I just came back from dinner at Misono. Ok, I /think/ I just came back from dinner at Misono. I did go to dinner at a Japanese restaurant – I don’t know the name, but given that it’s close to where we are and Misono is located on Lenana road, I’m willing to bet that’s the one I’ve been to. It was quite good.
Misono offers a variety of dining options. You can have sushi (though its menu is quite limited), teppanaki (meat or veggies fired grilled as you watch, a la Benihana – a complete meal starts at around $25 pp), or order from the main menu. That’s a much cheaper option, and we decided to go for it.
I had the chicken katsu and while I liked the tender fried chicken, the sauce itself was too thick and tasted too vinegary and ketchupy. The chicken was definitely better without it. It came with a salad, too vinegary for me to eat. The portion was a good size.
Unfortunately our conversation was too interesting for me to even remember to ask my colleagues what they thought of their food (one had sushi, the other steamed dumpling looking spring rolls and fish), though they made approving noises. The consensus was that we’d go back.
It’s a bit disconcerting being attended by so many bowing Kenyans, but you can’t help but applaud their spirit.
Misono
Lenana Rd.
Nairobi
(254) 20 – 3868959
Category: Restaurants (Page 35 of 52)
The Ya Ya center is an unbelievably modern luxury shopping mall, featuring all sorts of western and Kenyan stores selling all imaginable kinds of products. If you want a brand-new camera, a safari outfit, a carved bedroom set or a violin, this is the place to get it. Expect to pay around the same than you would at home (though it could be more, specially now that the dollar is so weak).
It also features several restaurants. Saffron is its Indian offering. We went there for lunch today, and I was pretty impressed. The food was quite good, the service was excellent and the company, of course, was great. The restaurant itself is open to the mall, so it doesn’t have much on the way of atmosphere, but it’s nice enough.
The menu features many dishes that are familiar to western Indian food aficionados. There is chicken korma, tikka massala and tandoori. There is rice and naan. There are plenty of vegetarian offers. They have lassies (Ks100 – $1.50) – though my sweet lassi was too sour and not sweet enough – and massala tea (Ks 90 – $1.35). In other words, if you are in the mood for Indian food, chances are you can find something here to fit your mood.
I was about to play it totally safe and order the chicken korma, my favorite, but decided to go for the Kashmiri lamb curry (Ks 450 – $6.75) instead. It was quite good, sweet and with balanced flavors. I’d been concerned about the tenderness of the meat, but it was cut in very small portions and it wasn’t at all tough. The portion was quite generous (as were all), specially when eaten with rice (Ks 170 – $2.55). I did ask for the curry to be “medium” spice, but it was pretty mild. If you like a little fierness, go for hot.
One of my colleagues had chicken naji and another had the fish naji (Ks 550 – $8.25 each). I didn’t try the fish, but the chicken was moist and while the curry was a little too tame for my taste, it was very pleasant, with sweet, soft flavors. My colleague really liked it.
The naan (Ks 60 – $1) was fine, your typical naan, as was the pappadum (Ks 40 – $.60). The sweet and sour sauce had a nice punch.
In all the lunch was very pleasant, we spent quite a lot of time over it, and I’d definitely go back. Lunch for three, including drinks and tax, came out to Ks 2560, $38. It seems expensive, but Nairobi is quite an expensive city.
Saffron
Yaya Center
Argwings Kodhek Road
Nairobi
387-7236
A couple of weeks ago, I got together with my usual dinner group and we went to Phnom Penh II. For dessert we headed to Adagia, on the recommendation of a friend of Parker’s. I’d been there before with Mike, but I couldn’t remember at all how the desserts were.
Well, I’m here to tell you that their chocolate bread pudding is out of this world. Rich and yet light, very chocolaty and sultry in texture. I think three of us got it and we all enjoyed it.
We weren’t as fond of the spiced semolina cake. It was still good, but I think it may have been better had it not been spiced. The tea creme brulee was a little bit disconcerting, a new flavor. I’m not sure that one that I’d go back for, but it did enjoy it. I’m not one for fruit desserts, but the port poached pears were delicious.
Service was impecable, we went late and they didn’t kick us out 🙂 In all, a great place to go for dessert (and get that bread pudding).
Update: This restaurant closed and re-opened several times.
Last week our friends Arthur and Eddie suggested that we go out to dinner at Tequila Grill before the kids headed to a show at the library. I’m always in the mood for not cooking (well, that’s not really true, but I thought it sounded cute), so I thought it was a splendid idea. Well, perhaps not splendid as I haven’t been impressed with Tequila Grill in the past, but it’s nice to get out. And alas, it’s good I have that attitude because Tequila Grill failed to impress me yet again.
I had the milanesa sandwich, and the milanesa was nice and tender but not very flavorful. There was also too little meat to bread ratio. The fries it came with were perfectly fine.
