Category: Restaurants (Page 23 of 52)

The Vine Wine & Tapas Bar – San Leandro – Review

August 13, 2010 / admin / 1 Comment

UPDATE: THIS RESTAURANT HAS CLOSED

July 2011 Update

Mike and I had a quick “date night” a couple of weeks ago. We had an hour sans kids before a meeting, and while we would have usually headed to Boulevard Burger (my favorite cheap place in town), I wanted something nicer – so we headed to The Vine instead, armed with a restaurant.com coupon.

We got there around 5 PM on a Tuesday, and the place was deserted, though people started coming soon enough and taking advantage of their outside seating during such a lovely day. Service, needless to say, was very prompt and good.

We were both hungry so we decided to sample several items on the menu. Most of the stuff was good but not exceptional, and definitely overpriced at their non-discounted prices.

We started with their Parmesan Cheesecake ($5), which was basically a cheese log mix to be eaten on crackers. It was very subtly flavored and, while not unpleasant, not particularly compelling, I wouldn’t order it again. The meatballs ($6) were more flavorful, but I found them rather dry and a bit overseasoned. Again, not something I’d bother with again. The Gorgonzola crusted filet mignon ($13) was better, though the meat is prepared medium which means the beef is nowhere as juicy as it should be. It was very tender and it had a pleasant flavor, though it didn’t taste very blue cheesy. It was a pretty small portion given the price, but I might order it again. The patatas bravas ($6 regularly – but $3 during Happy Hour) were nicely seasoned and steaming hot, and I enjoyed them more than most of the other dishes. The real winner, however, was the Point Reyes Blue cheese platter ($7). It came with a nice portion of absolutely delicious, creamy cheese, bread slices, dried fruit and caramelized walnuts. The whole combination was great. I’ll definitely order this again.

For dessert, Mike and I shared the chocolate lava cake ($6), which again was pretty tasty but not extraordinary. I might have it again, but would try something else first.

We had some complimentary rose wine with dinner (“like” The Vine on Facebook for occasional promotions), which was just sweet enough and very refreshing.

In all, it was a very nice meal. We paid about $35 total, including tax, tip & the restaurant.com coupon price which was a good deal, but regular prices are too high.

December 2010

I’ve been to The Vine several times in the last few months. I find it a nice place to have something light to eat and a reasonably priced glass of wine. Their tapas menu has expanded somewhat and they now serve desserts (which we haven’t tried). Most of the tapas I’ve tried are good to very good. I particularly enjoyed the croquettes ($7) and the Spanish omelet ($5). However, my half-Spanish friend Paz wasn’t as complimentary. Their wines, though, are almost universally good. They seem to no longer be open on Sundays, by the way.

August 2010 update

Well, I finally went to The Vine with a few friends a couple of nights ago and we had a very nice experience. The Vine has a limited selection of wines – two sparkling wines and no more than ten white and red wines – but what we had was good. I had a glass of the Cava and a glass of the Malbec. The Cava was light and bubbly, not too dry and easy to drink – I quite enjoyed it. The Malbec was very nice balanced, substantial without being tanic, a very good all around red.

A couple of my friends had the French something or other, it tasted like a cab and was deep and earthy. Also very enjoyable, though better with food, I’d think.

We only had a couple of their few tapas. The garbanzos were an all around favorite, I enjoyed them even though I’m not a garbanzo person. I thought the patatas bravas were fine, they basically were large chunks of country style potatoes served with a tomato-based sauce and a light creamy sauce. Other people were less impressed

The room is very nice, quite sophisticated for San Leandro. Service was attentive and the waitress told us that they will be expanding their menu (and hopefully serving desserts) and may expand their hours as well.

The Vine Wine & Tapas
135 Parrott St
San Leandro, CA
(510) 969-7477

http://www.thevinewineandtapas.com

Tu – Sa 4-10 PM
Su 11 AM – 6 PM

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

July 20th, 2010 blog post
The Vine, the new venture from the owner of The Englander, has finally opened. This cute spot is located next to The Englander (they displaced an old-time hair salon to do this, which is not very nice at all), but it’s quite a bit classier. I stopped by to take a look, but I haven’t eaten there yet. I’ll report when I do.

For now I can tell you that they offer a variety of wines by the shot (2 oz, about $4), glass (around $7) or bottle (in the 20’s) as well as beers. To eat they have pizzas ($5), a couple of cooked tapas (such as Spanish tortilla, $5) and simple things such as cheeses, cold meats and olives. Clearly they are focusing on the wine, not the food. No desserts, as far as I can see, which is a bummer as it’d be nice to have a place for dessert in San Leandro
They have limited hours, they’re open 4 – 10 PM Tuesday through Saturday, and Sunday 11 AM – 6 PM – which is a further bummer as I like having places to go late. But it’s definitely a good addition to the San Leandro culinary “scene” .

