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.

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

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 is my updated review. You can find the original review here.

Elmer's is the sort of chain that I wish we had in California. A
family restaurant where children are welcome, that actually serves
good food. We went to Elmer's in Medford three times during our
recent trip to the in-laws (November 2008), and every time we had a pretty good meal.
My only complaint is really how enormous the portions are - I'd much
prefer smaller portions at lower prices.

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

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

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 - ?

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 11 PM
Su: last call 10:30 PM

Original Review

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

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 out to dinner at Tequila Grill before the kids headed to a show at the library. I'm always in the mood for not cooking (well, that's not really true, but I thought it sounded cute), so I thought it was a splendid idea. Well, perhaps not splendid as I haven't been impressed with Tequila Grill in the past, but it's nice to get out. And alas, it's good I have that attitude because Tequila Grill failed to impress me yet again.

I had the milanesa sandwich, and the milanesa was nice and tender but not very flavorful. There was also too little meat to bread ratio. The fries it came with were perfectly fine.

I also ordered some guacamole and I did like it a lot, it was fresh and well balanced. Alas - there were no chips to eat it with (I did ask for them, they just never came). I found out that french fries with guacamole sort of work.

Mike had the flautas and he thought they were just OK.

I didn't ask Arthur and Eddie what they thought of their dishes, but Cynthia - who'd come with us along with her kids Orestes and Aegea, didn't seem very impressed with whatever she ordered. Orestes' actually found his burrito nauseating, though he couldn't quite figure out why.

The younger kids seemed fine with their quesadillas (I didn't try them).

So no, I won't be rushing back to Tequila Grill, though I imagine I'll end up there again some time.

Tequila Grill
1350 E. 14th St.
San Leandro
(510) 895-5351

(More San Leandro restaurant reviews at http://www.marga.org/food/rest/sl.html

Last Friday, we took our friend Paz to dinner at La Note. I'd been there once before with my friend Regina, and while my burger hadn't been that good - Regina's dish had been wonderful. We'd won a $25 gift certificate at the Girls Inc.'s Women of Taste event a few months ago, and I figured I'd use it and give La Note another try. My experience, once again, was mixed. Mike had a great dish, while I had a merely OK one. Paz was too polite to complain about her chicken sandwich, but she didn't seem to enjoy it too much.

Once again, we started the meal with the Crotin de Fromage de Chevre Cuits aux Noix, "oven baked, nut crusted goat cheese served with french country toasts, roasted garlic & provençales tomatoes." As in my other visit, the combination was excellent and I think we all enjoyed it.

Mike had a large pastry pocket filled with a variety of seafood including scallops, shrimp, salmon fillet and crabs. He thought it was excellent. I had chicken with prunes (I think), and while the outside of the chicken was tasty, the inside was pretty insipid and the breast was terribly dry - so much that I could not eat it.

For dessert I had a flourless chocolate cake with berry coulis and vanilla ice cream. It was very rich and very good - though I don't particularly like the coulis (I have to remember to ask them to skip it next time). I'd order it again.

I hear that La Note has a very good brunch, but I haven't tried it yet.

Last night we went to downtown Palo Alto to relax at Watercourse Way. We left our home a bit late, and it took us a while to get there, so we found ourselves with half an hour for dinner. Taxi's Hamburgers looked like the sort of place we could get a quick bite.

Mike got a bacon cheeseburger, and he liked it well enough. He found it juicy, though not as juicy as burgers from Nation's. He'd have it again.

I had their pulled pork platter, which included a pulled pork sandwich (in a hamburger ban), some veggies and your choice of fries or onion rings. The onion rings were a bit dry, but tasty enough. They'd been better with some ranch dressing, of course. I wasn't thrilled with the pulled pork. It came with a side of a very generic bbq sauce. The pork itself was dry and tasteless.

The food came reasonably quickly.

The place itself tries to look like an old fashioned diner, with a lot of white tiles. You order at the counter, and a waiter brings your food and takes away your plates. They have self-serving soda machines and a potato bar. The food is a bit on the expensive side, it was a bit over $20 for what we had (including two sodas).

I'd probably go again if I was in a hurry, but I'd order a burger.

403 University Ave
Palo Alto, CA
(650) 322-8294

More restaurant reviews at http://www.marga.org/food/rest/

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

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

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

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

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

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

Original Review

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

El Novillo is only a few yards from my house but it'd been years since I had eaten there. I remembered the food not being particularly good and expensive in comparison to our staple, Los Pericos. Plus, I don't like the fact that the place sells and advertises beer right in front of our elementary school. Still, today I was starving and I had practically no food at home, so I decided to give it a try again. Bad choice.

I had a burrito with sour cream and cheese, but without rice and beans (about $6). It just wasn't very good. The meat didn't have much flavor and was overwhelmed by the cheese. It also came with no salsa or anything beyond meat, sour cream and cheese, so it was on the dry side and pretty boring to eat. It was average size and I think still overpriced. I can get something much better at Los Pericos for less.

I ordered a cheese quesadilla for the kids ($3.50, I think), and it was just a plain tortilla filled with cheese. Nothing exciting there. The kids sort of ate it, but they are finicky.

On the plus side, their chips are quite good. Still, you won't see me going back any time soon.

There was a sign on the window of Emil Villa's saying that they are changing ownership. They are being bought by some corporation whose name I can't recall. Stay tune for possible changes in the quality of their product.

Last weekend we went to brunch with Regina and Boris to the Palomares Cafe in Castro Valley. We'd been there once before, in our pre-kid stage, but I had no memory whatsoever of the place. These lapses of memories have become very frequent in my post-kid stage.