I also ordered some guacamole and I did like it a lot, it was fresh and well balanced. Alas – there were no chips to eat it with (I did ask for them, they just never came). I found out that french fries with guacamole sort of work.
Mike had the flautas and he thought they were just OK.
I didn’t ask Arthur and Eddie what they thought of their dishes, but Elektra – who’d come with us along with her kids Orestes and Aegea, didn’t seem very impressed with whatever she ordered. Orestes’ actually found his burrito nauseating, though he couldn’t quite figure out why.
The younger kids seemed fine with their quesadillas (I didn’t try them).
So no, I won’t be rushing back to Tequila Grill, though I imagine I’ll end up there again some time.
Tequila Grill
1350 E. 14th St.
San Leandro
(510) 895-5351
Last Friday, we took our friend Paz to dinner at La Note. I’d been there once before with my friend Regina, and while my burger hadn’t been that good – Regina’s dish had been wonderful. We’d won a $25 gift certificate at the Girls Inc.’s Women of Taste event a few months ago, and I figured I’d use it and give La Note another try. My experience, once again, was mixed. Mike had a great dish, while I had a merely OK one. Paz was too polite to complain about her chicken sandwich, but she didn’t seem to enjoy it too much.
Once again, we started the meal with the Crotin de Fromage de Chevre Cuits aux Noix, “oven baked, nut crusted goat cheese served with french country toasts, roasted garlic & provençales tomatoes.” As in my other visit, the combination was excellent and I think we all enjoyed it.
Mike had a large pastry pocket filled with a variety of seafood including scallops, shrimp, salmon fillet and crabs. He thought it was excellent. I had chicken with prunes (I think), and while the outside of the chicken was tasty, the inside was pretty insipid and the breast was terribly dry – so much that I could not eat it.
For dessert I had a flourless chocolate cake with berry coulis and vanilla ice cream. It was very rich and very good – though I don’t particularly like the coulis (I have to remember to ask them to skip it next time). I’d order it again.
I hear that La Note has a very good brunch, but I haven’t tried it yet.
Last night we went to downtown Palo Alto to relax at Watercourse Way. We left our home a bit late, and it took us a while to get there, so we found ourselves with half an hour for dinner. Taxi’s Hamburgers looked like the sort of place we could get a quick bite.
Mike got a bacon cheeseburger, and he liked it well enough. He found it juicy, though not as juicy as burgers from Nation’s. He’d have it again.
I had their pulled pork platter, which included a pulled pork sandwich (in a hamburger ban), some veggies and your choice of fries or onion rings. The onion rings were a bit dry, but tasty enough. They’d been better with some ranch dressing, of course. I wasn’t thrilled with the pulled pork. It came with a side of a very generic bbq sauce. The pork itself was dry and tasteless.
The food came reasonably quickly.
The place itself tries to look like an old fashioned diner, with a lot of white tiles. You order at the counter, and a waiter brings your food and takes away your plates. They have self-serving soda machines and a potato bar. The food is a bit on the expensive side, it was a bit over $20 for what we had (including two sodas).
I’d probably go again if I was in a hurry, but I’d order a burger.
403 University Ave
Palo Alto, CA
(650) 322-8294
More restaurant reviews at http://www.marga.org/food/rest/
2013 Update
Mae’s closed down. A Chinese fast food place has opened at the Dutton & Bancroft space.
May 2011 Update
Mae’s has now moved to the corner of Dutton & Bancroft. I hadn’t gone back to eat there because it’s open between 1 – 8 PM, too late for lunch, too early for dinner. But I’ll try it sometime.
—
Dec. 2007 Review
Mae’s Soul Food is the newest venture to open on Victoria Court in San Leandro – at the space occupied until a couple of months ago by Joplin’s. Indeed, it was to Joplin’s where we were headed today, for a burger, when we noticed that the sign with that name was no longer in front of the business. A new owner and a new menu greeted us inside, and always the adventurers we decided to give it a try. But for the fact that we got stuffed, it was not a bad call.
Mae’s Soul Food specializes in fried food, their menu, indeed, is pretty short and basically includes fried fish, fried shrimp, fried chicken and fried pork, available in various combinations with or without gravy. There are also a plethora of side dishes, from candied yams to red beans and rice. There are also po boy sandwiches, made with, you guessed it, fried meats. Don’t come here if you are watching your weight. Prices go from $7 for a 3 pieces of fried chicken to $17.50 for a seafood combo platter with shrimp.
I had the 3-pieces of chicken platter with french fries. The three chicken drumsticks were large and meaty, they were very nicely breaded and seasoned, and they tasted fresh and crisp. They also managed to not be oily. If I wanted fried chicken, I’d definitely come here. The fries were less successful, they were very thick and long, soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. Not my favorite type.
