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Lunch at Chicago Blues Cafe

May 4, 2008 / / 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

Ben & Jerry’s ONE Cheesecake Brownie

May 4, 2008 / / 0 Comments

I think it’s been many years now since Ben & Jerry’s has come out with a flavor of ice cream I actually like. Meanwhile, they’ve gotten rid of many of my favorites, including the best flavor they ever had, Wavy Gravy. Still, I always try the new flavors they come up with, showing that I’m a pretty slow learner.

The latest flavor I tried was ONE Cheesecake Brownie, and seldom have I tasted a more flavorless flavor. The ice cream itself just tasted sour – no cheesiness, no complexity, just a note of sourness. The miniscule cheesecake brownie bits were also sour, though at least a bit chocolaty. They didn’t add much. In all, a complete failure of a flavor.

This ice cream seems to be part of a campaign to “end poverty”, the carton doesn’t explain how, just directs you to a website. I personally find it deeply offensive when big corporate giants like Unilever (Ben & Jerry’s parent company), who themselves contribute to world poverty, by, for example, exploiting child workers, use the plight of poor people as a marketing scheme.

Rainforest Cafe – San Francisco

May 3, 2008 / / 0 Comments

volcano.jpgRainforest 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/

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

Chain Restaurant Reviews

Rainforest Cafe – Las Vegas

Lamb Chops with Balsamic Vinegar

May 2, 2008 / / 1 Comment

I adapted this recipe from one a person posted in a Craigslist forum. It’s amazingly simple and delicious. Even Mika thought the meat (sans the vinegar) was yummy. Mike really dug the vinegar, I thought it was good either way.
-6 lamb chops, trimmed
-salt & pepper
-1Tbsp olive oil
-herbes de provence
-1 large shallot, finely chopped
-1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
Sprinkle lamb chops with salt and pepper. Rub herbes de provence on both sides. Let stand for 15 minutes.
Heat olive oil over medium heat in a sautee pan and sautee lamb chops for about 3-4 minutes per side. You may have to do this in batches. Remove and keep warm.
Add the chopped shallot to the pan and sautee until tender. Add the vinegar, mix well and boil until the vinegar reduces by at least half. Return lamb chops to the pan, flip to make sure both sides are covered with the vinegar, and serve.

Zonin Prosecco – Brut

April 22, 2008 / / 0 Comments

zonin.jpgMy friend Lola loves Prosecco, Italy’s version of sparkling wine, and she brought a bottle last time she came over for dinner an eternity ago. I liked it too, it was light and airy and fresh, so some time later I picked up a few bottles of disgustingly cheap Prosecco at Trader Joe’s. I’ve had this one in my refrigerator for several months – and it came in handy today when I realized I had no white wine for the chicken recipe I was making for dinner.
The recipe only asked for 1 1/2 cups, so we had the rest with dinner. I was very pleased. It was simple and easy to drink, subtly peachy, perhaps a bit sweeter than other bruts. Very tasty, and it would have been even more so if it was a little bit cooler – I’d left the bottle on the counter after I opened it for cooking. I’ll definitely get some more bottles, next time just for drinking.

Chicken with prosciutto, rosemary, and prosecco

April 22, 2008 / / 0 Comments

After making basque chicken a few nights ago, I had a lot of leftover white wine and I wanted to make something that used it. I looked in epicurious.com for recipes, and I came about this one for Chicken with prosciutto, rosemary, and white wine. It sounded familiar, but I couldn’t find it either in my best recipes list or in this blog. It got pretty good reviews so I decided to try it.
Mike really liked it, but I thought it was merely OK. There was nothing wrong with it, it was quite flavorful, but I think the flavors just didn’t do it for me. I thought it tasted like something I’ve made before, but Mike didn’t think so. In any case, I won’t be rushing to make it again.
I did make one change from the original recipe. I used prosecco instead of white wine, because, lo and behold, I actually ran out of the white wine making bolognese sauce – but I can’t imagine that affected the taste.

BV Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon 2003

April 22, 2008 / / 0 Comments

bv.jpgMike bought a couple of bottles of this wine last year when they were on sale for $20. He really seems to like it. I always feel guilty about drinking expensive wine (and for me, any wine over $10 is expensive) for the hell of it, but we don’t have enough special occasions to actually drink all the bottles we have (yes, we should have more, but it’s not always easy with 2 little kids).
Sunday night, however, I was making a Cameroonian Menu and my friend Arthur happened to drop by, so we invited him to eat with us. He’s moving away soon, so I figured that merited a nice bottle of wine. Plus I didn’t have any cheaper ones 🙂
Anyway, I wasn’t too kin on the BV Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon 2003. It had a nice beginning, it was smooth and buttery, but then it just fell flat. There was nothing there. No middle, no finish.
Mike and Arthur said they liked it, but the bottle went unfinished.

A day of cooking

April 21, 2008 / / 0 Comments

I spent yesterday cooking. It’d been a long time since I’d spent much time in the kitchen – I haven’t had a dinner party in a very long time. I didn’t last night either, but I made a whole Cameroonian menu for Mike and I (the girls, of course, did not want to touch anything but dessert, and they had chicken noodle soup instead). It was only 3 courses and fairly easy to make.
Harder was the boeuf bourguignon I made following Julia Child’s recipe. It wasn’t hard per se, just took a while. Same thing for a bolognese sauce I made that I will serve over pasta later this week (tonight we’re eating the beef).
I still have more cooking for this week – I’m planning on making a chicken dish with prosciutto and rosemary as well.
Recipes for all as soon as I put them up.

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