Category: Restaurants (Page 33 of 52)

Prince Dim Sum House

May 12, 2008 / marga / 0 Comments

Update: Prince has changed owners and it’s now King Kong Dim Sum. It’s a shame because we had returned to Prince for Mother’s Day this year, and I had decided to make it my annual Mother’s Day brunch place. The food had been amazing, so good that we returned the following week when my brother visited us. The new place gets mixed reviews on Yelp.

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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

Dinner at Chevys

May 4, 2008 / marga / 1 Comment

Update: Chevy’s is closed.

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.

Lunch at Chicago Blues Cafe

May 4, 2008 / marga / 1 Comment

Update: This restaurant has closed

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 Elektra 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

Rainforest Cafe – San Francisco

May 3, 2008 / marga / 0 Comments

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/

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Rainforest Cafe – Las Vegas

Good Food restaurant is now Blossom

April 20, 2008 / marga / 0 Comments

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.

New Vietnamese Restaurant in San Leandro

April 20, 2008 / marga / 0 Comments

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.

A Chinese Restaurant

April 19, 2008 / marga / 0 Comments

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.

House of Curries

April 13, 2008 / marga / 0 Comments

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)

Sergio’s Pizza

April 11, 2008 / marga / 0 Comments

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

Chicago Blues Cafe

April 8, 2008 / marga / 1 Comment

Update: This restaurant has closed

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 Elektra 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.