Marga's Food Blog

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Category: Restaurants (Page 4 of 52)

L.A. Chow: Versailles Comida Cubana

September 24, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Celebrating Cuban food is bittersweet

Versailles is a San Fernando Valley institution, though they also have locations in Culver City and Los Angeles. It’s been around for over fifty years. I first went there when my husband and I were dating, back in the early 90’s. It was my first introduction to Cuban food, and I liked it. My sister reminded me I took her and a friend there when she was in high school – so over twenty years ago -, but I don’t actually recall that experience. Still, when I suggested that we revisit it during our last visit to my family, both Mike and Kathy were up for it.

While my recollections of Versailles were vague, both my sister and I remembered it as fancier than it is in its current state. That might have been because it was darker when we previously dined there, or because we were poorer and thus our ideas of fancy were more modest – but I suspect that the difference is that they used tablecloths once upon a time – and perhaps they had nicer chairs. The chandeliers are still nice, however.

We were there for a very early dinner midweek, so the restaurant was empty when we got there, though a couple of parties joined later. That was a big change from the buzzle I remember from yesteryear, but, again, we were very early

Dinner started with freshly made garlic bread, which was wonderful but made the whole restaurant smell like garlic. It’s not a smell that I mind, myself, but some people might not be as big fans.

With so many great sounding Cuban specialties in the menu, it was hard to make up my mind – but I finally decided on my favorite Cuban dish: ropa vieja ($23). This is a dish of shredded beef cooked in a tomato, onion and bell pepper sauce. Versailles’ version was very good, though I think not quite as good as mine or the one at Porto’s. Still, I really enjoyed it and the portion was large enough to have leftovers for the next day.

It came with rice, beans and fried bananas. I skipped the beans – and declined the waiter’s offer to bring me more bananas. I shouldn’t have, as the bananas were absolutely delicious. Sweet, of course, but that’s what made them so good. Add some ice cream to them, and you have dessert.

Kathy had the chuletas the puerco ($24), marinated pork chops served with sautéed onions and a garlic sauce. Unfortunately, she wasn’t a big fan. She found the pork chops a tad overcooked and dry, and while she liked the flavor, she didn’t think it was extraordinary.

Unlike me, she did ask for extra fried bananas instead of rice and beans, and she got a whole plate of them! As I mentioned, they were delicious.

Mike had something quite similar to Kathy’s: lechón asado ($18). This shredded roasted pork is marinated and served with a creole sauce and sliced raw onions. He absolutely loved it. He found it tender and delicious. He also liked the accompanying black beans, though he noted they were a bit too soupy.

For dessert, we shared a slice of tres leches cake ($8), which was also good in the way tres leches cake usually is.

Service was wonderful. Our waiter was solicitous and offered us more garlic bread and extra fried bananas.

All in all, Mike and I would definitely go back. I’m not as sure about Kathy. 

Versailles Comida Cubana
17410 Ventura Blvd
Encino, CA
(818) 906-0756
Daily 11 AM - 9 PM

Los Angeles Restaurant Reviews

L.A. Chow: Mercado Buenos Aires

September 22, 2024 / / 0 Comments

The best place for sánguches de miga perhaps in the world.

Every visit to my family in Los Angeles ends the same way: with a stop at Mercado Buenos Aires in Granada Hills before we hit the road back home. And we always buy the same things: ‘sánguches de miga, facturas and empanadas. We have, in years past, actually stopped at the café for breakfast or lunch – but not since the pandemic and thus this is a very limited review of the place. I would like to go back for a meal, though as the last time I ate there my father was still alive and came with us, it does make me a little sad to think about it.

Mercado Buenos Aires operates a combination café, restaurant, deli and grocery store – selling Argentine food imports. They have two locations, the original one is in Van Nuys, but I’ve only been to the Granada Hills one. I think it might have started as a market – mercado -, but over the years the market area has become smaller and the restaurant area has expanded. That’s not surprising – it’s now easy to order non-refrigerated foods directly from Argentina. The Mercado remains a good place to buy frozen imports, such as La Salteña empanada shells and pie crusts, but as we never bring a cooler with us, we never actually buy them.