Palomares Cafe is a pretty nice place. It's located in a strip mall, but it clearly has higher ambitions. It's nicely decorated and open to an outside patio with seating, which I'm sure would be pleasant in a warmer day. As it was, the open door made it be a little chilly, but as the patio provided a place for the kids to play after they were done with their meal, we weren't complaining.

The brunch menu is pretty extensive both its egg and non-egg offerings. They serve coffeehouse quality coffee drinks and real maple syrup. Offerings are generous without being outrageous. And what's more important, the food is actually good and not overly expensive.

I had the sweet cheese crepe with raspberry sauce ($7), and very much enjoyed it. The dish was not overwhelmingly sweet, often a problem. I accompanied it with a mocha, which I also liked.

Mike had the chorizo omelet ($9) and was pleased both with the taste and size of it. Regina and Boris also liked their scramblers, though I don't recall what they got (I want to say that Regina got the Neapolitan one). The kids shared a short stack of pancakes ($5) which consisted of two plate-size pancakes served with honey pecan butter and maple syrup. They were delicious - a bit on the dense side, with a very nice homemade taste - none of the bitter aftertaste that comes from using a mix. Indeed, almost everything at Palomares is home made.

Service was very friendly and efficient, which would make sense as we were one of three parties in the whole restaurant (and the place is pretty big). I don't know why more people don't go there, as so far I'd say it's the best place for brunch in the area. I'll definitely go again. And who knows? Maybe someday I'll try it for dinner.

Palomares Cafe
580 Market Place
3779 E. Castro Valley Boulevard
Castro Valley, CA
510-733-5852
www.palomarescafe.com

(More info on restaurants at my restaurant review page)

Let me start by saying two things. First, I really, really, really want whichever restaurants settles in the old Casa María space to succeed. We need more restaurants in San Leandro. That site is on walking distance from my home. It'd be great to have a restaurant there we like. Second, I don't like Salvadorean food. I don't dislike it altogether, but I find it boring and unexciting. So I was apprehensive last evening when we went to La Cocina de Raquel, but I was also hopeful. I thought, perhaps La Cocina could convert me. Alas, it did not.

La Cocina de Raquel hasn't changed its decor since its andy & joe's incarnation. That's not a problem, as Andy and Joe had done a good job decorating the restaurant. The murals of a Mediterranean villa do not necessarily go with Salvadorean and Mexican food, but they make the place look cozier. That's needed because the restaurant consists of one big square room with flat office-like ceilings.

La Cocina de Raquel features both Salvadorean and Mexican specialties - something not uncommon for Salvadorean restaurants. There are plenty of places in San Leandro where to get Mexican food, so we wanted to try the Salvadorean dishes. Our general impression was that the food was merely OK and somewhat overpriced.

We sat ourselves and the waitress promptly took our drink order and brought tortilla chips and salsa. The chips were pretty good, thin and not too oily. They had a subtle corn flavor and they could have used more salt. The salsa was very watery and tasted mostly of roasted chilis. Drinks available include American ($1.50) and Mexican ($2.50) sodas. They don't have juices or milk, though the kids shared an apple soda they liked.

I started my meal with a cheese pupusa ($2). I had meant to order a cheese and chicken pupusa (also $2), but I got confused and ordered it with cheese alone. As it was, it was quite boring. It was full of stringy cheese, but the cheese didn't have any flavor. I would not order it again, though I might try a chicken pupusa.

I also ordered the Bistec Salvadoreño ($11.50). The top sirloin steak came in a humongous plate with large portions of refried beans, rice and an iceberg lettuce salad. The steak was pretty much what I expected: thin, somewhat tough and overcooked. It was completely covered in a tomato/onion/green bell pepper sauce, which tasted homey and very Salvadorean. I'd say that this was a good bistec as far as Salvadorean food goes, but I didn't really like it. The rice was pretty tasteless but was helped by the sauce. I found the beans to be pretty good as far as refried beans go, but Mike thought they were just OK.

Mike had the Tamal de Pollo ($6.25) and he was disappointed to find that it had both chicken skin and bones. He didn't find it particularly tasty.

We ordered a cheese quesadilla for the kids, and while it wasn't great, it was more flavorful than the pupusa. It was unbelievably expensive at $6.50 for two small slices. I would definitely not order it again.

There is only one choice for dessert and that's the Empanadas, plantain envelopes filled with custard or beans ($5.50 for 2). We had the ones with custard and I thought they were OK, but Mika thought they were really yummy, she ate all of hers and wouldn't share with her sister. Still, I thought they were very expensive for what they were.

Dinner came to about $41 after tax - a lot of money for what was a mediocre meal. We will not be rushing back BUT, I'd like to remind you once again that we are not fans of Salvadorean food. If you like Salvadorean food, you should certainly go and give them a try.

La Cocina de Raquel
1562 E. 14th St.
San Leandro, CA
510-357-3305
lacocinaderaquel@att.net

I've been meaning to write the restaurant review for San Gaspar for a couple of weeks now, but I haven't gotten to it so my recollections have gotten dimmer. I can tell you that we went with my friend Arthur and his kids, this is a place they frequent and like quite a bit. I thought it was pretty good too. The food was quite well priced, in the very low teens for pretty large platters. I had the carnitas and they were very good - large chunks of flavorful meat, not too dry. They came with a huge portion of good fries. Arthur had the chimichanga and he also enjoyed it. On the other hand, their quesadilla - which we ordered for the kids - was pedestrian. Mike's enchiladas were also just OK. Their chips and salsa were pretty tasty, but not old-Chevy's quality.

The restaurant itself is pretty modest, but it reminded me of the sort of restaurants in Mexico. It was comfortable, and had their been other people there, I'm sure it would have been convivial. As it was, pretty empty, the kids (an we had 5 with us) were able to enjoy some freedom and play around.

