sweet) and micro arugula. I also was very impressed. The sausage was perhaps a little mild in flavor, though the charred parts were bursting with it, and the chutney complimented the sausage very well. The arugula offered a refreshing contrast.

We also ordered onion rings, and they were some of the best we've ever had. They were thin, lightly crusted in a glutten free batter and sprinkled with salt - they were very flavorful.

In all, it was a very good meal and I'd recommend it for a hot dog treat.

Showdogs Gourmet Hot Dogs
1020 Market St
San Francisco, CA
(415) 558-9560

Marga's Restaurant Reviews

Feb. 2010 Update

Despite my previous review of the Horatio's bar (below), I've been there several times in the last couple of years, and I've generally been pleased. There is a complete dearth of "nice" bars in San Leandro where you can go for drinks/dessert (Paradiso has a tiny bar, CreAsian's is not much bigger and Vila Cereja has terrible desserts), so Horatio's is really the only game in town. Plus their desserts are usually good (despite a couple of not great experiences).

Anyway, my friends and I tried to go there for dessert last night (a Saturday), only to find out that both the restaurant and bar now close at 10 PM. 10 PM! On a Saturday! It surprised me as, despite the economy, every time I'd gone to Horatio's in the past there were quite a lot of people. It also annoyed me, as we still were not ready to go home. Fortunately El Torito (see next posting) next door was still open and had desserts - but I'm really disappointed that Horatio's is no longer an option for hanging out late.

---
Last night my friend Desiree and I went to Horatio's for dessert. As you may recall, Mike and I went there last week and found the lounge closed for renovations. Well, it has reopened and not for the better.

Gone is the enclosed platform where the bar was. Now, it's just one big room, with a long bar to a side. It's more spacious and there are tables everywhere. It looks much more like a bar than a lounge, the lights have been turned up and the place is incredibly noisy - you have to shout to hear yourself.

Needless to say, I don't like it. I found the old lounge both romantic and relaxing, a great place to hang out with friends or Mike. The new place will work best for people looking to party or get drunk. I'm sad.

We had dessert, and at least this time the chocolate decadence cake was not stale - though the slices seem smaller and the prices have gone up (it's $8.50 now). Desiree had their fruit crumble, and she wasn't too happy with it. She found the fruit (I think they were peaches) bitter.

I doubt I'll be going back to Horatio's.

Horatio's
60 San Leandro Marina
San Leandro
(510) 351-5556
http://www.r-u-i.com/hor/
M-Sa: last call 10 PM

Original Review

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

My friend Mauro recommended Havana Cuban Cuisine as a good place to go for drinks with my girlfriends. He'd been there for a work function and had really enjoyed the mojitos - they have a wide variety. I figured it was worth a try.

We went there last Saturday night, as an early girls-only St. Valentine's day celebration, and were very impressed both by the food and the drinks. It's moderately priced and I would definitely go back.

The restaurant itself is not very impressive. The narrow rectangle dining room has white walls decorated by immense photographs of Cuba life scenes. The photographs are very pretty, but it was hard to see more than one from our table. In all, I thought the place lacked ambiance.

The menu is somewhat limited and features small plates and entrees. We were there mostly for drinks, so we only explored the tapas menu. We loved almost everything we got.

We started with an arugula salad, nicely dressed with in a walnut vinaigrette and topped with shaved Manchego cheese and some type of roasted seed. We got a large portion, which was good for 3 people. We all really enjoyed it - the contrast between the bitter leafs and the salty cheese was very nice.

I ordered the Mixed Grill, which consisted in two smallish skewers each with a chunk of marinated skirt steak, chorizo and pork tenderloin. It came with a chili mango sauce and sofrito rice. The steak and chorizo were both very nice, with strong flavors. The pork tenderloin was less so, but that's pork for you. The rice was stupendous, specially eaten together with the sauce. I'd definitely order it again.

Aamani ordered the scallops, served with a ginger citrus sauce. We all enjoyed them, though I wouldn't say they were particularly special.

Paz had the grilled shrimp which came with a cilantro-lime sauce. The portion was quite generous and the sauce was wonderful, even I enjoyed it. I think the shrimp came with rice.

Finally, we all shared a large plate of garlic fries, served with a sweet guava chipotle sauce and a chimichurri aioli. The fries were thin, crisp and had just the right amount of garlic. The sauces were also delicious, neither was spicy but they complimented the fries very well. Indeed, the fries were so good that I couldn't help eating them with bread.

The bread, by the way, was also very good. It was fresh and reminded me of the bread back home.

As to the mojitos, we all enjoyed them. I had the pineapple one and was happy that it wasn't too sweet or too sour - it didn't taste much of pineapple, but it was good.

The service was efficient and friendly, the waitress warned me about an unpopular strawberry mojito, glasses were refilled frequently and plates removed quickly.

In all, I had a wonderful experience which I hope to repeat some time.

Update I just realized that you can get discounted gift certificates for Havana at restaurant.com. As usual, make sure to google "restaurant.com coupons" to see if you can get a discount. Sometimes you can get a $25 off GC for as little as $2.

Havana Cuban Cuisine
1518 Park Street
Alameda CA
510.521.0130
http://www.havanarestaurant.net/

Marga's Restaurant Reviews

When our kids were very little, we used to go to Porky's Pizza Palace for dinner quite a bit. It's a large and noisy restaurant, and the kids could play with the game machines in the back. They could be loud and nobody noticed.

As our kids grew up, and started having better restaurant manners, we stopped going to Porky's as much - and I think it'd been three years since our last visit when we headed back there yesterday (to eat out for education). It hadn't changed much - though the place was pretty quiet at 7 PM.

Porky's menu seems to have stayed the same. This time we shared a "giant" (16") half Porky's Combo half cheese pizza ($25) as well as an order of half spaghetti/half ravioli with meat sauce ($7). We also had an order of their onion rings ($4).

Porky's onion rings are among my favorite, their ranch sauce is just right (not too bitter, not too sour) and they are served hot. The portion wasn't huge, but neither was the price.

The girls and I liked the pasta. The ravioli had a nice filling, and the meat sauce (apparently homemade) had a satisfying old-fashioned flavor.

The pizza, however, was just OK. Neither Camila nor I liked the very salty taste of the cheese pizza. I'm not sure if the problem was that the pizza didn't have enough sauce to stand up to the salty cheese or what, but it just wasn't too tasty. The combo part was better, though again a bit too salty. Porky's is very generous with its toppings (perhaps too much), and the toppings do tend to slide off the crust.

Still, we had a nice meal and I'd like to go back again, specially if our snooty friends would come along ;-)

Porky's Pizza Palace
1221 Manor Blvd.
San Leandro, CA
(510) 357-4323
http//www.porkyspizzapalace.com

Original Review

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Favorite India has been my favorite Indian restaurant since it opened - I think it's quite successful so I was surprised to find it closed for dinner a few weeks ago when Mike and I found ourselves with an Indian food craving. Fortunately, I had found on their website that they'd open another branch in Hayward, so we headed that way. And I'm glad we did, because the new Favorite India (now called Favorite Indian) is just plain excellent. Perhaps the best Indian restaurant I've ever been to.

Favorite Indian offers a la carte dishes (both for eat-in and delivery) as well as a daily lunch buffet and a dinner buffet Friday, Saturdays and Sundays (6 - 9 PM). So far we've only had the dinner buffet and the food is just excellent - actually better than the a la carte dishes served in their old branch. The buffet is also huge, it has more than 30 items, including appetizers, vegetarian fair, tandoori, and chicken and lamb curries. There is rice and naan to eat it all with. There are desserts (including soft serve ice cream), tea (I think) and sodas - all included in the $14 or so price. Really, I don't think there is a better dinner value in the Bay Area.

I particularly enjoyed the chicken tikka masala, and some goat curry that they had one night. But everything else was good as well.

Unfortunately my kids don't like Indian food, but next time we are sans kids, I'll go again.

Favorite Indian Restaurant
24052 Mission Blvd.
Hayward, CA
510-583-7550
http://www.favoriteindia.com/

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

Last night it was a friend's birthday and we went to Tanjia for dinner, a Moroccan restaurant located in Oakland. It was a good experience, though somewhat ruined by what we found out at the end of the evening.

Even though it was Saturday night, Tanjia was rather empty - there were only four or five parties other than us. I'm not sure why that is, it's reasonably priced ($23 - $25 for a 5 course dinner), and it serves reasonably good food. The belly dancer is not very good (nobody bothered to look at her), but with so few Moroccan restaurants in this area, that doesn't seem like a strong reason to keep away. Anyway, the place is definitely not popular.

Reviewers in Yelp have repeatedly complained about the bad service - but I thought the service was fine. The waitress was sort of sullen and at one point she was rude to the birthday girl - but we didn't have to wait for service, water was refilled promptly and the dishes came at good intervals.

The menu was pretty much the same as the one they had when I visited in 2006. It's a set menu that consists of a small bowl of lentil soup (which I enjoyed), pickled vegetables and an eggplant dip (yummy, but more about this later), bastilla (not the best, but good enough), an entree of your choice, and a dainty piece of fried banana as a dessert (very good, though oily). I had the lamb with honey, and I enjoyed it a lot. The lamb was tender and had a subtle sweet flavor that complimented it very well. Nobody else raved about their entrees, but I didn't ask them how they liked them so I can't quite comment. Desiree did say that she wasn't happy that the bird advertised as "chicken" was actually cornish hen (which is much more bony and hard to eat). I don't know why they aren't honest about what they are serving.

The whole menu is supposed to be eaten with your hands (they bring warm water at the beginning and the end to wash them with), but as some of our group objected, they brought forks and knives. Much easier for the bony lamb and chicken.

The low point of the evening was to find out that the half-eggplants, used as a base for the brochettes/kebabs, are actually re-used into other dishes. We asked if we could take them home, and the waitress was quite honest in saying that they chop them up, cook them and serve them. That, of course, is illegal and quite gross. They could have fallen on the floor or been licked by previous guests, for all you know. This practice make me question what else they do in the kitchen to save costs. Well, perhaps I don't want to imagine it. It's sufficient to say that I would not go back.

Tanjia
4905 Telegraph Ave.
Oakland
(510)-653-8691
http://www.tanjias.com/

Yesterday was the first Wednesday of the month, so we went out to eat for the San Leandro Education Foundation Eat out for Education program. Basically, on the first Wednesday of the month, participating restaurants donate 10% of the bill to San Leandro schools. You do need to bring up a coupon, though - so make sure that you print one next month!

Anyway, even though Ernie's Seafood Original Restaurant (open since 1953) is only a few blocks away from my house, we hadn't been there in many years. I'm not sure why, as we both love fish and chips, I guess it just doesn't come to mind. That's too bad because we had quite a satisfying meal there last night.

Ernie's is not much to look at. The small dining room features formica tables and metal/leatherette chairs. It looks like a diner and the walls are only decorated with 50's like posters and a big wooden fish. Don't come here for the atmosphere.

The menu is quite limited and includes basic seafood (prawns, scallops, cod, clams & calamari) as well as burgers, seafood and chicken sandwiches. For some reason they also have a NY steak sandwich and gyros. Prices are moderate, with most sandwiches in the $7-10 ratio and combination seafood platters in the low teens.

We all shared onion rings ($4.25) and a shrimp cocktail ($6.25) appetizer. The onion rings were just fine, I didn't care for the overly salty but not very flavorful breading. They were not oily, however. The tartar sauce wasn't that great either. The shrimp cocktail was, in the words of my husband, "awesome". There were plenty of small tasty shrimp and cocktail sauce. My 8-year old also liked it a lot. She was also very pleased with the clam chowder she had for dinner ($3.75 for a quite large "small" bowl). Nobody else tasted it, so I can't give you the adult review of it, but she was happy to take the leftovers for lunch at school today. Camila, my 5 year-old, had the chicken strips from the kids menu ($5.25). The portion was a good size and the strips were OK, good enough for a kid.

Mike and I shared the large fish & chips platter ($12.75) which comes with 8 sections of fish (cod). I found the fish and the breading to be quite tasteless - I don't think they were at all seasoned, and I didn't like the tartar sauce either, I think it lacked acidity. BUT, the fish was actually quite good when salted. The pieces were warm and plump, nicely cooked and not at all oily, and very satisfying. I'd definitely would order it again.

The fries, on the other hand, were quite mediocre.

Service was probably the low point of the evening. Despite the few people at the restaurant, the waitress seemed distracted and she forgot to bring Mika's clam chowder until we asked for it. She also never brought us the vinegar we asked for. But she was otherwise competent.

In all, it was a good meal and I'd return - probably on the first Wednesday of some month.

On a final note, according to their menu Ernie's has a banquet room for up to 40 people.

Ernie's Seafood Original Restaurant
13775 East 14th St.
San Leandro, CA
510-357-2246
M-Th 11 AM - 8:30 PM
F 11 AM - 9 PM
Su CLOSED

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

I've been looking forward to go to Boulevard Burgers since I first heard it was opening, back in August. But I don't go out to lunch that often, so the opportunity didn't present itself until today - when our empty stomachs and a very dirty kitchen convinced us that a lunch out was a good idea. And, indeed, it was. Both Mike and I were very pleaed with our burgers and are sure to go back.

Boulevard Burgers is the latest venture from restauranteur Mike Wiesner, the owner of Paradiso. It occupies the space on MacArthur Boulevard where Sonoma's had been until a few months ago. Sonoma's had attempted to be a "nice" restaurant, but I was never enthralled with its food - though I hope that my negative review wasn't a major reason why the venture failed. Boulevard Burgers is a much less ambitious endeavor. It's basically a semi-upscale burger joint. Upscale in that they use "grass-fed, grain finished California Angus which has no steroids, antibiotics, hormones or pesticides" and which comes from a nearby ranch - but not quite gourmet as the burgers they offer are quite basic; toppings include four kinds of cheese, avocado, mushrooms, grilled onions and little else. Don't come here expecting a Kobe burger with saute foie gras and homemade Dijon mustard (if that's what you want, Hubert Keller's Burger Bar in San Francisco will be more your thing).

The important thing, however, is that the burgers are good. Both Mike and I had ours medium-rare, and they were perfectly cooked and very juicy (so much so that they did manage to soak the bottom part of the bun, a problem easily solved by just turning the burger around :-). I had jack cheese, bacon and avocado on mine - and the combination was very good. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The burgers are between 6.5 and 7 oz, a good size for a good appetite; I couldn't finish mine. They range in price from $5 for a simple hamburger to $8 for the "Whole Enchilada", a burger with avocado, bacon, sauteed onions, mushrooms, jalapeños and cheese. I think the prices are quite reasonable for the quality of the food. The burgers come solo, but you can order fries ($2), sweet potato fries ($3.50) or onion rings ($3) on the side - we got the fries (a HUGE portion) and found them to be un-exceptional. Thin, crispy and tasty enough, but not addictive.

Boulevard also offers grilled chicken sandwiches and a portobello mushroom burger. There are also salads. We didn't try them.

At Boulevard Burgers you order at the counter and have the food brought to your table. Service was quick and very efficient, and the servers/counter people were very attentive.

In all, we had a very pleasant experience and I'd definitely return.

Boulevard Burgers
1027 MacArthur Blvd.
San Leandro, CA
510-632-3100
Open 11 AM - 9 PM

--

I have since been back to Boulevard Burger a couple of times, and once again I've had positive experiences. I loved the juicy burgers and the great service. Once again, however, we weren't thrilled by the onion rings (they lack flavor) and the fries were just OK. Last time I had a chocolate shake, made with Dreyer's ice cream, and it tasted pretty much just like chocolate ice cream. In all, I'll continue going, but mostly for the burgers :-)

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

The San Leandro Education Foundation, an organization that fundraises to support local school, has a new program called Eat Out for Education. On the first Wednesday of each month participating restaurants give 10% of sales to patrons who present an Eat Out coupon. This is a great opportunity to support both schools and local businesses at the same time.

This December we decided to go to Mama Lupe's Cocina Mexican Restaurant in Washington Manor simply because I hadn't been there before. Unfortunately the experience was less than stellar, and I don't think we'll be going back coupon or no coupon.

I should say at first, that my personal experience wasn't too bad. I liked the chips and salsa and my chimichanga (basically a fried burrito) came with a wonderful green sauce, nicely citrusy and a bit piquant. The sauce almost made up for the fact that the chimichanga was 95% rice and only 5% beef. I could not believe how stingy they were with the meat, they might as well not include it at all.

Mike was not thrilled with his flautas, which he thought merely ordinary - but our friend Blaine was quite unhappy with his salad with grilled chicken. Alas, I don't remember why.

Mika, my 7yo, really liked the rice and Camila, my 5yo, was OK with her quesadilla. They both really liked the Mexican hot chocolate, and I should buy some to make at home.

On the plus side, dinner was very cheap, less than $50 for 3 adults and 3 kids. Still, it wasn't cheap enough to justify the mediocre food.

Mama Lupe's Cocina Mexican Restaurant
15033 Farnsworth St
San Leandro, CA
(510) 483-4545

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Yesterday we went for lunch at Taquería Guadalajara, where we hadn't been for ages and ages. After a meal there, I remembered why that was.

I had their special of the day, a smoked pork chop torta (sandwich). The smoked pork chop was delicious on itself, but there was too little of it to compete with the bread, condiments and vegetables - you could omit it altogether and there would be no difference in flavor.

Mike had a burrito that he found very average.

I liked the chips and salsa, the latter has a lot of cilantro and some other lemony flavor, though they took a while to come to the table.

In all, not a bad meal, but not a great one either. We'll continue going to Los Pericos instead.

Taqueria Guadalajara
14327 East 14th Street
San Leandro, CA
(510) 614-7060
www.taqueriaguadalajara.com

Original Review

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

In the last few days I've gotten a couple of new (for me) cookbooks through swaptree.com, a service which allows you to trade cookbooks online. This is what I've got:

Ma Cuisine by Auguste Escoffier, the god of French haute cuisine. Ma Cuisine is directed to the home cook and I'm fully intending on doing at least a couple of recipes from there.

LA Vera Cucina Italiana: The Fundamentals of Classic Italian Cooking. I'm actually planning to read this book in addition to cooking from it.

