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San Leandro Restaurant Week is here, but is it worth it?

July 13, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Dearth of good deals means no FOMO if you skip it.

San Leandro Restaurant Week is upon us and, if possible, it’s even lamer than last year. There are very few deals that will make me want to try a new restaurant or revisit an old one.

Here are the best ones, which I might try:

– Paradiso has a $45 prix-fix menu available daily from 4 to 5 PM. During restaurant week, you can order it all day.

– Nella’s Place, a Southern food place, offers half off a second dinner, so $9 to $11 off the price of two dinners. I haven’t tried it, and this seems like a good opportunity.

– Scend offers several promos with small discounts, for example you can save $1 on a 2-wing/fries/soda lunch deal, buy one dessert get another for 1/2 off. It might be a good opportunity to try their oxtails, though, as they do offer a small order of 2 oxtails over rice for $17, and usually you need to get a full order for over $40.

The offers from the other nicer restaurants in town leave much to be desired.

– Horatio’s has a 2-course menu with only 4 choices of entrees for $33 – which saves you an average of $5 over regular menu prices, depending on what you order and whether you go for dinner or lunch.

– Moussaka gives you a free babaganoush or hummus ($8) with purchase of an entree

– Top Hatters gives you a free order of lemon ricotta doughnuts ($10) but only for lunch for a party of at least two people.

Some restaurants are adding cheap freebies

– Elio’s will give you a free cup of tapioca pudding or scoop of ice-cream if you order their daily-special dinner.

– Leisure Cafe offers a free ice tea or milk (~$5) if you buy its baked pork chop or black pepper spaghetti.

– Tequila Grill has a 3-course menu for $25, featuring half-entrees, which basically means that by ordering the very limited choices for appetizer and entre, you get a free flan.

– Tsuru Sushi offers 3 orders of chicken teriyaki for the price of 2 or a free California roll if you buy ramen. The latter is not bad, but who wants three orders of chicken teriyaki?

Discounts at other restaurants are pretty paltry:

You can save $3 at 21st Amendment brewery, but only if you want to eat fish tacos with an El Sully beer.

Fieldwork Brewing is offering an appetizer + pizza for $30, usually $27 to $41 (assuming all items are included in the promo).

You can save $1 on a Bento Box at Makiyaki.

Sushi Delight offers its 9-piece sashimi dinner for $22 or $6 off its regular price and its “tempura & teriyaki” dinner for $19, or $2 off its regular price.

You can save 15% on the dish-of-the-day at Habibi’s Birria.

And then some restaurants don’t offer any savings whatsoever.

Drake’s Barrel House, Sons of Liberty Alehouse, Zenti Bistro and Mai Thai, as well as Koolfi Creamery are serving a dish or two not usually in the menu.

Pistahan is offering its same weekend buffet at its regular price.

Josephine Southern Cuisine is opening a pop-up on July 18th & 19th from 11 am to 4 pm only, at E14th Eatery and Kitchen and serving their fried chicken with mac & cheese and collard greens for $25, which seems like their regular price.

There are also a few bars/drink places with offerings, but as I’m not someone who goes out to drink I didn’t analyze them.


I’m done with L cuisines – sort of

July 7, 2025 / / 0 Comments

A quarter-plus of a century after initiating my international food project I’ve finally finished cooking “L” cuisines. Except that I really didn’t. In order to speed this project and have a hope of finishing it before I die, I decided to concentrate on national cuisines, and leave regional, ethnic and historical cuisines for later. Of course, as later will never come, I’m still cooking some of these other cuisines here and there – but I’m not focusing on them as much. While they stay in the backburner, I will move on to “M” national cuisines.

For this part of the project I cooked the following national cuisines:

Lao: the ubiquitous larb, grilled chicken and grilled beef
Latvian: meatballs, cheesy cutlets and a killer mushroom sauce
Lebanese: kebabs, lambchops and a cake
Liberian: delicious spaghetti and chicken and a molasses cake
Libyan: soup, pasta and a cream cheese baklava
Liechtensteiner: cornmeal and spaetzle
Lithuanian: fried bread, potato pudding and pancakes
Luxembourger: chicken pastry cups, chicken with Riesling, dumplings and a plum tart

As far as regional cuisines go, I made an awesome Lancastrian lamb hotpot, Lisbon style steaks, Lombokish beef sate and explored the Lucanian cuisine of Basilicata through some pasta, chicken and a cheese tart.

I also touched on two cuisines I skipped earlier in the project, by making a very tasty Aymara meat and potato stew and a pleasant Bihari chicken curry.