In all I had a good experience and would go back. Mike, on the other hand, wouldn't be rushing back.

San Gaspar Restaurant
201 E 14th St
San Leandro, CA 94577
(510) 562-6197

The following is a review from one of my readers. My review of Ozeki Teriyaki is available here.

Ozeki Teriyaki / Sushi is located at 14701 E 14th St. We went there on an
impulse at about 7 pm tonight (11/13/07). The decor is plebeian, but never mind that.
The cheery waitress waved us to a table, and at length we got the house
salad: mostly iceberg lettuce, with a sweet-and-sour creamy dressing which
had a faint savor of peanuts. That was accompanied by a very satisfactory
(and plain) miso soup, which made me resolve to make it at home every day.
It's all probiotic and stuff.

The menu is humongous, because they use the same one for lunch specials,
appetizers, dinners and a la carte sushi. My husband had chicken katsu - and
their tonkatsu sauce tasted better than Tsuru Sushi's, for some reason. The
chicken was sliced after frying, and was piled attractively on a big chard
leaf. The meat was fresh and cooked in oil that had not been over-used, so
he was happy.

I had trouble deciding, but eventually settled on "Chirashi A," which
differs from "Chirashi B" only because it's a smaller dish. I asked the
waitress to describe it. "Sushi rice," she explained, "and sushi," gesturing
that the rice lay under the sushi. That seemed a little carb-heavy for me,
but I said OK.

What she brought me was a great big bowl of rice covered with what must have
been half a pound of *sashimi* - raw fish! Mind you, it was excellent fish,
cut into slabs about 1/2-inch thick - but there was much more than I wanted
to eat. Some of it was gorgeous, like the "super white tuna" (as the
waitress called it), which I would happily eat every day. It is almost as
white as typing paper, and shows little or no muscle structure at all, and
it is sheer savory tenderness. There was also an end of octopus tentacle,
sliced lengthwise - good flavor, but very tough. I didn't eat it, but it was
something to write home about, definitely. There was also a generous helping
of raw salmon, some raw tuna (the usual cherry-red, muscle-striated kind), a
few pieces of halibut (I think), and some white, tough, fishy-tasting bits
garnished with flying-fish eggs. I love flying-fish eggs; they are such a
pretty shade of orange, sparkle like diamonds, and crunch pleasingly in the
mouth. The plate was garnished with big mounds of pink pickled ginger and
wasabi paste - probably colored with spinach and spiked with horseradish, as
the paste kind tends to be, but there was a little sweetness in it that
helped everything harmonize. Nevertheless, I brought home a lot of sashimi.

We are definitely going back - after all, this adventure only cost us $25
for two people - but next time I'll order something that isn't raw. Well,
maybe a little side order of "super white tuna."

Michaele Maurer

Hi Marga,

I'm still religiously reading your reviews. Thanks for keeping us up to
date on the best of the best in San Leandro. :)

One of my readers e-mailed me to recommend "Sushi Avenue" in San Leandro. She says they have very fresh fish, large size sushi rolls with generous portions and excellent service staff. "The teriyaki dinners are so large and comes with so many sides that it's
impossible to finish Prices are pretty reasonable (especially for the portion sizes) and it
has ambience (a plus for San Leandro)" It also has easy parking.

I'll give a try and let you guys what I think.

Sushi Avenue
1042 Marina Blvd
San Leandro, CA 94577
(510) 352-5536

Enjoy!
peggy

I went by the old Casa Maria-Kolbeh-Taqueria-andy & joe's building a couple of days ago and saw that it's becoming a Salvadorean restaurant. I don't know when it'll open and what it'll be called (though the name was on the window, I can't recall it) - but I do wish them luck (and good food!). I'm not crazy for Salvadorean food myself, but I'm willing to be converted!

Mike has just returned a few edited reviews - so I finally get to put them up. Here they are:

-Cafe de la Paz served us its delicious take on Latin American dishes - but did we just get lucky?

-We visited Spettro's again, for Mike's 40th, and it was probably one of the most disappointing meals we ever had.

-We celebrated Mike's 40th again at The Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton and had an amazing albeit terribly expensive meal.

-After two visits to Chevys in San Leandro I learned that they just can't do babyback ribs

Mike stills owes me reviews of Doña Tomás and the Rotunda at Neiman Marcus

Today I took my daughter to lunch at her favorite chain restaurant, Panda
Express (783 A Street, one of *three* locations in Hayward). It was much
better than I expected. For $5.50 you get your choice of fried rice or a
simple chow mein, and any two of about a dozen entrees.

All the meat is tender and seems to be of decent quality.

I didn't try the fried rice, but the chow mein has "wok hei" - the smoky
aftertaste of a properly made stir-fry. The orange chicken (my daughter's
favorite) was tangy and not over-sweet; the crust was not mushy at all. The
sweet and sour pork is - well, inoffensive.

I had broccoli beef and black pepper chicken. The broccoli was cut a little
too large to be convenient to eat. It would have been more manageable either
cut smaller or cooked a little longer. Mind you, it was delicious. The
pepper chicken was aromatic with black pepper, but not hot, and strewn with
slivers of onion and green pepper.

Very little of the food is prefab; we were able to see a huge glass-fronted
refrigerator filled with trays of raw vegetables.

I don't know that it's a particularly child-friendly place: most of the
chairs and tables are tall, like bar stools, which would be risky for small
children. (My daughter's an adult, so that wasn't an issue for us.)

There are banners hung from the ceiling proclaiming "Gourmet Chinese Food."
I wouldn't go that far, but Panda Express presses most of the
Chinese-American-cooking joy buttons.

