The International Food Market opened on the little outside mall where Prince Dim Sum House is located, a few months ago. I went to visit it a couple of weeks ago after having lunch at Prince.
The store is not very big but has big intentions. It sells Greek, Asian, Middle Eastern and Mexican products. You can find Indian spices and Mexican spices (not on the same isle), cheap avocados and fresh eggs, lots of boxes of Greek products and so forth. Their inventory is pretty eclectic and you really need to drop by (or, more conveniently, call) to see if they sell something in particular. I think the market will be most useful for Greek and Middle Eastern products, as there are plenty of stores specializing on Asian and Mexican products in town. I don’t know how big the market is for what they do offer, and I’m concerned that the store may not survive. The woman who runs it, Eleni, is very nice and I’d like to see it succeed.
Now a note to my readers: please let me know of specific markets in San Leandro (and vicinities) that deserve to be visited and mentioned in this blog.
International Food Market
14624 East 14th Ave.
San Leandro, CA
510-352-1600
M-Sa 8:30 AM – 7:30 PM
Su – 10 AM – 6 PM
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My friend Lola and I went on weekend trip to the Gold Country last weekend, and spent Sunday morning wine tasting in the Shenondoah Valley. We hit 6 wineries, had a wonderful time and discovered a new and fantastic wine growing and wine making region. Pretty much every wine I tasted was good to very good, at one of the wineries I found some of my favorite wines ever. I was astounded, because I thought that that little known region would produce sub-par wines, I was definitely wrong.
Another great thing about tasting in Shenondoah is that none of the wineries had tasting fees and most of them offered a lot of wines for tasting. Indeed, after the first winery I limited myself to tasting four wines per winery, as I wanted to be able to hit as many as possible without getting tipsy.
Amador County specializes on Zinfandels, though Sangioveses and Barberas are also quite popular. Most of the Zinfs I tasted were very good, hearty yet balanced, and in the future I’ll look for Amador County when I go Zinf-buying.
Lola and I spent a nice weekend in the Gold Country which culminated with a late lunch in Auburn. We basically headed to the old town, and had lunch in the first place that caught our eye – we got lucky, because Auburn Alehouse serves very good food.
The restaurant is stylish, and doesn’t really look like a beer joint. We were seated by the window and had a nice view of the antique market going on that weekend. Though the place was somewhat noisy, it was pretty relaxing for us.
The menu offers sophisticated versions of American classics. For example my burger was made with Kobe beef. Prices are a little high with appetizers averaging $8-9, sandwiches for $9-12 and main dishes from $10-25. But portions are very large and you feel you get your money’s worth.
As I mentioned, I ordered the Kobe burger, a 1/2 lb patty that comes with bacon, avocado, American cheese, tomato and lettuce ($11). I substituted the fries for onion strings ($1 additional). The burger was cooked a little bit browner than the medium-rare I ordered, but it was still very juicy. The meat itself was very tender, but I otherwise could not distinguish a special taste to the kobe beef. The whole thing worked very well together, and I enjoyed it. The crispy onion strings were severely underseasoned, but they were good with some salt added. In all, I enjoyed the dish and would order it again.
Lola had the BBQ pork sandwich ($8.50) with a side salad. The BBQ pork was excellent, very flavorful with an intense BBQ sauce. I’d definitely order it myself. She liked the salad which had a simple vinaigrette, she particularly enjoyed the arugula and felt the greens were quite fresh. She also couldn’t finish the whole thing.
We decided to skip dessert as they are all quite pricey ($7.50!).
I’ll definitely eat here again next time I find myself in Auburn.
Auburn Alehouse
289 Washington Street
Auburn CA
530-885-2537
http://auburnalehouse.com/
Restaurant Reviews
Yesterday my friend Lola and I went to California’s Gold Country, for our yearly girls’ weekend out. We drove east until we heat 49, and then north. We stopped in Sonora for lunch. We picked Alfredo’s as it was the first restaurant we walked by after we parked.
Alfredo’s occupies a very nice room in historical downtown Sonora. The main wall is brick with recessed shelves here and there displaying Maya and Aztec ceramics. Other walls have orange hues and there are couple of large stereotypical Mexican wall paintings. It’s both stylish and informal at the same time.