The Vine Wine & Tapas
135 Parrott St
San Leandro, CA
(510) 969-7477
http://www.thevinewineandtapas.com
Tu – Sa 4-10 PM

A Muah to Mua (Restaurant Review, Oakland, California)

August 6, 2010 / admin / 0 Comments

It’s been a couple of years since our friend Eddie moved away from our dear San Leandro in search of hotter pastures. And in the meantime our monthly mom’s night out dinners sort of stopped – mostly because of logistics. But Eddie was in town for a visit, so we /had to/ get together for another special dinner. This time Katrina had the great idea of going to Mua, a newish, trendy restaurant in downtown Oakland (now called “uptown”). Katrina had been there three times, and couldn’t stop saying good things about the place. No wonder. In terms of food alone, this is probably the best restaurant I ever visited in the Bay Area. All the dishes we had ranged from very good to spectacular – and the majority fell in the latter category. All I can say is “Wow”.

Mua occupies an industrial-style space, with eclectic decorations which range from the cozy (an out of place cupboard) to the post-modern (pseudo graffiti decorated panels). I’m not very good at describing, so you might as well take a look at the picture at the bottom of this review (which I reproduce from their website). The results are quite interesting and surprisingly inviting – though clearly the place is geared towards an audience younger and hipper than 40+ year-old moms. The only real issue for us was that this is a very noisy place, in particular because of the loud music piped into the dining room. The noise made it impossible for the six of us to converse when seated at a regular 6-person table, but they kindly moved us to a smaller table that allowed us to talk to each other without too much trouble.

Service, as you can surmise, was quite efficient and good. Our waitress forgot one of our dishes, but given how much we ordered that did not prove to be a problem. Water was refilled, dishes brought and removed at appropriate times (basically, our 13 dishes were brought in two stages, which worked very well).
Mua doesn’t only serve great food (which I’ll describe below), but it’s well known for its cocktails (all $9). It has quite a variety of unusual mixes, and we found all of them delicious. Aamani had the Pepper Basil Caipirinha (leblon cachaça, black peppercorns, basil and lime), and she was very pleased. It had a small kick but it wasn’t very spicy. Katrina and Eddie both ordered the Min Mojito (oronoco rum, mint, lime, ginger puree and ginger beer), and even though Eddie ordered it with little ginger, she found it too gingery for her taste. Both Katrina and I thought it was perfectly blended, but tastes differ. Parker’s Cucumber Crush (leblon cachaça, cucumber, elderflower liqueur and lime) was incredibly refreshing, definitely a summer drink. It was very popular at our table. My Strawberry Ginger Lemonade (stoli citrus vodka, strawberry, ginger puree and lemon) might have needed just a tad more sugar and didn’t really have much of a ginger flavor, but still was very yummy – quite reminiscent of a strawberry daiquiri. The real winner of the evening, however, was Dolores’ Chamomile Whiskey Sour (chamomile whiskey, lemon, lime and egg white). I, personally, hate whiskey – it’s too strong for me – but this drink was so well balanced, with just the right amount of sweetness and a caramelish creaminess, that I loved it. So did everyone else. I’d definitely recommend you try it (or really, anything else in their cocktail menu).

But as good as the drinks were, it was the food that shined here. If you go, try to do so with a large group so that you can taste more dishes. And really, skip the main entrees, I’m sure they are very good (we only tried the burgers) but you’ll want to have the room for the small dishes.

The first dish I tasted were the Shiitake Mushrooms ($9). The perfectly sauteed mushrooms came on a crostini topped by bright green (I assumed herbed) goat cheese. The combination of the refreshing cheese and the savory mushrooms worked surprisingly well and I was lucky enough to manage to eat a whole slice (I think the dish came with three). The “mac & cheese” ($7) is made with butternut squash pasta and a light cream sauce (I presume) that has no cheese. I was surprised at just how delicious this dish was – if I could find the recipe I could say goodbye to Kraft forever. I hope they publish a cookbook very, very soon.

I didn’t taste the crispy tofu ($7) – it never made it to my side of the table, indeed I’d say that Katrina pretty much monopolized it 🙂 – but I hear it was also a star. Less interesting was the beet salad ($8). It was very nice, don’t get me wrong, but it didn’t have the superlative flavors that other dishes showed. It was just a very good salad.
The dish that really won me over to vegetables (in case you are new to my reviews, I’m a complete meaterian, I won’t touch veggies with a 6-foot-pole) was the collard greens. They don’t appear on their menu online, so I don’t know what they were made with, but the sauce they came with was pretty thin and must have had something like bacon. It was very savory and perfectly balanced, and the dish itself was my favorite. I could eat that forever. I’m really going to write and beg them to publish a cookbook.