Michaele Maurer

The following is a letter I got vis a vis my review of The Station House at Point Reyes Station. Apparently I'm not the only one who finds the food bland. I encourage my readers to comment on my blog or e-mail me about the restaurants I've reviewed (whether agreeing or disagreeing with me)

----

Hi Margarita

I should have checked your review before visiting the Station House cafe but
alas I did not and it was our loss. We decided to have dinner there as it
was recommended by a local but it was very disappointing to say the least.

To start with, our hostess seemed to have a bit of an attitude when we were
seated and it went downhill from their. Our waitress came to take our order
and had to ask the chef about what we wanted three different times; Could
they just steam the veggies? could we just have garlic with no butter on the
Mussels? and could we have the salad dressing on the side.

My wife had the 1/2 pound of steamed mussels, a salad with no dressing and
and steamed veggies, I had the special of the day, chippino and a cup of
clam chowder. We waited about 1/2 an hour for our food (no popovers or bread
was served and no one returned to fill our water glasses).

When the food finally arrived my wife's steamed mussels were on the short
side (more like 1/8 of a pound) and the dressing was on the salad. It took
about 5 min. to get the busboy to take the salad back and get another, that
was the last we saw of the salad! We asked for some bread and the busboy
finally got it for us.

My chippino was ok but not worth the 20 dollars we paid for it. The clam
chowder was watery and it was difficult to tell if it had any clams in it.

The service was very bad and as you said the food was insipid. The waitress
checked back with us once towards the end of the meal however it was a
prefunctionary walk by. The best part of service was the busboy who was a
lot more attentive and even apologetic.

Needless to say we will not be returning to the station house cafe.

Best regards

Stan Gelber

Panda Express is one of my sister Katherine's favorite chains. We go there when she is in town and practically never otherwise. However someone mentioned that they often went for take out there, and it occurred to me that we could give it a try. My conclusion is that it's OK, but nothing special.

I had a three entree plate ($6.75) with chow mein (one side dish is free), orange chicken, mandarin chicken and chicken with mushrooms. I liked the bitter tangy sauce that came with the mandarin chicken and the mushroomy one that came with the chicken with mushrooms. The orange chicken tasted good enough, it was just a tiny bit spicy, but the breading was pretty thick. It was even thicker in the sweet and sour pork that I ordered for Mika ($4 for a kid's meal which includes a side, a small drink and a cookie), but it also wasn't unpleasant. The chow mein was the most disappointing part of the meal. The ultra thin noodles were crispy but had no flavor at all. I'd definitely wouldn't order them again.

The restaurant itself is pleasant enough, though the high tables and chairs are not the most comfortable in the world.

Panda Express
1271 Marina Blvd.
San Leandro, CA
510.667.9585

It's been quite a while since I've gone to CreAsian, the Asian fusion restaurant on Macarthur in San Leandro. I never think of going there, mostly because it's not particularly cheap, not particularly child-friendly, and when I go out with Mike on a date, I prefer to go to a new place. Still, I've gone to CreAsian a few times for drinks/dessert - and I like it for that purpose.

I went there Monday night with five friends on a "Mom's night out" sort of thing, just for drinks and dessert, and it was pretty good. They have an extensive list of mixed drinks, in addition to coffees with a variety of alcohol and hard liquors. Their dessert selection is somewhat limited, and I suspect they don't make their desserts in house. Their creme brule cheesecake was OK, what I had, was OK but nothing spectacular. People did like their fried calamari and tuna tartare, and the pineapple fried rice I had was pretty enjoyable. Their food presentation is quite good.

The atmosphere, however, is a tad weird. Service is competent yet on the cold side, and I never manage to feel completely comfortable there. Another minus is that it closes at 10 PM on weekdays.

Still, it's not a bad place for an occasional night out.

CreAsian
1269 Macathur Boulevard
San Leandro, CA
510.895.8028

Sweet Fingers is a Jamaican restaurant that has been opened in San Leandro since May. And yet, it wasn't until a couple of days ago that I finally visited it.

It's not that I didn't try to go before, but even though it does have a sign with the Jamaican flag outside, it is still pretty hidden. The best way to locate it is to remember that it's just across the street from Angelina's.

Sweet Fingers is located in what probably used to be a bar. There are no windows, and the bar area is quite large. There isn't much in the way of decor, just wire tables and chairs. It's definitely a no-frills sort of place. That said, they have reggae music on weekends, and it's perhaps better considered a music spot where they also serve food. Indeed, we were the only people who were there for lunch that Tuesday at noon.

It's a pity because the food at Sweet Fingers is pretty good. Nothing outstanding, you won't go home thinking San Leandro finally has the restaurant it deserves, but I liked it nonetheless.

Their lunch menu is very short. If you want meat, your choices are between jerk chicken and curry chicken - there is also a fish sandwich and quite a few vegetarian options. The dinner menu is broader and includes beef, lamb and oxtail as well as several seafood choices. The vegetarians are, once again, well covered. Lunch prices are $6-11, while most dinners are $15-16.

Aamani decided to go for the jerk chicken dish ($8), while I had the curry chicken ($9) just to be different. Indeed, the main difference between the two dishes seemed to be the curry sauce. We both found the chicken to be very good, moist and tender. The slightly spicy jerked flavor was very nice, but the skin could have been crispier. Perhaps it was better that it wasn't, as there was little temptation to eat it. The curry sauce was very mild, nice but not compelling. The dishes came with rice and beans (I thought they were OK, but I'm not crazy about rice and beans to begin with) and with two slices of fried banana, these were great. A side dish of cornbread ($2) brought a huge, crumbly slice. I couldn't decide how much I liked it. I think it was nice, but not extraordinary. Finally, my coke was flat.

Service was good but slow. That's probably because the food had to be made from scratch when we got there - and we did appreciate the freshness of it.