Service was very good, the waiter was very attentive – and chips and drinks, and then food, came quickly to the table.
The major problem we had with Alfredo’s was the food. It was just bland. Nothing had been adequately salted or spiced – it’s as if they were cooking for middle-American seniors with high blood pressure (which may be their target audience, for all I know). The menu was your typical Tex-Mex, with entrees at $9 to $12.50. There is also a children’s menu.
I ordered the Botana Combo ($8.75), which included four different appetizers: a good portion of guacamole, 4 beef taquitos, 1 plain quesadilla and 3 bacon wrapped shrimp. None of it was good. I love guacamole, but this one needed some lemon to perk it up. You could taste the corn tortillas on the taquitos, but the meat filling was to bland to come through. The quesadilla was just a cheese stuffed tortilla, with nothing to make it special. And while I didn’t try the shrimp, as I don’t like shrimp at all, Lola thought they were quite mediocre.
Lola had the same complaints of blandness vis a vis her entree, a combo plate of a beef tamale and a chicken enchilada ($10.55). She described the enchilada as “just an American enchilada” and while she praised the fluffy and light masa of the tamale, she thought the filling was bland and unsurprising.
As you’d expect, we wouldn’t stop at Alfredo’s again – but if you prefer bland food, this may be the place for you.
Alfredo’s Mexican Restaurant
123 S. Washington St.
Sonora, CA
(209) 532-8332
As I reported before, San Leandro has a new Farmers’ Market, this time downtown. The downtown market is located on Parrot street, in front of The Englander and will operate throughout the summer on Wednesday evenings from 4 pm – 8 pm. The market was inaugurated yesterday, with a ribbon cutting ceremony involving the local politicos.
I think I like this farmer’s market more than the one at Bayfair – which seems to be getting smaller. For one, it has more activities for children – including a stand where you can get elaborate balloon animals/characters made for only $3, another where you can get a caricature made for $10 (this was not a cheap trip to the FM) and one with face painting and so forth (which we fortunately avoided). They also have activities for adults, yesterday was cooking demonstrations (which I didn’t stay for). They’ll also have family entertainment, live music and wine tastings in subsequent Wednesdays.
As you would expect, there were several fruit and veggie stands – lots of ripe strawberries, cherries and even raspberries. There were a couple of bakeries, one stand selling honey, one selling Indian breads & spreads and another one a variety of dips. There was a flower stand, a fish stand and an egg stand – which means that if we miss the quail eggs on Saturday, we’ll be able to get them on Wednesdays.
As far as food went, there is a tamales stand, a stand selling foot-long hot-dogs and teriyaki sticks ($6-9, I think) and The Englander has a burger stand. Unwisely, we decided to eat at The Englander instead, so we didn’t get to actually taste the food from there. Next week.
I’ve heard rumors that Zocalo may open a stand at the farmers’ market to sell its beans.
Here are some pictures of the market:
My sister Kathy is in town and she likes me making her rum-based mixed drinks in the evenings. I seldom do it, and I’m not always successful, but last night she was insistent so I searched through the net for something I could do with the ingredients we had at home. What I came up with was this recipe for Pink Paradise, which I modified to suit the ingredients available at home. She liked it and I made her quite a bit of it 🙂
- 2 oz Pineapple Juice
- 3 oz Cranberry Cocktail
- 2 oz Coconut Rum
- 1/2 oz Orgeat
Mix everything together. Serve over ice.
I’ve driven by Coffee Time countless times, but I had never had a reason to stop here. I usually do my coffee-drinking at Zocalo, and I rarely hang out in the Marina area. However, today I went to lunch with my friend Aamani to Zen’s Filipino Cuisine and we wanted to get a coffee, in lieu of dessert, afterwards. So Coffee Time it was.
Coffee Time is a very small coffee shop. Inside there is barely space for a counter, a tiny kitchen and a few knick knacks. The place has character, however, like something you’d find in a beach town. There are three or four tables in a small covered patio outside, right next to the parking lot. It’s a very relaxing place to seat in a sunny afternoon – even when you get to witness a police arrest (they did it very quietly).