I’m not fond of carpaccio ($8) so I wasn’t overly impressed with this dish, though Parker, who had ordered it, was quite happy. I did like the arugula salad that came with it.

I’m also not a fan of slimy food, so I didn’t try the mussels ($13). The roasted tomato broth that accompanied, however, was also out of this world – nicely acidic and with only a subtle seafood flavor. Everyone was enchanted. I never saw the string beans ($8) which Aamani ordered, though I’m sure they made it to the table, but I don’t recall anyone commenting on them (then again, there was so much food that I may have missed some specific dish discussions).

Eddie ordered the lamb cheeks ($10), which I never would have ordered myself, but given how good everything else was, I had to try them – and I was very happy I did. The lamb was very tender and perfectly cooked, and the wine sauce very tasty. I can’t help but think that it needed just a tad of more seasoning, however. Perhaps the wine should have been reduced more. In any case, I liked it.

I didn’t taste the asparagus, in the “Warm Asparagus-Marble Potato” dish, but did have several of the potatoes. They come with bacon and a mustard sauce and were also amazing.

The vegetarian Burger ($11) that Aamani ordered is made from chickpeas, bulgur, quinoa and walnut and comes with an aioli sauce. The burger was very nice but the sauce really transported it into the “delicious” level. Yum, yum, yum.

Along with the beet salad, the dish that least impressed me was the regular hamburger which I ordered with cheddar, bacon and avocado ($15). Don’t get me wrong, it was very good – but ultimately just a burger and I’ve had others just as good, it not better, elsewhere. I found it just a little dry and just a little salty. At 1/2 lb it was also very big. This is probably the dish I’d skip next time.

The fries which came with the burgers and the mussels also failed to impress. They were thin, unevenly salted and just OK.

We were quite full after that meal, but we still wanted to try the desserts ($7?, I’m not sure). They all seemed quite prosaic – nothing seemed very original or provocative. We decided to split the creme brule and the brownie with caramel ice cream and fudge. They were both good but not great. I liked that the creme brulee was warm and not too sweet – the the brownie went very well with the ice cream, but I found the brownie a bit too dry. This is definitely a place to come for the food, not the desserts.
In all, we had an amazing time, both eating and talking (about our kids, of course) and I will definitely have to come here again (hopefully with another group so we can sample all the dishes we skipped this time). The bill came to $42.50 per person after tax and 18% tip, which was incredibly reasonable given the amount and quality of the food and cocktails.

So take my advise and go to Mua. Make sure to make reservations, however, as the place was full even on a Wednesday night.

Mua
2442a Webster St
Oakland, CA
(510) 238-1100
http://www.muaoakland.com/
Su – Th 4:30 PM – 12 AM
F – Sa 4:30 PM – 2 AM

Marga’s Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

Favorite Indian Restaurant – Hayward – Review

July 17, 2010 / admin / 0 Comments

January 2011

In the last couple of weeks I’ve gone to Favorite Indian twice, once for lunch and once for dinner. Their offerings are just as extensive for both though the dinner buffet, only available on F/Sa/Su is more expensive ($15 vs. $11, I think). Still, it’s an amazing deal considering that you get over 20 choices of dishes, plus nan bread, sodas, juices and dessert! And keep an eye on Yelp and their Facebook Page for special offers. Mentioning “Yelp”, for example, should get you a 15% discount off the buffet prices.

But the deal with Favorite Indian is just how amazingly good their food is. I mean, this is buffet food (they do have a la carte dinners weekday nights, but why would you bother?). And it’s some of the best tasting Indian food I’ve ever had.

In my last two visits the chicken tikka masala has been to die for. The chicken itself is a bit dry (that’s what you get when you use white meat), but the sauce is heavenly. I don’t bother with the chicken anymore, just put the sauce over rice or eat it with nan. At a dinner visit, I couldn’t get enough of the fish pakoras. The flaky, melt-in-your-mouth fish has a wonderfully crispy crust and was delicious. Their tandoori chicken has also been very good in my last visits, as have been assorted curries. They vary from time to time, but they are all worth trying (even if not all are always winners in my book). My daughter loves their soft serve mango ice cream for dessert, but I’m a fan of their gulab jamun. which they serve both hot and cold (hot is better). Their nan bread is quite good, but at the lunch buffet I went they had a paratha sytle bread that was even better.

Anyway, I’m in love with Favorite Indian and I can’t wait to go back.

December 2010
I’ve been back to both the lunch and dinner buffet at Favorite Indian several times now. It’s always good. Mika loves going for the mango soft-serve ice cream.

July 2010 Review

Favorite India on “A” Street in Hayward has been my favorite Indian restaurant in the area since it opened. The small, humble dining room isn’t much to look at – but the Americanized Northern-Indian food is delicious and the staff is very friendly. Plus, and this is a very important plus, they deliver to San Leandro.