I was also supposed to get The Cooking of Southwest France : Recipes from France's Magnificent Rustic Cuisine but the book seems to have been lost in the mail :-(

Anyway, I do have a fair number of cookbooks and I really should make a point of cooking a recipe from one cookbook (as opposed to epicurious) a week.

If you google "The Apple Peddler" the fourth link your get is one to my review of the Roseburg, OR location of that restaurant chain. I guess for that reason people have written to me with their impressions (read complaints) about the chain. In 2007, I posted this complaint about the Sutherlin Apple Peddler, and here is a recent one about the one in Burns.

We visited the Apple Peddlers restaurant in Burns Oregon on Sunday November 29, 2009, again, for the first time in several years . It was worse than the last time we decided to quit eating there, several years ago for the same reason.

The service was terrible, unfriendly and extremely slow. Waitress was more interested in cleaning tables and filling jelly racks than waiting on us and taking our order.

I ordered a hamburger with french fries. My husband ordered a senior omelet. When she finally brought our order, she brought two hamburgers and fries. She took the one back and reordered an omelet . My hamburger patty was so tough I could barely cut the hamburger in half, and the fries actually had ice crystals still on the inside.

I asked another waitress to return the fries and I received one that was just out of the fryer and quite pale, but edible. My Husbands omelet arrived and the cheese on it was not melted and it was very cold and tasteless, the biscuit was so cold it would not even begin to melt the butter.

We decided to give up and call it quits and took part of the hamburger to the dog. Dog refused to eat it ! So it was 17.99 down the drain as far as we are concerned.

We will not stop there again, which is very sad , as it is one of the few eating restaurants in Burns Oregon. McDonalds is a lot better and at least the food is cooked and hot when we receive it.

Betty McBee
Emmett, Id 83617

I think there are Sharis in California, but we have never felt
compelled to visit one until the night we were staying in Central Point,
OR and had nowhere else to go for dinner. Our expectations weren't
very high, so we were pleasantly surprised. While Sharis does not
offer anything close to a gourmet experience, the food is fine and
definitely merits a B ("Better than expected") in my
“road restaurant” scale.

The restaurant itself is your basic family restaurant/coffee shop. It
does not have a particularly gimmick, but it's pleasantly appointed; one
of its dining rooms has all booths and the other one tables and chairs.
We were offered a choice of a booth or a table, though we had to wait
for a few minutes for the former. Service was very good.

We all liked the thick beer battered onion rings, they were tasty
(though not very crispy) with and without the ranch sauce. My “baby
back” ribs ($10) were large and meaty, definitely not what you think as
babybacks, but there was plenty of meat. The BBQ sauce was very
average. It came with some mixed veggies, OK loaded mashed potatoes and
an absolutely marvelous slice of corn bread. Its texture was closer to
corn cake and it was rather sweet and quite delicious.

Mike had the fish and chips and they were pretty mediocre. He felt the
fish had too much breading and the fries were merely OK. The portion
was also not very large, though mine was generous enough to share. Mika
had the sliders from the kid's menu. Mike thought they were very dry,
but Mika loved them: “they tasted just like the ones from school,” she
said. Camila had the mac & cheese and was quite satisfied, but she's
not very demanding.

In all our dinner at Sharis was fine. I wouldn't go there if there was
an Elmer's around, but I'd definitely prefer it to a Denny's or Applebees.

Shari's Restaurant
210 Penninger St
Central Point, OR
(541) 665-7070
www.sharis.com

Marga's Chain Restaurant Reviews

Marga's Road Restaurant Reviews

Marga's Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

We stopped at Granzella's a Wednesday in November 2009 during a road
trip up north to visit my in-laws. The large signs by the freeway did
not necessarily convince us we'd find good food, but we thought the
place was worth a try. It was, but next time I'd probably try a
different restaurant.

Granzella's is as much a travel center as a restaurant, in the style of
Harris Ranch on I-5 heading south. There is a casual restaurant, a deli
counter, a coffee/gelato counter and a store selling a variety of
gourmet foods and drinks and cute knickknacks. Apparently there is also
a hotel associated with it. Unlike Harris Ranch, there is no stench of
cow poop around it.

The kids wanted to eat in the restaurant rather than the deli so that's where we headed. The
place has a cabin feel, with lots of wood, but the assorted decorations
are somewhat mismatched. The restaurant is pretty dark and not terribly
inviting.

The menu offers your typical family restaurant/coffeeshop fare. There
are burgers and sandwiches as well as pizza. I thought the prices ($9
for a plain cheeseburger) were a bit steep for this kind of restaurant
(and the quality of the food). There is a kids menu with your usual
choices for about $5; a soda or whole milk is included.

I had the bacon cheeseburger ($10), cooked medium rare as ordered. The
burger itself was probably fine, but it was served with so much yellow
mustard that it was impossible to taste anything else. I was not
impressed. The fries were average. Camila had the mac & cheese and it
must have been good as she ate the whole plate (not overly large). Mika
ordered the nachos, thinking it was the tortilla chip and cheese-whiz
concoction that she apparently gets at school, but refused to eat them
when she realized they had beans and not much on the way of cheese.
Mike had them later and thought they were mediocre. Both kids had hot
fudge sundaes ($2:50 each, I think), which they did enjoy. In all, I
thought the meal wasn't worth the $36 it came to after tax and tip.

I took a look at the cafe, deli and store and, as you may suspect, it
was grossly overpriced. I think 20oz cokes were about $2.25. Still,
some of their stuff is very cute and it may be worth a quick stop just
to browse.

Granzella's
451 6th Street
Williams, CA 95987
Restaurant: (530) 473-5583
http://www.granzellas.com/

Marga's Road Restaurant Reviews

Marga's Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

The Olive Garden. Yes, the Olive Garden. Look, we were staying near
the Westfield Mall in Vancouver, WA, and all of our dining choices were
chain restaurants. Frankly, neither Red Lobster, Chevy's or Azteca
sounded like a more appealing choice. Plus I hadn't been to the Olive
Garden in almost a decade. And you know what? It wasn't too bad.
Generic, uninspired? Sure. But the grub was tasty enough, even good,
and the prices reasonable as well. Would I go back? Well, let's just
say that I wouldn't go out of my way to avoid it.

The Olive Garden at the Westfield Mall looks from the outside as an
Olive Garden and from the inside as a mall restaurant. The textured
walls and Italianish decorations did not stand up against the flat roof
of our small dining room, ­ but it wasn't unpleasant. Service was swift
and attentive, though the waitress seemed somewhat taken aback when I
pronounced the food merely “fine”. Really, given my low expectations
that was a compliment.

The menu, as you can imagine, emphasizes pastas with a few heavier
entrees added for good measure. There are plenty of fried appetizers,
but Mike and I had had a late lunch and weren't /that/ hungry. Plus
entrees come with your choice of soup (several choices here) or salad,
and neither of these are skimpy.

I had the spaghetti with meatballs and the salad ($14)
and Mike had the tilapia and the chili soup ($16.50. The meals came accompanied
by their greatly advertised bread sticks, which were warm but still kind
of tough and otherwise unremarkable. The salad was large enough for two
or more, but also nothing to write home about. I personally found the
dressing too acidic, but Mike liked it. There was plenty of crispy,
white lettuce, a few onion and tomato slices and an amazing number of
croutons.

Mike found his chili soup watery. He was somewhat surprised it had
pasta in it (hello?! It's the Olive Garden!) and not much meat. Maybe
try one of the other choices.

My spaghetti with meatballs, on the other hand, was surprisingly good.
OK, the spaghetti was spaghetti, and the “meat” sauce had a generic
sweet flavor to it, but the meatballs were very nice. They tasted
pretty much like you imagine a meatball would taste; nothing gourmet,
nothing revelatory, but exactly what I was looking for that night. If
you are looking for classic meatballs, you could definitely do worse.
Mike thought his tilapia was “fine”, though I remember he liking the
sauce. The portion wasn't too big so he ate some of my meatballs (the
chutzpah!), which he also liked.

We were too full for dessert so we skipped it. Maybe next time, but
they are about $7 which I find a bit steep for dessert.

And that was it, a pleasant meal that exceeded our very low expectations.

The Olive Garden
8101 NE Parkway Dr.
Vancouver, WA
(360) 256-8174
http://www.olivegarden.com

Marga's Chain Restaurant Reviews

Marga's Restaurant Reviews

I just discovered that you can get coupons for San Leandro restaurants at http://www.openfence.net/coupons.cfm (they also have coupons for other businesses, but this is a food blog). Featured restaurants include The Englander, Creasian and Porky's Pizza Palace (but there are quite a few more). You have to register to get the coupons, but they are free - albeit limited in number and only good for a month after you get them.

They also have a couple of restaurant coupons for Castro Valley (Buon Appetito, Palomares and a couple of other ones) and Oakland (Mezze, Tropix, La Cucina Italiana). I suspect they're working on getting more restaurants, so it'll pay to check them out before going out to eat. I know I will.

The San Leandro Education Foundation, a new organization dedicated to fundraising for San Leandro schools, has a newish program called Eat Out for Education. On the first Wednesday of every month you can eat out at participating restaurants in San Lenadro and 10% of your bill will be donated to the foundation. It's a great way of supporting your local restaurants and San Leandro children at the same time.

In order for the foundation to get the money, please bring along this coupon and present it to your waiter.

An article in today's still extant San Francisco Chronicle reveals the Bay Area restaurants that have received Michelin stars this year. The French Laundry was, once again, the only restaurant to get three stars. Two stars went to Coi, Cyrus, Manresa and the Restaurant at Meadowood, and 34 restaurants got one star. Unfortunately only two restaurants in the East Bay got that coveted star - Soizic in Oakland, which had it one time, no longer does.

I'd love to try the 1 and 2 star restaurants, but given the economic climate I doubt that will happen. Indeed, two of the restaurants who received one Michelin star have already closed, which tells you we are not the only ones that have to be very careful with money.

I have just learned that Biggie's Brazilian BBQ has closed, just a few months after opening. I'm quite sad about it (I hope my review did not have much to do with it), it's horrible when people put their dreams and sweat on a business, only to see it fail after a short time. Plus, I really liked the food when we visited.

I learned about Biggie's closing only a couple of days ago when I got an e-mail from restaurant.com - I just called to confirm and their number has been disconnected :-(

I just realized that I have never reviewed the Mutt Hut, a humble restaurant with an exclusive menu of hot dogs, which is just around the corner from my house.

The Mutt Hut is a small place, they have 3 or 4 tables inside and perhaps a couple outside. They have hot dogs, polish sausages, hot links and a couple of other varieties. There are a variety of toppings (cheese, bbq sauce, etc.) but not much more. You can get chips and drinks and that's about it.

The hot dogs are good, but not extraordinary. This is basically a convenience place, where you can get a quick, cheap lunch. The owners are very friendly, there is always a newspaper around to peruse while you wait/eat, and the place is very clean. We come from time to time.

The Mutt Hut
1904 Washington Ave
San Leandro, CA
(510) 352-7794
M-Sa 11 AM - 5 PM

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

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

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.

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

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!

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

Sonoma restaurant, on McArthur in San Leandro, has closed for good. I'm not surprised - while the concept was good, it failed on execution: the food just wasn't that good. I gave it several tries, but it just underwhelmed me.

I'd be sorry to see it go, but the rumor is that Mike Wiesner of Paradiso is taking over the space and opening a (gourmet?) burger joint. He will also serve breakfast. The food at Paradiso is pretty good (if also overpriced), and I think that San Leandro could really use a good burger place. There are several, but since the closure of Joplins, the only one that does a good burger is Vila Cereja (though I haven't been there for quite a while).

Anyway, I'm looking forward to trying the new place.

Sweet Fingers is San Leandro's only Caribbean restaurant. Located on East 14th, near the Oakland border, it's relatively inconspicuous. From the outside it looks like a bar, from the inside, like a third-world restaurant. The tables are cheap, the light is dim and the bar quite prominent. It's the kind of place you go to hang out, listen to some reggae or just have some great Jamaican/Caribbean food. That's what we did last night, when we had our monthly informal SLCAN meeting at the place.

Everything we ordered was a winner: B. loved the jerked tofu, T. became a fun of the shrimp curry and D. enjoyed his oxtail stew. R. and I had had dinner earlier and weren't planning to eat, but we had to order the fabulous friend plantains ($4). After we enjoyed them, the waitress was nice enough to bring us a plate of jerk chicken to share. It was dark and moist and nicely spiced - I'm always afraid that jerk chicken will be too strong for my taste but that is not a worry here. In all, I regretted not having gone back to Sweet Fingers since my first review a couple of years ago. Service, as you can imagine, was really good.

The prices, however, are a little high - most entrees are in the mid-teens. However, you can usually buy a $25 gift certificate to Sweet Fingers for $10 at restaurant.com (just do a search for restaurants within a mile of 94577). There is a $35 minimum food purchase. Once in a while restaurant.com has specials which allow you to buy said gift certificate for $2 or $3 - keep an eye on dealdetectives.com.

Sweet Fingers is very friendly to vegetarians - their new menu features 11 vegetarian entrees. With over 15 meat and fish entrees, it's also pretty friendly to carnivores.

Sweet Fingers will be celebrating the launch of a new menu this Sunday (the 16th) at 3 PM. Everyone is invited to come and party with them. They will have food, music and they'll be selling tickets to the Monterey Bay Reggae festival which will take place during labor day weekend. Sister Alice, Sweet Fingers' chef and own reggae artist, will be catering the event.

The new menu keeps many favorites such as the jerk chicken, but adds new dishes such as brown stew goat ($16), braised blue mountain lamb ($18) and ginger orange chicken ($16). Some of the dishes are daily specials.

Sweet fingers is also increasing its musical offerings. They will have music every day but Monday from 10 PM to 2 AM. There will be live music every Sunday.

They will have a happy hour from 3-6 PM with half-price appetizers.

I'm unlikely to go for the music or the happy hour, but I'll definitely return for the food.

Sweet Fingers
464 E. 14th St.
San Leandro ,CA
510.553.9869
http://www.sweetfingersrestaurant.com/

Marga's Original Review

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

I just received the following e-mail which is clearly a scam. In the e-mail a purported company wants to make reservations at "your" restaurant. They ask for a set menu and offer to provide their credit card details for full payment.

Now, I'm not sure *how* this scam works exactly* - but I know it's a scam because of several "clues":

-The letter is written in the ultra-formal/non-idiomatic/contrived English that Nigerian/African scammers usually use.

-It purports to come from a representative of the company, but it uses a yahoo.com reply-to address. It's sent, however, from a bluehost.com server.

-It does not name the restaurant where they are making the reservations, just calling it "your restaurant". Same with the location of the restaurant, "your area".

-There is no info online on "Exxon Energy Plc.", and a search of the address or phone number lead nowhere.

If you know how this scam works, please comment here. If you do have a restaurant and receive this - PLEASE BEWARE!

Date: Mon, 03 Aug 2009 09:05:36 -0600
To: marga@lacabe.com
Subject: Enquiry.
From: Stewart Graham

Hello,
I am Stewart Graham, Public Relations Officer (P.R.O) of Exxon Energy Plc. United Kingdom. Your restaurant has been approved by my company for dinner reservations for my workers visiting your area for a project, so i therefore want to book dinner for this group of workers.
They will all come for dinner in your place as from AUGUST 18th, 19th and 20th, 2009 by 8:00pm each day. They are fifteen (15) in number.

**NOTE THAT IT WILL BE THE SAME 15 GUESTS EACH NIGHT**.

We will appreciate if you prepare a 3 course menu for my group for the dinner. No special dietary. Also your suggestion will be appreciated since this is our first dinner in your restaurant.
Kindly provide the total cost of the dinner for the 15 persons for the 3 nights dinner so as to provide my credit card details for full payment confirmation if there is availability in your restaurant.
Your swift response will be appreciated.
Regards,

Stewart Graham
40 Lothian Road
EH3 9BY,
Edinburgh,
SCOTLAND.
Phone number:+44(0)7024014792

*NOTE Here is an explanation of how the scam works.

We were on I-5 again, returning home from LA, the kids were hungry and the next stop was Buttonwillow so we headed there. We hadn't been to the Willow Ranch restaurant before, and we figured it might be better than the other choices. In reality, it was not - we only had breakfast, but their breakfast left some to be desired. I'm rating it a solid "D" for Dennys-like quality.

I had the French toast (2 bread slices for $6) that came with a side of bacon or sausage. I got the bacon and it was overcooked and tough. The French toast was OK but not exciting, a rather small portion for the price (but I wouldn't have wanted more). It was served with regular syrup.

Mike had the "hearty" breakfast ($8) which included pancakes, 2 eggs, sausage, and I think bacon. The pancakes were fine, but his eggs over medium were actually runny. Without any potatoes or bread to soak the yolk, they were a waste. The kids had the pancake and egg breakfast ($3) and were both happy, but they are easy to please. With 3 hot chocolates and a glass of milk the bill came to $30 after tax, expensive for a very mediocre breakfast.

The Willow Ranch is a modest, western-style restaurant and I think they specialize in BBQ foods, so their BBQ may be good - but I wouldn't be rushing back in in any case.

Willow Ranch Restaurant
27770 Lagoon Dr.
Buttonwillow, CA
(661) 764 - 6605
http://www.willowranchrestaurant.com/

Marga's Road Restaurant Reviews

I'm sorry to say that I have not added restaurant reviews to my website for many months now. I was waiting for Mike to edit them, but I don't think it's going to happen any time soon, and some of them are over a year old! So here they are, unedited:

Asmara - typical Ethiopian food on Telegraph Ave.

Bijou - This new French restaurant in Hayward fails miserably in ambiance and food.

Cafe Majestic - I went there for my birthday last year, alas, it seems to have closed before I posted my review :-(

The fig cafe & winebar - a great lunch spot in Glen Ellen

The Golden Tea Garden is a relatively new tea house in Hayward that has quickly become my favorite.

Highland Dell Lodge Restaurant - Less than successful food at this German/American restaurant.

Pizzaiolo - unusual think-crust pizzas in North Oakland

Skates on the Bay - I loved the atmosphere and burgers at this Berkeley institution.