I'll definitely go again. Next time I'd like to try it for dinner, though. It'd also be an ideal place to go late at night, on weekdays it doesn't close until midnight.

Sweet Fingers
464 E. 14th St.
San Leandro ,CA
510.553.9869
M-Th 11 AM - 12 AM
F-Sa 11 AM on
http://www.sweetfingersrestaurant.com/

Last night it was girl's night out with my friends Penelope, Desiree, Victoria and Paz. We went to Paradiso for appetizers, drinks and dessert.

As usual, I got the filet mignonettes ($12), slices of beef pan seared and served on crostini with a marsala mushroom sauce. As usual, it was very good. Desiree and Paz shared the Calamari Fritti ($10) and the smoked salmon pizza with goat cheese ($15). I forgot to ask them how they liked it, but I will report about it as soon as I hear from them.

We all shared a bottle of the Salentein Malbec, from Mendoza ($32). I don't remember what year it was. It was absolutely delicious - it had a good body, not too light, not too heavy, soft tannins and a hint of oak and fruit. I see they sell it at BevMo, and I'll have to trek over there some time to buy a few bottles.

For dessert (all $6) I had their famous sundae. I wasn't as impressed with it as everyone else seems to me. The ice cream was just OK, the chocolate sauce very good but scant. It wasn't a particularly big sundae either. The rest of the team shared a couple of apple crisps and they all seemed to be very happy with it. They thought it was just right.

The only negative part of the evening is that they close fairly early, they threw us out by 10 PM (this was a Wednesday night). Still, we had a very good time and I'd recommend it for a mom's night out.

Paradiso
685 Bancroft Ave
San Leandro, CA
(510) 430-9212
Previous Review

These are places we went to recently, while the kids were away.

Zza's is a very nice Italian restaurant that is also very child friendly. We liked the food.

Breads of India was a great disappointment. Mild Indian food without complexity.

Chili's in San Leandro is a chain restaurant but they offer great ribs and a wonderful chocolate cake.

Tonight I was left alone at home with nothing to eat, and Mike suggested I get some Indian. As the kids, who don't like Indian, are not home, that seemed like a good idea.

Favorite India is my favorite Indian restaurant, so it's very fortunate that they are both in the area and deliver here. I've been ordering from there since it opened several years ago, and I'm seldom disappointed. This time I wasn't.

I ordered my usuals, lamb korma, chicken tikka masala and a mixed grill (yes, I was alone, but they have a $25 minimum for delivery). All three were good, the sauce in the lamb korma, in particular, was excellent, very creamy, very deep and balanced. The tikka masala was also very good and balanced, with a hint of acidity. The mixed grill was a little on the dry/overdone side, however. My sweet lassi was good, a bit watery but I expect that's from the ice melting while I waited to drink it. The kabuli naan was particularly good today, filled with nuts and cherries.

In all it was a very good meal and I'm stuffed and have lunch and dinner for tomorrow! :)

Mike finally returned to me a few restaurant reviews I wrote early this year. He edits them for me, as he thinks my prose is definitely in need of help. These are:

Adagia is nice restaurant in Berkeley with a dining room that looks like an Ivy League cafeteria. Good food too.

Le Cheval is a popular Oakland Vietnamese eatery, its food wasn't as good as I remembered, though.

Spettro is another popular Oakland restaurant, this time eclectic Italian. I liked it.

Fringale is an upscale French Basque restaurant in the city. Our dinner was good if uneven.

and finally

Angelinas has become our favorite place for a pizza with the kids, not in the least because they are very child friendly.

As you know, I recently took a trip to the wine country and the mendocino area. Here are the restaurant reviews from that trip.

Mendo Bistro is a bistro in Fort Bragg, Ca, which lets you chose what you want to eat and how you want it cooked.

Timber Cove Inn Restaurant is the restaurant of the hotel of the same name located about 15 miles north of Jenner, California. There is nothing else in the area so the restaurant gets away with charging ridiculously overpriced but still good food.

Solbar in Calistoga offers high-end interpretations of American Cuisine and mostly gets it right.

La Hacienda is your typical Mexican Restaurant in Cloverdale

We had a great lunch at the Mendocino Hotel Garden Room in a beautiful bee-filled garden.

And a disappointing lunch at the the Station House Cafe in Point Reyes Station, with extremely underseasoned food (but in another beautiful garden).

As you can discern from my postings below, Mike and I spent three days traveling through the Napa Valley, tasting wine and relaxing. We had a few really nice dinners, and more conventional lunches. But as I swore to review everything about the trip (to make it even more fun for me), here are my notes on our Wine Country Lunches.

Sunday we were in Napa and had lunch at Giugni's Deli in St. Helena. This is our favorite sandwich shop in the whole world. *Every* time we come to Napa, we go eat there. Napa may be filled with culinary delights from north to south, but we will never know them because I will never have lunch at a place other than Giugni's. It *is* that good.

Last night we got take out from New Hong Kong. I always order the same things, orange chicken, szechuan beef, sesame chicken, orange chicken, and then I'm a bit disgusted by the gooiness of it all. This time I decided to try something different and got the crispy chicken ($6 for half a chicken) and the ginger beef ($6.50). I also got the pork buns, chicken chow mein for the kids, and an order of free fried wontons.

The pork buns were good, as usual. They are steamed and they have a pretty high ratio of bread to stuffing, but they are good none the less. The friend wontons are crisp and very good with the sweet-n-sour sauce they came with. Pure fat and a guilty pleasure. Can't comment on the chow mein 'cause I didn't try it. But both the crispy chicken and the ginger beef were very good. The chicken was moist and had been nicely spiced (but it wasn't spicy), and it's skin was almost crispy enough. As it was, you could skip it and all that fat. The ginger beef had a light ginger flavor, and was nicely complimented by the green onions. The one problem is that there were just too many scallions and too little beef. Still, I'd order both dishes again.