Some months ago they opened a new branch in Hawyard, under the name “Favorite Indian” and we finally checked it out last January, when we discovered the A St. location is no longer open for dinner. The new location is a great improvement. It’s in what was probably an all-American family restaurant in the past, so it hasn’t much in the way of atmosphere, but they’ve added a couple of nice fountains and some decorations and the place looks nice enough. More importantly it’s comfortable, with plenty of booths and tables that accommodate large parties (there is even a party room, I think) and there is plenty of room for a large buffet – which they now offer not just for lunch but for dinner on Friday, Saturdays and Sundays (6 – 9 PM).

In the last seven months I’ve been to Favorite Indian for lunch and dinner on numerous occasions – and I’m always impressed by the buffet. It has an enormous array of choices, more than 30 items, so much that you cannot possible hope to try everything (even if, like me, you just skip the vegetarian options as a matter of course). Last night the meat offerings alone included chicken tikka massala, chili chicken, ginger chicken, chicken tandoori, lamb vindaloo and a lamb kofta curry. There were many vegetarian choices, including vegetable pakora and daals, There are soups and salads and the usual accountriments – including rice and hot naan. The buffet price ($14 for dinner) includes soft drinks and dessert (mango soft ice cream in addition to Indian goodies).
What is really impressive, however, is the quality of the food. It may not have the sophistication of the offerings at Aroma in Castro Valley, but it’s uniformly tasty, nicely seasoned (i.e. not too spicy) and very balanced. Everything, from the tandoori to the tikka massala sauce tastes great. Nothing is too oily, nothing too fatty or gritty. The chicken in the tikka massala did manage to be a bit too dry for my taste in my last visit, but that was really a minor complain. In all, I don’t think you can get a better meal in the Bay Area for the price – one reason why I keep going back 🙂 BTW, you can get a 15% off discount of your dinner bill by mentioning “YELP” when you visit (I’m trying to see if they’ll do the same for “Marga’s Blog”). Restaurant.com also has gift certificates, but it’s only valid on the a la carte menu, Sunday through Thursday.

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

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews
Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

Mel & Faye’s Diner – Jackson, California – Review

July 15, 2010 / admin / 0 Comments

Lola and I went back to California’s Gold Country last week and stayed overnight in Jackson. We had wanted to have dinner at Teresa’s Place, but alas, I hadn’t checked to see that it was closed Wednesday nights. Not sure of where else to go, we ended up at Mel & Faye’s Diner, where we had eaten during our previous visit to Jackson (see review below).
Our last experience had been fine, but this time we were a bit more disappointed in our food. I had an excellent peanut butter shake (yummm! $3.50), but Lola’s strawberry shake wasn’t very good, it didn’t taste like strawberry and it didn’t feel as if it had any ice cream in it. She was disappointed.
The burgers were fine, though I wasn’t thrilled with the chewy bacon on mine. We ordered them with onion rings instead of fries, and they gave us *a lot* of onion rings. So many we couldn’t really finish them. Alas, they weren’t as good as the previous time. They were made from plump, fresh onions, but the batter needed more seasoning.
Our bill came to only $22 before tip, so I really can’t complain – and I’d go back again (if for no other reason because the peanut butter shake rocks).
—
We were staying in Sutter Creek, right outside Jackson (May 2008), 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

India Chaat & Sweets Indian Cuisine – Berkeley – Restaurant Review

July 14, 2010 / admin / 0 Comments

Yesterday my friend Lola and I found ourselves in Berkeley, browsing through art supplies at a store on University Ave., when we decided it was time for lunch. India Chaat & Sweets Indian Cuisine was just across the street from the store we were at, it got OK reviews in Yelp and it offered a lunch buffet. After trying it, we have to agree that this is an OK place to have lunch – not great, not bad, a bit expensive, but fine.
India Chaat has two small dining rooms and its lunch buffet offers limited choices. In addition to daal, rice and naan, there were a couple of vegetarian choices, a lamb curry, chicken tikka massala and chicken tandoori. I partook of the last three (with rice and naan). The lamb curry was quite good, the bone-in lamb was tender and the sauce had a pleasant acidic flavor to it. It wasn’t outstanding but pretty good. The tikka massala sauce was also perfectly alright – unfortunately the chicken was so dry as to make it nearly inedible. The chicken tadoori was quite good, moist enough and flavorful. Lola who tried the vegetarian offerings wasn’t too impressed, her general opinion was that they were fine – but not great.
The biggest disappointment might have been the cokes we ordered (a regular and a diet). They both had an off taste, the diet was pretty much undrinkable.
Lunch wasn’t particularly cheap. It came out to about $25 for the two of us after tax and tip – I’d expect something considerably better for that sum, in particular in Berkeley. I’d probably wouldn’t return.
India Chaat & Sweets Indian Cuisine
824 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA
(510) 704-1200
Note: You can get a gift certificate for India Chaat at restaurant.com (remember to always google for restaurant.com deals before buying – currently you can get a $25 GC – minimum purchase and restrictions apply – for $3 by using the code FRESH).

