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Category: San Leandro Eats (Page 4 of 5)

Mai Thai restaurant – San Leandro – Review

July 11, 2010 / / 0 Comments

October 2013 Update

Mike and I have returned to Mai Thai many times.  It continues to offer great food at a reasonable price. It’s really a jewel.

July 2011 Update

Mike and I went back to Mai Thai for dinner last night with our friends Auguste and Cecily and I had another wonderful meal.  If anything, I would say the food has improved and flavors seem even better balanced and intense.  We had six dishes last night, and the five I tasted were simply excellent.

We started with the pork imperial rolls, which were a bit underseasoned by themselves and contained too much cabbage and too little pork, but which were redeemed by the wonderful accompanying sauce.  Next we shared the wontons, a dish I don’t usually like, but these were bursting with filling and flavor and were absolutely delicious.  It would have been my favorite dish of the evening if the other ones were not also so good.

Mike ordered the chicken panang and I had my usual musaman beef.  They were both wonderfully balanced and intense and oh, so good.  The panang was a bit spicy – too much for Cecily – but the musaman was not (and it shouldn’t be).  The large chunks of beef in the musaman were perfectly cooked, tender and not dry.  Auguste ordered the chicken with eggplant, and it had also a wonderful, intense, slightly sweet sauce. It could make you a fan of eggplant even if you’ve never liked it before.  Cecily had the shrimp, which I didn’t taste but they seemed to like.

I didn’t take pictures this time, but dishes continue to be as beautifully arranged as in our first visit.  Service was also quite good, but then again, we got there early and there we no other parties in the restaurant.

In all, I’d say that despite my loyalties to Zen’s (where I’ve never gone for dinner fearing having to encounter loud music), I’m ready to declare Mai Thai the best restaurant in San Leandro.

December 2010

I have since returned to Mai Thai several times, and every time I have been very pleased. The food is very good and beautifully presented, the restaurant is very cute and the service very attentive. Mika loves the sticky rice dessert (it’s really good) and she was quite fond of the shrimp appetizer. The pad thai is not very spicy, making it a good choice for little kids. In all, it’s where we go when we want Thai food in San Leandro.

July 2010 review

Mai Thai has been open for about two months, but I only heard about it when Mike rode by it a few days ago. It seemed like a logical place for an affordable Friday-night date, and it proved to be a very nice one as well. It may not be saying much, but I’d consider Mai Thai one of the best restaurants in San Leandro right off the bat.

Mai Thai is located at Marina Faire in San Leandro, in the space briefly previously occupied by the Brazilian restaurant Biggies BBQ Restaurant. But if you’ve been to Biggies you are not likely to recognize the space, Mai Thai has painted the walls, decorated it with elegant Asian-inspired art and created an atmosphere that is both stylish and comfortable. In other words, it has followed the winning formula of a number of what I call “Asian Bistros” throughout the Bay Area (restaurants that offer good food in stylish surroundings at surprisingly affordable prices).
Mai Thai goes a little bit beyond some of these by also serving beautifully arranged food – they must have a food stylist on staff (or at least they must have used a consultant). The results are really unbelievable for the prices (entrees are $9-12) and add an element of “specialness” that makes this a perfect place for an affordable date or business meeting.

But of course, the the real question is “how is the food”? Here I’m a bit less impressed. We ordered the pork imperial rolls (6 rolls for $7) and I found them to taste mostly of cabbage and to be in need of some spicing. The accompanying sweet & sour sauce was delicious, however, and Mike was very pleased with the resulting dish. The sauce was also great with the little mixed green salad that came with the dish.

I was not in the least original by ordering the Massaman beef for dinner – it’s my favorite Thai dish. Mai Thai’s version was very conventional, and yet very good and satisfying. The sauce had a great balance and just the right amount of spiciness. The beef was fork-tender and delicious. I’d definitely order it again (and again and again).
I was less happy with Mike’s chicken panang. It had a strong basil flavor and was quite spicy, but I felt it otherwise lacked depth. I wouldn’t order it myself, but Mike would have it again. The portions were nicely sized – we both had leftovers to take home.

