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)
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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
Author: marga (Page 70 of 112)
Saturday night, Mike and I went to Women of Taste, a benefit for Girls Inc. – a local charity that works to empower girls. The event features women chef presenting some of their food. There are a couple dozen (or more) tables, each one manned by a retaurant, cattering company or winery – and you go from table to table picking up small bites of what they have to offer. It’s a great idea and we had a lot of fun doing it. Some of the food was really good (a goat cheese on endive bite from a catering company, a caviar appetizer from a restaurant I can’t remember and a BBQ pork sandwich from T-Rex in Berkeley), but a lot of it was merely pedestrian. There were a lot of brochetta or brochetta like things – understandable, given that the restaurants must provide 1,200 pieces of food for free. Other than the BBQ sandwich, and a couple of tiny fish bites, there was no protein at all. The wines were much better. I liked the syrah from Concannon winery in Livermore and whatever red wine I had from Handley Cellars. The Barefoot Cab, however, was pretty much undrinkable. There were a lot of sweets – including a pretty good cheesecake from Trader Joe’s, ice cream from Fenton’s and an amazing chocolate Truffle from Boulevard.
There was also a silent auction (we didn’t win anything), and live music.
As I said we had a great time, run into some political acquaintances, and we’ll probably go back next year. Tickets are expensive, $125 each ($100 if you buy them well in advance, which we didn’t), but they benefit a good cause. About 1,200 people attended, but in general the lines weren’t too long.
Last night I made Coq au vin, a favorite recipe of mine. I got that recipe from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks with Wine, and I’m not sure how authentic it is. When I’ve had coq au vin at restaurants, the sauce has been more bitter and more liquid. However, it’s absolutely delicious (if incredibly fattening), and I’d recommend it as a special treat.
My sister Kathy came to visit us this weekend. Her birthday is on Monday, so we decided to celebrate it while she was here. She wanted a special dinner, and I told her I’d cook anything she wanted me to (except for Beef Wellington, I just couldn’t commit to that). She chose this recipe for Short Ribs Braised in Porter Ale with Maple-Rosemary Glaze that I had made before. I decided that I wanted to braise with wine instead, so went to epicurious and found this recipe which sounded pretty good. It was! Restaurant quality I would say.
I did use 3 1/2 tablespoons of the herb mixture on the ribs. I considered putting the rest of the mixture on the pot (I think there must be another use for the mixture or they wouldn’t ask to make so much), but ultimately didn’t. Not sure if it’d have made a difference. I also didn’t put the vegetables on the blender after cooking. I’d already messed up enough plates and I didn’t have to have more dishes to wash (we don’t have a dishwasher). The sauce was a little chunky but still delicious.
In all, I’d make this recipe again in a heartbeat.
I served it with mashed potatoes, and, before the meal, my Mixed Green Salad with Gorgonzola Vinaigrette, which is delicious and a favorite of Kathy. For dessert we had birthday cake.
I made this 1956 recipe for Rosemary chicken a few nights ago. I rotisseried the chicken rather than roasting it, which meant I couldn’t really baste it during the cooking process. It was fine. Mike really liked the flavor of the chicken, though it was too mild for my taste. The skin tasted great, but it wasn’t crispy enough. I don’t think I’d make it again.
I just found out, by looking at my web logs, that a month ago Cary Tennis linked to my review of Lovejoy’s from one of his columns. I think that’s very cool because I love Car Tennis, he’s by far my favorite advise columnist (not that I read that many advise columns, mind you). So I’m thrilled he read something I wrote – even if he was mildly making fun of it.
Last night I made this recipe for Pork Tenderloin with Dijon Marsala Sauce. It was very good, though the sauce was pretty similar to the chicken marsala one I made a couple of weeks back. That one was absolutely delicious, while this one was just quite good. I’m not the biggest fan of pork, so I’m not sure I’ll make this exact recipe again, but it’s worth making at least once.
Tonight I made chicken with prosciutto, rosemary, and white wine, from an epicurious.com recipe. It was delicious. The sauce was intense, with bold flavors, and went great with the chicken. The chicken, by itself, was plain enough that my kids would eat it.
It was also fairly easy to make, all I had to chop was the prosciuto, the garlic and the rosemary (no onions). Definitely a keeper.
Tonight we had this cheap Trader Joe’s white wine. I’d bought it because I liked the off-shape frosted bottle. The wine turned out to be quite nice. It’s dry, easy to drink and quite refreshing. I don’t distinguish any particular flavor in it, other than wine, but it did become a bit buttery when drank with chicken (cooked in the same wine). In all I liked it and would buy it again as an all-around white wine.
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
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