Soizic - a very nice Californian restaurant near Jack London Sq. has a Michellin star and killer mushrooms.

There are three more reviews from the Vancouver, WA area that are in Mike's computer so I can't post now. When they are ready, they'll be at http://www.marga.org/food/rest/other/

As usual, you can find my restaurant reviews at http://www.marga.org/food/rest/

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

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.

--
Update 12/09

We went again to My Ultimate Tandoori around Xmas time with my parents and I think we had a pretty experience. Mike and I had Indian food and my parents Italian. It's been a while so I don't remember what we all had, but we all liked the food. However, we all felt it was overpriced, which is why My Ultimate Tandoori is not my choice for either Indian or Italian food, despite the fact that it's relatively close to my home.

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.

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

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

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.

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 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

Note: Biggies has closed.

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

The downtown San Leandro farmers' market is back again for the summer season. It opened yesterday with some band playing that fortunately wasn't as loud as bands last year. We found most of the same food stands from last year, in addition to a new prepared foods stand: Casbah Exotic Food. They serve a short, but eclectic, list of dishes - if I well remember Moroccan chicken, curry chicken, gyros (I think beef) and a steak sandwich. I'm pretty sure they had another item as well. I think all the plate were $5.

I had the Moroccan chicken plate, which really was a chicken gyro. It consisted of a pita bread covered with lettuce & some tomato, and some pieces of pretty bland chicken. I ate it but did not enjoy it, and I was hungry afterwards. Mike had a slightly better experience with his gyro. He liked the marinated beef, but thought that the portion was also too small. $5 is not much, but I rather pay a dollar or two more and be satisfied.

Fortunately Meyers BBQ is back with their chicken teriyaki and huge hot dogs.

Ana Rosa's occupies the space previously occupied by El Novillo, also a Mexican restaurant. It's only a few yards away from my house, so I was hoping it'd be great - or at least good. Alas, I'd qualify it as simply "OK".

I went last night, with Mika and Camila, to "celebrate" Cinco de Mayo. I was too lazy to walk all the way to Los Pericos, my favorite taquería in town and too unprepared to make something at home either. So Ana Rosa's it was.

I ordered a beef quesadilla ($7), while Mika had a regular chicken burrito ($5) and Camila had a small plain cheese quesadilla ($5). The menu did list the plain quesadilla at $5 - but when the waitress asked me if I wanted a large or small quesadilla, I assumed that the small one would be less. My bad, I paid $5 for a tiny tortilla filled with a little bit of cheese. Outrageous.

My beef quesadilla was larger - it consisted of an oversize flour tortilla, filled with cheese and diced beef, folded in half and toasted. It was served with a scoop of guacamole (the thin, runny type), sour cream, lettuce and a slice of tomato. Personally, I don't really like toasted tortillas. I much prefer the method used at Los Pericos in which a large flour tortilla is steamed, filled with the beef, cheese, salsa, guacamole and sour cream (and lettuce, if you want), and then rolled as a burrito - but that's why Los Pericos is my favorite taqueria. This quesadilla tasted just fine, the flavor of the meat was overwhelmed by the toastiness of the tortilla, but there wasn't anything disagreeable - or particularly agreeable - about it. I just didn't dig it.

Finally, Mika's burrito was quite large, filled mostly with rice. Mika didn't like it, or at least didn't eat it, so Mike had it for dinner later on. He found it to be completely bland, he says that he's liked every other burrito he's had more - there was just nothing to this one.

As for the restaurant, Ana Rosa's has a very small dining room - but it was full when we went on a Tuesday around 5:30 PM. They have sit-down service, and the lone waitress amazingly managed to serve the whole dining room and calculate the checks by herself. She was very pleasant and the service was good. As for the place, there is no atmosphere to it - just a place to go and have a quick bite to eat, not to linger.

All in all, I'm sad to repeat that Ana Rosa's fails as a taqueria that I would frequent. I can imagine I'll go again, but just because it's so close to my house. But even then, I can't imagine it'll be anytime soon. I'll get off my butt and go to Los Perico's.

Ana Rosa's Mexican Restaurant
2089 E 14th St # C @ Estabrook
San Leandro, CA
(510) 357-3022

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

The following is a message I got about a restaurant on the road between SF & LA. I haven't been there - but after that recommendation, I'll definitely try it.

My wife and I stop at the Planeta Rojas Café in Button Willow each time we travel to L.A. and return.…it is down the way from the Taste of India…in back of the Shell Gas Station.

While you have to push past that they prepare their food out in front in a portable “Taco Coach” and you order inside the red building…the food is excellent. I am a Mexican Food lover and connoisseur…I grew up in L.A….spend a lot of time in Mexico..and know the best places in the Bay Area. Nobody, not any restaurant from Mexico City to any place in the Bay area….touches their Chile Relleno…it is all made fresh…this is not fast food…but, they serve it quickly. Try the Chicken Tostada if you’re on a diet. The prices are cheap…and a complete lunch for 2 is $13 to $20…including a soda.

One other thing…you might think the owners are just arrived from Mexico…a married couple…they’re not, both hard working & very friendly and proud parents of a new U.S. Marine stationed in San Diego…just joined and doing his boot camp. He joined for 6 years to become an Military Police. You won’t be disappointed.

Mike Emley

Marga's Road Restaurant Reviews

Saigon 2, a Vietnamese restaurant, has opened in San Leandro. I haven't been there yet, so I can't report on it, but it's getting mostly postive reviews at Yelp.

That said, do we really need a new Vietnamese restaurant in San Leandro. As far as I know, we already have 5: Vo's, Le Soleil (my favorite), Pho Anh Ha, Tu Tai (where I haven't been) and Halan (is that the one near K-Mart?). There might be others (if so, let me know). Now, in a town with just one Thai Restaurant, with no Indian, no Ethiopian, no French, no South American and no Middle Eastern restaurants - do we need six Vietnamese restaurants? How about some variety!!!!

Anyway, I may or may not give it a try. If you do - please let me know what you think of it. It's located at 2113 Marina Blvd (between Menlo St & Doolittle Dr) and there is a 10% off coupon in last week's San Leandro Times.

I also saw in the San Leandro Times an add asking for waiters/staff for a new restaurant in Manor Square. The restaurant is called Double B Bar & Grill and I know absolutely nothing about it. They don't have a phone number in the ad, so I can't even call and ask. Again, if you know something about it, comment here or e-mail me.

My friend Penelope and I went to Makiyaki for lunch a few days ago. This time I had a bento box with ton-katsu and chicken teriyaki. It was fine. The teriyaki seemed tastier than the time before, while the ton katsu was sort of bland and had the texture of chicken instead of pork, but at least was tender. I thought the dish was a bit expensive for what it was, but I don't have any major complaints. I'd probably go there again, but really, this is a place to go for sushi, not teriyaki.

Makiyaki
134 Pelton Center
San Leandro, Ca
510-895-0488

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Last night I had my monthly dinner with my friends Katrina & Parker (the rest couldn't come), and we went to Ghazal Indian Cuisine in Oakland, California. As usual when I'm with the girls, we had great restaurant karma - not only did we find free parking very close to the restaurant, but we all enjoyed our meal.

Ghazal is a relatively new restaurant in the Jack London area. It's front room is sort of generic, but its dining room is pretty nice - not in the least tacky. There is a wall with square recess shelves, decorated with nice ceramics. The room itself is too square and brightly lit for my taste - the light is too white. With a little more care it could have a very nice ambiance.

We were there on a Wednesday evening, and unfortunately (for them) the restaurant was almost empty - there was only one other party. I think the major reason is that the Jack London. Sq. area is a major dud, a complete failure of a project. It's a nice place, but for some reason nobody seems to go there. If that was true during good economic times, it'll be even truer with our current recession-depression.

In any case, Ghazal is a relatively nice place to go for dinner. It features a pretty much standard North Indian menu, thought there are more choices than at most similar restaurants. It's also pricier than most Indian restaurants. That said, I still ordered what I always order: chicken pakora ($7), lamb korma ($12), kabuli naan (here it's called kashmiri naan - $3) and two sweet lassis ($2.50 each).

The chicken pakora was quite nice, the chicken was quite moist, though the breading wasn't very crispy. The portion was a good size. I also liked the lamb korma - the lamb was amazingly tender - but I thought the korma was lacking something. Perhaps some salt? The white rice that I ordered with it was yellow, but otherwise fine. Both dishes were pretty spicy, even though I'd ordered the lamb "mild". The naan had a good amount of filling, and it was yummy and soft. The lassis, meanwhile, were delicious - perhaps a tad too sweet, but very refreshing and just nice.

Katrina and Parker shared several vegetarian dishes - I didn't try them, but they said they were very good. In all, we were all happy to have dined there. As I said, we have good restaurant karma.

Ghazal Indian Cuisine
131 Broadway
Oakland, CA
510-268-9950

-Cocina Poblana in Jack London Sq. showed me once and for all that I don't like moles.

-Messob, an Ethiopian restaurant on Piedmont Ave. was OK, not worth a second visit.

- Misty's Grille / Character's Lounge: The restaurant at the Red Lion hotel in Medford, Oregon. We went there because we were staying at the hotel (the cheapest place to stay in Medford, bid $50 in priceline) and we were too tired to go anywhere else. It sucked.

-Applebees in Salmon Creek, Washington, is among the worst restaurants I've ever been in my life. It was definitely the worst burger I've eaten in many years.

-Black Angus in San Lorenzo provided me with a decent steak and a disappointing dessert - and a long wait for the kids' mac&cheese.

More soon.

I first went to Elmer's in 2007 when we went to visit my in-laws in Washington state. We liked it, so we stopped there last November when we went to visit them again. What follows are my updated reviews. You can find the original review here.

Elmer's - Springfield - 11/09

The kids had their usual chocolate-chip pancakes ($4 for 4 small
pancakes). This time we had them share one portion and they barely
finished even that. We also knew better than to order two full
breakfast entrees (they are quite big) so instead we ordered the
Hazelnut pancake combo ($9.50, comes with your choice of meat and eggs)
and a side of potato pancake ($3.30), this was enough for Mike and I to
be satisfied but not stuffed. The potato pancake was once again good,
though it needed a bit more seasoning. The bacon was great but I was
somewhat disappointed with the pancakes. I was hoping that they were
stuffed with ricotta, but either the cheese was completely absorbed into
the batter or the batter was made with it, as there was no ricotta to
taste. Without the cheese, the pancakes were rather dry; they were
nice in those bites that had hazelnuts in it, but too plain in the
others. I would not order them again.

Service was good, the restaurant was nice and clean and I'd stop there
again ­ just order something different.

Elmer's Restaurant
3350 Gateway St
Springfield, OR
(541) 726-1261

Elmer's Grant Pass - 11/09

We stopped here for lunch and, once again, we had a pleasant experience. I was unhappy to find out that in Oregon it's against the law to serve burgers cooked less than well-done. Well done burgers are dry and tasteless, so I opted not to have one that day. Instead I went for the NW Cheese Steak Sandwich ($10), which I had with the optional onion rings ($1 extra). It was a good choice. The pot-roast sandwich was very good, the pot roast actually had a grilled flavor to it (probably the peppers) and the cheese was neither skimpy nor overwhelming. I was very happy. The portion, in particularly when coupled with the onion rings, was also large enough that I could save half for later. The onion rings, on the other hand, were somewhat of a disappointment. They were cut very, very thick and the gritty batter needed more flavor. They were also too oily. On the plus side, there were plenty of them.

Mike had the BBQ chicken sandwich ($10). He was happy that the chicken breast was an actual breast, not some reconstituted heresy. He liked the BBQ sauce and was all in all pleased. He also had the onion rings and was not impressed.

Camila had a cheese sandwich ($4) which she liked. I tasted it and it was plain (and therefore dry) but tasty enough. Mika had the cheeseburger ($4) and she was very pleased with it, she thought it tasted great (but she's no gourmet, she likes the ones at her school cafeteria quite a bit). The burger was served plain (as it should be, kids are picky!) and it was large enough that she could not finish it by herself.

For dessert we had the sundaes and we were disappointed in them. Mika's sundae had the triple berry topping and she found it quite sour. Camila's had plain chocolate syrup (rather than fudge) and it was just OK. I wouldn't order them again.

Elmer's
175 Agness
Grants Pass, OR
(541) 474-0740

Elmer's Medford - 11/08

Our one dinner at Elmer's was perfectly fine. I had the flat iron
steak, which I think came with a perfectly acceptable clam chowder.
It was perfectly cooked medium rare (which means towards the rare side
of medium rare), and quite tasty. It wasn't particularly large (for
once!), but still a good deal at $14. My only complaint is that it
did not have the consistency of a flat iron steak, it was more like a
sirloin (but a well cooked sirloin).

Mike had the small chicken salad ($10) and was happy with it. The
veggies were fresh and he liked the dressing. The kids shared a mac &
cheese ($4), which was definitely large enough for both of them.

Our two breakfasts at Elmer's were just as good. The kids loved the
chocolate chip pancakes, which they'd had the previous year. Each
portion includes 4 medium-size pancakes, so be smart and order one for
two kids. I liked the pancakes quite a bit as well. My first time I
had the caramel banana french toast, which was delicious. There is
just so much sugar I can take, however, so I wasn't close to finishing
it, even with some help from Mike and Mika. My second time I went for
the potato pancakes with bacon & scallions. I can't say these are
delicious, but they are satisfying. I'd definitely order them again,
and I wish it wasn't such a pain for me to peel and shred potatoes,
otherwise I'd make them myself. My only complaint here is that there
wasn't enough sour cream. I had the pancakes with a side of bacon,
and the bacon was very nice and meaty. Once again, however, I
couldn't finish the whole plate. Both times Mike had some sort of
skillet, which he declared to be fine. He's never very excited about
these breakfast dishes, however.

So I suspect that we'll be going back to Elmer's on our next drive
through Oregon.

Elmer's
2000 Biddle Rd.
Medford, OR
(541) 772-2000

Original Review

Road Restaurant Reviews
Chain Restaurant Reviews
Restaurants Beyond the Bay Area

Last night Mike and I went to Watercourse Way, our favorite spa in the Bay Area. Before we stopped for dinner at Siam Royal Authentic Thai Cuisine on University Avenue in Palo Alto, which is pretty close by. I had been there many years before with my friend Lola, but couldn't remember whether I'd like it or not. My conclusion this time was that it's a pretty average Thai restaurant, there is no compelling reason to go there or to avoid it.

We started the meal with Angel Wings ("Deep-fried stuffed chicken wings with ground chicken and vegetable, served with sweet and sour sauce" - $8). The wings themselves were pretty tasteless, the stuffing was in great need of some spicing. The sweet and sour sauce was pretty good, on the spicy side, though the wings were too big for the sauce to coat every bite. We wouldn't order them again.

My entree was Gai Yang ("Char-broiled marinated chicken with Thai herbs; served with sweet and sour sauce." - $8). It was also OK. The skin was nice and crispy, but the chicken itself was a bit dry. As with the wings, the sauce helped quite a bit - but I also wouldn't order it again.

Mike was happier with his Panang Salmon ("Simmered salmon in coconut milk, peanut curry sauce and string beans." - $12), which also came with broccoli. The salmon was perfectly cooked and the sauce was very tasty, with just the right amount of spice. The portion seemed generous enough, though he still ate some of my chicken, but then again, salmon is not that filling. I think he'd order it again.

We skipped dessert because we were in a hurry to get to our spa appointment - they have the obligatory bananas cooked in a number different ways.

Service was fine, though we had to ask for the bill - they brought it quickly once we did so. The dinner, with one drink and one side of rice, came to $37 after tax and tip. Not precisely cheap, but not too bad. I'm not sure I'd go there again, there are many other choices on University Ave., but it was OK for what it was.

Siam Royal Authentic Thai
338 University Ave
Palo Alto, CA
(650) 329-8129
http://www.siamroyalthai.com/

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

It'd been quite a while since I'd gone to Bella Italia for lunch, and I thought it was time to give the restaurant a try. So last Wednesday, when Lola came to visit me, I decided we should go there and see how the restaurant is faring. Alas, the answer seems to be "not very well". In the hour or so that we were there, no other party came to have lunch. Granted, it was New Year's Eve, so a reduced crowed is expected, but nobody?

For some reason, the owners have greatly expanded the restaurant from the size it was in its Prings days. I guess that makes sense if they are renting the place out for parties (and if you are looking for a banquet room in San Leandro, this may be a good choice for you), but it does it seem even lonelier when you are the only party at the restaurant. The place does look as nice as it can, given the architecture of the building (which was built as a coffee shop). There are cloth tablecloth and napkins, nicely made up tables and a new wooden bar that seems very well stocked up. Still, it doesn't have much of a "date" or "nice dinner out" atmosphere.

It's perfect for lunch, however, specially given the very low prices. The lunch menu offers salads, sandwiches, pizzas and pastas, dishes are mostly in the $6-8 range and they come with warm bread rolls and (unsalted) butter - there is also olive oil and balsamic vinegar at the table.

I had the lasagna bolognese ($6 lunch, $11 dinner) and I thought it was pretty good. It had a good combination of cheese to meat to pasta. The sauce wasn't my favorite, and it was nowhere as good to the lasagna I made myself a few weeks ago, but it's a safe dish to order.

Lola had one of their pizzas, I forgot its name but it was the one that came with ground beef. She didn't feel it tasted particularly Italian (she's spent a fair amount of time in Italy), but she thought it was OK. I'm usually not a thin-pizza sort of person, but I liked it. It thought there was a good balance of toppings to bread, and the sauce was not overwhelming. Lola didn't seem to like it that much, but Mike thought the leftovers we brought home were very tasty. I think I'd order it myself.

Service was good and attentive, and I can't believe how cheap lunch entrees are. I'd definitely go again for lunch.

La Bella Italian Inn
15015 E. 14th St.
San Leandro, CA
510-895-2792
Original Review

Restaurant.com, a website that offers discount gift certificates to local restaurants, is having a "sale". Now, you can get a $25 gift certificate for $2 (regularly $10) and a $10 one for $.60. The gift certificates usually require a minimum food purchase of $35 to $50 (for the $25 one), and they attach an 18% tip to the pre-discounted bill. As I usually tip 20%, that doesn't bother me.