This trip we stopped in the early afternoon mid-week – unusual for us, as we tend to leave early in the morning. Being this late, they only had a few facturas left – and none with dulce de leche. Facturas, are the Argentine pastry per excellence. They are made from a sweetened pastry dough not too dissimilar to that of danishes, but lighter and chewier. They usually have a sugar glace on them, as well as dulce de leche, crema pastelera (pastry cream) and/or jam. My daughter only likes the dulce de leche variety, so I only got a couple for myself. Neither was that great – but as they usually are (and they were just a few months ago), I think it was due to it being so late in the day. Facturas, like doughnuts, are best when they are fresh, and degrade in quality very quickly. You can’t eat them the next day.

I did get a cañoncito de dulce de leche for my daughter. This is a horn-like pastry made from puff pastry and filled with dulce de leche. It was good, but my daughter is not as big of a fan of puff pastry as she is of factura dough.

I got my usual sánguches de miga. These are sandwiches similar to English tea sandwiches. They are made with very thin crustless sliced bread. Mercado Buenos Aires sells sánguches triples, which means they have three slides of bread – one separating the cheese lawyer from the ham layer. The key to these sandwiches is the bread – which needs to be very thin for it to work. Usually, only specialized bakeries make their own. I have no idea where Mercado Buenos Aires gets theirs – but it does taste like the real thing. Other Argentine markets seem to use regular sandwich bread, but that is too thick and has the wrong flavor. The bread is rather expensive, which makes these sandwiches expensive as well. When I grew up, we only had them for special occasions. I think it must be cheaper to make the bread now, as they seemed more affordable to me last time I travelled to Argentina – but that might have been due to the exchange rate.

The most common sánguches triples have a layer of cheese and a layer of ham – and here is where the sandwiches of Mercado Buenos Aires truly excel. Instead of using Argentine cheese they use Muenster, and it turns out that that’s a much better choice. Thus I actually prefer these sandwiches to any I’ve had in Argentina – and, believe me, I’ve had a lot.

Like with the facturas, you need to eat these fresh. They also lose their quality very quickly. Mercado Buenos Aires sell packages with 6 sandwiches.

Mike got a couple of beef empanadas for the trip back and he enjoyed them though didn’t find them remarkable. That’s because my own empanadas are so great, that it takes a lot to impress him. He had empanadas throughout Argentina and never found one as good as mine. But he keeps getting empanadas at Mercado Buenos Aires, so you know they are good enough.

I didn’t get a receipt, but all of this food together was a little over $26 after tax – the empandas are warm, so they might be taxable. I’ll go again in a couple of months and see if I can find out the prices of each item.

Mercado Buenos Aires
16137 Devonshire St
Granada Hills, CA 
(747) 529 6380
Su - Th 7:30 am – 9pm
F - Sa  7:30 am – 10pm

Los Angeles Restaurant Reviews

L.A. Chow: Cupid’s Hot Dogs

September 21, 2024 / / 0 Comments

We weren’t impressed by this LA chain

Cupid’s Hot Dogs are a staple in the San Fernando Valley. I had never heard of it myself, but I only started eating hot dogs when I got pregnant with my first baby – long after I’d moved away from the Valley. The now small chain started in North Hollywood back in the 1940’s and been in the family since then. While some of its locations are now run by the granddaughters of the original owners, others seem to be franchises. We visited the Chatsworth location, which seems to be one of the latter.

Given its long history, it’s not surprising that much has been written about Cupid’s Hot Dogs, and I found out about it through an Eater’s list of the 25 essential restaurants in the San Fernando Valley, though it has also been featured in the SF Gate, LAist, Secret Los Angeles and the LA Times among others.

Cupid is particularly well known for its chili hot dog ($7 after tax) and that’s what Mike got one weekday day last week – I wasn’t hungry enough to get one myself.

He was underwhelmed. The hot dog was utterly unremarkable. The hot dog was standard – it could have been an Oscar Weiner wiener for all he knows -, and the chili was uninspired. It was perfectly fine, but it was as generic as they come.

What was surprising about the chili dog is that eating it wasn’t a mess. He’s not sure if this was because there wasn’t too much of it, or if the chili was more solid than usual, but it was perfectly clean to eat – he barely spilled any onto the container. The hot dog is also normal size – not the extra large ones you get at Costco.

Finally, Mike was quite unhappy that the hot dog came in a styrofoam container. which are now ilegal in LA.

While the menus at the different Cupid’s seem to be the same, I’m not sure if the same can be said about the quality. We might try one of those still in the family next time we are in town.