We finished our meal by sharing the fried banana with ice cream ($4). The two bananas were perfectly and freshly fried, they came steaming hot, and went wonderfully with the ice cream. That said, I think the batter needed some more sweetness or something to make it less plain.

Service was fine but not stellar – the main problem being that our cokes ($2 each) were not refilled. Still, there were not major glitches and they were nice enough to pack our leftovers in the kitchen.

In all it was a very nice meal – it came to about $36 after tax and before tip, a very affordable price for a meal of this caliber.

Mai Thai also offers lunch specials for $8 – though it’s a little bit further ride, I think I’ll definitely go here (rather than Thai Satay) when I’m in the mood for Thai.

Mai Thai
137000 Doolittle Dr. #110
San Leandro, CA
510-351-9898
Open M – Su 11 AM – 3 PM and 5 PM – 9:30 PM

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Boulevard Burger – San Leandro – Review

December 26, 2009 / / 0 Comments

August 2011 Update

We’ve gone to Boulevard Burger a few times since my last update and the quality of the burgers seems to have gone downhill.  I always get the MBA burger (with avocado, bacon & mushrooms), medium rare, and the last few times I’ve ordered it it has been very dry.  I don’t know if they got a new cook who is not as good making burgers or it’s been a coincidence, but I’m less enthusiastic about going there now.

July 2011 Update

In the last year and a half, Boulevard Burger has become my favorite casual-food restaurant in San Leandro.  We go there at least once a month.  The burgers are almost always perfectly cooked medium-rare, as I request them.  They are very juicy and tasty.  The bacon in the MBA burger is top quality, and the vegetables are always fresh.  I’ve grown to like their onion rings (they might have improved them), but their fries are just adequate.  In addition to burgers, they have now chicken sandwiches and veggie & portobello burgers.  They have a variety of children dishes for $5.  My kids don’t love it, however, but it’s not all about them.

December 2009 Review

I’ve been looking forward to go to Boulevard Burgers since I first heard it was opening, back in August. But I don’t go out to lunch that often, so the opportunity didn’t present itself until today – when our empty stomachs and a very dirty kitchen convinced us that a lunch out was a good idea. And, indeed, it was. Both Mike and I were very pleaed with our burgers and are sure to go back.

Boulevard Burgers is the latest venture from restauranteur Mike Wiesner, the owner of Paradiso. It occupies the space on MacArthur Boulevard where Sonoma’s had been until a few months ago. Sonoma’s had attempted to be a “nice” restaurant, but I was never enthralled with its food – though I hope that my negative review wasn’t a major reason why the venture failed. Boulevard Burgers is a much less ambitious endeavor. It’s basically a semi-upscale burger joint. Upscale in that they use “grass-fed, grain finished California Angus which has no steroids, antibiotics, hormones or pesticides” and which comes from a nearby ranch – but not quite gourmet as the burgers they offer are quite basic; toppings include four kinds of cheese, avocado, mushrooms, grilled onions and little else. Don’t come here expecting a Kobe burger with saute foie gras and homemade Dijon mustard (if that’s what you want, Hubert Keller’s Burger Bar in San Francisco will be more your thing).

The important thing, however, is that the burgers are good. Both Mike and I had ours medium-rare, and they were perfectly cooked and very juicy (so much so that they did manage to soak the bottom part of the bun, a problem easily solved by just turning the burger around :-). I had jack cheese, bacon and avocado on mine – and the combination was very good. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The burgers are between 6.5 and 7 oz, a good size for a good appetite; I couldn’t finish mine. They range in price from $5 for a simple hamburger to $8 for the “Whole Enchilada”, a burger with avocado, bacon, sauteed onions, mushrooms, jalapeños and cheese. I think the prices are quite reasonable for the quality of the food. The burgers come solo, but you can order fries ($2), sweet potato fries ($3.50) or onion rings ($3) on the side – we got the fries (a HUGE portion) and found them to be un-exceptional. Thin, crispy and tasty enough, but not addictive.
Boulevard also offers grilled chicken sandwiches and a portobello mushroom burger. There are also salads. We didn’t try them.
At Boulevard Burgers you order at the counter and have the food brought to your table. Service was quick and very efficient, and the servers/counter people were very attentive.
In all, we had a very pleasant experience and I’d definitely return.