The restaurants that offer gift certificates are all over the place in terms of cost and quality. I got a gift certificate for Jordan's at the Claremont (which I may use for my 40th birthday, as that place is expensive), to Kenkoy's (a Filipino restaurant in Hayward), to Shashamane Int'l Bar & Grill (an Ethiopian restaurant in Oakland), to Cocina Poblana in Jack London and to Unicorn Pan-Asian cuisine in Berkeley.

The gift certificates do not expire in California (they expire a year from purchase in other states), so it doesn't matter when we go.

To get the discounted price use the code CELEBRATE

Last night, Mike took me out to dinner at Vo's to celebrate our brief childless status (we do miss the kids, though). I had been there last a few month prior with the girls, and I'd had a pretty good meal. This one, however, was lackluster - the food seemed tired and lacked shining flavors. Part of the problem may be that Vo's seems to specialize on seafood (its specials menu featured only one meat dish), and that the choices for non-seafood eaters are very limited. After a few visits to the restaurant, you would have tried them all. I think it's time that they revamp their menu, at least vis a vis meat choices.

Mike started with the crab puffs ($8, I think) - five or six little purses fried and filled with crabmeat. He liked them, but in particular enjoyed the mustard sauce. I had the crispy rolls ($8), an old favorite. I had loved the very light and crispy skins and the flavorful filling. This time, the rolls tasted like egg rolls in any other restaurant. They lacked flavor, and even the dipping sauce couldn't help them much. I wouldn't order them again.

My main dish was the caramelized pork & shrimp ($14). I'd had this dish before, and I think I'd enjoyed it, but this time it was pretty average. The caramelization hadn't added much sweetness to the dish, and I think the meat was underseasoned to begin with. The sauce was very one-dimensional. It wasn't bad, indeed it was perfectly acceptable - but there wasn't much of a reason to eat it other than being hungry and having ordered it. I wouldn't do it again, either. Also, the portion was on the small side (something I've noticed to be an issue with Vo's from the start) - if you came in moderately hungry and haven't had an appetizer, you'll still be hungry after eating it.

Mike had the lemongrass catfish filet ($16) from the specials menu. He didn't think it was that great. The sauce was too viscous and bland, but at least the catfish was properly cooked. He wouldn't order it again.

Probably the worst part of the meal, however, were the desserts. Mike had the caramelized bananas with ice cream ($7, I think), and the dish consisted of perhaps half a banana sliced and covered in caramelized sugar, it was served with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream. The banana slices were nice, but again, nothing special. And given how small the portion of bananas they serve was, the dish was grossly overpriced.

Worse still was the cheesecake ($8). I knew that they didn't make the deserts on site (with the exception, I imagine, of the two banana dishes) - but they really need a better dessert provider. This cheesecake ($8) was flavorless and had been badly defrosted. While part of the cheesecake had the unpleasant texture of ice crystals, the other was thawed to the point of almost melting it. I'm not sure if they did it in the microwave, or how they managed to mess it up so much. The portion was pretty small for the price, but in this case it really didn't matter as the whole thing was a waste of calories. If I do eat at Vo's again (and I may very well do so, if I go out with friends who insist on going there), I will make sure to avoid dessert here.

Service was adequate (though the waitress did not ask how our meal was), but the timing of the dishes was off. Our entrees came before our appetizer dishes had been removed from the table. In all, it felt like it was a pretty rushed meal. Which is strange, as the restaurant was almost empty on a Friday night.

Dinner came to about $82 after tax and tip. I used a $25 gift certificate that I got at restaurant.com for $3 (they are usually $10, but they were running a special) - but I felt that even at $60 the dinner was overpriced. Too bad, because I like Vo's, or at least the concept of Vo's - somebody just needs to get back in the kitchen and shake things up a bit.

Vo's Restaurant
277 Parrott St.
San Leandro, Ca.
510-357-6600
Original Review

Update 12/09.

As usual we went to the Oriental Tea House, in San Leandro, for Xmas dinner; this time with my sister Kathy and my brother and his family. Once again, service was hurried - the Oriental Tea House is very popular on Xmas day - but efficient. Food came on time (except for the sweet & sour pork which was delayed) and it was generally good (and cheap). Mike was happy with his beef with snow peas, as was my sister-in-law with her broccoli beef. My brother David ordered the beef curry, not on the menu, and his dish was pretty good, though very mild. I'm not sure if that was because the waitress misunderstood that he wanted his dish spicy (the English language skills of the workforce at Oriental Tea House are very limited), or because they just have a different understanding of spicy than we do. In any case, it was mild.

I ordered the roast duck, having liked the roast chicken in the past, which was a mistake. The duck was nicely cooked and very flavorful - but it had the obligatory thick layer of fat and my chopstick skills are not advanced enough to allow me to get to the meat between the fat and the bone. I had a fork, but without a knife it was an impossible endeavor. Next time I'll stick with the less fatty chicken, which is also very good.

Finally, Kathy had the sweet & sour pork, which she liked but Mike and I thought was quite unappetizing - with fat pieces of pork and a slimy sauce. To each its own.

In all, it was a good meal and we'll definitely be going there again next Xmas.

December 2008

We celebrate Christmas Eve rather than Christmas itself, so in the past we've found ourselves at a loss as to what to do for dinner on the 25th. After a huge Xmas Eve dinner, and a kitchen full of dirty dishes, the least I want to do is cook again. So some years ago we started a tradition of going out to the Oriental Tea House, in San Leandro, for Xmas dinner. The Oriental Tea House has pretty good American-style Chinese food (though given the large number of Chinese that eat there, I suspect they may have a second menu as well), it's cheap (most dishes are around $7), and most importantly, it's actually open on Xmas.

This year was no exception. We probably got there around 6 PM or so - I recommend you go early as the place gets packed by 7 (on Xmas, at least). Service was rushed but attentive, and the food was up to standard.

I liked the roasted chicken quite a bit. The skin was impossibly crispy, and the meat was nice and moist. It's rather bland by itself, but add some of the accompanying seasoned salt, and it's delicious. The beef with oyster sauce was pretty good as well - nothing extraordinary but competently executed. I liked the thick-noodle chicken chow mein, it was flavorful and devoid of too many bean sprouts (I'm not a fan). I wasn't thrilled about the doughy sweet & sour pork, however, but then again, I wasn't in the mood for anything sweet. I thought the pieces of pork were too chewy and the sauce too sweet.

In all, it was a good Xmas Eve experience, and I look forward to going there again for our next Xmas dinner.

Oriental Tea House
604 MacArthur Blvd.
San Leandro
510.562.2828
Original Review

Perhaps it's sad to say that Round Table Pizza is the best pizza in San Leandro - but after tasting most of them, that is my conclusion.

Round Table Pizza is relatively new to me. I think I'd eaten at the restaurant a couple of times, years and years ago, and the pizza hadn't made much of an impression. Then I had it at my friend Charlotte's house a few weeks ago, and I was surprised at how good it was (as I said, better than anything else in San Leandro). I had it again in a pizza buffet during a trip, and finally a couple of days ago when I had nothing in the house to cook and we were too lazy to go shopping. It was good.

The kids got the plain cheese pizza ($17 for a medium, probably 12-14"), and that was fine, though nothing terribly special. They liked it quite a bit, though, but I don't know that they are that particular. I thought it was terribly, terribly overpriced, however. Alas, that's what they eat, so I'm not sure there is anything I can do about it.

I had the Maui Zaui (ham, bacon, pineapple, tomatoes, red and green onions, with 3 cheeses), and it was positively delicious. I particularly liked the bacon, but all the toppings were very nicely balanced. I definitely would order it again. I had it again the next day (microwave for 30" per slice), and it was good, though of course not as much as they day before. Surprisingly, the pizza was only $2 more than the plain pizza.

I will probably order again from Round Table. The only thing that makes me hesitant are the prices. After tax and tip, the two relatively small medium pizzas came to $42 - more than the cost of a dinner out for the four of us, and this didn't include drinks.

Round Table
1359 Washington Avenue
San Leandro, CA
(510) 581-9994
http://www.roundtablepizza.com/

Fatty Patty's is the worst restaurant I have never eaten at. I had read the reviews of the place, and they were pretty positive. Granted, they were mostly about the breakfast and how huge the portions were, but they did say the food was good. What they didn't say, was that the food was bought pre-cooked.

We went there for lunch while we were visiting my in-laws, and I requested a cheeseburger cooked medium-rare. They told me they couldn't do that because they bought the patties pre-cooked, and all they did was warm them up! My God, even McDonalds grills them themselves (they are frozen, granted, but at least they are raw). I can't imagine how sucky these must be. Alas, they didn't really have much in the lunch menu that wasn't patty-based, so we actually walked out of the place.

It's a pity, because I love those mom-n-pop, all-American, hole in the wall breakfast places. I don't expect the food to be great, and usually a visit is enough for me, but visiting one is like traveling to another country.

I don't know that I'd go to Fatty Patty's for breakfast either, the hamburger experience scares me away (I'm imagining commercial frozen-pancakes, warmed up in the microwave). But at least it was a (short) experience.

Fatty Patty's Restaurant
10501 NE Highway 99 # 31
Vancouver, WA
(360) 574-4940

Marga's Restaurant Reviews - Outside the Bay Area

I hadn't been to Daimo for several years, because I was disappointed in the food during my last foray there. So when Lola came to visit a few days ago, I thought we might give Daimo another chance. The results were quite mixed.

We went to Daimo for lunch, and partook of their lunch specials which include a dish of your choice (for their list), soup, salad and rice for $7 - a pretty good deal given how huge the portions are. I also ordered an appetizer of a green onion bread (I forgot what they call it) for $4 - this was a large, flaky, pancake, reminiscent texture-wise of a Malaysian roti canai - sprinkled with green onions. It was pretty good by itself, but it would have been great with some kind of dipping sauce.

Lola had the beef with tofu, and she was quite happy with the dish. It included large chunks of tofu, and very tender slices of meat in a nice, balanced sauce. She enjoyed the dish at the restaurant, and Mika enjoyed the leftovers.

I had one of the worse versions of sesame chicken I've ever had the displeasure to eat. There was very little chicken under the thick breading, and what was was there was more akin to chicken fat than flesh. The thick, glutinous sauce wasn't too sweet, but had nothing going for it either. The portion was large, but I barely ate any of it. Sesame chicken is such an easy dish, that I can't understand why they couldn't make a more palatable version.

I had a coke, Lola had water, and lunch came to $25, including tip.

I won't be hurrying back.

Daimo
1456 E. 14th Ave
San Leandro, Ca
510-351-8131
Open daily 11 am to 12 am

Original Review

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Hawaiian restaurants do not seem to last long in San Leandro - probably because at one time there were too many of them for this market - but Alohana Hawaiian Grill has the fortune of being located near Target in the Bayfair Mall. Given how atrocious the food at Target is, I'd imagine that hungry people shopping there would not mind stopping at Alohana for some food.

We went there a couple of weeks ago, after watching a movie at Cinemark Theaters, and it was a good experience. The food was good - just as good as our Hawaiian restaurant of choice, Ono - and the portions were very generous. I can't say much more than that, and that I'd definitely come back if I was hungry while shopping there.

Now, don't get there expecting any kind of ambiance. The dining room is very small, this was definitely planned as a take-out place, but it's serviceable.

Alohana Hawaiian Grill
1555 E. 14th Suite 319
San Leandro, CA
510-481-8888
http://www.alohanahawaiiangrill.com/

I just got this message as a response to my review of Pomegranate, a Middle Eastern restaurant in Berkeley. I haven't been there since my review, so I'm happy to hear it's still good :-)

"My husband and I went to the Pomegranate restaurant last night based upon your review (that we found by googling restaurant reviews in Berkeley) and it was every bit as good as you said it was. Thanks so much for the tip. We will definitely go back (and Jerry, our waitperson, was awesome)."
Cindy and Fred

Mike wasn't too excited Friday when I suggested that we go to Luke's Grill for lunch. Though we hadn't been there in years (thus my reason for wanting to return), he didn't have particularly good memories of it. Still I convinced him, and we ended up with an OK meal.

Mike had the chicken gyros, which he said were pretty good. I didn't try them, so I can't comment. I had the beefteki, which now comes in a pita bread with lettuce, tomato and feta cheese. The beefteki itself is a large, oblong piece of herbed burger. I thought it was OK, but nothing beyond that. The whole composition was too salty - largely the fault of the cheese - and the beef was too dry. I didn't really enjoy it much.

Both dishes came with fries, which were just average.

In all, I won't be rushing back to Luke's Grill, but I may give it a try again in a couple of years.

Luke's Grill Restaurant
1509 East 14th St.
San Leandro
510-614-1010

Original Review

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Berkeley/Albany

Paragon @ the Claremont
Rendezvous Cafe - French
Unicorn Pan Asian Cuisine

Oakland

Cocina Poblana
Messob
MoNo
Nan Yang
Pizza Rustica
Tamarindo Antojeria Mexicana

Hayward/Castro Valley

Bijou Restaurant & Bar
Sampan Kitchen

Note: This restaurant has closed. A burger joint may
open in its place.

I like Sonoma's. I like the casual neighborhood atmosphere and I like the friendly owner - I even like the menu (though it's grossly overpriced). Really, my only problem with Sonoma is the food. It really needs to be better and cheaper.

I last went a couple of weeks ago with Mike and a bunch of other people, who do love the place. We were there mostly to converse and drink wine, but we were hungry so we also ordered some food. The Coquilles St. Jacques ($10), scallops served in a creamy sauce were very popular, and everyone scooped off every last bit of the sauce. The mushrooms milano ($8), mushrooms sauteed in a sherry sauce, were also very yummy. The sauce was sweet, as you could expect, but not overwhelmingly so and complimented the mushrooms quite well. The portion was a bit small for the price, however.

The big disappointment of the evening was the main dish we shared, the veal saltimbocca ($20), veal sauteed with prosciutto and sage, then topped with mozzarella cheese and baked. It was so overwhelmingly salty and rich that I could not have more than a couple of bites of it. The prosciutto was completely wasted in the whole mess, and why you'd inflict it on a subtly flavored meat like veal is beyond me. It just did not work. Mike, surprisingly, agreed.

I had, on a previous occasion, had the veal marsala ($19) and I remember it being good, so next time I go to Sonoma's I'll probably order that again.

Sonoma's
1027 Macarthur Blvd
San Leandro, CA
(510) 636-1143

Original Review

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

A couple of weeks ago (late August 2008) Mike and I finally had the opportunity to try Villa Portofino, the new Italian restaurant in San Leandro that occupies the space on the corner of Bancroft & Dutton previously occupied by Viva Pancho Villa and Francisco's. I'd have tried it sooner, but it's not open for lunch.

The restaurant hasn't changed too much, but it does have a slightly more upscale look now that there are tablecloths and cloth napkins. Still, it can't really escape its architecture and it's can't really get beyond being a casual place for dinner. Indeed, I'd say that it doesn't quite aspire to be much more than that, but for the $140 bottle of wine in their menu! Mike had to ask if it was a misprint, not just because it seemed out of place in a restaurant where most dishes are in the mid-teens, but because it was designated in the menu just as a "cabernet sauvignon" - no indication as to winery or vintage. Weird. I think we had soft drinks.

Villa Portofino's menu features Italian-American classics, focusing on pastas. They have several well priced daily specials (low to mid teens for pastas), and when we visited we both ordered from the specials menu. Mike had a sausage risotto while I had a rigattoni with some kind of tomato sauce I can't quite recall. My dish was good and hearty, with al-dente cooked pasta and familiar flavors. It wasn't gourmet or particularly delicious, but quite satisfying. I wouldn't make a point of going there to have it again, but I'd order it if I was craving something homey. Mike was quite happy with his risotto. he liked the combination of flavors and the creaminess of the rice.

The dessert list is very prosaic, tiramisus and so forth, and I had the creme brulee. It was a good sized portion, and I appreciated that it was served warm. There is nothing as off-putting as cold creme brulee. It was quite good, though the layer of caramelized sugar was too thin. Still, I'd order it again.

Service was a bit fluky, the waitress seems to be new to the profession and did not pay enough attention to our table (at least look at me so I can flag you to get my bill!).

In all, it was a pleasant dining experience, and I'd go again - albeit not for a date.

Villa Portofino
599 Dutton Ave @ Bancroft
San Leandro, CA
(510) 553-1343
Open for dinner only

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

I've been waiting for Pho An-Ha, the new restaurant at the corner of East 14th & Estabrook to open for several months now. All the restaurants in the immediate vicinity of my house are of questionable quality, and I don't always want to cook. I figured, if Pho An-Ha is any good, I'll patronize it often.

I was in such hurry to try it, that I took the girls there for dinner last Friday night - opening day. The place was very busy, almost all tables were taken, and yet the service was responsive and attentive - though do bear in mind some of the wait staff has limited English. Still, it seemed like the whole Vietnamese community in San Leandro had come over for dinner, and they handled it very well.

I was a little bit disappointed with the menu. It's pretty heavy on pho and other noodle soup dishes ($5.75-$6.75), and I am just not one for soups. In addition they serve grilled pork, chicken and/or shrimp over rice (most $6.25-$8) or vermicelli ($6.75-$7.50). There is the possibility of getting beef stew over rice ($6.25), but that's about it: soup and grilled meats. In other words, not much in the way of variety.

I ordered the grilled pork with vermicelli for Mika and had the Pork chop with rice. I also ordered the grilled chicken appetizer ($6) to share. My conclusion was that the meats were quite good, but the portions were on the small side. The grilled chicken, in particular, consisted of 3 tiny skewers of marinated chicken that would not compare favorably (in size) to the sate you get at Thai restaurants. Still, they were almost as expensive as an entree, but they were served plain (though along with your typical vinegary sauce). In comparison, you can get a much larger portion, served with veggies, for a couple of dollars more at Le Soleil, our favorite Vietnamese bistro.

The same can be said about the two main dishes we ordered. The meats were very flavorful and very nicely grilled, but the portions of actual meat were quite small - not a good deal in comparison to Le Soleil.