Cupid's Hot Dogs
9840 Topanga Canyon Blvd. Unit D
Chatsworth, CA 
(818) 700-1729
M - Sa 10:30 AM TO 8:00 PM

Los Angeles Restaurant Reviews

Road Restaurant Reviews: IHOP

September 21, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Where my craving for IHOP was permanently satiated.

Ever since an IHOP opened in San Leandro, now several years ago, I’d been wanting to give it a try. Even though I’m fairly certain that our last experiences with IHOP had been disappointing, there is something pretty magical about those glossy menus with photos of delicious looking pancakes in all sorts of flavors. Truth be told, I’m not actually that big a fan of pancakes, and I seldom even end up ordering them, but they still fascinate me. Even now, as I think about them, I’m almost ready to head towards the door.

Alas, I’m not a breakfast-eating-person – I’m just not hungry when I wake up – so despite such cravings, I still haven’t made it to the San Leandro IHOP and might not had gone to an IHOP at all, if I didn’t find myself hungry and with low blood sugar as we approached the Grapevine during our last trip to LA. I saw the sign for it as we approached Lebec and there we went.

The restaurant itself, part of the Petro truck stop/travel center which also hosts a Wendy’s, a Baskin Robbins and a mini-mart, in addition to other facilities, was clean and pleasant enough. It seems to have taken the space of an Iron Skillet, so it doesn’t have anything that screams “IHOP” other than the name. It was fairly empty on a Saturday around 1 PM.

While I needed something to eat, I wasn’t actually hungry so I decided to get something light: the fresh berry crepes ($13.50). In the menu, they were shown rolled around some filling, sprinkled with berries and drizzed with chocolate sauce. In reality, the crepes were served folded into triangles, had some cut berries on top and a super-light dusting of powdered sugar. They were an extreme disappointment.

First, the crepes weren’t fresh. I don’t know if they make them there or the buy them in packages and then lightly heat them but they were clearly old and tough – you could barely cut them with the side of a fork. They were also very dry, and with no wet elements on the plate, hard to eat. I did ask for some whipped cream – which I think was probably whipped “topping” – and that helped some. The berries were fine, though not juicy enough to help the crepes. In all, it was a very disappointing dish. If I wanted old packaged crepes with plain berries, I could buy them at the supermarket.

Mike’s meal was more special, at least, by virtue of this being the first senior meal that he ever ordered. We are now officially old. He had the 55+ breakfast sampler ($11.30) which came with 1 buttermilk pancake, 1/2 a strip of bacon, 1 small slice of ham, 1 breakfast sausage, 1 egg (he had his over medium) and hash browns. He substituted the latter for wheat toast for an additional 80 cents (!).

He felt that was the ideal amount of food for his apetite nowadays, and was hapy he hadn’t over-ordered. Quality wise, the food was comparable to Denny’s. He did like his egg, however, probably because he seldom has them.

We had sodas, but they didn’t charge us for them – perhaps because the waiter realized just how disappointed I was with my meal. He did ask me whether he could bring me anything else, but there was no way to save those crepes.

In all, what I learned from this experience is to not go to IHOP. 

IHOP
Petro Travel Center
5821 Dennis McCarthy Dr
Lebec, CA 
(661) 663-4341
Daily 6 AM - 10 PM

Munching Around the Bay: Naschmarkt

September 20, 2024 / / 0 Comments

This relaxing Campbell restaurant offers good food and friendly service.

I was excited when my friend Lola chose Naschmarkt to celebrate her 50-something birthday. My experience with Austrian cuisine has been extremely limited. I have never been to Austria or eaten at an Austrian restaurant before, and while I cooked Austrian food as part of my international food project, this was twenty two years ago, and it didn’t turn out that well.

Despite living in the Bay Area for close to four decades, I also don’t think I’d ever been to Campbell. We didn’t end up seeing much of it, but I enjoyed strolling up and down Campbell Ave., seeing the bougie restaurants and stores, and perusing the stalls at the farmer’s market. We even bought a bottle of cider, though I dropped and broke it before we could try it.

It was a beautiful Sunday in early September, and sitting in Naschmarkt’s sidewalk patio was a lovely experience. It’s about a block away from all the buzzle of the street, so it’s quieter, but still allows for some people watching. It added to the European aspect of the meal.

While we waited for Lola to arrive – we were early – I enjoyed a sparkling water (we weren’t charged for the bottle), while Mike had a blood orange cosmopolitan ($17) which he liked very much.