Horatio’s restaurant – San Leandro – Updates

July 13, 2010 / admin / 0 Comments

There aren’t many good restaurants in San Leandro – and most of these are very expensive. Horatio’s may be the most expensive of these all, but they have discounts from time to time (including a buy 1/get 1 free dinner coupon that they e-mail you for your birthday, if you sign up with their club), so we go a couple of times a year. We love the location in the San Leandro Marina, it’s a great place to see the sun set.

The food is generally good, but it can be inconsistent. We’ve usually had good experiences, but the same cannot be said of our some of our friends. Here I include the updates of the original review I wrote many, many years ago.

May 2011 update

Once again we went to Horatio’s for my birthday armed with one of those coupons. We got there around 7 on a Friday night and the place was rocking, fortunately we were able to sit in the lounge (at the last remaining table).

Horatio’s has changed its menu somewhat, gone is the burger that I had the last few times, and added some smaller plates. Entrees continue to be very expensive, in the 20’s, for plates of food that are not particularly impressive. This time we skipped appetizers (their focaccia bread is great and I wasn’t super hungry) and went straight for the main dishes. I had the short ribs from the specials menu (~$26) and Mike had some fish. The plate of short ribs was rather plain, it consisted of two boneless short ribs without any braising liquid to speak of, some mashed potatoes and some broccolini. It didn’t seem like much food to begin with, but the short ribs were substantial and surprisingly lean. They were tender and juicy and quite good, but not really extraordinary. I’ve made better short ribs many times. The dish was fine, but not worth the price. The same can be said about Mike’s fish. This was a much less substantial dish, and while the fish was nice and flaky, the sauce was delicate and not very exciting. It came with some strange tubular vegetable that wasn’t too appealing. I think Horatio’s needs to put some more care into its side dishes. If instead of plain veggies, it provided something more interesting, the dishes might be worth the price.

Service was great, however. Our waiter brought us a complimentary creme brulee dessert with a candle, which I thought was very sweet.

July 2010 update.

Went back to Horatio’s last night with my friend Lola for dinner – we had a buy 1 entree, get 1 free coupon, which made it seem like a good deal. Alas, this time the food (but not the desserts) wasn’t that great, so it ended up not being a great one.

I got the burger ($16) again, and this time it was very, very, very dry. It was huge as usual, though, and I ended up taking half of it home. Lola had the steak salad ($19), and she thought it was fine but not stellar. The chocolate indulgence cake was particularly good last night, so I can’t complain about that. Still, the food is so expensive that it should be great.

May 2010 Update

Hmm, it may be that Horatio’s is becoming our place to go for birthdays and anniversaries. I actually didn’t want to go to Horatio’s this time (March 2010) – I had a giftcard for its restaurant chain I wanted to use, but I thought I’d enjoy Kincaid’s or Skates better. But they all have the same menu, and Horatio’s is just so much more convenient, specially we are in somewhat of a hurry to get our kids back from being babysat before it gets too late. So Horatio’s it was again, and we had a pretty good experience once again. That said, Mike felt that for the amount of money we paid, the dinner wasn’t special enough.

Once again we shared the baked brie appetizer (just as good as always), which this time was served with just three, tiny, paper thin slices of apple – even though we asked the waitress to bring us more! I once again ordered the cheeseburger ($16), and was very happy with it. The burger had a real charbroiled flavor to it, and the bacon was delicious. It comes with some blue cream cheese that complemented without overwhelming. It was just great. The burger is a whole 10 ounces (I guess they feel they need to justify the price), so of course is too big to eat at one sitting. This time Mike was filled by his dish, so I took the rest home – surprisingly it was quite good microwaved the next day as well! I ordered it with onion rings instead of fries, and this time they were quite good. They had a subtle, sweet flavor and went well with the piquant dipping sauce. Of course, I couldn’t eat more than a couple – and was sad for that. They also came with mushrooms on the side – but these were cold. Indeed, the whole platter was luke-warm and was probably sitting around for a while.

Mike had the special of the day, mahi mahi stuffed with crab. He thought it was very, very good and enjoyed every bite. He also had a margarita, which he thought was good and tasty, but a bit week.

For dessert I ordered the lavender chocolate cake with vanilla bean ice cream on special ($8, I think). I was *very* disappointed. The cold cake had clearly been in the fridge for quite a while and had acquired that stale-like refrigerator flavor. The ice cream was delicious, but the cake was not worth the calories. The waitress was nice enough to replace it with a slice of their decadent chocolate cake, my favorite at Horatio’s, which I really enjoyed.

