Disappointing take out
Last night I got take out from Wonderful Cafe, the Hong Kong restaurant that has opened in the Le Soleil space. I loved Le Soleil for many years, before it became tired and I stopped going, so I wasn’t necessarily sad to see it go – but I wish a better restaurant had taken its place.
I didn’t go to pick up the food, so I can’t tell you about the atmosphere and service, but photos I’ve seen online make it seem closer to a cafeteria in style than to the “Asian bistro” look of the 00s and 10s which I so enjoyed. The walls are half painted in a hospital-teal color which I’m guessing is aiming to exude “cleanliness,” I can’t imagine what else.
I ordered the Beef Brisket Clay Pot Vermicelli ($18), which looked nothing like its picture online, and actually consisted of a few cubes of fatty meat, rice and bok choy. There was no vermicelli. The beef cubes were mostly fat, there was very little meat to speak of. The rice was tasty enough in the areas that had been caramelized, but it was mostly insipid. If I hadn’t had a dog to whom I could feed the fat, it would have been a complete miss of a meal. Obviously I wouldn’t order it again.
Mike had the sweet and sour grilled pork ($19.5). It was “just OK.” He found it to be bordering on bland, without the intensity of flavor and just “tastiness” that he was looking for. He wouldn’t order it again.
The people at the restaurants were very nice, they even gave Mike some candied walnuts while he waited for the food. Those were quite good. For this reason, I may give them a try in the future, once they have found their stride and hopefully corrected criticism.
Wonderful Cafe
1515 E 14th St
San Leandro, CA
510-756-6103
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