According to Mike, there is a sign at Andy & Joe's Restaurant saying that the restaurant is for sale or rent. I'm not surprised, as every time I walked by (and as it's on my way downtown I walked by it a lot) it was empty or semi-empty. Alas, if they didn't improve on their food, I'm not surprised. The restaurant business is hard and you need to offer a superior product to make it. If you do, like Le Soleil, staying alive shouldn't be a problem.

I think there were a couple of other things that andy & joe's did wrong (apart from offering mediocre food). One was to offer the same type of food that you can get at other established restaurants downtown. And it wasn't a destination sort of food, like Vietnamese, Thai or Indian may be. The other was to not advertise widely at first. That's when they need to get the word of mouth going. Putting flyers in area businesses and homes would have helped them. And finally, they priced their offerings too high.

The location may be a problem, too. This is the third restaurant in a row that fails there. The first one (since we've lived in San Leandro), Casa María #2 was closed down by the health department, briefly reopened afterwards, and then moved to a different (and one hopes cleaner) location. I haven't been there again.

The second one started as Kolbeh, offered mediocre Mediterranean fair. Though I wished the owners well, their food just did not convince me. Apparently it didn't convince others' either, as they closed it and revamped it as a Mexican restaurant, Taqueria. They had a strange scheme, they served burritos and you paid $1 for each ingredient you wanted. That made a meat and guacamole burrito a bargain, but an "everything" burrito quite expensive. Alas, the pre-cooked meat wasn't that great either. I was sorry to see them go, I liked the owners, but it was also inevitable.

And now Andy & Joe's.

But alas, I don't think the problem is the location. I think the problem is the mediocre food that all these restaurants are serving. And the lack of imagination. Do we need a burger place downtown? Ummm, no. Do we need another taqueria? Los Pericos practically has the whole San Leandro market. What we do need, if anyone is listening, is an INDIAN restaurant. There is one in Hayward, Favorite India, which delivers to San Leandro - but it's not the same as having one here. Plus an Indian buffet would do well with the downtown business crowd.

And here is a radical idea, how about an Ethiopian/Eritrean restaurant? As judged by who attends the library story time, San Leandro has a large Ethiopian and Eritrean population. That provides a built-in market for a restaurant. Add to that all the Berkeley-transplants who live here, and you have a winner. An Ethiopian restaurant could offer a killer lunch buffet as well.

A Persian restaurant could be a great addition, as well, though I'm less sure there is enough of a market for it.

But anyway, restaurant entrepeneurs take notice, here is a space you could turn into a good and much needed restaurant with some vision.

On a different note, I've learned there is a new Jamaican place in town, but when I went looking for it I didn't find it (not surprising, given how I am). Friends ate there, though, and they liked it. I'm hoping to visit it soon and give you a report.

I'm disappointed to say that I was not impressed by Rocky's Charcoal's Grill, the latest restaurant to take the space on West Estudillo and Haste, next to the San Leandro History Museum. The burgers we had there were OK, but pedestrian - and the chose your own condiments and toppings (sans tomatoes, which you have to ask for separately) was not a winner in my book. If I knew how to properly dress a burger, I'd make it myself :) The patties themselves were on the dry side, and they had only a slight charcoal flavor, though they are cooked on a charcoal grill.

On the plus side, Rocky's only uses fresh beef not treated with artificial hormones and given an all-vegetarian diet. I'd like to see more restaurants do that. The prices are quite affordable, with 1/3 lb burgers starting at $4.25.

I'm sad to not be able to give Rocky's a good review. The people working there were very nice, and I do hope the business to succeed. I should also note, that other people have raved about the place, so I'd recommend you go and judge for yourself.

Rocky's Charcoal's Grill
300 West Estudillo Ave.
San Leandro, CA
510-351-6228

I just heard that a new Afghan restaurant has opened near Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. I don't know anything about it, so if you'd been there and have an opinion, please comment here. Still, for me any new Afghan place is good news. here are the details:

Kabul City Restaurant
380 Beach St
San Francisco, Ca 94113
415-359-1400

Yesterday was my birthday (yeaaaay!), and while I'm having the main celebration Saturday (and I'll write more about the food for that in my next posting), Mike was nice enough to take me out for lunch and dinner yesterday. We did, however, go to San Leandro favorites (sort of) rather than all the way out of the city.

For lunch we went to Paradiso and for dinner to Horatio's

Lunch was very disappointing, all the more so because Paradiso is supposed to be the best restaurant in town and because I've had a couple of good lunches there lately (if you go, order the filetes mignonettes, those are very good). I ordered a dish of penne with mushrooms and filet mignon slices in a Marsala creme sauce (doesn't that sound good?). Alas, it wasn't that great. The flavor of the sauce was just too mild, and the beef needed some salt to bring its own flavor forward. It wasn't bad, but not $15-good. Mike had the scallops, and he thought they were fine, but the portion was too small to fill him up. The OK fries didn't help much. He ended up eating some of my lunch. I don't think either of us were inordinately hungry. Service was blah, even though there seemed to be a dozen people working that day. Our waiter never came to check on us after our food was served, and the bill was just brought after we were done with our entrees, without asking if we wanted something else. Lunch came up to somewhere over $40 before tip, definitely not worth it. Still, Paradiso does a brisk lunch business, though choices for nice lunch places in town are very limited.

Dinner was something different. Once again, we had Horaio's delicious foccacia bread with garlic butter (I think that's what they serve, at least), followed by the warm brie with macademia nut crust ($11). We've had this before and it's delicious, in particular with the apple and the balsamic vinegar. I only wish they served more than 3 small slices of apple and a drizzle of vinegar. Still, it's something I'll keep ordering.