I should note, however, that each diner gets a free soda (not necessarily a good thing when you are having lunch with little kids - they don't offer juice or even lemonade as an alternative). They do have strawberry milkshakes, however. The one we had that night - before Mika spilled it all over the table, the floor and herself - was delicious, almost as good as those at Vo's. But when we went a couple of days later just to get a couple of shakes, someone else was making them and they weren't that good. Camila didn't even drink hers (which really, given how caloric these things are, wasn't a bad thing).

The restaurant itself is devoid of ambiance. The place used to be a video store, and later a hip-hop clothing store, and it hasn't changed much. There are a couple of large screen TVs mounted on the sides, though thankfully the sound was turned off while we were there.

Service, on the other hand, was fantastic. After Mika spilled the shake on herself, we hurried home to change her, promising to come back later (we live a hundred feet away). We did, and I guess they hadn't believed our promise, for they had cleared our table and stopped our orders. They were so apologetic for that, however, that they hurried our orders, gave us more free soda and discounted our meals - and they didn't even include the shake we'd wasted on the bill. So yeah, I feel a little bit bad writing that the place is not necessarily a good value.

In all, I liked the food at Pho Anh-Ha and given the proximity to my house, I imagine I'll eat there often - but it won't replace Le Soleil as my favorite Vietnamese restaurant.

Pho Anh-Ha
2089 E 14th St Unit A1
San Leandro, CA
510-357-6888
M-Su, 10 AM - 9 PM

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

I put a bunch of new restaurant reviews online. Many of them are from my trip to the wine country this year, so I decided to create a web page exclusively for restaurants in Napa & Sonoma. It's available at http://www.marga.org/food/rest/napa.html. Mike (who edits my reviews) still owes me a few more, but for the time being here is what I have:

Bear Republic Brewery Co.
Good burgers at this famous Healdsburg eatery

Bistro de Copains
An upscale restaurant in Occidental managed to serve me a cold steak

Howard’s Cafe
Also in Occidental serves a pretty nice breakfast

KC’s Downtown Grill
Good coffee shop food in a dead town, Windsor.

Ravenous
Good food and a relaxing dinner at this Healdsburg gem

Sunflower Caffe
Great gourmet sandwiches in a funky patio

And coming back to the bay area, I posted a pretty old review of:

Sonoma’s
A San Leandro restaurant that unfortunately does not live up to its potential.

and a more recent review of:

Verbena
Good food in an office building in downtown Oakland

Today at noon Mika and I found ourselves at Zocalo, with an hour to wait before picking up Camila from daycare. We hadn't had lunch, and Mika was hungry, so we studied the alternatives in the area (Bancroft & Dutton). There is Paradiso, which is good but expensive; Villa Portofino, which is not open for lunch, Al Attles' California Cheese Steaks, where Mike and I had had lunch yesterday, and the Cornestone Cafe. Clearly, the Cornerstone Cafe was our only choice (OK, we could have walked a couple of blocks and eaten at Mae's Soul Food or Tuttle's Sea Garden, but I didn't think of it, and I don't think Mika likes fried fish/chicken anyway). So to the Cornerstone Cafe we went. All in all, we had a nice meal and I'd go back with her there again.

The Cornerstone Cafe has a pretty short menu, it includes some salads, soups, pastas and sandwiches, as well as daily specials. They also have a brief kids' menu, heavy on angel hair pasta. Mika had the plain angel hair pasta, with butter and Parmesan ($3). She was very happy with it, and ate every single bit. The portion was a bit small, but it did come with bread and butter.

I once again tried the burger, this time with cheddar cheese and avocado. I ordered it medium rare, and it was a bit overdone. It was moderately juicy and it tasted better than I remembered. In all it was fine, better than what you get at most coffee shops, but not particularly great. I didn't like the fact that the burger was ready at least 5 minutes before the pasta, and they let it sit in the counter so they could serve both together. They really should work better on their timing.

The burger comes with your choice of salad, fries or something else. I went for the fries and I didn't like them. They were a bit dry and unseasoned.

Mika had a fresh-squeezed lemonade, which she liked, but found too sweet. I had a coke.

We ate at the counter and service was great. The waitress and the guy behind the counter kept checking on us, and making conversation with my little girl.

Best of all was the bill, $15.50 for the two of us. That's definitely a bargain for that type of restaurant. As I said, yesterday we ate at the Cheesesteak place and spent over $22 - granted it was for two adults, but still.

Cornerstone Cafe
600 Dutton Avenue
San Leandro
510-562-2535

Original Review

Earlier this week I noticed that a small cheesesteak restaurant had opened on Bancroft near Dutton, and today I had the opportunity to go give it a try. It was an OK experience, it's a place I'd go back but not rush back to.

Al Attles' serves hoagies and rice plates, and on this occasion both Mike and I had the steak & cheese hoagy ($8). We also ordered a portion of onion rings ($3.25).

The onion rings were fine. The breading was less flavorful than what I would have liked, and they weren't served with ranch dressing, which I would also have liked, but they tasted as if they were made with fresh oil. They weren't greasy, which I did like.

The hoagies were also much less greasy than those served at other local establishment. The meat was mostly lean, the vegetables (grilled onions, green peppers, lettuce and tomatoes) fresh, and the sandwich quite large. It was a bit unwieldy, however, and the meat kept falling off, so I mostly ended up eating a veggie sandwich. The flavor was fine, the meat (when there) was a bit overwhelmed by the other flavors, but all in all, I liked it. It didn't awe me, though.

Service was very good. The small restaurant doesn't have anything resembling ambiance, but it's a cheese steak restaurant after all.

Al Attles' California Cheese Steaks
571 Bancroft Ave.
San Leandro, Ca
510-639-3458
M-Th 11 AM - 7 PM
F 11Am - ?
Sa 12 - ?

Yesterday we went to the Washington Manor Library to see animals the Oakland Zoo was bringing, and decided to stop for lunch at the Great Wall Restaurant before the the "show". We hadn't been there before.

They serve a standard Chinese-American menu. Most lunch plates and a la carte entrees are about $5-7. We started with the fried pork wontons they also have plain wontons). They looked like money purses of fried dough around a pork meatball. I didn't think the meatball was very tasty (the kids didn't like them), but the fried dough was good with the standard sweet-sour sauce.

Mike ordered two of their set lunches ($5), one with sweet and sour pork, fried rice and chicken chow mein and the other with almond chicken and fried rice. I had the lemon chicken ($6).

The fried rice was very nice, the diminute pieces of bbq pork were smokey and full-flavored, and they imparted the whole dish with their flavor. Mika really enjoyed the chicken chow mein, and I thought it was quite flavorful as well. The almond chicken was very nice, it had a standard flavor but a lot of it. I was less crazy about the lemon chicken and the sweet and sour pork. The problem with the former was that the sauce failed to adhere to the chicken, and the chicken by itself was rather tasteless. The sauce was good, but not spectacular. The sauce on the sweet and sour pork, however, left much to be desired. It managed to be neither sweet nor sour, and was mostly "blah". The meat wasn't fatty, at least.

Service was good, the waitress was accommodating and the food came very promptly to the table. In all, I'd go to the Great Wall again if I was in the neighborhood and had a hankering for Chinese food.

Great Wall Restaurant
15048 Farnsworth St
San Leandro, CA
(510) 352-8343

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

I noticed that Cafe Sorriso has changed ownership. If anyone goes and has a comment, please put it in my original review page (like above).

Horatio's Lounge is undergoing a renovation - the whole bar was close on a recent visit, so we had to have our desserts at the restaurant. But it's opening in the next few days. I'm not sure if I'll get there any time soon, so if you go, let me know how it looks. The desserts we had at the dining room weren't as good as usual, they tasted stale. Hopefully, it's a momentary glitch.

It seems that the Italian restaurant on Bancroft and Dutton is actually getting ready to open and the Vietnamese restaurant at East 14th and Estabrook, is progressing.

Anyway, if you know of something happening in the vibrant San Leandro restaurant scene, please comment here.

I was visiting my parents in the SF Valley this weekend, and my sister Kathy suggested that we go to Thai West for lunch, a favorite restaurant in the neighborhood. Alas, it was close for Sunday lunch, so we went hunting for another alternative. Raaga was the first such alternative we found - and I was glad we did.

We got to the small strip-mall restaurant around 12:30 PM on Sunday (July 2008). The place was deserted, and they were just putting out the lunch buffet. I hope people in the area are late lunchers, because no one came while we ate.

The food was very good. The buffet consisted of three meat dishes (chicken curry, goat curry and tandoori chicken), and 2 or 3 veggie dishes - I noticed a vegetable sambaal and some daal, I'm not sure if they had something else. There was also rice, vegetable pakoras, raita and things of the sort. They brought fresh nan to the table, and it was very good, thick and warm.

I loved everything I had. The tandoori chicken lacked the red dye that is usually used to give the dish its distinctive color, but it was juicy and very flavorful, without being spicy. Indeed, Mika, my picky 6-yo, ate quite a bit of it. The chicken curry was both rich and deep, a tiny bit spicy and somewhat sweet, with layers of complexity. It was not the sort of dish you tend to get in a buffet - I really enjoyed it. The goat curry was almost as good, well balanced, rich in flavor, giving you something new, yet familiar (to eaters of Indian food). Kathy tried the veggie pakoras and she thought they were very good as well, Mika even ate a couple of bites without complain.

Service was great, if silent.

The bill came up to $38 after tax. They only charged us for 3 buffets (there were 3 adults and 3 kids, but the kids mostly ate rice), and we had 4 drinks. In all, I thought it was very affordable for the quality of food.

Raaga
10110 Topanga Canyon Blvd.
Chatsworth, CA
818-407-8898

Marga's Restaurant Reviews

Never say never, right? Reading back my old review of Pea Soup Andersen's, it sounds like I'd sworn never to go back - but last weekend we found ourselves driving down south and hungry by the time we got to Santa Nella. And your choices for food in Santa Nella are limited: Pea Soup Andersen's, the restaurant at the traveler's center (which might have changed names since that review), and fast food. So I thought we'd give Pea Soup another chance. I probably wouldn't again.

It's not that the food was particularly bad. Mike actually enjoyed his croissant club sandwich ($9 or $10). But it wasn't particularly good either. My BBQ Western Burger (~$10) came with bacon, 2 onion rings and BBQ sauce (I asked for it on the side), but it was cooked medium-to-well-done, rather than the medium rare I had asked for. As a result it was dry. It still tasted fine, however. The portions were very generous, though I wished they were smaller and so was the price tag. I've noticed that prices of burgers at restaurants have gone through the roof (I recently had a $17 burger at Adagia), but come on! - if I pay $10 for a burger I want it to be good, if not excellent.

Anyway, I think next time I may actually drive a couple of miles out of the way to Los Baños and have something to eat there instead.

Pea Soup Andersen's
I-5 Exit 407
12411 S Highway 33
Santa Nella, CA
209-826-5534

Original Review

Marga's I-5 Restaurant Reviews

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

I have one restaurant left to review from my trip to Sonoma & the Lake Country, and that is Omelette Express, a breakfast and lunch joint in Windsor. We had breakfast there last week, when visiting the area.

I only had a bagel with cream cheese and a mocha, so I can't really say much personally about the food. The bagel ($2.50) was a little bit too soft, but otherwise fine. The mocha ($3.50 or so) was pretty nice, but not stellar.

Mike had ham, onion, bell pepper and cheese omelet ($11), which he thought wasn't very good. It came with potatoes that were under-salted and sort of soggy, they left much to be desired.

Service was friendly and efficient.

In all, I wouldn't go back not just because of the mediocre omelet, but because they don't offer the sort of things I like for breakfast (pancakes, waffles, etc.), and because they seem quite overpriced. However, if you do go, pick p one of the paper take-out menus they have around. When we went, they had coupons for $3 OFF breakfast and lunch.

Omelette Express
150 Windosr River Road
Windsor, CA
(707) 838-6920
M-F 6:30-3 PM
Sa-Su 7-4 PM

Marga's Restaurant Reviews

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

Last weekend we headed to Sonoma and the Lake county for a little vacation. Our last evening, a Monday night in July 2008, we stayed in Clearlake Oaks, a very small town on the eastern side of the lake. Monday night is a bad night to eat at Clearlake Oaks. There are very few restaurants to begin with, and none of them were open that evening. Our only recourse if we wanted to eat was to drive to the city of Clearlake proper - not a very long drive, but it was getting lake.

There are a few Chinese and Mexican restaurants at the entrance of Clearlake, as well as what I imagine is an American restaurant at one of the hotels. Mike wanted something else, however, so we drove all our town, unsuccessfully as it turned out. We ended up at the Cactus Grill almost by default. It wasn't a bad thing, as our meal, though not spectacular, was satisfying enough.

The little restaurant has a small dining room and patio - the dining room wasn't air conditioned and it was an extremely warm night, so we decided to eat outside. It was quite pleasant.

Service was quite good, the waiter brought us chips immediately - though I had to ask before being told that they had a salsa bar inside. They had about 8 salsas to chose from, both mild and hot, the one closer to pico de gallo that I chose was pretty good.

Mike had one of their burritos, and he was quite pleased with it. It was large and tasty. I had the carne asada plate - which came with rice, beans, guacamole and salsa, as well as huge, very hot, flour tortillas (corn tortillas are also available). It wasn't really different from a fajitas plate. The carne asada was a bit (only a bit) tough, but it had a very pleasant, somewhat vinegary, marinade. There wasn't a lot of it (specially as I don't eat either rice or beans), but I was satisfied. The guacamole tasted commercial, the type of bagged guacamole you can get at Safeway or Costco. It wasn't bad, but I would have preferred homemade, fresh guac.

In all, it was a nice dinner. I wouldn't be hurrying back, but if I was in the area I might visit it again.

Cactus Grill Restaurant
3900 Bayliss Ave
Clearlake, CA
(707) 994-0905

Marga's Restaurant Reviews

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

It'd been a couple of years since I'd last gone to Buon Appetito in Hayward. I'd meant to go back and try the pastas, but for one reason or another, it never came back. Finally yesterday, Lola and I were looking for a place to go to dinner, and Buon Appetito popped into my head.

The place looks just like before, though prices have gone up a few dollars. The menu, featuring pastas and Italian main dishes, is available online.

Dinner starts with fresh French Bread served with a sauce made from garlic, Parmessan cheese, olive oil, and either red pepper or tomatoes (I couldn't tell what was giving it that red color). It was delicious, and I ate much more than I should.

Lola ordered the Ravioli con Pomodoro, ravioli filled with spinach, swiss chard, pinenuts & ricotta cheese, that comes with a tomato & artichoke hearts sauce. She felt it tasted very Italian, like the pastas she'd enjoyed in Florence, but felt it was underseasoned. I don't think she'd order it again.

I went with the Gnocchi al Sugo di Carne - pottato gnocchi in a beef and carrot sauce. I liked the consistency of the gnocchi, they were dense without being heavy. The meat sauce was hearty, with chunks of stewed meat and carrots. There was nothing wrong with it, but I didn't really like it. I'm beginning to think that I may prefer Italian-American food, to that which more closely approximates the style of the mother country. In any case, I enjoyed my dish and the leftovers, but I wouldn't necessarily order it again.

Service was very good, and the kitchen boxed my leftovers for me - the type of service you rarely get anyway.

In all, I will return to Buon Appetito, but I may stick with the main dishes, which were so good last time.

Buon Appetito
917 A Street
Hayward, CA
510.247.0120
http://www.buonappetitorestaurant.net/

Original Review

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

Thai Satay is San Leandro's only Thai restaurant, and as such we visit it from time to time. Mike often gets pad thai from there to take to his School Board meetings, and we go there for lunch once in a while. Yesterday, my friend Lola was visiting, and we decided that Thai sounded good.

I had the roasted duck, which comes in a bed of spinach and rice, accompanied by a strong, somewhat sweet sauce. The duck was nicely salted and tasted great, but it was very, very fatty. There seemed to be more fat than duck. I sort of enjoyed it, but I wouldn't order it again. The sauce was pretty good with the rice, however.

Lola had a combination of masaman curry and basil chicken. The curry was good, though a bit heavy on the potatoes, but the chicken was unbelievably dry. The flavor, mild and inviting, was very good, but Lola couldn't stand eating it. She did like the soup and salad which came with lunch.

At $9 each, the dishes were a bit pricy for lunch, but from time to time you can get "buy one, get one free" coupons at the SL Times.

In all, while Thai Satay doesn't have the best Thai food in the world, it does have the best and only Thai food in San Leandro.

Thai Satay
1376 E. 14th Street
San Leandro, Ca
(510) 351-2345
http://www.thaisatay.com/

Original Review

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Mike and I found ourselves in Lakeport on our way to the Lake county from the Alexander Valley. We were hungry and Jack's Gaslight Grill was pretty much the first restaurant we came across. It wasn’t a bad choice for lunch.

The restaurant looks like it used to be an old tavern. There is a nice wooden bar with mirrors, and a relatively small cooking area. The menu is coffee-shop style, with burgers and sandwiches.

I got the steak sandwich which was just OK. The meat was tough but tasted fine. The onion rings it came with, were quite good. Mike got the burger, which he said was very good, juicy and tasty.

Service was very friendly, and the place is worth a try.

Jack's Gaslight Grill
135 N. Main Street
Lakeport, Ca.
707-263-0188

Restaurant Reviews

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

Last week I went out to Adagia with my friends Parker, Aamani and Dolores. We had all had desserts there a few months before and Parker was eager to try it for dinner. All in all we had a good experience, and I would go back.

I had their famous burger with provolone cheese, avocado and house cured pancetta. At $17.50 it was the most expensive burger I've ever eaten, but it was quite good. The meat was juicy, the toppings balanced, and the pancetta, in particular, was delicious. Still, I had an equally good burger at the Auburn Alehouse a few weeks back for only $11. I'm not sure that I'd order it again, but only because of the price. The fries that came with it were good, but not special.

Dolores had the Gorgonzola and walnut ravioli ($14.50) which came in a white wine cream sauce with arugula. I tasted the dish, and I liked it, but I think I'd grown bored eating the whole plate. Still, it's a good option for vegetarians.