We started by sharing the homemade pretzel with double-smoked bacon, beer-cheese sauce and chives ($16). I’m not a huge fan of pretzels, and while I appreciated that this one was soft, I felt that the flavor was too strong to compete against the cheese – which was good, but very subtle. The cheese sauce was actually better with white bread, or with the interior of the pretzel (though there isn’t too much of that). I don’t think I would order it again myself. Mike liked that the bagel was warm, and he liked it with the mustard rather than the cheese sauce.

We also shared the sausage trio ($36), which came with a smoked pork bratwurst, a spicy paprika wurst, and a “sausage of the day”and was served with red cabbage, sauerkraut, caramelized onions, and Dijon mustard.

I’m not the hugest fan of sausages, and I wasn’t personally impressed by any of these. Mike and Lola liked them, however and in particular the spicy paprika one. Mike thought they were all good, even if he can’t recall what the “sausage of the day” was.

I had been planning to get the chicken paprikash ($25) for lunch, as I’ve made several versions of this dish and have enjoyed them, but they didn’t have it available for lunch that day. So I settled for the spätzle ($30), which comes with smoked chicken, corn, brussels sprouts leaves, tarragon and mushrooms. I had mine without corn and extra mushrooms. This is listed under appetizers ($20) but you can have a lunch-size portion as well. As it happened, the lunch size portion was too much after having the other appetizer, so I took half of it home.

Overall I liked it, though I didn’t love it. I think the problem was that it was too mildly tasting except for the smoked chicken, and then the smoked chicken was a bit overwhelming in flavor. I think I might have enjoyed this more if it had bacon instead of chicken. I did like the chewy consistency of the spätzle. I don’t think I’d order it again.

Mike had the classic wiener schnitzel ($32) which comes with Austrian potato salad. The wiener schnitzel was a very good, nicely seasoned and very tender milanesa. I think even my milanesa-loving daughter would have approved. Mike enjoyed it, and I loved the couple of bites he gave me. It made me realize that I should make milanesas soon.

Lola had the Hungarian beef goulash ($28), consisting of beef shoulder braised in paprika and served with herbed spätzle, Hungarian pepper, and sour cream. We both felt the dish was quite good. I made goulash before, as part of my exploration of Hungarian cuisine, and this one was comparable. Of course, they nailed the spätzle too.

We couldn’t go to an Austrian restaurant and not have dessert, so Mike and I shared the apfel strudel ($16), described as “apple & hazelnut strudel with whipped cream, toasted almonds & vanilla bean ice cream” – though there was no whipped cream that I could see. I’ve had apple strudel before, but I will confidently say that this was the best version I’ve tasted. It was served warm, which helped a lot, but the crispy yet chewy dough and perfectly sweetened apples, with the occasional crunch of the toasted almonds, was just awesome. I definitely recommend you have it here.

Lola had that day’s special, which was some sort of cheesecake with sour cherries ($15). She liked it quite a bit, even more than my apple strudel – I disagreed, but I’m not fond of cherries.

To celebrate her birthday, they also brought her a complimentary trio of sorbets ($9 otherwise). The passion fruit, blood orange and mango sorbet were all very good, though I found their somewhat chewy consistency disconcerting (I’m guessing they use gelatin). The flavors were very intense and not overly sweet.

Service by a European-sounding gentleman whose name we didn’t catch was outstanding, friendly and efficient, and he was particularly good at seemingly upselling us (that pretzel was not our idea).

In all, we had a great, relaxing time, and I would totally recommend it. Naschmarkt has another location in Palo Alto. 

Naschmarkt
384 E Campbell Ave 
Campbell, CA
(408) 378-0335
Su- Thu 11:30 – 2pm, 5 – 9 pm
F - Sa  11:30 – 2pm, 5 – 9:30 pm

A Day in the Napa Valley: Mustard Grill

September 13, 2024 / / 0 Comments

This Napa Valley classic has outstanding service and a fun atmosphere.

Mustard Grill has been a staple in the Napa Valley for four decades. Founded by Cindy Pawlcyn, one of the creators of wine country cuisine, it features American classics with Californian sensitivities, and hyper local ingredients. We drove past it for decades, always curious about trying it but never quite making it.

It’d been in Mike’s mind, however, so he suggested it when we started making plans for his birthday extravaganza in the Napa Valley – so I promptly made a reservation.