Boulevard Burgers
1027 MacArthur Blvd.
San Leandro, CA
510-632-3100
http://www.boulevardburger.com/
Open 11 AM – 9 PM

Marga’s San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

 

Fat Fish Sushi – San Leandro – Review

June 25, 2009 / / 0 Comments

May 2011 Update

A couple of days ago, Mike was in the mood for sushi and I was in the mood for not cooking, so when he suggested that we go to Fat Fish Sushi, I got in the car and went with him.  Clearly, we had all forgotten about our previous experience at Fat Fish Sushi – which we proceeded to replicate almost to the letter.

Fat Fish Sushi has become a very, very modest restaurant. Your order at the counter, but dishes are brought to the table.  Prices don’t seem to have increased much since our last foray.  Once again, Mike ordered the Lion King roll and the unagi, and once again the thought the former was unimpressive and the latter was OK.  I ordered a bento box with beef teriyaki and chicken katsu.  The beef teriyaki was just like the time before, bland with an overly sour sauce.  The chicken katsu consisted of very small, thin strips of breaded fried chicke with an overwhelmingly sour katsu sauce. Neither was particularly tasty.  Mika had a kid’s bento box with two huge breaded & fried shrimps (the breading had no flavor), a California roll, which she sort of liked, and chicken teriyaki, which had a weird consistency.

In all, a meal that should not be repeated.

—

June 2009 review

I’m not a big Japanese food eater (indeed, I don’t eat sushi), but my husband and kids like it, so we go to sushi restaurants from time to time. Of the handful of sushi restaurants in San Leandro, Ozeki Sushi Teriyaki was our favorite. I even liked their teriyaki. It changed names (to Fat Fish), and probably ownership, quite a while ago – and we hadn’t gone back since. Today, however, when I agreed to have Japanese food for lunch, that’s where we headed. I’m sorry to say that the food quality has gone down considerably. Even though I’m not crazy about the other Japanese restaurants in town, I would definitely not go back to this one.

I had the beef teriyaki plate ($8). The beef was tender and lean, and the portion was quite generous, but the beef had not been salted and, in the words of my husband, it was “the blandest piece of meat I’ve ever eaten”. The teriyaki sauce tasted mostly of soy sauce (and yet, not a salty soy sauce). A little salt improved the meat considerably, but not the point of actually calling it “good”. Unless you like bland food, take my advise and skip it.

You may also want to skip the Lion King roll (a California roll with baked salmon & tobiko). Mike speculates that the salmon & tobiko had been added to the top of the pre-made roll and quickly microwaved – the roll had both hot and cold spots. Needless to say he was not impressed.

The miso soup and unagi ($1 per piece) were fine.

In all, a disappointing experience.

Fat Fish Sushi
14701 E 14th St.
San Leandro, CA
510-614-8900
M-Sat 11:30 AM – 9:30 PM
Sun: 5 – 9:30 PM

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Oriental Tea House – San Leandro – Updated Reviews

December 26, 2008 / / 0 Comments

Update 12/11

As you can see by the updates below, it’s been our custom for many years to go to to the Oriental Tea House for dinner on Christmas day.  This year it was just Mike and I, my sister and the kids having left earlier in the afternoon.  The food was good, as usual; the service just as frantic.  I had the crispy chicken, which I usually like here and it was good.  First they gave me the crispy duck, and as the two look alike I took a couple of bites.  It was so fatty that it was almost inedible.  Fortunately they realized their mistake and brought the chicken.  Mike had the kun pao chicken which he didn’t feel tasted like that, but I thought it was good. We got there around 5:30 PM and we were able to get a table for 2, but I don’t know if there were any larger tables available.  By 6 PM the placed was packed.

One thing to note, the Oriental Tea House’s menu is pretty prosaic, filled with the typical dishes at Chinese-American restaurants. However, on Christmas, at least, the restaurant is packed with Chinese and Chinese Americans. The people managing the restaurant as well as the waitresses are also Chinese (some have a very rudimentary understanding of English). This suggests to me that the OTH may also have one of those Chinese-only “secret” menus that many Chinese restaurants have (the idea is that they include dishes that Americans would not be interested in eating).