The baked casarecce pasta ($16.50), which Aamani and Parker shared, could have been better. It had a very mild taste and was screaming for more kale (or so I'm told), neither would order it again.

Finally, both Parker and Aamani were happy with their shared falafel crusted halibut ($24), though I didn't hear any screams of ecstasy as in other occasions.

After our experience last time with the chocolate bread pudding, we all ordered it again and once again it was both delicious and satisfying.

Adagia
2700 Bancroft Way
Berkeley, Ca
510.647.2300
http://www.adagiarestaurant.com/

Original Review

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

We stopped at the Old Village Grill in Arroyo Grande yesterday for lunch. We were driving down 101 and were famished by the time we got to Arroyo Grande. Mike remembered that we'd been to the Old Village Grill before, and he thought it was good. This time I thought it was merely OK.

I got their sourdough burger which came with cheese, shredded lettuce, tomato and not-sauteed-enough onions (~$6). The patty was rather small and the whole burger was unwieldy to eat. It tasted good, however. Mike had their BBQ bacon burger and he liked it, it was tasty and juice and the BBQ sauce did not overwhelm the flavors. We shared onion rings that were a bit overcooked, but nicely seasoned - though the accompanying (ranch?) sauce was too salty. I had a peanut butter shake which wasn't flavorful enough. The bill came to $19 before tip.

In all, I think next time I may try a new place.

Old Village Grill
101 E. Branch St.
Arroyo Grande, Ca
(805) 489-4915

It's been several months since I've uploaded restaurant reviews to my website (blame Mike, my editor), so I'm making up for that now. Here are the new ones up:

Tiger's Garden is a very good Thai and Laotian restaurant in downtown Vancouver, Wa.

Elmer's is a Northwestern chain of pretty good restaurants. We had a great breakfast at their Medford location and a pretty good dinner at their Roseburg branch.

Mike and I had a disappointing meal at Oakland's Doña Tomás in 2004, but my 2007 meal there with "the girls" was great!

We finally made it to Chez Simone in Oakland, where we had a nice meal - though nothing I couldn't make at home.

Our last girls' night out with Eddie was at Absinthe in San Francisco. The food was quite good.

The Rotunda, the restaurant at Neiman Marcus in San Francisco, offers what is probably the worst cup of tea in town. Avoid at all costs.

And finally, I celebrated my birthday with my family at El Morocco in Pleasant Hill - an old favorite.

A couple of weeks ago I was in Berlin for a conference and I had lunch at Cafe Stresermann, which happened to be in front of my hotel. I had a wiener schnitzel (E. 9) and a coke (E. 1.70). The coke was fine, but the wiener schnitzel left much to be desired. The meat was tough and underseasoned, and the breading wouldn't stick to it. I was expecting much more of a wiener schntzel in Germany. The potatoes it came with were fine, but not memorable. I don't know if I'll ever return to Berlin, but I won't be eating there again.

Cafe Stresemann
Stresemannstr. 90
10963 Berlin, Germany
+49 30 2611760

I returned from a short trip to Berlin yesterday afternoon, and the first thing I did, after coming home, was head to the Farmers' Market. We were there a little bit later than usual, so we didn't see all our friends as has become the custom, but we did see enough to make me remember what I so love about this place. We also found that amidst the eating choices the market offers (tamales, corn-on-the-cob, teriyaki sticks & hot dogs and steak & sausage sandwiches), there was a new one: Indian food from (I think) India Gourmet in Watsonville. Of course, I had to try it, and the choices were not bad.

India Gourmet offers wraps (for about $6, I think), rice plates ($8) and full dinners ($12), which include rice and veggie sides. The main entrees include chicken curry, lamb curry and two or three vegan options to which I paid no attention (sorry). They have daal, nan ($2) and mango lassis (no sweet ones, though).

Both the chicken and the lamb curry were pretty good. They were well portioned, enough food to eat, though not too much that there were leftovers. Neither was particularly spicy, but they had enough of a kick to keep my oldest kid away. The curries were well balanced and the meats were tender. They weren't my favorite curries out there, but I'd have them again.

The nan was also very nice, on the thick side.

Wednesday evening we went to the Downtown Farmers' Market again. This time they had family entertainment and a few different stands, including one that serves coffee drinks and another one selling beautiful baskets. There is also now a place selling corn-on-the-cob, which the kids enjoyed.

Mike and I had the teriyaki chicken and beef at Meyers BBQ stand. They were both quite good, but not exceptional. The meat was very thin, tender and a little fatty. The portions were large enough for dinner, in particular if accompanied by rice. Chicken skewers are $6, beef $7, add $2 for a large portion of fried rice (which wasn't that good).

Lola and I spent a nice weekend in the Gold Country which culminated with a late lunch in Auburn. We basically headed to the old town, and had lunch in the first place that caught our eye - we got lucky, because Auburn Alehouse serves very good food.

The restaurant is stylish, and doesn't really look like a beer joint. We were seated by the window and had a nice view of the antique market going on that weekend. Though the place was somewhat noisy, it was pretty relaxing for us.

The menu offers sophisticated versions of American classics. For example my burger was made with Kobe beef. Prices are a little high with appetizers averaging $8-9, sandwiches for $9-12 and main dishes from $10-25. But portions are very large and you feel you get your money's worth.

As I mentioned, I ordered the Kobe burger, a 1/2 lb patty that comes with bacon, avocado, American cheese, tomato and lettuce ($11). I substituted the fries for onion strings ($1 additional). The burger was cooked a little bit browner than the medium-rare I ordered, but it was still very juicy. The meat itself was very tender, but I otherwise could not distinguish a special taste to the kobe beef. The whole thing worked very well together, and I enjoyed it. The crispy onion strings were severely underseasoned, but they were good with some salt added. In all, I enjoyed the dish and would order it again.

Lola had the BBQ pork sandwich ($8.50) with a side salad. The BBQ pork was excellent, very flavorful with an intense BBQ sauce. I'd definitely order it myself. She liked the salad which had a simple vinaigrette, she particularly enjoyed the arugula and felt the greens were quite fresh. She also couldn't finish the whole thing.

We decided to skip dessert as they are all quite pricey ($7.50!).

I'll definitely eat here again next time I find myself in Auburn.

Auburn Alehouse
289 Washington Street
Auburn CA
530-885-2537
http://auburnalehouse.com/

Restaurant Reviews

We were staying in Sutter Creek, right outside Jackson, and we found ourselves looking for food at 9:30 in the evening. Mel & Faye's Diner was the first place we found open.

The restaurant is your typical coffeeshop, serving burgers, shakes and other American fare at moderate prices (burgers are around $7-9). The room is quite nice, with booths and tables, and it was still fairly busy at that time of night. It does have the atmosphere of a small town diner, where everyone knows each other (boy, I miss Pring's). Definitely a good place to have a burger.

And burgers we had. I ordered their sourdough cheeseburger, which came with mayo and a thousand-island type dressing in grilled sourdough bread. It was pretty good but too unwieldy to eat by hand - it was definitely a fork and knife burger. The patty itself was pretty small (it must have been a 1/4 lb at most), and while well done it was juicy enough. It was served with your choice of fries, onion rings or something else I don't recall - I had the onion rings and I was surprised both by the substantial size of the order and how good they were. They were crunchy and slightly sweet, and while I missed the lack of ranch dressing to dip them in, I thought they were very good. I'd had a substantial peanut butter shake (pretty good, $3.75), and I couldn't finish all the food.

Lola had the Moo Burger, a double burger with everything, served with fries, and she also thought it was pretty good but definitely a fork and knife burger. She had no complaints about the fries.

Service was good, and the whole experience was quite pleasant. If I was in town, I'd visit again, regardless of the time.

Mel and Faye's Diner
31 Highway 49/88
Jackson, Ca.
209.223.0853
www.melandfayesdiner.com

Restaurant Reviews

Yesterday my friend Lola and I went to California's Gold Country, for our yearly girls' weekend out. We drove east until we heat 49, and then north. We stopped in Sonora for lunch. We picked Alfredo's as it was the first restaurant we walked by after we parked.

Alfredo's occupies a very nice room in historical downtown Sonora. The main wall is brick with recessed shelves here and there displaying Maya and Aztec ceramics. Other walls have orange hues and there are couple of large stereotypical Mexican wall paintings. It's both stylish and informal at the same time.

Service was very good, the waiter was very attentive - and chips and drinks, and then food, came quickly to the table.

The major problem we had with Alfredo's was the food. It was just bland. Nothing had been adequately salted or spiced - it's as if they were cooking for middle-American seniors with high blood pressure (which may be their target audience, for all I know). The menu was your typical Tex-Mex, with entrees at $9 to $12.50. There is also a children's menu.

I ordered the Botana Combo ($8.75), which included four different appetizers: a good portion of guacamole, 4 beef taquitos, 1 plain quesadilla and 3 bacon wrapped shrimp. None of it was good. I love guacamole, but this one needed some lemon to perk it up. You could taste the corn tortillas on the taquitos, but the meat filling was to bland to come through. The quesadilla was just a cheese stuffed tortilla, with nothing to make it special. And while I didn't try the shrimp, as I don't like shrimp at all, Lola thought they were quite mediocre.

Lola had the same complaints of blandness vis a vis her entree, a combo plate of a beef tamale and a chicken enchilada ($10.55). She described the enchilada as "just an American enchilada" and while she praised the fluffy and light masa of the tamale, she thought the filling was bland and unsurprising.

As you'd expect, we wouldn't stop at Alfredo's again - but if you prefer bland food, this may be the place for you.

Alfredo's Mexican Restaurant
123 S. Washington St.
Sonora, CA
(209) 532-8332

After strolling through the new downtown farmers' market in San Leandro, we were hungry and ready for dinner. The logical thing would have been to eat at Meyers BBQ stand, where you can get huge hot dogs and teriyaki sticks - but for some reason Mika wanted to eat at The Englander, so that's where we headed. Other people seemed to have the same idea, as The Englander was buzzing last night - I heard they had to bring extra staff. In any case, it was a very warm day, so eating outside was very nice.

I wish I could say the same thing about the food. I love The Englander: the concept, the beers, going there to watch Argentina lose in the World Cup and the Americas cup, but the food just isn't very good. And last night was an example of it. Perhaps it wouldn't be so terrible, if it wasn't so expensive as well. Dinner (with one appetizer and no desserts) for three adults and two children came up to $84 after tip!

Kathy got the tri-tip plate ($11), and she was disappointed. The meat was tender but it tasted as it'd come out from a bucket of Lloyd's BBQ. She didn't like the coleslaw either.

I got the fish and chips ($12). The fish had a very thick batter which was undercooked, merging the fish with what felt like raw batter, it had a creamy, not pleasant, texture. The fish itself was unseasoned and had no flavor. The chips were OK, coated.

Mike did like his bangers, chips & beans ($14). The sausage was fine and the beans were good.

The onion rings we ordered (~$9), were grossly overpriced but otherwise good - they were a little bit on the brown side, but I loved their sweet flavor. The Englander makes some of my favorite onion rings in town.

Both kids got the Mac & Cheese ($5 each) - and the portion is large enough that I really should have ordered just one. They ate only a tiny bit of it, but they can be finicky so that doesn't mean much.

I have to say that at least the portions at The Englander are generous - as they should be for those prices.

As for drinks, Mike and I had cokes ($2.25 with refills), Kathy had a cranberry juice, which she didn't like at all ($3) and the kids had chocolate milks ($1.50 each), which they did enjoy.

Service was good and efficient, though the waitress was clearly busy.

I'm sure I'll go back to The Englander for the next championship - and the place is great for events - but I think I'll keep away from it until then.

Original Review

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Zen's has been open for two years and I only read about it today, which tells you I'm not as in tune with the San Leandro restaurant "scene" as one might think. And a great pity it is, because if its buffet lunch is any indication, Zen may very well serve the best food in San Leandro.

I found the restaurant on TripAdvisor.com while looking for restaurants in San Leandro I might have missed. I suggested it to my friend Aamani, who I was meeting for lunch, and she was all for trying it - so we headed towards Doolittle in the hopes of finding it, which we did easily. It's located in a strip mall, just off Fairway.

The little restaurant is pretty cute with a tiki-bar kind of feel. It has, however, two annoying flat screen TVs showing Filipino shows. They are very loud, making conversation difficult.

The buffet consisted of about 10 dishes, including a chicken soup, chicken and pork adobo, BBQ chicken, Filipino steak, chicken in a coconut sauce, and a few other dishes I don't remember now. There was one noodle dish I didn't try, and one green-bean dish. There was nothing else for vegetarians, so they may want to keep away.

Everything I tried was excellent, the meats were tender, flavorful and not exceedingly fatty. The sauces were full of flavor, the bbq chicken was delicious. My experience with Filipino food had been limited to adobos and lumpias, what I tasted seemed like a fusion of western and Asian foods - as you would expect.

According to its website, Zen's is also open to dinner until very late. They have music and karaoke some nights, so you may want to call them if you are just going for the food. I know I'll go back.

Zen's Filipino Cuisine and Ihaw-Ihaw (BBQ) House
13876 Doolittle Drive
San Leandro, CA
510-351-3312
http://www.zensfilipinocuisine.com

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

As I reported here a couple of weeks ago, Blossom is the last restaurant to occupy the space on East 14th previously taken by Good Food and Szechuan Restaurant. I will bet that it won't be the last.

We ordered food from there Saturday, when I was too involved in the preparations for my birthday party that evening (which I'll soon blog about), to attend to lunch. Kathy suggested it because they delivered, and I always want to try new places in town. Oh well.

Blossom offers your typical Chinese restaurant menu also at typical prices - generally $6-9 for entrees. The portions are large, though not as large as those of other restaurants, which is not necessarily a bad thing. My problem was with the food itself.

We found the fried wontons ($3.25) to be a bit limp - though that may be because they don't travel well. In any case, I like them crispier.

The sweet & sour pork ($6) had a lot of breading, little pork and a syrupy sauce that just didn't taste good. Nobody liked it. Mike and Kathy did like the Szechuan beef ($6.55), but I thought it was very one-dimensional, it was too spicy for the kids to try. None of us liked the orange flavored chicken ($6), full, scrawny chicken wings with a thick, spicy sauce. They were difficult to eat and just not very tasty. The chicken chow mein ($5) was pretty good, Mika liked it.

In all, I was unhappy with Blossom and I see no reason to order from there again. New Hong Kong also delivers and is much better.

Blossom Chinese Restaurant
14807 E. 14th St.
San Leandro, CA
510-614-8112

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Last night, Kathy, my sister who is visiting from LA, wanted to go to Chevy's for dinner. Alas, we'd been there only last week and the experience hadn't been that great, so I wasn't eager to repeat it. I suggested Chili's, as I figured one generic, mediocre, chain should be easy to substitute for another.

My first experience at Chili's in San Leandro had actually been positive. Granted, Mike and I were in a date so that might have rose-colored our glasses, but we thought the BBQ ribs were pretty good as was the rest of the food. We visited again a few months ago, this time with the kids, and I wasn't as happy with the experience. I found the food to be tired, with boring rather than vibrant flavors. It wasn't bad, just not exciting.

Still, our choices, here in San Leandro, are dismal, so I figured we might as well go there. Once again it wasn't exciting, but it wasn't bad.

None of us were particularly hungry, so we decided to split an order of baby back ribs ($17 for a full rack) and get an additional half-rack for Kathy ($7, if ordered with another entree). Mike got the habanero ribs, and he liked them quite a bit. He thought they weren't very spicy, but I disagreed. Kathy had the honey chipotle ones. She thought they were OK, but that they lacked flavor. I liked my honey BBQ ribs, they were fall-off-the-bone tender and had a pleasant, sweet, flavor. So far these have been my favorite.

I had ordered the loaded mashed potatoes as a side, but either the waitress didn't hear me (it's a rather loud restaurant), or she made a mistake, as she brought us french fries and veggies instead. The former were very disappointing, they were limp and not very flavorful. The veggies were OK.

We also ordered onion strings served with jalapeño ranch sauce ($6, I think). Mike and Kathy thought they were pretty good, I thought they lacked flavor, and wasn't too happy with the sauce.

Both kids got mac-n-cheese. It is Kraft, but Mika said it was just OK. Both she and Camila ate quite a bit, though. Neither touched their corn on the cob, however :(

In all, it wasn't a bad meal and I'd go back once in a while for the ribs.

Original Review

Prince Dim Sum House opened a few months ago, I think, at the space where East Village used to be. The restaurant underwent renovations before it opened as Prince, so I'm not sure if the owner, as well as the look and the name, have changed. The menu is pretty similar, as are the prices. I'd been to East Village several times, and this was my second visit to Prince as such.

Esthetically, they spiffed up the room a little bit, putting new furniture and a wine wall and removing the unattractive handwritten "specials" posters from the walls. Still, the room is square and has a flat ceiling, and there isn't that much you can do with it to make it attractive. The place is nice enough, but it's not and does not pretend to be, a "date" or "special occasion" sort of restaurant.

Service leaves something to be desired. We were seated quickly, but it took quite a long time for someone to come to take our orders. As we were waiting we saw the host chatting with people at one table, and one of the waitresses clean up another table, so I don't think the problem was that they were just busy. Once we ordered the food came to the table quite quickly, which we liked as we were starving. It took a little bit, though not as long, to get our bill. Prince, just East Village before it, has a printed dim sum menu and you chose what you want to eat and then give the completed form to the waitress. They have several dozen items, costing $2-$5.25 depending on the ingredients. In all, lunch here is comparable in price to lunch at most non-sandwich restaurants.

I'm not the best person to review a dim sum place - which is why I'm writing about it on my blog, rather than in one of my more formal (and edited!) restaurant reviews - as I don't really like most of what appears in dim sum menus. I do love pork buns, however, and that's what kept bringing me to East Village, and now to Prince.

Prince's baked BBQ pork buns are very good ($2 for 3). They are small and have a sweet glaze, they also have a nice amount of pork. I fear that they may be too sweet for some people, but they are my favorites in San Leandro. If you go, you should give them a try.