I didn’t ask Aamani how her iced coffee was. My peanut butter chocolate drink was mostly air, but it was refreshing enough. Not sure if I’d order it again. But if I lived in the neighborhood, I’d definitely frequent the place.
They serve a variety of sandwiches for lunch, perhaps one day I’ll give them a try.
Coffee Time
2105 Doolittle Dr
San Leandro, CA
(510) 895-5997
San Leandro Restaurant Reviews
Zen’s Filipino Cuisine and Ihaw-Ihaw (BBQ) House – San Leandro – REVIEW
UPDATE: THIS RESTAURANT HAS CLOSED
image borrowed’ from Zen’s
Jan 2012
I’ve returned to Zen’s many times since my original review. I think it’s by far the best deal for lunch in town, the food is delicious and the lunch buffet very nicely priced. It’s well worth the trip to the Marina.
May 2008 Review
Zen’s has been open for two years and I only read about it today, which tells you I’m not as in tune with the San Leandro restaurant “scene” as one might think. And a great pity it is, because if its buffet lunch is any indication, Zen may very well serve the best food in San Leandro.
I found the restaurant on TripAdvisor.com while looking for restaurants in San Leandro I might have missed. I suggested it to my friend Aamani, who I was meeting for lunch, and she was all for trying it – so we headed towards Doolittle in the hopes of finding it, which we did easily. It’s located in a strip mall, just off Fairway.
The little restaurant is pretty cute with a tiki-bar kind of feel. It has, however, two annoying flat screen TVs showing Filipino shows. They are very loud, making conversation difficult.
The buffet consisted of about 10 dishes, including a chicken soup, chicken and pork adobo, BBQ chicken, Filipino steak, chicken in a coconut sauce, and a few other dishes I don’t remember now. There was one noodle dish I didn’t try, and one green-bean dish. There was nothing else for vegetarians, so they may want to keep away.
Everything I tried was excellent, the meats were tender, flavorful and not exceedingly fatty. The sauces were full of flavor, the bbq chicken was delicious. My experience with Filipino food had been limited to adobos and lumpias, what I tasted seemed like a fusion of western and Asian foods – as you would expect.
According to its website, Zen’s is also open to dinner until very late. They have music and karaoke some nights, so you may want to call them if you are just going for the food. I know I’ll go back.
Zen’s Filipino Cuisine and Ihaw-Ihaw (BBQ) House
13876 Doolittle Drive
San Leandro, CA
510-351-3312
http://www.zensfilipinocuisine.com
For the last few years, I have been celebrating my birthday with a Free Form Games murder mystery role-playing game. This year I chose their newest addition, Lei’d to Rest, which takes place during a luau in a Hawaiian beach. There was no question that I’d have to make Hawaiian food for dinner, and fortunately there is no lack of online resources as to what to cook for a home-made luau. The menu consisted of the following – recipes and comments are below:
As I reported here a couple of weeks ago, Blossom is the last restaurant to occupy the space on East 14th previously taken by Good Food and Szechuan Restaurant. I will bet that it won’t be the last.
We ordered food from there Saturday, when I was too involved in the preparations for my birthday party that evening (which I’ll soon blog about), to attend to lunch. Kathy suggested it because they delivered, and I always want to try new places in town. Oh well.
Blossom offers your typical Chinese restaurant menu also at typical prices – generally $6-9 for entrees. The portions are large, though not as large as those of other restaurants, which is not necessarily a bad thing. My problem was with the food itself.
We found the fried wontons ($3.25) to be a bit limp – though that may be because they don’t travel well. In any case, I like them crispier.
The sweet & sour pork ($6) had a lot of breading, little pork and a syrupy sauce that just didn’t taste good. Nobody liked it. Mike and Kathy did like the Szechuan beef ($6.55), but I thought it was very one-dimensional, it was too spicy for the kids to try. None of us liked the orange flavored chicken ($6), full, scrawny chicken wings with a thick, spicy sauce. They were difficult to eat and just not very tasty. The chicken chow mein ($5) was pretty good, Mika liked it.
In all, I was unhappy with Blossom and I see no reason to order from there again. New Hong Kong also delivers and is much better.
Blossom Chinese Restaurant
14807 E. 14th St.
San Leandro, CA
510-614-8112
San Leandro Restaurant Reviews
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