I’m moving on to “M” national cuisines, and given how many of these there are, I anticipate I’ll be cooking them well into 2026.

Duke’s Real Mayonnaise Just Rocks

June 28, 2025 / / 0 Comments

I’m a relatively new convert to mayonnaise. As a kid and young adult I always avoided it. At some point, however, probably around the time I became a fan of Nation’s, which smothers its burgers in mayo, I started to dig it. But I would have been a much earlier and greater fan of mayo if I had tasted Duke’s Real Mayonnaise before. Simply, this is the best mayo I’ve ever had and it elevates mayo to previously unimagined heights.

That’s a wild thing to say about a product that is not only over a hundred years old, but apparently wildly popular in a large part of the country (the South). Still, I had never heard of it, not even in passing or while cooking any of the southern cuisines I explored.

This mayo has a very intense flavor that won’t be easily hidden behind others. It’s made with soybean oil and egg yolks, and gains its sour notes from distilled and apple vinegar. They almost, but not quite, fooled me into thinking it was lemon juice. It doesn’t have added sugar, which apparently detracts rather than enhance the natural flavor of the mayonnaise. I think it would be great to dip French fries in or for chicken salads.

Once only sold in the South, Duke’s is now available nationwide and even internationally. I found it at my neighborhood Safeway on sale for $4 for the 30oz jar (normally $8).

Trader Joe’s Mini Chicken Tikka Samosas Review

June 27, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Perfectly nice snack suited for an air fryer

Before the invention of the air fryer, I would not have even bothered buying a frozen snack like this. I don’t like turning the oven if I don’t have to – toaster ovens annoy so much that I put mine away -, and I hate having to pan-fry anything that is store bought. If I can’t microwave it effectively – and microwaving something with pastry like this, will turn the pastry soggy -, I rather not eat it. The air-fryer has changed all that.

These snacks are small, and therefore perfect for an even small air fryer like mine – cook them for 10 minutes at 375F. They come out with a nice, think and crispy shell and a flavorful but not too spicy filling. There is a good ratio of filling to shell. The are pretty tasty by themselves but you can dip them on anything you want. I used honey mustard dressing, as I was going through a honey-mustard-on-everything phase.

I’d buy them again.

Trader Joe’s Brazilian Style Cheese Bread Review

June 21, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Better than chipá

Brazilian style cheese bread had a moment in the US, probably around the time Brazilian steak houses became popular in the country. Due to a very old prejudice, I missed that moment and visited my first Brazilian steak house only last year, when my daughter’s boyfriend mentioned he wanted steak for his birthday. While I didn’t write a review at the time, we very much enjoyed the experience, though my memories of the cheese bread are too vague to refer to it.

Meanwhile, chipá, Guaraní cheese bread, had been having its own moment in Argentina. I tried it at my lodge in the Iberá wetlands and was so unimpressed as not try it again. Judged by the Trader Joe’s version, I should have.

Chipá or Brazilian cheese bread (the Guaraní people live in a vast territory that includes all of Paraguay as well as parts of Bolivia, northeastern Argentina and southern Brazil) is made with tapioca flour, milk, egg and grated cheese and usually shaped as little rolls. Trader Joe’s sells its version frozen with instructions of baking them in the oven. I air fried them (for 7 minutes from frozen at 360F, without preheating) and they were perfect. They had a nice, crispy shell with bright, not-too-salty Parmesan, and a wonderful chewy, elastic interior with a subtle cheese flavor. They are naturally gluten free for those who care about that. I really think you need to eat them warm to enjoy, as the elasticity of the dough is the best part.

Not only did I enjoy these buns very much, but I learned something knew. I already knew that cassava, yuca and manioc were all different names for the same root. What I didn’t know was that tapioca was the name of the starch of said root – thus tapioca flour refers to cassava starch while cassava flour refers to the flour made from the whole root. If you make your own chipá, make sure you use tapioca flour. But given how good Trader Joe’s frozen Brazilian cheese bread is, you really don’t need to go through the trouble.

Wilkin & Sons ‘Tiptree’ Orange Marmalade Review

May 17, 2025 / / 0 Comments

When I was a child, I hated orange marmalade. I associated it with hard toast and tea at my grandmother’s friends homes. I felt those old ladies were cheap and wouldn’t spring for the good stuff, strawberry or raspberry jam.

Now that I’m old myself, I know better. There is nothing quite as delicious as the bittersweetness of a good orange marmalade. A good orange marmalade is complex, outrageously bitter – a stand in for the biggest tragedies in life -, while bright and sweet – for the nicest memories. For two decades now, orange marmalade has been my favorite.

While I love orange marmalade, I’m not a big jam eater in the first place, so I didn’t have any at hand when I decided to make a roasted lamb recipe that called for it. Rather than go for my usual grocery store marmalade, I decided to do a bit research as to what is considered the best orange marmalade out there. Surprisingly, it’s not always the fancy brands. Wilkin & Sons ‘Tiptree’ Orange marmalade might look fancy – because it comes from England, it has a weird name and an old-fashioned label -, but in England it sells for just $3.70 for the 12 oz bottle (at today’s exchange rate). Of course, it was over twice as much in the US – $8 at Amazon, to be exact – but that was actually less than many other imported marmalades.

Unlike American – and other imported – marmalades, this one lists only two ingredients: sugar and seville oranges. It has plenty of slices of orange peel and a rather thick consistency. It’s very adult and absolutely delicious. It is a tad too sweet, but just a tad. Despite its low original price, it feels like a high quality marmalade. I like it.

San Leandro Bites: Farmhouse Kitchen Express

May 17, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Good but expensive Thai food to go.

Some weeks ago, my husband and I decided to go on a lunch date and thought we’d give Farmhouse Kitchen a try. We had been there before, during the pandemic, and had had a lovely lunch on the patio – except for the noise from the construction next door. The restaurant had closed and reopened since, and we were hoping to have better luck – though as the weather was turning, we figured we’d have to eat inside this time. As it happens, Farmhouse Kitchen in San Leandro – part of a small chain – has turned into Farmhouse Kitchen Express and they no longer have indoor dining – the whole of the restaurant has turned into a kitchen. Indeed, they don’t even have waiters or even checkers to take your order: you have to order and pay online (better have a credit card). They do have a terminal in the restaurant you can use to order, however, though it’s a little bit clunky.

We did hang out in the patio while we waited for our order, and it’s nice-enough, though it seems in need of care. Of course, this has been a very rainy spring, so they might be waiting for the weather to turn nice before they work on their patio (I know that’s what I’ve been waiting for myself). Weather you eat there or not, the food comes in to-go containers.

I got the yellow curry with rice ($16) with beef ($4). It was good, but a bit on the spicy side. The curry that depth and it was well developed, but it wasn’t anything extraordinary. I think for the price, it should have been better. I also got a couple of crispy roti ($3) to go with it, and these were pretty good but they were swimming in oil. They were crispier and denser than others I’ve had, but they were still very nice with the curry. The oil, however, made limited how much of them you could eat.

Mike had the roti mataba ($15), a “crispy roti stuffed with curried potato and ground chicken,” which came with yellow curry, ajad (Thati cucumber salad) and a samosa. He enjoyed all of them very much. They were too spicy for my taste, but I’m a lightweight.

He also had the pad thai ($15), which comes with shrimp. He thought it was quite good for a pad thai, though nothing mind blowing.

In all, we felt the quality of the food was pretty high, but also that the prices were on the high-side and not really justifiable for take-out food. We probably wouldn’t go back, given other alternatives in town. But if we did go, we’d order from home first.

Farmhouse Kitchen
16695 E 14th St, San Leandro
(510) 363-8309
Order

Munching Around the Bay: Shahi Darbar

May 16, 2025 / / 0 Comments

This Hayward Unicorn serves delicious and very affordable Indian food.

Shahi Darbar is one of the many restaurants which opened in suburbia towards the end of the pandemic, though I only learned about it a few weeks ago when I started researching restaurants to go with my friend group this month. I tend to look for restaurants close to San Leandro that are reasonably priced, vegetarian friendly and get good reviews. Shahi Darbar fit all of those requirements. And, indeed, it was a great choice. The food was delicious, the service excellent, and it was cheaper than most of its competitors.

My friends and I visited Shahi Darbar on a Wednesday evening. They don’t take reservations, but we didn’t need one. The restaurant is large and was relatively empty – they do seem to do quite a bit of to-go business, however. The menu is quite ample, including not only the Indian staples you get at all Indian restaurants in the West Coast, but a wider array of appetizers, breads, kebabs and vegetarian dishes (don’t miss the ones listed as “meals”), in addition to Indo-Chinese specialties. They also have monthly specials which includes dishes that I’d never heard of before. What they don’t have, very unfortunately, is my favorite: pasanda.

We started dinner by sharing two orders of fish pakora ($15). The little pieces of fish were very good. The breading was very crispy, perhaps a tad too salty but very flavorful. The fish had that melt-in-your-mouth quality that makes this dish so wonderful. We all enjoyed it.

I had the lamb korma ($15). It was probably the least successful dish of the evening, mostly because it was unlike what Indian restaurants in the West Coast usually serve as such. Kormas here are usually nut forward, creamy and with mild, somewhat fruity flavors. This dish tasted far more like a tikka masala sauce. It was average-to-good as that, but it’s not what I was expecting or wanted. The lamb itself was a bit tough, so probably from a leg rather than shoulder, but it was well cooked. I did order a chicken tikka masala ($14) to go, and this one was, surprisingly, nuttier (both in flavor and texture) and crispier, though it also lacked sweetness. I liked it better than the korma, however. Both dishes were ordered mild but they had a kick to them. It was fine for us, but it wouldn’t be for someone who can’t handle any spice.

Mike had the butter chicken ($14). He was very happy with it, and would give it an 8-9 in a 10-point scale. That’s quite generous, for him. I wouldn’t go as far as that, but I thought it was pretty good. I definitely liked it better than the korma. This one did taste like a butter chicken sauce. He ordered it “medium” but it was probably on the mild side of that, barely more spicy than our other two mild curries.

My friends Elektra and Donovan both had the Shahi Darbar goat curry ($15), one of their specialties. They both seemed to like it well enough, but I didn’t taste it.

Parker ordered the bhindi masala ($12), which included okra, onions and other vegetables, and she was very, very happy with it. She thought it was delicious.

But it was Katrina, who ordered the chole bhature ($13), a dish of puffed up bread served with a chickpea curry, who was the happiest. Indeed, she was close to deigning this dish the best thing she’d ever eaten. It was the combination of the flavorful curry with the bread that made it work so well. I wouldn’t be surprised if she became a regular for this dish alone.

We also got jeera rice ($5, for a portion large enough for two) and a bunch of butter nan ($3 each), which were pretty average but did their job.

I had a very tasty sweet lassi ($5), which seems to be sweetened by some red syrup. Whatever it was, it was good, if a tad sweet.

In all, we had a very good meal and we closed the place down – we only felt a tad guilty, but we did leave when they turned the lights on. The restaurant itself is quite plain – the darkness does help give it an ambiance -, but comfortable. Service was very attentive. We learned that they will do individual bills, if you tell them before you order.

In all, though we have several closer Indian restaurants to us, I’m sure we’ll return.

Shahi Darbar 
26953 Mission BLVD , Suite F
Hayward, CA 
(510)363-9286

I’m done with K’s!

May 6, 2025 / / 0 Comments

My international food project is taking a turn

This year marks the 25th anniversary of my international food project. For twenty five years, I’ve been exploring cuisines alphabetically. And yet, after such a long time I’ve only gotten through the K’s. As I enter my late 50’s, it’s clear that this project will never be finished – though perhaps my daughters one day will take it on themselves.

I am thus both celebrating the end of the “K’s,” while making a change in the project. From now on, I’ll prioritize national cuisines – in the hope of at least being able to get through those before I die. I’ll still cook regional, ethnic and historical dishes – but not as often. I’d already started doing just one dish from these non-national cuisines, and I’ll mostly continue on that vein.

As far as the K’s go, I explored 26 cuisines, including those of Kenya, Kasakhstan, Kiribati, Korea, Kosovo, Kuwait and Kyrgiztan.

I explored the regional cuisine of Kabardia in the Caucasus, of Khuzestan in Iran, of Karnataka, Kashmir and Kerala in India, of Kalimantan (Borneo) in Indonesia and Kelantan in Malaysia, of Kansai, Kanto and Kyushu in Japan and of Kansas, Kentucky and Kansas City in the US.

I also explored the cuisine of the Kachin people in the Burmese highlands, of Kashubian-Canadians and Korean-Americans and of the Kurdish people and Kurdistani Jews. Finally, I explored K-Mex cuisine, a fusion of Korean and Mexican that is having a moment in Southern California.

New York Style Sausage Company Ground Pork: Deception on your face

May 2, 2025 / / 0 Comments

I’m not a big fan of pork, but I need to get some to make some Latvian meatballs as part of my international food project. I saw this New York Style Sausage Company Ground Pork on sale at Safeway, but something made me suspicious. Upon close examination of the photo, I realize that this product says “No preservatives” and then, under very small letters, hard to see in the blurry photos online, it lists the ingredients in the package: pork, sodium lactate and lemon juice concentrate. And what are sodium lactate and lemon juice?, you might ask. Preservatives.

I’m not sure what the point of this deception is, but the fact that they are so obviously deceitful makes me just not want to buy items from this company.

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