Dinner there was a lot of fun, and it crowned a wonderful day for both of us.

We were a little late for our dinner reservation, but we called and there was no problem accommodating us. We only had to wait by the bar for a few minutes before we were seated. The area of the bar, which includes a number of tables in addition to the bar itself, was quite busy on that Saturday evening and the atmosphere was very jobial.

The restaurant itself has several connected dining rooms and a semi-casual atmosphere. We saw women dressed up in lovely dresses, and guys in t-shirts and baseball caps. According to the server at one of the wineries we went to, it’s a favorite among locals, though it obviously also attracts tourists and day trippers like us.

We got a corner table on the outer dining room, the one with the windows. Though it gave me a look to the server station, the sunlight in the room (it’s summer, after all), made it jovial. Tables are very close together and the place was quite crowded, but it didn’t detract from the experience.

The menu of “deluxe truck stop classics” was pretty extensive, and included sandwiches in the low 20’s and main dishes priced from the high 30’s to mid 40’s. In addition they have a few daily specials, including a tostada and a pasta. They have, as you’d expect, an extensive wine list, but Mike and I were wined out that day (the perils of being old). Instead I had a coke ($4.50, free refills) while Mike had a River City root beer ($4.50 for the bottle). Mike liked it as much as he likes all those craft root beers you occasionally encounter.

Dinner started with bread, butter and salt. This was a great idea. Salted butter is usually lower quality butter, and not everyone prefers it or can deal with the extra sodium. As it happened, the bread and butter were very good, and adding a little salt made them even better.

I had hesitated a lot about what to order – I wasn’t terribly hungry -, and the waiter had recommended the meat loaf ($30) which came with garlic mashed potatoes, a horseradish BBQ sauce and unadvertised greens. Unfortunately, I didn’t like it. The BBQ sauce, which drowned the meatloaf, was too ketchupy, too acidic, too thin and just unenjoyable. The meatloaf itself, when most of the sauce was brushed away, needed more seasoning. Now, this is a popular dish so I’m going to guess that this is a matter with my taste alone. Mike didn’t dislike it, but thought it was nothing special – he wouldn’t order it either.

The mashed potatoes, however, were delicious.

Our waiter very nicely offered to substitute with another dish – but I wasn’t that hungry and didn’t think it was necessary. He then very unnecessarily took it off the bill, which was extremely nice and definitely makes me want to go to Mustard Grill again. I just wouldn’t order the meatloaf.

Mike ordered the grilled halibut ($39) which was on special that day. It came with new potatoes, rainbow chard and piquillo pepper sauce. Mike liked the fish, it was cooked perfectly, nice and flaky. He liked the sauce, though he wasn’t sure if it enhanced or replaced the flavor of the fish. He’d recommend it.

To celebrate Mike’s birthday, the restaurant gave us a complementary ice cream scoop. Unfortunately for Mike, it was espresso flavored. He is not a coffee drinker, and it’s not because of the caffeine. So I had it all for myself. I thought it was very good, light and flavorful. I did particularly like the fact they brought it as a gift.

Mike ordered the lemon-lime tart ($14), which is described as having “ridiculously tall brown sugar merengue” and I have to say I agree with the description. He loved it. In his words “the pie was absolutely awesome”. It wasn’t just the Alice-in-wonderland look – which did cause stares from other tables -, but he loved the flavor of the merengue, which was quite unique. The lemon-lime curd was also extremely tasty. Really, this was the perfect dessert for him.

I, personally, found the merengue too sweet, but I had just eaten the somewhat bitter espresso ice cream.

As mentioned, service was excellent. The place was popping, but it’s clearly appropriate staffed and the waiters are professionals who know their jobs. In all, I can’t think of a better place to celebrate a birthday. I am totally looking forward to going back.

Mustard Grill
7399 St. Helena Highway
Yountville, CA 
707-944-2424
M-Th 11:30 AM - 8 PM
F-Su 11 AM - 9 PM

A day in the Napa Valley: W. J. Guigni Grocery Co. Deli

September 5, 2024 / / 0 Comments

The best sandwiches in the world

I don’t remember when I first discovered Guigni’s Deli in St. Helena, but it was certainly over three decades ago. At that time, the Napa Valley was a paradise for a young like ourselves, short on money but seeking fun and relaxation. Wine tastings were mostly free and abundant. Of course, we needed food to absorb all that wine and Guigni’s Deli became our place to go for lunch. We loved the sandwiches so much ,that I think only one visit to Napa over these three decades, have we skipped lunch there. So when Mike suggested he wanted to spend his birthday in Napa Valley, I knew we would start our day by having lunch at Guigni’s.