Mike had the chicken po boy sandwich, which was also enormous, and he liked it though he’d preferred less bones on his chicken. He also liked the crispy romaine lettuce in the accompanying salad. Mae, the proprietor, is proud on not skimping in either quantity or quality, and the results show.
Service, at the hands of her son, was good – but, as we were warned, it takes quite a lot of time to get the food to the table. It’s made to order and it takes time for chicken to fry. Don’t come here if you are in a hurry.
Atmosphere wise, the place is not very different from what it was Joplin’s – there are still some Joplin posters around. They have, however, decorated with a nice array of beautiful wooden African masks.
My final warning is that they still don’t have heat in the restaurant, so if you are coming here bring your jacket.
I should mention this is not the Mae’s first venture as a restauranteur. Her restaurant was previously open in a high-crime section of Oakland, Mae decided to move to make it safer for her customers to eat at her restaurant.
Mae’s Soul Food
585 Victoria Court
San Leandro, CA
510-382-9200
A few weeks ago I went back to Matterhorn with my friends Eddie, Parker and Katrina. It was our last girls’ night out, as Katrina was moving to Mexico for a stint and Eddie is moving away for good. I can’t tell you how sad I am. But that night was happy, and we had great food and conversation.
We ordered two fondues, a cheese one (the Highlander – with cheddar and gruyere) and a meat one (I think it was the fondue bacchus), and extra sides such as shrimp, sausages and apples. The fondues were great, but I wouldn’t recommend the sausages for the cheese one, their flavor was just too strong. The meats are high quality and come with a wide variety of sauces, I particularly liked a curry flavored one. There was a lot of food, and we ate an incredible amount.
They only have one choice of chocolate fondue for dessert, but it was very good as well, though perhaps a little too runny for my taste. I like the ones I make at home better.
The only sour note of the evening was the service. The waiter/waitress was MIA all evening.
Still, if I was in the mood for fondue, I’d go back.
UPDATE: THIS RESTAURANT HAS CLOSED
Yes, Sizzler. Â Mike wasn’t happy about it, but I’d seen it there, on the corner of Davis and East 14th, for years now, and I thought that sometime I should review it. And why not? Yeah, it’s a lowly chain, but once upon a time that lowly chain represented the epithomy of culinary achievement to me. Growing up, or at least during that period that constituted my growing up in America, we were poor. Our idea of a fine meal out – on those rare occasions when we had one – was Bob’s Big Boy (and really, their double cheeseburgers rocked). Sizzler was a couple of steps up from that, a place where we’d go in the most special of special occasions, and in particular if my aunt Gladys was paying. And indeed, I think I had my graduation dinner at Sizzler’s.
But times have changed, at least for me. And like it or not we look down at Sizzler’s. I haven’t had their food in many years, so it may be unfair, but we didn’t recall it as being particularly good. Our visit a few days ago, didn’t really improve our opinion.
Mike had their cheeseburger, which he couldn’t have made to order. It was well done instead – I guess they don’t trust their meat. In any case, it wasn’t dry. Still, he prefers the much cheaper burgers from Nation’s instead.
I ordered the ribs. Yes, I know, Sizzler is a “steakhouse” and I should have ordered the steak, but they just didn’t look good in the pictures. The ribs weren’t bad. The BBQ sauce was generic, the type of stuff you get from a bottle, but the ribs were tender and meaty enough. Of course, they couldn’t compete with those from Chili’s.
The kids had the equivalent to the chicken nuggets, and I thought they were pretty good for chicken nuggets. They didn’t taste frozen.
The fries that came with our meals were sort of wimpy. The cheesy toast was very good, however.
The really low point of the evening was the service. I wanted a refill on my drink, and not only the waiter never came to ask me if I wanted one, but he was nowhere to be found.
In all, it was an OK but not special experience, and I don’t see why I’d go back.
Sizzler
201 Davis St
San Leandro, CA
(510) 483-0110
http://www.sizzler.com/
El Novillo is only a few yards from my house but it’d been years since I had eaten there. I remembered the food not being particularly good and expensive in comparison to our staple, Los Pericos. Plus, I don’t like the fact that the place sells and advertises beer right in front of our elementary school. Still, today I was starving and I had practically no food at home, so I decided to give it a try again. Bad choice.
I had a burrito with sour cream and cheese, but without rice and beans (about $6). It just wasn’t very good. The meat didn’t have much flavor and was overwhelmed by the cheese. It also came with no salsa or anything beyond meat, sour cream and cheese, so it was on the dry side and pretty boring to eat. It was average size and I think still overpriced. I can get something much better at Los Pericos for less.
I ordered a cheese quesadilla for the kids ($3.50, I think), and it was just a plain tortilla filled with cheese. Nothing exciting there. The kids sort of ate it, but they are finicky.
On the plus side, their chips are quite good. Still, you won’t see me going back any time soon.
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