This time we also tried the Baked BBQ Pork Tart ($2.75 for 3). These are longish, thin pastries, also glazed and filled with BBQ pork. The dough is very flaky and Kathy liked it very much. I found them somewhat dry (though not nearly as dry as other versions of this dish) but also very yummy. We ordered a second serving.

I'd never had the Hong Kong Fried Bread Sticks ($2 for 3) before, but I was curious about them. They ended up being very light pieces of fried dough. They were a bit salty, but I thought they'd be delicious dipped in sugar - alas, there was none on the table. They were a bit oily, and kind of boring by themselves, and I wouldn't order them again.

The fried chicken wings ($5.25 for 4) were plump, juicy and very hot. They were lightly spiced and salted, so you could really appreciate the taste of the chicken, and I liked them quite a bit - but I thought they were too expensive for what they were.

Finally, we had the Layered Egg Custard Cake ($2.75 for 3 small slices). Neither Kathy nor Mika were crazy about it, but I thought it was OK if you like Chinese cakes. I do think Mika would have been happier with a custard bun.

In all it was a good lunch, and I'll go back to Prince again for those pork buns.

Prince Dim Sum House
14736 E. 14th St.
San Leandro, CA
510-667-9888

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews
Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

Yes, I should have known better, but a few days ago prompted by a desire to neither cook nor experiment, and a "buy one, get another one for $4" coupon, we went to Chevys in San Leandro. I, of course, avoided the baby back ribs. Instead I went for the beef fajitas, my ever favorite. The plate (see below) was semi-empty, I guess Chevy's has decided that roasted veggies are too expensive and that presentation is overrated anyway. I had requested the beef medium rare, but as you can see there was no hint of pinkness on the meat. The portions of sour cream, guacamole and tamalito were also significantly reduced since the last time I've had the dish - and there was no pico de gallo at all. I know that food prices have gone up, but that was just ridiculous. The meat tasted fine, but clearly they are tired and bored of this dish.

Mike had one of the seafood combos on special. He thought it was fine, what he expected from Chevy's, fairly consistent, decent food. The girls nibbled at their quesadillas.

For dessert we had their chewy sunday which was large enough for the whole family to share. It wasn't as good as the desserts at Chili's, but it was satisfying.

In all, I think I won't be getting a hankering from going back to Chevys anytime soon.

Chicago Blues Cafe is a tiny restaurant and coffeehouse located in the parking lot of the Palma Plaza shopping center. It started as a place where you could get coffee, then branched out into hot dogs, and has since become pretty much a full fledged restaurant, serving late breakfast, lunch and early dinner (they are open from 11 AM - 7 PM weekdays, from 9 AM - 7 PM Saturdays and closed on Sundays). The owner, Mark Tichy, is a colorful character currently running for city council.

I went to Chicago Blues Cafe for breakfast a few weeks ago, and had a very nice crepe, and I have since been wanting to go back to try their BBQ. The opportunity finally presented itself yesterday (my birthday) when Joaquin Deli, my first choice, was closed.

Chicago Blues offers a large menu of hot dogs, sandwiches, BBQ items and deep-dish pizza. My friend Cynthia had had the latter and has enjoyed it. Prices are moderate, with pizza slices starting at $4, and BBQ lunch plates averaging around $8 (it goes up to the low teens for dinner and combinations). You order at the counter and can either eat inside their little covered area or in one of the unshaded tables outside. There isn't really much room for more than 2 or 3 parties inside - but I find the place cute. We ate outside, however.

Mike had the links BBQ plate with potato salad. He wasn't happy with it. He thought the links tasted mostly like plain sausage covered by BBQ sauce, rather than by the slowly smoked links we usually get at our favorite BBQ joint. He found the medium-spiced sauce to be quite spicy, but otherwise unremarkable. The potato salad was also pretty pedestrian.

My dad had a hot dog with sourkrat and he was very happy with it. He thought the baked beans were very, very good.

I had the pulled pork sandwich, which is often on special for $5. The sandwich was huge, and definitely a great value, but I didn't find the pork very appealing. It had the look and texture of pork that had been boiled rather than smoked or baked. The flavor was quite mild (Camila liked it). I also found the vinegary mild BBQ sauce unremarkable, though better than commercial products. In any case, I wouldn't be rushing back to have this dish. All this said, with E&J's around, my standards for BBQ are pretty high.

In all, I'm glad that Chicago Blues Cafe is around, and I'd definitely go there for breakfast or for a hot dog, and might even give the pizza a try, but I wouldn't go for their BBQ again.

Chicago Blues Cafe
13802 E. 14th St
San Leandro, CA
(510) 352-3053

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews
Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

Rainforest Cafe is an international chain of themed restaurants which feature a jungle-like atmosphere with large and pretty realistic looking animatronics. I've only been to the San Francisco branch, both times during a slow time, and I found the restaurant sort of sad. It's pretty dark and it reminded me of the dining area at the zoo, soon before it closes.

The first time I went to the Rainforest Cafe in San Francisco was last March, when Desiree and her kids joined my kids and I on a ferry trip from Jack London Square to Pier 41. We ate at Boudin, but we toured the Cafe to please the kids. They liked it, and I thought that we should probably eat there next time we were in the area. The opportunity presented itself yesterday when my father and sister were visiting from L.A., and I decided to repeat the ferry trip from last March. Mika insisted that we go there and I saw no reason why not to. My dad, who'd been there before, did say the food wasn't very good, but I am an optimist. The Rainforest Cafe made it clear that I shouldn't be one.

The menu at the Rainforest Cafe features typical American restaurant food, burgers, pastas, wraps, pizzas and meats. Prices are pretty high, with appetizers averaging about $10 and main dishes in the high teens to twenties. Children dishes, which don't include either drinks or dessert, are about $7. The place ain't cheap.

We weren't terribly hungry - I'd actually eaten before we left - so daddy and Kathy split the fried mozzarella sticks and the buffalo wings while Mika had the pasta marinara. Neither the cheese nor the wings were special, the wings were a bit spicy but otherwise unmemorable. The pasta - penne - was very unwieldly for a 6 yo (she ended up getting most of it over her shirt) and innocuous enough. The portions were in the small side, considering the prices.

I wanted to try "The Volcano", their signature dessert ($15), and I was also disappointed. The dessert consists of a mass of ice cream shaped in the form of a pyramid and sided by large slabs of brownie. Chocolate and caramel syrups complete the effect. The description (and price!) suggests that it's large enough for 2 or more people to share. Three adults and three kids couldn't finish it at our table - it's really immense. It's also not that great. The vanilla ice cream is generic, the brownie could be chewier and more chocolaty, and the sauces could have stronger flavors. I can only speculate that the problem is the lack of quality ingredients - so much money has gone into building the restaurant, that there can't be much left for the actual food.

The waiters, at least, were trying. Ours overheard my sister say it was my birthday and he brought me a complimentary ice cream sundae (just what I needed). They also sang me happy birthday. Yes, I was mortified. The kids enjoyed it, though.

In all, given the quality of the food and the prices, I'd avoid the Rainforest Cafe if I was you. You can, however, go and tour the place, have your kids see the animals, and avoid the food.

The Rainforest Cafe
145 Jefferson St # 400
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 440-5610
http://www.rainforestcafe.com/

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

I just received a menu for "Blossom Chinese Restaurant on East 14th. A quick search online shows that this is the old "Good Food Restaurant", which just a little while ago was "Szechuan Restaurant". I haven't been to the restaurant, under any of its incarnations, but Blossom offers delivery for $1, so I will try it sometime.

No. Not yet. But it's coming!

Yesterday, as we walked past the corner of our block (at East 14th & Estabrook), we found that there were people finally working inside the building that used to house a hip-hop clothing store after housing a video store. The shop has been empty for over a year, one more of the empty storefronts in San Leandro.

But apparently (at least according to the workers inside), the store is becoming a Vietnamese restaurant. I've no idea when it'll open, definitely not very soon given that they are at the very beginning stages of the work (I assume they have to build a kitchen), but eventually we'll have a Vietnamese restaurant in the corner. As you can imagine, I'm thrilled. Yes, it's true that we have at least 3 Vietnamese restaurants in San Leandro, and that two of them are within walking distance, but the point is that this one will be mere feet from my house.

Anyway, I'll keep you informed as to what happens there.

Last weekend we went to Berkeley for Cal's Day - a day in which UC Berkeley opens to the public with a myriad of activities for adults and children. The kids saw and got to play with lots of animals, made pottery and watch African dance.

Mika and I were quite hungry in the midst of this all and decided to go off-campus for lunch. I wanted a place where we could sit down, and my first choice was La Vals, a pizzeria I frequented during my college days, but it has closed down. After much discussion we decided on the Chinese restaurant in that tiny restaurant mini-mall almost in front of the old La Vals building. There is a donut shop there, and there used to be a Nation's, again, in my college days.

I have no idea what the restaurant was called but it was very good. I had a huge portion of crispy chicken - very much like Hawaiian katsu - which was impeccably fried and quite tasty with the accompanying sauce. Mika had the chicken chow mein, again a huge portion, and she loved the chicken. I thought it was very tasty too, a couple of notches above your run of the mill chow mein. I don't remember the prices, but they were quite reasonable. If I was in the neighborhood and wanted some Chinese, I'd definitely go back.

It was time for Moms Night Out again, this time with my new mom's group (two of the original members moved out): Parker (of course), Aamani, Dolores and me. I wanted to go somewhere cheap, and Parker suggested Naan and Curry - or at least that's what I thought - because we ended up at House of Curries on College Avenue instead. House of Curries is similar to Naan and Curry in that you order at the counter and sit where you can. They do bring the food to the table, however, and the place in general is a little bit nicer than Naan. Still, it's the same type of formula. They are also a chain with several locations in Berkeley and one in Oakland.

I was quite happy with the food. They did not have lamb (or chicken) korma, but their lamb curry ($7), was quite tasty - with moist, tender lamb and a pleasant if pedestrian curry sauce. All the other lamb dishes have vegetables, so I would probably end up ordering it again. The chicken tikka masala ($6) was much better. The smoky sauce was just delicious, barely spicy and well balanced. I'd definitely order it again, though I thought that the chicken was somewhat dry. The fish tandoori ($10) was also a winner. I didn't try it, as the fish was salmon which I dislike, but Parker was happy with it. She also liked the Sada Bhindi (okra cooked with ginger, garlic & spices - $6), though she didn't think it was as flavorful as it could be.

The sweet ($3) and mango ($2) lassis were quite good. Self-yourself chai is free with the meal and they also have canned sodas for purchase.

The naans ($2 for garlic, $3 for keema) were huge and quite nice, though the keema filling had fallen all to one side and I was left with just the bread. I'd definitely order them again.

Dinner for the four of us, including rice, came to $13.50 each after tax - a bargain for our moms' night outs.

If I was in the neighborhood, I'd definitely eat here again.

House of Curries
2984 College Ave.
Berkeley, CA
510.841.1688
www.houseofcurries.com

(branches also on Telegraph/Durant and Solano, and Hegenbergor Road in Oakland)

Wednesday night, after the anti-China rally in SF, the girls wanted pizza. Mike had a meeting, so i decided to stop at Sergio's on our way back. I'd had the pizza there before and found it OK. Well, this time it sucked.

The onion rings were good enough, even if their ranch dressing couldn't match the Italian one at Angelina's. But they were crispy and it was a good-sized portion (for about $7, it better be).

Their pizza, however, left much to be desired. I did not like the sweet tasting sauce, the only plus was that there wasn't much of it. The cheese didn't stick to the pizza, so it was pretty messy to eat. The tiny pieces of pineapple were not good quality, and the linguiza wasn't my favorite either. In all, it was not a pizza I enjoyed. The kids were also not happy with it. I would not order it again.

The coke also has a medicinal taste to it.

The one plus of the evening was the service, the waitress was quite nice.

Still, I'm sure it'll be a long time before we return.

Sergio's
150 W. Juana Ave.
San Leandro, CA.
510-895-0880

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

I first heard of Chicago Blues Cafe when I found out that its owner, Mark Tichy, was running for city council. The little restaurant occupies the space that belonged to a flower & coffee shop in the parking lot of Palma Plaza. It's expanded its size and now it features a small, covered dining area. It's pretty cute.

The cafe serves an extensive breakfast, lunch and dinner menu (though I think they close early, perhaps at 7). They seem to specialize on pizza and bbq. My friend Cynthia has had their chicken pizza and she said it was very good, it featured a thick crust that reminded her of Zachary's.

I went for breakfast, however, and ordered their caramelized banana & nutella crepe (about $4.50, I think), one of the three crepes they offer (all with nutella). It was *very* good. It was huge, with very generous amounts of both bananas and nutella, and it was delicious. I would definitely order it again, but this is a dish to share - it's just too sweet to eat it all by yourself.

The only problem was that it took a long time to get it. We'd plan to eat at the restaurant, but I I had to pick up Mika at a set time. It probably took them a good half an hour to prepare it.

I'm planning to go back to Chicago Blues Cafe, this time to try their BBQ.

Chicago Blues Cafe
13802 E. 14th St
San Leandro, CA
(510) 352-3053

Last night Mike went out with an old friend to dinner (he went to La Provence, in the Mission, where he had an OK soup and some awesome ravioli) and I was left at home with the kids. I was feeling pretty jealous, so I decided to take the kids out to dinner myself. I'd been in the mood for BBQ ribs for a while, and Mika couldn't resist the smoky aroma of Emil Villa's, so that's where we headed. Even though Camila was a little devil, it was a good choice.

We decided to share the ribs platter, which has gone up in price (it's $21 now) and gone down in variety/amount of food (it now comes just with two sides and buns, no soup or salad). Still, the ribs were enough for a mom and one kid (Camila only ate 1 rib). We enjoyed all of them. My favorite were the baby back ribs which had a very nice glace and did not need any extra BBQ sauce. The other ones were definitely helped by the sweet sauce, which wasn't too spicy even for Mika. I'd definitely order this again.

The french fries and mashed potatoes we ordered were pretty ordinary, nothing to write home about.

This time we weren't too full for dessert (when is a 6 yo too full for dessert?), and Mika ordered the chocolate cream pie ($4 a slice). It didn't look that chocolaty to me, but she liked it. I had no complaints about the banana cream pie ($4 for smallish slice). It was bananaish and creamy, and very good. I may make a banana cream pie today myself :) Camila had some chocolate ice cream ($3), which was unwisely served on a saucer. It was very chocolaty.

Dinner for the 3, including 3 drinks, came to $39. Not cheap, but those were pretty good ribs.

Emil Villa's
1800 E 14th St
San Leandro, CA
(510) 351-7427

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

How is this possible? I have blogged about almost every restaurant I went to in Kenya - but I forgot Carnivore! Carnivore, of all restaurants? The most famous restaurant in Nairobi, if not Africa, by any measure? How could I forget?

And yet, I remember writing about it, but where? I can't find it in any of my blogs. So I will have to blog about it again. For Carnivore is a restaurant that deserves some attention.

First of all, I'm sad to announce, that Carnivore no longer serves game meat. There seems to be a law against the selling of game meat, so the only thing in the least exotic in their menu is crocodile (which is bony and has a mild fish flavor). They also had ostrich meatballs, but ostrich stopped being exotic, at least in California, quite a long time ago. The meatballs were pretty good, though.

The way it works, at least for those ordering meats, is that for a fixed price (I don't remember how much, about $25, I think), they bring large chunks of meats which the carve for you tableside. The meats are cooked in Maasai swords over a large BBQ pit at the front of the restaurant. Most are marinated, and most of them were pretty good. The first round of meat comes pretty quickly, but if you want seconds you will have to chase the waiter.

Among my favorites that night (early March, 2008) were the sweetly basted chicken wings, the also sweet but not very meaty pork ribs and the nicely seasoned lamb chops. The sliced meat and pork were too dry for my taste, though the fruit sauce helped the pork a little. The chicken was not bad either, though also a bit dry, as was the leg of lamb. They also had several things I didn't bother trying: chicken gizzards, turkey and sausages.

Avi, who keeps kosher, had food from the vegetarian menu. I don't remember what he ordered however, but his first dish was so bad he had to send it back. He rather enjoyed the one he got to replace it. The vegetarian menu is also all-you-can-eat.

Luke had several dawas to drink, while I stayed with cokes. I think Avi had wine.

For dessert I first ordered the blondie with ice cream, but that thing was inedible, it tasted like dry, dense cardboard. Fortunately they had no problem exchanging it for some OK ice cream. Avi and Luke shared a pineapple cake which wasn't bad, and a cheesecake that tasted and felt more like light lemon pudding.

The restaurant itself was pretty empty in early March, though I'm sure as tourists return to Kenya, the place gets very loud and crazy. I'm not sure if that would be for the better or worse. In any case, it's a place I wouldn't mind going back to.

Dinner came to a little over Ks 7000 for the three of us (upwards of $105) - which really wasn't too bad for the experience.

Carnivore Retaurant
Nairobi
Kenya
605933-7 602786

A couple of nights ago a friend took the kids over for a sleepover, and Mike and I decided to go out. I hadn't been at home for our 15th anniversary (it was my last day in Kenya), so this was sort of a late anniversary dinner. This time I was not that impressed with Horatio's.

We ate at the lounge, which is my favorite area of the restaurant. I was in the mood for something sweet so I orded the onion rings ($6) and the BBQ pork sandwich ($10). Mike had the fish & chips ($13.50) - all food from the pub menu. The onion rings were very disappointing, they barely had any flavor, though the dipping sauces were pretty good, specially the spicy one. Still, the onion rings and mayo sauce at Angelina's are much better.

My sandwich was advertised to come with coleslaw, and I assumed they meant on the side. Instead it was mixed into the meat, making it too spicy for my taste. Others, I'm sure, would like it. The sandwich came with a large portion of unremarkable fries.

Mike's fish and chips were good, and he'd order them again. I think I might as well.

The portions were quite generous, and I wasn't able to finish it all. Even so, I could not resist getting their chocolate decadence cake ($8), a chocolate cake with a deep fudge frosting served with vanilla ice cream. It really honors its name and it's fully decadent. I love it and order it almost every time I go to Horatio's.

I'll continue going to Horatio's as I really enjoy the lounge and the desserts - and now that they have a pub menu, going there for dinner is less onerous (their regular menu is very expensive).