The service was quite good, with the exception of the apple episode.

In all, it was a good meal – but again, I wouldn’t go back unless I had a gift certificate of some kind.

September 2009 Update

We went back to Horatio’s a couple of weeks ago (September 2009) to celebrate Mike’s birthday. If you join their mailing list, Horatio’s will e-mail you a $20 OFF coupon that you can use during your birthday month. Given how expensive Horatio’s is, we generally only go when we have that certificate.

Once again, we had the warm brie appetizer, which was excellent though, once again, it was in need of more apple slices. I wish it was served with plain toast or even bread, while their focaccia is delicious by itself, it adds an element that the subtle cheese doesn’t need. I should also say that the portion is very generous, large enough for 3 or 4 people (but we ate it all).

I had their burger, which I think costs something like $16, but comes with everything you can possibly want: the usual fixings, bacon, avocado, sauteed onions and even mushrooms, I think. It was a big burger, a pretty good burger and I enjoyed it. The french fries were unimpressive, but fine.

Mike had the fish special of the day, some sort of white fish in some sort of white sauce. All I know is that enjoyed it a lot – but the portion was rather small.
We didn’t have time for dessert, as we had to go pick up our kids, but we often have dessert at Horatio’s and we’re always pleased.

March 2008 Update

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 ordered 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://horatios.com/
M-Sa: last call 11 PM
Su: last call 10:30 PM

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Country Cliff’s restaurant – San Andreas, CA – Review

July 11, 2010 / admin / 1 Comment

A couple of days ago my BFF, Lola, and I took a short trip to the gold country and ended up in San Andreas in time for lunch. We looked around for restaurants, preferring a small town diner to the usual pizza/Mexican/chinese offerings that seem to abound in the west, and that’s exactly what we got when we found Country Cliff’s. The restaurant doesn’t look like much, just a modest diner with formica tables and old pictures on the walls, but we liked the atmosphere and the food wasn’t too bad.
I had the New York steak sandwich with fries ($10, I think) and wasn’t extremely pleased with it. The steak was very thin and had quite a bit of gristle in it. It tasted fine, however, and I loved the mayo in the sandwich 🙂 The fries were coated and very, very good.
Lola had a small salad, which was mostly iceberg lettuce with some local tomatoes and onions. She said it tasted very fresh. Her burger was also fine, a bit gamier than most – but she confessed she mostly eats burgers at fast food joints. In all, she was fine with it.
I had a caramel milkshake with lunch ($3.50) and it was also just OK. It was a bit thin and didn’t taste much of caramel, but there was nothing really wrong with it.
Service was prompt and friendly – specially given that this is a 2-person operation and it was quite popular for lunch.
In all, the meal was fine – I might try another place or another town next time, however.
Country Cliff’s
345 E Saint Charles St
San Andreas, CA 95249
(209) 754-1365
Marga’s Restaurant Reviews – Outside the Bay Area

Mai Thai restaurant – San Leandro – Review

July 11, 2010 / admin / 0 Comments

2025 Review

October 2013 Update

Mike and I have returned to Mai Thai many times. It continues to offer great food at a reasonable price. It’s really a jewel.

July 2011 Update

Mike and I went back to Mai Thai for dinner last night with our friends Auguste and Cecily and I had another wonderful meal. If anything, I would say the food has improved and flavors seem even better balanced and intense. We had six dishes last night, and the five I tasted were simply excellent.

We started with the pork imperial rolls, which were a bit underseasoned by themselves and contained too much cabbage and too little pork, but which were redeemed by the wonderful accompanying sauce. Next we shared the wontons, a dish I don’t usually like, but these were bursting with filling and flavor and were absolutely delicious. It would have been my favorite dish of the evening if the other ones were not also so good.

Mike ordered the chicken panang and I had my usual musaman beef. They were both wonderfully balanced and intense and oh, so good. The panang was a bit spicy – too much for Cecily – but the musaman was not (and it shouldn’t be). The large chunks of beef in the musaman were perfectly cooked, tender and not dry. Auguste ordered the chicken with eggplant, and it had also a wonderful, intense, slightly sweet sauce. It could make you a fan of eggplant even if you’ve never liked it before. Cecily had the shrimp, which I didn’t taste but they seemed to like.

I didn’t take pictures this time, but dishes continue to be as beautifully arranged as in our first visit. Service was also quite good, but then again, we got there early and there we no other parties in the restaurant.

In all, I’d say that despite my loyalties to Zen’s (where I’ve never gone for dinner fearing having to encounter loud music), I’m ready to declare Mai Thai the best restaurant in San Leandro.