As our entrees, I had the Hawaiian baby back ribs ($19), which were quite nice though nothing special as far as baby back ribs go. The meat did fall completely off the bone, though, which Mike particularly liked. It came with sweet potato fries, I think I'd have liked regular fries better, these ones had a very mild taste.

Mike thought his crab stuffed sole was delicious, albeit a tiny bit in the salty side. He couldn't taste the crab, however, though that didn't seem to deter from the dish. He'd order it again.

For dessert I had the chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, which is pretty much what I always order, and I liked it a lot.

Service was very good, I got a window table just as I requested on my reservation - though we had to wait a little bit for it. Our waitress was jovial and cordial, and kept an eye on our needs. All in all we had a great time - made better by the fact that I got a $20 off coupon, as it was my birthday. It really pays to join their club.

I received the following complaint about the Apple Peddler in Sutherlin. I'm posting it at the request of the sender

---

My kids were here on vacation-they wanted pie. We went to the Apple Peddlere in Sutherlin. We bought two cream pies, cheese cake and a piece of peach pie.

The cream pies were very good. The cheese cake was enjoyed by my daughter-the peach pie was mine.

I opened the to go container and found two slices of peach that looked like they had been sitting in a dehydrater for 7 days. The filling had jelled-I had moved past the dried peach slices and put my fork into the slice-how on earth did the server send this old, stale slice of pie out of the store? I immediately called and spoke with the server that knowingly pass this on to me. I would return the next day for a refund. She politely acknowledged my request.

My kids were here on vacation-we went with my mother early to the Wild Life Safari. When we retuned I sent my son to Apple Peddler to get the money-$3.75. He came home with the same dried out pie-really upset me. So I called again. I started with " I want to leave a message with the manager." I was told to quit yelling-I was using an angry voice but far from yelling, although I did volunteer to yell, then I was told "The manager does not have time to take out of his busy day and return my call." Yes, I was then very pissed off. I explained that I had spent $26 on pie and that I wanted to have my complaint satisfied. I finally hung up the phone. I am making the third trip to the restaurant today to take care of the dried up pie situation.

I will never eat here again. The customer service leaves much to be desired.

Chris Dockstader
Sutherlin, OR

Mike and I just took a trip to Bellevue, Washington (he had work there), so we went out to dinner in the area. I wrote several reviews, which you can now read online:

Chutneys is an upscale Indian restaurant, with an amazing lamb dish.

Andiamo is an Italian restaurant with a really annoying singer.

McCormick & Schmicks Seafood Restaurant is a chain with pretty good fish

On our last day, we visited Seattle and had a very good meal at Pike Place Bar & Grill

A few weeks ago my friend Lola came to visit me and we were looking for a place to have lunch. I decided it was time to give Cafe Encore another chance, I'd been there years before but it had since changed ownership. We were surprised to find out that it had also changed names and concept, it now serves wine country cuisine and it's called Sonoma's Restaurant.

The place hasn't changed much in looks, it has a pleasant bistro-like atmosphere, perfect for a nice lunch. Its lunch menu - I haven't been there for dinner yet - concentrates on fancy sandwiches, mostly $9-10. I went for the Napa Valley Burger which added prosciutto, blue cheese, mushrooms and greens to some fancy ground beef. It was quite good but pretty unmanageable. The burger kept falling off the bread, and the whole thing was too thick to fit in my admittedly small mouth. It wasn't too easy to eat with knife and fork either. I liked the taste of the blue cheese, though it did overwhelm the prosciutto which I couldn't taste at all. Still, I liked the whole thing and I'd order it again.

Lola was very pleased with the sandwich that was the special of the day. It had salame, provolone cheese, bacon and avocado. She found it very tasty, though also hard to eat. In addition, he bread had been toasted in olive oil and made her fingers oily. She also liked the mixed green salads dressed with balsamic vinegar. We both really liked the piquant salsa served on the side.

Service, by David, the new owner, was very good. He was attentive but kept his distance from out very intimate conversation.

In all, we had a very nice lunch experience, and I'd definitely go again. Now it's time to try them for dinner.

Sonoma's
1027 MacArthur Blvd
San Leandro
510.636.1143

Last night we went to the Oriental Tea House with a bunch of our friends (for memory's sake, they were Donovan & Parker with Luther and baby Will, Regina and Boris, and Eddie and Arthur with Laurel, Bailey and Dee). We ordered a bunch of dishes: fried calamari, friend wontons, chicken chow mein, vegetable chow mein, lemon chicken, kun pao chicken, half a roasted chicken, beef with some sort of green beans and a couple of shrimp dishes. I was amazed at how good everything was. It was great to be able to savor so much variety - and to be with so many friends - but the actual food was all very good. And the bill was terribly cheap at $86 - which fed an army of 8 adults and 6 children.

We were all able to fit at one, very crowded, table - larger parties or those with more adults, would have to split in two.

We are now planning on getting together for dim sum some Sunday morning. If any of my friends are reading this, and want to come along, just e-mail me.

Last night my friends Eddie, Katrina, Parker and I had a well-deserved Mom's Night Out. We decided to go to Spettro's for dinner - and a review of that restaurant will follow soon - but we didn't want to get there too early. lest the place be full of children. If we're out without our children, we definitely want to avoid other people's as well.