Horatio's
60 San Leandro Marina
San Leandro
(510) 351-5556
http://www.r-u-i.com/hor/
M-Sa: last call 11 PM
Su: last call 10:30 PM

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

The Moonflower restaurant is located at the Palacina Residence and Suites - an apartment building not far from our own in Nairobi. A colleague lives there and we decided to join her for dinner there a few nights ago. It was a pretty good experience and, but for the price, I wouldn't hesitate on going there again.

The Moonflower is mostly an open air restaurant. They have a few tables inside, more in a veranda and some on the law. There is even one within a very nice looking Arabian style tent. The place is very nice. I'd describe its menu as serving California cuisine, or at least new American cuisine. There are pastas, ribs and even duck. Most dishes are around Ks 1000, ($15) - which is not really expensive if you think in western terms.

This time we decided to have a full-fledged meal. We started with appetizers. Gabriel had the shrimp and Brianna the asparagus (I think they were about Ks. 600 - $9). They both liked them. I had the baked brie (about the same price), which was OK. Everyone liked it, but I've had better. It was definitely good with the apple slices, but three lilliputian slices didn't go far. It'd have been better, of course, if served with some good quality balsamic vinegar.

My main dish were ribs (Ks 1100, $16.50 for a full rack, Ks 800, $12 for half a rack), which I shared with Gabriel. They were good, the glaze was pretty nice - sweet and tangy - but they weren't really tender. I don't know if it was a problem with the meat or knowing how to really cook it. Brianna had the fish and chips, a dish which she enjoys often. She was very pleased with this version. Gabriel had a pasta with salmon, a dish which he also often orders. He thought this version was nice, but his expectations weren't great either. As for Fiona, she went for the duck. This was probably the worst dish of the evening. The half duck was glazed with some sweet black sauce that didn't make it look particularly appetizing. Its main problem, however, was that it was quite dry - very, very overcooked. The glace was nice, but the meat itself wasn't well seasoned. I'd definitely not order it.

Fiona was luckier for dessert. She got the berry pavlova and she liked it a lot, the bite I had was very nice. I had the flourless chocolate cake, and it was also good though not outstanding. I don't remember how much desserts were, but they weren't cheap.

In all, we had a very good time at Moonflower - it was relaxing and enjoyable and if I was ever in Nairobi again, I'd revisit it.

Moonflower
at the Palacina Residence & Suites
Kitale Lane, off Dennis Pritt Road
Nairobi
+254-20-2715517
http://www.palacina.com/moonflower.asp

This afternoon we went to lunch to Basilico, a pizzeria a the Ya Ya Center in Hurlingham. My colleagues wanted to go to Osteria del Chianti, but I'd just been there Monday night AND Wednesday night, and there has to be a limit at how often one patronizes a restaurant! Plus it's not like I like their food that much.

So when Gabriel, a colleague from work, suggested that there was an Italian place at the Ya Ya Center, and Brianna (my boss) said it was OK with her, I was quite happy. And indeed, I had a pretty good eating experience.

Basilico is your typical shopping mall deli-style restaurant, don't expect much in the way of ambiance here. But it's cute enough. It offers sandwiches, pizzas, pastas and a few main dishes. But being an Italian place I decided to go for the pasta. I had fusilli (I think) with a tomato mushroom-prosciutto sauce. It was quite good, just the sort of hearty Italian pasta I like. The pasta itself was not cooked al dente (it wasn't soft either), which was a big plus for me.

Gabriel was less happy with his pasta with a gorgonzola cream sauce. He'd had it before and he'd enjoyed it, or maybe he misremembered. Brianna had nothing bad to say about her fish & chips, and as someone who has hang out in London quite a bit, that's probably a high recommendation.

Prices were in the mid hundreds, my pasta, for example, was Ks. 600 - $9. Outrageously expensive if you ask me, but that's the name of the game in Nairobi.

Basilico
Ya Ya Center
Lenana Road
Nairobi
0721 618886

Punjabi by Nature is one of the restaurants in the foodcourt at "Prestige Plaza", where the closest Najumatt to our apartment building is. They have several restaurants/stands, offering Kenyan, Indian, Turkish, Chinese and other foods. I've had the Turkish stuff before and it wasn't bad. The mutton korma I had tonight at Punjabi by Nature wasn't particularly good.

Its main problem was that it lacked complexity, the sauce was spicy but otherwise bland (if that makes sense). I ate it - and the hot naam with which it was served was pretty good, and the mutton was tender. Still, I probably wouldn't go there again.

The mutton korma was Ks.450 - $6.75, about average for the restaurant.

Punjabi by Nature
Nakumatt, Ngong Road
@ Prestige Plaza
1st Floor, Food Court
Nairobi
0721625900

I've been in Nairobi for two weeks already, and yet I have seen little of the city. I commute between my apartment and my job, 300 yards away, and my greatest excursions are to the supermarket or Ya-Ya center. Once I went downtown. It's sad.

Fortunately, our colleague Lee came to my rescue and that of my friends Luke and Avi last night. He decided we had to sample Nairobi fare outside our little district, and took us to the Indian part of town. On the way we saw a couple of amazing looking temples. Our destination was Diamond Plaza, a little, very informal open-air small mall that offers a myriad of restaurant stands that serve you while you eat in the semi-open air or in your car. Most of the offerings are Indian - though there is also Chinese, ice cream and a couple of juice stands.

I can't recall the name of the stand from which I got my food - I can only tell you that its waiters wore bright yellow jackets. I can also tell you that my chicken korma (Ks. 350 - $5.25) was delicious, not as sweet as other kormas I've had, but with depths and vibrancy. The portion was very generous and I endeavored to eat it all. I also got some naan (Ks. 50 - 75c), which I used to scoop the chicken. Kenyans are not big on eating utensils.

Avi got a bunch of south Indian snack food from another stand. Most of it was quite good, he never gets to eat this type of food at home, so he was quite happy. Luke got a mixed grill from yet another stand, and he was happy with it - though he confessed his food wasn't as good as mine. I had a bite of a marinated kebab, and I liked the strong flavor and the fact that the meat was actually tender, but it was too spicy for me. Lee had a scrawny looking chicken tikka leg, he didn't mention whether he liked it.

We loved the atmosphere, the lights and the people - but it was a Thursday night and comparably quiet. It's supposed to be a mad house on weekend nights, so I wouldn't try it then.

Diamond Plaza
Parklands
Nairobi
Kenya

I ended up at Alfajiri Bar and Grill Tuesday night. I'd asked my Kenyan colleague, Lee, to meet over dinner to give me some background information on Kenya. I'm here, after all, but I still know so little about the country. He was nice enough to come and bring a couple of friends with him - I brought Luke and Avi myself.

Alfajiri was Lee's idea, and I wondered if the restaurant was mostly geared towards a Kenyan clientele. Its menu, on the other hand, was quite eclectic and international - it had everything from steak dianne to lamb korma to steak fajitas. Indeed, it was the steak fajitas that I went for. I'm not sure what I was expecting but what I got was a tortilla-like-wrap (but not quite a tortilla) filled with marinated meat. The meat was tasty, though it had an African rather than Mexican flavor. I couldn't quite recognize the spices, though.

I tried the samosas and they were very tasty, a bit spicy but nice.

I didn't ask my friends what they thought of their meal, but I guess everyone thought it was good enough.

We all had a couple of beers with dinner, and the whole bill came to about Ks 1000 - $15 each, not the cheapest place around, but not that bad.

The restaurant itself is a bit disconcerting. It has a few rooms inside, the one we originally chose had banquettes and low tables, but with music and the TV on, it was too loud to carry out a normal conversation. They also have a patio area, as well as some tables dispersed throughout the lawn. We chose one away from the music and were able to enjoy our conversation.

Service was pretty good.

Alfajiri Bar and Grill
Malim Juma Road
Nairobi
Kenya

I liked The Hood restaurant. It reminded me of the modest parrillas you can find throughout Argentina and other Latin American countries. It's mostly an outdoor restaurant, with a plethora of tables situated in a lawn under tents and hatches. There is some inside seating too (and given that the rains are coming that's probably a good thing).

They specialize in grilled meats, though they also had other more elaborate dishes (which I can't remember now). It's moderately priced - dishes averaged $6 or so -, lunch for two was Ks 860 - $13, including three non-alcoholic drinks).

I went with Luke, a team member and new friend, and we had a nice time talking in the fresh air. What we did not enjoy was waiting for over an hour for lunch. Not only were we hungry, but we did have to get back to work! So my advise is to go here only if you are really not in a hurry.

As for the food, Luke got the grilled goat and I had the grilled beef. A chunk of bone-in meat is bbq'd whole and then the waiter (or actually, someone other than the waiter) cuts it into bite-size pieces tableside. Both the goat and the beef were quite good, the goat in particular, and they both were pretty tough. The beef was quite fatty as well. You are meant to eat the meat with your hands, and they bring a kettle with warm water to wash your hands before lunch, but we decided to go western and use forks and knives instead. It helped for cutting the fat. I have yet to encounter tender meat in Kenya. The meat was well done - I'd forgotten at first to ask for medium rare, and later I thought that I might as well not chance it anyway.

I had fries on the side, which were good. Actually all fries in Kenya taste pretty much the same way, they must be cooked with the same oil (I must inquire as to what they use). They are usually not very crispy, but tasty.

In all it was a good meal, in pleasant - if not elegant - surroundings.

The Hood Restaurant
Kasuku Road Kilimani
Nairobi
Kenya
2371410
1731181

We're lucky that our apartment is situated in an area where there are several restaurants. We eat out practically every night, and it's good to have variety. Last night it was our turn to try Ethiopian food - and Red Sea in particular. It was quite good.

I went with Paul and Avi, two of my colleagues, and both Paul and I had the mixed meat plate. This includes 4 different meat "stews" and a hardboiled egg with sauce. There is also some veggies and cheese. The whole thing is served on a huge platter, on top of injera. A couple of the stews were spicy (but not very spicy) and the other two were mild. They were all very good, among the best ones I've had at Ethiopian restaurants.

Avi, on the other hand, was less lucky with his fish. He ordered something that looked like fish sticks with a sauce. He wasn't that pleased with it.

Service was good and friendly.

The restaurant itself has an outdoor bar area - where we ate - which is rather informal, there is even a TV, but can be pleasant on a warm night. There is also an indoor dining room which I didn't check out.

The meal, which included a few non-alcoholic drinks but no desserts (all they had were fruit salads, came to about Ks 2200, $33.

Red Sea
Lenana Road
Nairobi

The Java House is a little mall restaurant in the Ya Ya center serving coffees and pastries, as well as sandwiches and burgers and breakfast foods. The prices are the same or a little bit above what you'd pay in America - and the food can be pretty good. I've been there twice, already, and we'll probably go back again.

On my previous visit I ordered their BBQ beef sandwich. I wasn't incredibly happy with it, the sandwich was pretty dry and the bbq sauce scant and not that tasty. I wouldn't order it again. Today I had their cheeseburger (Ks. 380 - $5.70) and once again I wasn't happy. The hamburger was well done and very, very dry. I guess I could have ordered it less cooked, and that would have helped, but I'm not sure that I want to eat ground beef in Kenya that it's not well done. Not that I have any reason for this prejudice. The flavor was good enough, but I wouldn't order it again. It came with fries which weren't particularly crispy - all the fries I've had here have been on the soft side - but were tasty.

My colleague had the double chicken sandwich (Ks. 580 - $8.70). He thought it was very good.

We took home an avocado, cheese and tomato sandwich for another colleague (Ks. 300 - $4.50), and I hear these are quite good.

Java House is part of a Nairobi chain.

Java House
Yaya Center
Nairobi
http://www.nairobijavahouse.com/

I will finish my restaurant blogging for the night by mentioning The Cedars, a Lebanese restaurant located a few hundred feet from our apartment building. I haven't there yet, but last night we ordered their Mezze for Two platter (I think Ks.2600, $40) and I was quite impressed with the quantity and quality of the food - enough to feed 3 with leftovers. I can't quite remember everything included but the meal consisted of little containers of mini cheese and meat empanadas (slightly sweet), kofta, hummus, babaghanoush, yogurt and pita bread, potatoes, a tomato salad, dolmas, vegetables, and a bunch of other things. Most of it tasted quite good, the kofta were particularly tasty.

The Cedars supposedly does not deliver, but my team mate Martin is so amazing, he can get most people to do anything for him, so they did bring us the food.

I'm sure we'll order from there again, and I'll comment about it below.

The Cedars Restaurant
Lenana Road
Nairobi
02-710399

I've been in Nairobi for about 10 days, and I've eaten food from Osteria del Chianti already 4 times. It's not so much because it's a favorite of mine, but because the people I'm with really seem to like it. They also have the incredible advantage of delivering (I'm not sure what their delivery area is, we live within a few hundred meters).

The menu includes pizzas, pastas and meat dishes. The pizzas are all individual size and Roman style - the owner is indeed Italian. They have paper thin crusts, a lack of abundance of cheese but fresh, tasty toppings. The prosciutto in the raw prosciutto pizza tastes Italian, and the abundant arugula in the gorgonzola and arugula pizza is clearly very fresh. In all, if you like Italian-style pizza (and I'm becoming a convert), they are pretty good. If I well remember they average about Ks. 600-700, $9 - 10.50. They are not really big enough to share.

I've had both their gnocchi and their meat lasagna so far, and both were OK. I liked the somewhat heavy consistency of the gnocchi, but the sauce needed bolder flavors. Abundant Parmessan cheese helped. It was a very generous portion.

I'm not sure what I didn't like about the lasagna - other than the fact that the noodles were cooked al dente and that it could have used more cheese. I guess the sauce just didn't buy me over. I've had better and worse.

I've only eaten at the restaurant once, and it was a very pleasant experience. It has a large patio, with shaded tables - which makes for a great dining experience in a warm day. Alas, the March rains have arrived in Nairobi, so eating inside may be a better option now. Their dining rooms are quite elegant.

I am sure that I will eat at the Osteria del Chainti again, and I'll probably comment here about those meals.

Osteria del Chianti
Lenana Road
Nairobi
2 72 31 73

I just came back from dinner at Misono. Ok, I /think/ I just came back from dinner at Misono. I did go to dinner at a Japanese restaurant - I don't know the name, but given that it's close to where we are and Misono is located on Lenana road, I'm willing to bet that's the one I've been to. It was quite good.

Misono offers a variety of dining options. You can have sushi (though its menu is quite limited), teppanaki (meat or veggies fired grilled as you watch, a la Benihana - a complete meal starts at around $25 pp), or order from the main menu. That's a much cheaper option, and we decided to go for it.

I had the chicken katsu and while I liked the tender fried chicken, the sauce itself was too thick and tasted too vinegary and ketchupy. The chicken was definitely better without it. It came with a salad, too vinegary for me to eat. The portion was a good size.

Unfortunately our conversation was too interesting for me to even remember to ask my colleagues what they thought of their food (one had sushi, the other steamed dumpling looking spring rolls and fish), though they made approving noises. The consensus was that we'd go back.

It's a bit disconcerting being attended by so many bowing Kenyans, but you can't help but applaud their spirit.

Misono
Lenana Rd.
Nairobi
(254) 20 - 3868959

The Ya Ya center is an unbelievably modern luxury shopping mall, featuring all sorts of western and Kenyan stores selling all imaginable kinds of products. If you want a brand-new camera, a safari outfit, a carved bedroom set or a violin, this is the place to get it. Expect to pay around the same than you would at home (though it could be more, specially now that the dollar is so weak).

It also features several restaurants. Saffron is its Indian offering. We went there for lunch today, and I was pretty impressed. The food was quite good, the service was excellent and the company, of course, was great. The restaurant itself is open to the mall, so it doesn't have much on the way of atmosphere, but it's nice enough.

The menu features many dishes that are familiar to western Indian food aficionados. There is chicken korma, tikka massala and tandoori. There is rice and naan. There are plenty of vegetarian offers. They have lassies (Ks100 - $1.50) - though my sweet lassi was too sour and not sweet enough - and massala tea (Ks 90 - $1.35). In other words, if you are in the mood for Indian food, chances are you can find something here to fit your mood.

I was about to play it totally safe and order the chicken korma, my favorite, but decided to go for the Kashmiri lamb curry (Ks 450 - $6.75) instead. It was quite good, sweet and with balanced flavors. I'd been concerned about the tenderness of the meat, but it was cut in very small portions and it wasn't at all tough. The portion was quite generous (as were all), specially when eaten with rice (Ks 170 - $2.55). I did ask for the curry to be "medium" spice, but it was pretty mild. If you like a little fierness, go for hot.

One of my colleagues had chicken naji and another had the fish naji (Ks 550 - $8.25 each). I didn't try the fish, but the chicken was moist and while the curry was a little too tame for my taste, it was very pleasant, with sweet, soft flavors. My colleague really liked it.

The naan (Ks 60 - $1) was fine, your typical naan, as was the pappadum (Ks 40 - $.60). The sweet and sour sauce had a nice punch.

In all the lunch was very pleasant, we spent quite a lot of time over it, and I'd definitely go back. Lunch for three, including drinks and tax, came out to Ks 2560, $38. It seems expensive, but Nairobi is quite an expensive city.

Saffron
Yaya Center
Argwings Kodhek Road
Nairobi
387-7236

A couple of weeks ago, I got together with my usual dinner group and we went to Phnom Penh II. For dessert we headed to Adagia, on the recommendation of a friend of Parker's. I'd been there before with Mike, but I couldn't remember at all how the desserts were.

Well, I'm here to tell you that their chocolate bread pudding is out of this world. Rich and yet light, very chocolaty and sultry in texture. I think three of us got it and we all enjoyed it.

We weren't as fond of the spiced semolina cake. It was still good, but I think it may have been better had it not been spiced. The tea creme brulee was a little bit disconcerting, a new flavor. I'm not sure that one that I'd go back for, but it did enjoy it. I'm not one for fruit desserts, but the port poached pears were delicious.

Service was impecable, we went late and they didn't kick us out :) In all, a great place to go for dessert (and get that bread pudding).

Last week our friends Arthur and Eddie suggested that we go