December 2010

I have since returned to Mai Thai several times, and every time I have been very pleased. The food is very good and beautifully presented, the restaurant is very cute and the service very attentive. Mika loves the sticky rice dessert (it’s really good) and she was quite fond of the shrimp appetizer. The pad thai is not very spicy, making it a good choice for little kids. In all, it’s where we go when we want Thai food in San Leandro.

July 2010 review

Mai Thai has been open for about two months, but I only heard about it when Mike rode by it a few days ago. It seemed like a logical place for an affordable Friday-night date, and it proved to be a very nice one as well. It may not be saying much, but I’d consider Mai Thai one of the best restaurants in San Leandro right off the bat.

Mai Thai is located at Marina Faire in San Leandro, in the space briefly previously occupied by the Brazilian restaurant Biggies BBQ Restaurant. But if you’ve been to Biggies you are not likely to recognize the space, Mai Thai has painted the walls, decorated it with elegant Asian-inspired art and created an atmosphere that is both stylish and comfortable. In other words, it has followed the winning formula of a number of what I call “Asian Bistros” throughout the Bay Area (restaurants that offer good food in stylish surroundings at surprisingly affordable prices).
Mai Thai goes a little bit beyond some of these by also serving beautifully arranged food – they must have a food stylist on staff (or at least they must have used a consultant). The results are really unbelievable for the prices (entrees are $9-12) and add an element of “specialness” that makes this a perfect place for an affordable date or business meeting.

But of course, the the real question is “how is the food”? Here I’m a bit less impressed. We ordered the pork imperial rolls (6 rolls for $7) and I found them to taste mostly of cabbage and to be in need of some spicing. The accompanying sweet & sour sauce was delicious, however, and Mike was very pleased with the resulting dish. The sauce was also great with the little mixed green salad that came with the dish.

I was not in the least original by ordering the Massaman beef for dinner – it’s my favorite Thai dish. Mai Thai’s version was very conventional, and yet very good and satisfying. The sauce had a great balance and just the right amount of spiciness. The beef was fork-tender and delicious. I’d definitely order it again (and again and again).
I was less happy with Mike’s chicken panang. It had a strong basil flavor and was quite spicy, but I felt it otherwise lacked depth. I wouldn’t order it myself, but Mike would have it again. The portions were nicely sized – we both had leftovers to take home.

We finished our meal by sharing the fried banana with ice cream ($4). The two bananas were perfectly and freshly fried, they came steaming hot, and went wonderfully with the ice cream. That said, I think the batter needed some more sweetness or something to make it less plain.

Service was fine but not stellar – the main problem being that our cokes ($2 each) were not refilled. Still, there were not major glitches and they were nice enough to pack our leftovers in the kitchen.

In all it was a very nice meal – it came to about $36 after tax and before tip, a very affordable price for a meal of this caliber.

Mai Thai also offers lunch specials for $8 – though it’s a little bit further ride, I think I’ll definitely go here (rather than Thai Satay) when I’m in the mood for Thai.

Mai Thai
137000 Doolittle Dr. #110
San Leandro, CA
510-351-9898
Open M – Su 11 AM – 3 PM and 5 PM – 9:30 PM

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

The Englander – San Leandro – Restaurant Review Updates

June 15, 2010 / admin / 1 Comment

UPDATE: THIS RESTAURANT HAS CLOSED

August 2011

We’ve been to the Englander several times this year (including for the initial Copa America game), and we’ve been overall satisfied with the food and service. The tall waitress with the long blond hair, in particular, is amazing: super helpful, efficient and quick. The prices are still high, however.

Yesterday we stopped for a quick dinner during the Farmer’s Market. Mike had the linguiza burger, and the combination just didn’t work. Linguiza has a strong flavor, and that’s all he could taste. It’s a huge burger. Mika had a plain burger, and she thought it was fine. It was still happy hour so I decided to have a couple of appetizers (all $4 from 3PM – 6 PM on weekdays). I soon discovered why they were so cheap: the appetizers are tiny. The order of onion rings was about 1/3 the size of that of the regular portion ($8) and the one nachos probably 1/4th ($11 for the regular). So, happy hour appetizers are just not a good deal. The onion rings were good, the nachos not so much. They didn’t have enough cheese, and the cheese didn’t rich the lower nachos.

Restaurant.com occasionally has coupons for the Englander, so it’s worth checking before you go. You can usually find a 15% off coupon at Open Fence.

June 2010
The Englander is our favorite place in San Leandro for watching World Cup Games. It’s close to our home, the food is fair, if expensive (their onion rings, for one, are quite good), and it has a great soccer-watching atmosphere. So that’s where we headed last Saturday morning to watch the Argentine-Nigeria game (Argentina won 1-0) and where we stayed for the US-England game (tied 1-1). In all, we spent 7 hours at the restaurant – my kids are saints. I’m not planning to go there for the 4:30 AM Argentina – South Korea game on Thursday (and I doubt they’ll be open anyway), but I will probably catch the Argentina – Greece game there next week.

