Category: Restaurants (Page 30 of 53)

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

Note: This restaurant has closed. A burger joint may
open in its place.
I like Sonoma’s. I like the casual neighborhood atmosphere and I like the friendly owner – I even like the menu (though it’s grossly overpriced). Really, my only problem with Sonoma is the food. It really needs to be better and cheaper.
I last went a couple of weeks ago with Mike and a bunch of other people, who do love the place. We were there mostly to converse and drink wine, but we were hungry so we also ordered some food. The Coquilles St. Jacques ($10), scallops served in a creamy sauce were very popular, and everyone scooped off every last bit of the sauce. The mushrooms milano ($8), mushrooms sauteed in a sherry sauce, were also very yummy. The sauce was sweet, as you could expect, but not overwhelmingly so and complimented the mushrooms quite well. The portion was a bit small for the price, however.
The big disappointment of the evening was the main dish we shared, the veal saltimbocca ($20), veal sauteed with prosciutto and sage, then topped with mozzarella cheese and baked. It was so overwhelmingly salty and rich that I could not have more than a couple of bites of it. The prosciutto was completely wasted in the whole mess, and why you’d inflict it on a subtly flavored meat like veal is beyond me. It just did not work. Mike, surprisingly, agreed.
I had, on a previous occasion, had the veal marsala ($19) and I remember it being good, so next time I go to Sonoma’s I’ll probably order that again.
Sonoma’s
1027 Macarthur Blvd
San Leandro, CA
(510) 636-1143
Original Review
San Leandro Restaurant Reviews
Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

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