It had been many years since our last visit, and the place has changed a bit. There seem to be fewer items for sale cluttering the store – it’s now more of a deli than a grocery. The bathroom behind the dining room in the back was also locked. The deli was also much less busy than we remembered it to be, though we did go pretty early.

What had not changed was the assembly line type of ordering. You should start by selecting your drinks and anything else you want to buy before going to the counter. Then you select and order your meat and cheese behind the meat/cheese counter, move to the right and select and order your bread, your veggies and your condiments, and finally move on to the cashier and pay for the whole thing.

You can then sit at one of the two tables by the front windows or go to the small dining room in the back. Of course, you can also take the food to go and have your own picnic at whichever winery allows you to do so (many no longer do).

As we were early, we were able to grab one of the window tables, which made the experience much more pleasant.

Mike started with a deviled egg, and I was reminded that it was at this deli that I learned about deviled eggs in the first place. I don’t like eggs myself (unless they are made into a dessert), and deviled eggs were not part of my upbringing. Mike was quite pleased, as in the past.

I will admit that, as is my custom, I considered ordering something other than a roast beef sandwich – just for novelty’s sake. But I couldn’t make myself do it. Since that first, amazing roast beef sandwich decades ago, that’s all I’ve ever had at Guigni’s and how could I change now? So I went with the roast beef and Muenster in a soft sourdough bun, standard condiments (including their Guigni juice dressing), tomatoes and added an avocado ($2.50, they use half in the sandwich). My sandwich was large and delicious. Days later, I’m still dreaming about it. It was soooooo good. Really, they have the best sandwiches ever.

Mike also got a roast beef sandwich, but he had his with the standard veggies and dressings, save for tomatoes. He chose brie as his cheese, and loved the whole thing. I took a bite but it was too overwhelming with sprouts for my taste. To each their own.

Mike didn’t get a receipt, but I think the sandwiches were about $15. Not cheap, but totally worth it. 

Guigni's Deli
1227 Main St
St Helena, CA 
707-963-3421
M-Th 9 AM - 3 PM
F-Su 9 AM - 4 PM

Munching Around the Bay: Susie Q’s Pizza Review

September 3, 2024 / / 0 Comments

This Hayward pizzeria serves great wings, but just average pizza

I discovered Susie Q’s Pizza a couple of weeks ago while going to dinner at Khao Hom in Hayward. I don’t usually pay attention to pizzerias, but they had posters expressing support for Palestinians and calling for an end to their genocide by Israel – which made me want to support them in turn. So when Mike was out to dinner one night, I suggested to my daughter that we get some take out from Susie Q’s. Mike never wants to get pizza, unless it’s Zachary’s.

Susie Q. had pretty good reviews online, and I decided we should try a little bit of everything. They have a family pack for $40 that includes a large one-topping pizza, cheesy bread, an order of wings and a 2-liter soda, and I got that in addition to a sub for my daughter.

The cheesy bread ($10) was really disappointing. It had gotten really good reviews online, but it was way too salty and just not that tasty. It came with a green sauce and a red pasta sauce, neither of which was particularly great either. I still have some of it left in the fridge waiting garbage pickup tomorrow. Needless to say, I wouldn’t order it again.

For my large 1-topping pizza ($25.2), I got half mushroom, half cheese. The mushroom were very, very scant – you’d think they could have used the half they saved on the cheese only part in the other half. Where I tasted them, the mushrooms were fine, but a single mushroom in some slices was just sad. Other than that, the pizza was OK, but not memorable. It has a medium crust, and a good balance of bread to sauce to cheese. It just wasn’t better than any of the other pizzas at local pizzerias. If Susie Q was my closest pizzeria, I’d order it from them – but otherwise there isn’t a particular reason to.

Susie Q has lots of options for make-your-own-pizza, including different sauces and thicknesses, as well as a number of specialty pizzas.

The tossed wings ($13 for 6), however, were delicious. They have them on several flavors and we went with the honey garlic. The wings were very crispy and the sauce clung to them very well. The honey garlic was a little spicy for me, but I could only eat one anyway, as the kids just loved them. I will definitely order these again in the future and try the other flavors.

Finally, my daughter ordered a classic Philly cheese stake ($15), which comes normally with mayo, grilled onions and sweet peppers only. Other toppings are extra, but they didn’t charge her the 80cents for the lettuce (perhaps because she held the onions and peppers). Still, the fact that they charge you extra for lettuce and ketchup since a little bit stingy.

My daughter liked the sandwich, though the filling was a little stingy too. She wasn’t awed by it – she’d have it again if were eating there, but wouldn’t go out of her way to get it.

I really, really wished I had liked Susie Q’s better, as I’d love to support a Palestinian supporting business. And I will give it another try – they also have pastas, and their wings were that great.

Susie Q's Pizza
22580 Foothill Blvd
Hayward, CA 
‍(510) 537-2888
Sun - Th: 11 AM - 11 PM
Fri - Sat: 11 AM

San Leandro Bites: Hanami

August 29, 2024 / / 0 Comments

This newish Japanese restaurants will put a smile on your face

“You want to go for Japanese food?” Mike was surprised. I don’t eat sushi, so I only tend to eat at Japanese restaurants when I want to treat my older daughter. Mike loves Japanese food, though, so he was game when I suggested we go to Hanami, a relative new restaurant in the Broadmoor neighborhood of San Leandro.

Hanami had attracted my interest unwittingly. The picture that showed up next to its very-good-review of Yelp was that of a cheesecake. I had wanted to make a Japanese cheesecake when I cooked Japanese food several years ago, but I never quite got around it. So I was intrigued with the possibility of actually trying one. Still, it was the thought of having ramen that attracted me to Hanami. In all my year of eating Top Ramen, I’d never actually had gotten ramen at a restaurant, and I thought it was about time. As it happened, it really wasn’t.

Our first impressions of Hanami were pretty positive. The little restaurant is very casual and it functions under the misfortune of having a very square room, but it manages to capture the kitschiness of Japanese material culture without going overboard. It was, overall, a pleasant place to eat at.

We sat by a cupboard with little nick knacks, which provided visual stimulation while we waited. I totally love the rabbits wearing kimonos.

We started our meal with the Gyoza ($7). These deep fried dumplings were served with soy sauce. Mike really liked them and I thought they were good, but the flavor of the shell overshadowed the subtle pork filling. I’m not sure I’d get it again but Mike would.

Mike got the miso soup with his combo, and we both really enjoyed it. It has a very bright, fresh miso broth that was refreshing on a hot summer day. We’d both definitely have it again.

Mike had the Combo F ($27) which came with an unagi roll, three pieces of salmon sashimi, two potato croquettes, two tempura shrimp and some edamame, in addition to the aforementioned miso soup. It was a lot of food on top of the gyoza and he brought most of the roll and the croquettes home.

He enjoyed everything very much. The unagi roll was fresh and very tasty as was the tempura shrimp. He did feel the salmon sashimi was bland – but then again, that’s what you expect from raw salmon and there was lemon and soy sauce to brighten up. The croquettes were delicious, I was amazed at how much flavor they packed. In all, he really enjoyed the meal and would order it again.

I got the ramen ($17) but I messed up, big time. You get to choose our protein and your broth. I decided on chicken katsu, as it’s a favorite, and a pork broth, as I didn’t see a chicken broth in the menu. But then I thought about it some more, and didn’t think that pork broth and chicken would necessarily go together, and not knowing what would work I went with the curry broth. This, as my best friend Lola told me later when I described to her this fiasco, is not a regular broth for ramen – though curry sauce is often eaten with chicken katsu.

The problem came because while I can use chopsticks, I’m not the most competent person with them. And grabbing the noodles of the bowl without dripping the bright yellow broth on my white shirt proved impossible. Every attempt led to an unwashable stain – at least I wasn’t greatly attached to the now ruined shirt I was wearing. The thick spoon with which the ramen was served proved to better. I couldn’t even manage to keep the noodles on it, much less use it to bring them to my mouth. Little kids at other tables were managing alright, so this is just proof of my own clumsiness, but it did make it clear restaurant ramen is not for me. So much for my plans – formulated between the appetizers and the main dishes – of traveling to Japan.

I did eat the chicken katsu and it was… bland. Without katsu sauce, there wasn’t much flavor to it. Dipping it in the broth risked those pesky drops falling on my shirt, so I mostly ate it plain. I wouldn’t order it again.

I took the ramen home with me, packed in a large plastic bowl thick enough that I’ll reuse, and ate it the next day – with a fork and metal spoon. It was quite good. Not out of this world good, but just like you’d expect a generic curry broth to taste. Still, I wouldn’t have it again. What I would have next time is more of that amazing miso broth.

It was finally time for what I really came here for: the cheesecake. They had several flavors in addition to cake slices. I went with the mango cheesecake ($6) and it was everything I dreamed of. Flavor and consistency wise it reminded me a bit of the cheesecakes at Junior’s in NYC. It wasn’t as sweet as a regular cheesecake and a bit chalkier. But it was bursting with flavor, particularly from the pieces of mango – which tasted oh so fresh on that hot summer evening. The thin crust – was it even there or did I imagine it? – tasted like sponge cake, something else that reminded me of Junior’s. In any case, I loved it. I wouldn’t go back just for a slice – it was relatively small and while the price is not excessive for a restaurant, I’m still not used to current prices, but I’d certainly love to eat it again.

We got sodas with dinner, which were $3.

Service was good and attentive. You order by circling what you want with markers on a laminated menu, which helps avoid miscommunications.

In all, I’d go back – probably when my sushi loving daughters is back in town – but I’ll order something else as a main . I’ll still get the cheesecake. 

Hanami
377 Bancroft Ave
San Leandro, CA
(510) 969-4923
Tue - Sun 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM, 4:30 PM - 8:45 PM
Closed 9/16 to 10/23

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Munching Around the Bay: Khao Hom in Hayward

August 24, 2024 / / 1 Comment

Updated Thai food and a killer roti

Khao Hom is a newish Thai restaurant in Hayward which has been getting great reviews. I found it when looking for “date” restaurants nearby and was excited to give it a try on a Saturday evening in August. It was good, but ultimately disappointing and I don’t think we’ll hurry back – though I wouldn’t say “no” if someone else suggested it.

The dining room we were NOT seated at

My first disappointment was with the seating. Khao Hom has two dining rooms, a pretty nice one that would make a good setting for a date, and a more casual one that screamed “weekday lunch”. Even though this was a Saturday evening, that’s where we, and the rest of the patrons, were seated. We did go relatively early – the place got full by the time we left, but the other dining room was no opened.

I was particularly bummed because from my seat all I got was a view of the kitchen door – not what I’d say “romantic”.

Khao Hom’s menu includes classic as well as modernized versions of typical Thai dishes. We weren’t super hungry so we forewent appetizers and went directly into our entrees.

We started with Roti Gai Tod ($22). This consisted of fried chicken, a roti, a mound of rice, yellow curry sauce and a sweet and sour sauce. The fried chicken was good, though nothing extraordinary. The meat was fairly moist but the breading was too thick. I preferred it with the sweet and sour sauce than with the yellow curry.

The yellow curry, however, was very good – though in the sense that yellow curry is really good, this wasn’t a specially good yellow curry. The roti, on the other hand, was delicious. It was very flaky, tasty in itself and very oily. It went great with the curry. We ended up getting two more, including one to go ($3.50)

Our second dish – we shared them – was Short Rib Massaman ($27). The massive piece of meat looked more like a shank than a short rib -for one, it wasn’t short at all, but it was just as good. The beef was tender, if fatty, and very flavorful. The massaman curry was also tasty, perhaps a little different from others but not enough that I can pinpoint the reason. It must the first massaman curry in which the potatoes were not partly raw. In all I enjoyed it, though I’m not sure if I enjoyed it enough to merit the price. I did have some of he meat leftover for the next day, however.

For dessert, we had the stuffed roti ($12). This was a roti stuffed with a banana and served with grapes and berries under a chocolate sauce. It was OK. The rotti is a bit salty and I’m not sure whether I liked this or not. The fruit was fresh and the sauce was ok. I don’t think I’d order it again.

We only had a soda with dinner ($3.50).

Service was very good. When I told the waiter I wanted another roti to go, he took my leftover yellow curry and added more to it to take home. Indeed, the fact that they have rotis on the side is a big plus for me. I might go back and just order the yellow curry (albeit the one from the street food menu) and a bunch of rotis.

Khao Hom also serves breakfast, and the reviews for that are fairly good, so we might try it sometime. 

Khao Hom
Foothill Boulevard
Hayward, CA
(510) 926-428922545 
Daily 9 AM - 3 PM, 5-9 PM
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