Anyway, all of this is to say that the Englander will be open for most games (at least the 7 AM ones) and do offer breakfast for the morning ones. The morning buffet consists of French Toast, scrambled eggs, sausages and country potatoes and it costs $10. The food is quite acceptable, I really liked the sausages, and it’s not a bad price given that you’re really paying for watching the game. The breakfast buffet is set in the small room by the bathroom, it took us a while to find it last Saturday.

If you go there for one of the 11 AM games and are planning to have lunch, you may want to sign up for Open Fence, which allows you to print ONE coupon for a 15% discount on two entrees. Not much, but it’s something.

Service, btw, was great on Saturday. I don’t really know how those waitresses were able to handle the dozens and dozens of orders they got once the US – England game started (the place was PACKED), but they did. Good for them!

—

December 2009 Update

We went back to the Englander about a month and a half ago, to participate in the Eat Out for Education program, through which San Leandro schools get 10% of the check at participating restaurants (with a coupon). Once again I thought my dish, a steak sandwich, was mediocre, but Mike was happy with whatever he had and my friend Desiree raved over her burger. The onion rings, as usual, were pretty good. I’m sure we’ll be going back to the Englander again and again once the World Cup starts this summer.

—

July 2009 Update

According to a letter in yesterday’s San Leandro times, The Englander is looking to expand into the space of its next-door neighbor, a beauty salon. It’s great to know that even in this economy The Englander is doing well – though I find its food quite average, it’s a nice place where to watch soccer championships. And I really like its new front patio (I’ll take a picture next time I’m around). But I find it sad that it is pushing out what seems to be a successful business, one with a clientele that seems to care about it.

I wish the owner would go about this a different way. Instead of expanding The Englander, how about starting a new restaurant? Perhaps an Irish pub? They do have the space at the present location of Ploughman’s (a breakfast joint that we visited once and never again) and then there is the old Casa Maria – etc. etc. site. Neither is too attractive, however.

But even then, what I would love to see is a cafe-pub. A place that would stay open late, serve appetizers and desserts, and both coffee drinks and alcohol. AND, not having TVs. Basically, following the concept of Horatio’s lounge – but providing an alternative to it.

—
May 2008 Update

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

Papa Johns Pizza – Review

June 11, 2010 / admin / 2 Comments

August 2011

Papa Johns has become our default pizza joint. We find the pizza to be good enough (no worse than what you can find at most San Leandro pizzerias and perhaps even better) and the fact that it’s 1/2 a block away from our house, so we can easily pick it up and thus avoid a long wait (pizzas are usually ready in 20 minutes) and delivery charges is very attractive. They no longer have the great deal that they had when they opened, but they usually have a deal that makes the pizza substantially cheaper than regular menu prices. You can find these deals both at their website, when you go order, or on the flyers that come with the mail. I’ll post some of the deals below as well. I prefer ordering online, as it’s easier and the prices are lower.

BTW, sign up on their website and order online and you’ll get points for every pizza you order. So far I’ve gotten 2 or 3 free pizzas that way, plus another one when they had a raffle 🙂

Deals

Large carryout 1 topping: $7.99 – code VAL7
Any large pizza: $11 – VAL11
Large 3-toppings + bread side: $15.99 -VAL15
Any two large pizzas: $20 – VAL20

June 2010 Review

As I mentioned in my last posting, a Papa John’s Pizza joint has opened at the former Peewee’s site. We were out of food last night, so we ended up checking it out. The conclusion: it offer mediocre pizza, but, right now, at an unbeatable price.

We got an x-large pizza, half with extra-cheese and ham, and half with a bunch of meats, cheeses and pineapple. The pizza dough was fine, not too chewy, tasty but not particularly so. The sauce was a bit sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. The cheese was fine, but not very flavorful. The main problem with the pizza is that Papa Johns puts the toppings underneath the cheese, which means that they slide off the pizza very easily, taking the cheese with them. So it’s a bit messy to eat. In all, it tastes OK, but it wouldn’t be my first choice if 1) it wasn’t so cheap (right now) and 2) it wasn’t just across the street from my house.

As for the prices, the regular prices are quite high. A 16″ specialty pizza will cost you $21. But right now they have a deal where you can have such pizza for only $12. And, if you order an extra-large pizza at whatever cost, you get a free three-pack of It’s It ice creams. So yeah, it’d be hard to find a better deal. Delivery, btw, is $2.

In conclusion, I’ll probably order pizza from Papa John’s while they are having this deal, but I won’t when they stop. BTW, I ordered online and it worked perfectly.

Papa John’s
2198 East 14th St.
San Leandro
510-483-7272
http://www.papajohns.com/

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews