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
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 severalversions 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
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
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
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
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
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
I hate Facebook for many things, but I have to admit their ad algorithm is amazing. It actually exposes me to more ads for things I’m interested in than anything else I’ve seen. So it was through a Facebook ad that I learned about the Taste of Thrones’ Feast of the Dragon. I’ve been looking to get out more and I’m always in the hunt for new culinary experiences, and this one seemed perfect – particularly as Mike and I had just finished watching the latest season of House of the Dragon. I was late getting into Game of Thrones – or “Dragon Tales,” as I prefer to call it. I only started watching the main series after the finale, but I got into it with gusto. A Game of Thrones theme dinner seemed like a lot of fun.
Taste of Thrones’ Feast of the Dragon takes place at 25 Lusk, a restaurant/bar/event place in China Basin. 25 Lusk operates a restaurant on its top level, Rooftop 25, has a private event place in the mid-level and is currently running the Taste of Thrones dinner in its sub-basement. They developed the concept of a themed pop-up restaurant/dinner series in collaboration with Theme Dream production, who created the decorations and props. It originally ran in 2019, during the last season of Game of Thrones, and it was revived this year for a month long stint, which has now been pushed to a second month. It is presently scheduled to run until the end of August, though it could be extended if there is sufficient demand. They are now also trying the idea of an all-you-can-eat family brunch on weekends.
I didn’t find any reviews for this dinner before I bought the tickets for the event, which was a good thing as otherwise I probably would have skipped it. The two post-pandemic reviews I later found on Yelp were very negative – and completely opposite to my experience. We had a great time and were super impressed by the food and the atmosphere.
Finding parking near 25 Lusk that Saturday night in August was surprisingly easy – though the place is near public transportation if you prefer to go that route. Once inside the building, I was a bit confused as to where to go: turn to your right after you go in and descend through the short stairs (or take the elevator down).
The space has a large bar as well as a number of communal tables. For the Feast of the Dragon, the whole area is decorated in Game of Thrones theme. The big attraction is the opportunity to take photos sitting on the Iron Throne, riding a dragon or posing with a White Walker. They also have a painted table, but I didn’t look for it and didn’t see it. You can access all of these photo opportunities by getting a drink at the bar – no reservations necessary. But the meal is well worth it.
We were then promptly seated at one of the communal tables for twelve, and allowed to choose our place. There was another couple sitting at one corner and we chose the opposite one. As it turned out, the party of eight that was supposed to share our table never showed up, so we had plenty of space and extra food: the platters of food brought to the table are supposed to serve four people. I’m not sure if we’d been as satisfied with the experience if we’d had to share them – some of the complaints in Yelp were about there not being enough food.
Dinner is set to start at 6:30 PM, but they don’t actually start serving food until 6:45, so you have enough time to get a lay of the place, order drinks and take your photos with the props.
The dinner is described as being served family style with 3 courses – but as each variation of each course is served separately in these platters for four people, this is really best described as a 9-course meal.
Dinner started with “Northerner rustic breads & pretzels, Rat Catcher’s cheddar fondue, goat butter from the Reach.”This consisted of little bread buns and pretzel bites served with whipped goat butter and a tiny pot of cheddar fondue. Everything was served cold, which was a minus. The goat butter was unremarkable but the fondue was pretty good. I’m very glad we didn’t have to share the tiny amount among four people, though.
The second course was “Winterfell heirloom tomato & cucumber salad.” This was surprisingly good. I’m not a fan of cucumbers, but the tomatoes were very fresh and flavorful, and they had the right amount of dressing. Even though it was for four people, I managed to eat most of it myself – it was that tasty.
Our third course – officially the first appetizer of three appetizers – was Aegon’s Dream (“coconut and spice chilled noodle salad oakwood roasted summer squash, ginger, yuzu”). It was made to look like brains coming out of a skull. The effect was very, very cool. Flavor wise, I wasn’t sold. I’m not a fan of cold noodles and these had a very subtle flavor. Mike liked them better, though he didn’t eat very many. This was a dish we’d have happily shared with others.
The fourth course was The Crab Feeder (dungeness crab salad, octopus sausage, grilled summer peppers served on organic red quinoa Bloodstone sand), and I was predisposed to dislike it from the start. I don’t eat crab nor octopus, after all. I did give the grilled peppers a try, and was quite impressed by their flavor. I’m not a huge fan of peppers – I like them mixed with other things or cooked in sauces – but these ones were surprisingly tasty. The quinoa was not, but it did give the dish a weird, sandy, gritty texture which was fun. I’m morally opposed to eating octopus – given that they are intelligent creatures (and yes, I should be morally opposed to eating all animals, but I’m a hypocrite in this regard), but I did try the sausages and they weren’t bad. It reminded me of a citrusy, flaky tuna. Mike, in particular, liked them, but he ate one piece – he said he didn’t want to fill up, but I think it was for the same reason. Octopus definitely worked with the Games of Throne theme, however. The crab was mixed with rice and poppy seeds and served cold, which I didn’t like, but Mike enjoyed it.
Our third appetizer, and fifth course, was Sea Snake’s Catch of the Day (local catch, burning aromatics, tempura sunchokes, dal lentils, sherry shiso sauce), and while the picture does not do it justice, this was an appropriately terrifying dish – it looked very much like a monstrous sea snake – with balls. The flowers decorating it added, rather than substracted, from the horror. I was duly impressed.
The fish itself was also very tasty. The sherry shiso sauce was subtle, tasty and acidic. It also came with large pieces crispy seaweed, which Mike, who usually likes seaweed, wasn’t a big fan of. They tasted burnt. I don’t like sunchokes, but Mike really loved them, in particular the tempura aspect of it. I just wish we had taken a better photo.
The first entrée, and sixth course was An Eye for An Eye (mini cauliflower crème brulée, salted lychee, forest mushroom escabeche, tomato water, basil). I guess the dish is meant to look like an eye, thought I didn’t really get the effect. It was, however, a very interesting dish.
The creamed cauliflower only had the subtlest hint of cauliflower taste which was great, given that I don’t like cauliflower. The lychee was mildly sweet and sour and contrasted to the very savory mushroom escabeche. Blending all flavors together produced something new, that I hadn’t tasted before, and which worked. I wouldn’t call it delicious, but I found it strange and interesting: it managed to encapsulate Game of Thrones into a dish. I did wish it was warmer, but maybe that’s the point.
Our second entrée and seventh course was Rhaenyra’s Kill (all parts of the pig pressed under brick, chicharrónes, star anise game reduction, grilled organic pluots). I was also surprised at how much I liked this dish. It consisted of pieces of pork meat and bacon, covered with chicarrones and served along with grilled pluots on a star anise sauce.
The bacon, of course, was the best part, because bacon always is. Always. this was particularly good and flavorful bacon, maybe even home made pork belly, but a complete winner. The pork, which I imagined was stewed in some form, was flaky and flavorful and worked really well with the delicious star anise sauce which tasted exactly of that: like a star anise reduction.
I hadn’t tried chicharrones before, but I enjoyed them. I wouldn’t go out of my way to have them again, but they worked here. The only thing that failed were the pluots. They hadn’t been grilled enough so they were tough and not sweet enough to compliment the dish.
Our final entrée and eight course was Fire & Blood: Dragon Meat (black angus beef roast served on a Valyrian steel sword, toasted black peppercorn sauce, grilled bread). Once again, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The beef was tender and flavorful, with occasional bursts of charbroiled flavor. The peppercorn sauce was good, but the beef did not eat it. The grilled bread was just that, but it served as a good conduit for the tasty sauce. The presentation, of course, was marvelous and fitting. The only down was that it was a bit cold.
Dessert, our ninth and final course, was Dreamfyre’s Legacy (smoking dragon egg with dessert kebabs). The egg came with dry ice pebbles inside which produced that cool fog dried ice is known for. You could open it and add water to it for an even more dramatic effect.
The kebabs were small, but we were stuffed by then. They included two petit fours, a small brownie, a strawberry, a blackberry and a raspberry and two pieces of dried fruit. The presentation was great and the desserts were a nice dessert. I loved the brownie, which was very chocolaty and very chewy, while my daughter (who got the leftovers) loved the white cake petit four. It was also a beautiful dish.
Taste of Thrones offers a wine pairing, consisting of a glass of Chardonnay, one of Cab and one of Muscat, for $45. But we decided to try their cocktails instead.
Mike got Aegon’s Spirit (“bourbon, banana, benedictine, sweet vermouth, absinth mist” – $22) which came in a plastic aegon’s skull. He enjoyed it quite a bit and it was fun to drink from a skull. I should get some for Halloween. The drink was too strong for my taste – but I’m a very light drinker.
I ordered a Caraxes (rum, mango puree, lemon, afiero aperitif, perol,orange liqueur, angostura bitters – $13). This was a small, fun drink, sweet and not very alcoholic, and I enjoyed it. I also enjoyed the novelty of it coming in a plastic dragon egg. I do wish you got to keep them 🙂
Later on, Mike had a Meleys (tequila, lemon, pineapple juice – $13), another dragon egg drink. He enjoyed it, but I realize that tequila drinks are definitely too strong and bitter for my taste.
I also had a coke, which at $6 was painfully overpriced.
Service throughout the night was very attentive, cheerful and friendly. The servers are dressed in some medieval uniform, which definitely adds to the atmosphere.
The chef was also amazing – he is the one who poured the water into our dry ice – and doubled as a master of ceremonies of sort. He was also all dressed up and really into the theme of the meal. I would love if he would do other theme meals like this one.
It was a very expensive dinner, however. Dinner itself was $100 per person (including a $50 pp deposit, $45 of which is applied to your bill), to which you have to add drinks, a 6% “SF mandate” fee – a common, if hated, practice in SF – tax and the automatic 18% tip (it was called “event surcharge” in the bill, but our waitress explained it was a tip). The bill for two came out to $350, on top of which we tipped another $10 as service had been so solicitous. Still, the meal was phenomenal (at least, as we enjoyed it) and, as a very special occasion treat, it was well worth it.
In all, we had an amazing time and I would love if 25 Lusk would do another themed dinner there. I hope the owners organize one – I did hear they would like to do a Star Wars one.
We’ve been eating at the original Taqueria Los Pericos in the Pelton Center in downtown San Leandro for as long as we’ve lived in San Leandro, now more than twenty four years. It’s been our default taqueria all these years, and the offerings haven’t changed much. Indeed, my review from the early 00’s is just as timely today as it was over twenty years ago. The only thing that has changed are the prices. We probably don’t eat there twice a month now, but periodically get take out.
I always order a large special quesadilla, which comes with a large tortilla and includes your choice of meat, cheese, sour cream guacamole, lettuce and pico de gallo. They cost around $15.50, which is outrageous, but they are large enough that I split them over two meals.
I prefer these to burritos as I don’t like either rice or beans in my burritos.
In the photo at the top, the special quesadilla is on the right – you can see its size in comparison to a bean and cheese burrito (middle) and a small super quesadilla (left).
Last time I got a carnitas special quesadilla. The carnitas tend to be flavorful, not too fatty and stand up well to the other ingredients.
My other favorite is the carne asada special quesadilla, though the beef can be a bit fatty at times. It’s also very flavorful.
These are not out of this world quesadillas, but they are good and familiar.
Mike usually gets a small super quesadilla, which consists of a medium flour tortilla filled with the meat of your choice, cheese, sour cream and guacamole and folded in two. In the photo at top, the small super quesadilla is the one at the left. He likes it with pollo asado, grilled chicken. It’s around $8 now which seems absurd as it’s really quite small.
My daughter always order the bean and cheese burrito (the one in the middle on the photo at the top of the page). She likes it well enough, often asks to go to Los Pericos, but doesn’t think it’s extraordinary. It’s around $7.50, but she usually can’t finish it.
We often get the flan ($5), though we really should know better. If we’re lucky, it’s a competent and tasty flan. Too often, however, it’s absorbed the flavors of the fridge. In those occasions, it usually tastes musty. Last time, however, it had a disquieting cleaner flavor. I really should just remember not to get it from there.
All meals come with chips – they’ll add little bags with them to your take out orders or you can get them from the counter. They have a sauce bar where you can pick up different sauces, including pico de gallo. They also have pickled veggies and limes. Their chips are on the thick side, but pretty good as they ‘re fresh.
Los Pericos no longer has a website and they are not active on Social Media. You used to be able to order online through ChowNow, but they’re no longer using that service. That means you need to order through Doordash and GrubHub an pay higher prices and added fees, or go to the restaurant and order in person. As I didn’t keep my receipt from my order, I’m estimating prices here based on those posted at the GrubHub site.
Taqueria Los Pericos 101 Pelton Center Way San Leandro, CA (510) 352-7667 M-Su 8:30 AM - 9:30 PM
Low participation and limited deals made for a disappointing week.
For years now, large cities around the country – including our neighbors San Francisco and Oakland – have run “restaurant weeks,” where local restaurants serve specially discounted offerings to attract new (and returning) patrons. Usually, restaurants offer a prix-fix menu at a deeply discounted price, with offerings for lunch and dinner – though restaurants for which that model doesn’t work have other promotions.
San Leandro is probably too small a city to have a “restaurant week” – we only have three upscale restaurant, and I daresay the plethora of mom & dad restaurants around probably operate with thin margins. I have to give it to the San Leandro Chamber of Commerce for at least giving it a try, but the San Leandro Restaurant Week ended up being a bust. Few restaurants participated and among those that did, most had extremely lame deals.
Only three restaurants offered the usual 2 or 3 course prix fix deal. Horatio’s, our waterfront steakhouse, had a great 2-course lunch for $25 and 3-course dinner for $40 which we happily partook of. Paradiso, where we’d dined recently, offered its $45 3-4-5 prix-fix menu, usually only available from 4 to 5 PM, all day during restaurant week, though they did add on a 20% service charge. And Tequila Grill had a 2-couse meal for $35 which included a choice of one of three appetizers and entrees; by choosing the two most expensive dishes, you could save $8 over regular price.
Bust most of the restaurants that participated instead offered a modest discount on a few specific dishes, often just one per day. And some weren’t discounts at all. On Tuesday, we went to Habibi’s Birria for their restaurant week $2.50 tacos, only to find out they have that deal every Tuesday. Emile Villa’srestaurant week special menu offerings were the same price as those in their online menu. If you chose the most expensive items in Fieldwork Brewing‘s offering of an appetizer and pizza for $32, you could have ended up saving $9, but if you chose the cheaper options, you would have ended up paying more than by ordering without the deal.
Some of the restaurants were in my list of places to try, but their deals were so disappointing that I didn’t bother going that week. San Gaspar, where I went once over fifteen years ago and had been planning to return, had a single dinner promo, chile verde for $15 (regularly $19) – something that I didn’t find appealing. Zenti Bistro, which was greatly recommended on a local San Leandro group, offered just their chicken chipotle sandwich for $16 – as their menu is not online, I don’t know how good a deal that was, but the sandwich didn’t appeal to me.
But the absolutely worst deal of all had be that offered by Le Soleil, once my favorite restaurant in San Leandro but one I haven’t visited in many years. Rather than discounting a meal, Le Soleil offered that for any amount over $50 that you spent, they would give you a gift card worth 120% that amount – so if you spent $50, they’d give you a $60 gift card. The catch was that you could only use that gift card for 10% of the value of your future meals at Le Soleil. This basically means that if you went to Le Soleil twice and spent $50 each time, you’d save a whole $5 in both meals combined. No thank you.
The problem with the San Leandro Restaurant Week wasn’t just the lame deals, but how clunky and difficult to use the website was. There was no indication on the webpage what deals were offered by each restaurant, if you clicked on the name of a restaurant you were taken to their website, but with a couple of exceptions, their websites didn’t mention Restaurant Week at all. Only by clicking around at all graphics, did I manage to find their list of deals. More attention was paid to a silly game that required you downloading an app and then uploading a photo of your receipt for a chance to get the cost of your restaurant week meals reimbursed. The good news is that probably very few people did it, so you probably do have a good chance to win.
Now, all this complaining aside, restaurant week did work for me in that it made me finally go to Habibi’s Birria, where I fell for their tacos and learned about their ongoing Taco Tuesday promotion and that it sent me back to Horatio’s and reminded me how much I’d enjoyed the place back in my early days in San Leandro.
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