So we decided to go to a bar instead. Katrina had one in mind, blocks and blocks away from Spettro's, but right before we got there we went by di bartolo and it seemed like a really nice place to stop. We were concerned that it was too much of a restaurant, but they have a bar area in the back which was just perfect for us. It's small, dark, and while it was crowded, it was quite comfortable. The front dining room is also small and dark, and I think it could be a pleasant place for a romantic evening.

di bartolo offers ten interesting mix drink concoctions ($10), products of a very creative bartender. Eddie and I went for El Rojo Obispo: Absolut ruby red, patron citronge, fresh mint, pomegrante juice and lime. It was very good, though a little bit too sweet for me - as the ice melted and the drink diluted that was less of a problem. Both Eddie and I would definitely order it again. Katrina had the grand: vanilla vodka, mission fig puree and fresh lemon, served up. It was delicious, it had a warm fussiness to it, and a caramelish taste. I'd definitely order it. The loser of the evening was Parker's Madagascar sazerac: Maker's mark, vanilla sugar, thyme sprig, served on the rocks. The problem was that it tasted very alcoholic, if you are the type of person who drinks your alcohol straight you might like it, but if you are a mixed-drinks type of person, you may want to stay away from it. In any case, Parker couldn't finish it. Finally, Eddie and Parker shared a mojito. I didn't try it but they both said they liked it.

In the middle of our drinks we figured it'd be good if we had something to eat (though we'd munched on crackers with goat cheese, nicely provided by Eddie, in the car) so we ordered their garlic fries ($5) and their mushroom pizza with caramelized onions and chevre ($14). The fries were good, though not nearly as good as the fries from A Cote, or even our neighborhood's Joplin's (though they were definitely more refined, thinner, than the latter). For $5 I would have expected them to be somewhat better. The same thing can be said about the pizza, it was very good with a very thin crust and a good balance of toppings (though the mushrooms were particularly good), but it was definitely too small for the prize - or too pricey for the size and lack of "awe" element. But you know me, I'm pretty jaded by food and it was a good pizza.

Last weekend we went to Tilden with our kids, but neglected to pack a lunch to bring along (that neglect can be put squarely at Mike's shoulders, as I would never pack a lunch to begin with). So once there, we had to go into Berkeley in search both for gas (as Desiree had been running on empty for a couple of days by then) and food. We managed to get a place to park near Cactus Taqueria and so there we went.

The long lines did not foreshadow particularly good food. We all found the burritos (~$6) - and we got carne asada, carnitas and chicken burritos - to be just OK. In my particularly case, the cold ingredients (salsa, cheese, lettuce, cream & guacamole) completely overwhelmed the meat. There were bites - about 50% of them - that came with no meat at all. The lack of meat was also noticed by my companions. Even the rice and beans were not particularly noteworthy, though the kids ate some of them.

All of this said, the food wasn't terrible, though I'll look for some other place next time we're in the area.

Cactus Taqueria
1881 Solano Ave.
Berkeley, CA
510-528-1881

Frequent visitors to my website will probably have noticed that I haven't updated my restaurant reviews in a while. Part of the issue is that I don't eat out as much as I used to - it's a pain in the butt to go to restaurants with Camila, and the kids are going to sleep pretty early lately -, but a bigger part of it is that Mike has been singularly busy for the last few months and he has not edited my restaurant reviews. Moreover, he doesn't think my writing should appear anywhere without editing (that's very flattering), so he kept telling me that he'd have them ready and to wait just a couple of days more. Finally, when I threatened and threatened to post them unedited, he relented and did them all. So here they are:

In San Leandro

Horatio's. An update on our local steak & fish house. Read about how we managed to have a three-course meal for $25.

Makiyaki. This Japanese restaurant in Pelton Center has good sushi but terrible teriyaki.

Chang's. This new restaurant at the new MacArthur development offers scaled-up Chinese food with fresh ingredients.

Vila Cereja update. This strange restaurant has no windows, but some cool design motifs - as well as very good food. Now, if only the service could match it.

Further afield

Pappo, in Alameda, offers solid food that needs a little bit more pizzazz. Still a good choice for a Californian meal.

La Note in Berkeley has a lovely room and did a good job with a ratatouille but completely failed with a simple burger.

Also in Berkeley, Viceroy Indian Cuisine proved that serving good food is no requirement for staying in business in Berkeley.

In Oakland, Tanjia serves tasty Moroccan food, in a tent-like atmosphere, as well as bellydancing. But the service is stiff and the tea could be tastier.

And talking about tea, the Leland Tea Company in San Francisco serves an impossibly cheap tea service which includes a very weak cup of tea. Some of the food was good, however.

A better choice is Secret Garden, which is frilly and delicate but has good tea and good food.

Finally, there is a November update from a visit to the Buenos Aires Grill in the San Fernando Valley.

I'm off to two new restaurants this week, and I still have to write a review of Angelina's, so keep your eyes open for more reviews coming soon.

The other night, before a City Council meeting (in which our friend Jim Prola was appointed to City Council to my endless happiness), we decided to drop by Hoagy Steak for a bite. The place is very close to City Hall and I imagine it gets quite a bit of business from there. Both Mike and I got the plain Philly Cheese steak - though we probably should have gotten one with more stuff on it. I thought the cheese steaks were pretty good, if a bit salty. Mike didn't like them, probably because they were made with the foulest of all cheeses, American cheese. In any case they were fresh. The fries, also made right then, were steaming hot and pretty good. I can see going back there if I have a hankering for a Philly steak or a hoagy, or I'm just around City Hall.

Hoagy Steak
691 East 14th St.
San Leandro, Ca
510.635.3631

Andy & Joe's is the latest restaurant to open in the space once occupied by Taqueria and Casa María #2 on East 14th in San Leandro. It serves coffeeshop-type food, breakfast, burgers, sandwiches and breakfast all day. For dinner it has some standard American dishes such as pastas ($10-13), chicken parmigiana ($12) and pork chops ($13). My friend Aamani and I went for lunch there today, and we weren't impressed. Though the space looks nice, the walls have been painted with murals of villas (don't ask me why), the food was mediocre at best.

To be fair to the re