Update 12/10

Another year, another Chrismas, another dinner at the Oriental Tea House. This Christmas day we got there around 5 PM, and the place was completely empty. It started filling up around 6 PM, but there were still a couple of large tables empty by the time we left (6:20 PM or so) – so next year we won’t go as early. As we did go when the place was empty, service was more relaxed. The food has increased a bit in price, but it’s still very affordable. We got 6 dishes plus fried wontons for 5 adults and 4 children and we ate everything! I was happy with all the dishes (beef chow mein, Mongolian beef, chicken with two mushrooms, kun pao chicken, sweet & sour pork, veggie platter) my favorite was probably the kun pao chicken, the Mongolian beef was a close second. In all, another good meal.

Update 12/09.

As usual we went to the Oriental Tea House, in San Leandro, for Xmas dinner; this time with my sister Kathy and my brother and his family. Once again, service was hurried – the Oriental Tea House is very popular on Xmas day – but efficient. Food came on time (except for the sweet & sour pork which was delayed) and it was generally good (and cheap). Mike was happy with his beef with snow peas, as was my sister-in-law with her broccoli beef. My brother David ordered the beef curry, not on the menu, and his dish was pretty good, though very mild. I’m not sure if that was because the waitress misunderstood that he wanted his dish spicy (the English language skills of the workforce at Oriental Tea House are very limited), or because they just have a different understanding of spicy than we do. In any case, it was mild.

I ordered the roast duck, having liked the roast chicken in the past, which was a mistake. The duck was nicely cooked and very flavorful – but it had the obligatory thick layer of fat and my chopstick skills are not advanced enough to allow me to get to the meat between the fat and the bone. I had a fork, but without a knife it was an impossible endeavor. Next time I’ll stick with the less fatty chicken, which is also very good.

Finally, Kathy had the sweet & sour pork, which she liked but Mike and I thought was quite unappetizing – with fat pieces of pork and a slimy sauce. To each its own.

In all, it was a good meal and we’ll definitely be going there again next Xmas.

December 2008

We celebrate Christmas Eve rather than Christmas itself, so in the past we’ve found ourselves at a loss as to what to do for dinner on the 25th. After a huge Xmas Eve dinner, and a kitchen full of dirty dishes, the least I want to do is cook again. So some years ago we started a tradition of going out to the Oriental Tea House, in San Leandro, for Xmas dinner. The Oriental Tea House has pretty good American-style Chinese food (though given the large number of Chinese that eat there, I suspect they may have a second menu as well), it’s cheap (most dishes are around $7), and most importantly, it’s actually open on Xmas.

This year was no exception. We probably got there around 6 PM or so – I recommend you go early as the place gets packed by 7 (on Xmas, at least). Service was rushed but attentive, and the food was up to standard.

I liked the roasted chicken quite a bit. The skin was impossibly crispy, and the meat was nice and moist. It’s rather bland by itself, but add some of the accompanying seasoned salt, and it’s delicious. The beef with oyster sauce was pretty good as well – nothing extraordinary but competently executed. I liked the thick-noodle chicken chow mein, it was flavorful and devoid of too many bean sprouts (I’m not a fan). I wasn’t thrilled about the doughy sweet & sour pork, however, but then again, I wasn’t in the mood for anything sweet. I thought the pieces of pork were too chewy and the sauce too sweet.


In all, it was a good Xmas Eve experience, and I look forward to going there again for our next Xmas dinner.

March 2007

Last night we went to the Oriental Tea House with a bunch of our friends (for memory’s sake, they were Donovan & Parker with Luther and baby Will, Regina and Boris, and Eddie and Arthur with Laurel, Bailey and Dee). We ordered a bunch of dishes: fried calamari, friend wontons, chicken chow mein, vegetable chow mein, lemon chicken, kun pao chicken, half a roasted chicken, beef with some sort of green beans and a couple of shrimp dishes. I was amazed at how good everything was. It was great to be able to savor so much variety – and to be with so many friends – but the actual food was all very good. And the bill was terribly cheap at $86 – which fed an army of 8 adults and 6 children.

We were all able to fit at one, very crowded, table – larger parties or those with more adults, would have to split in two.

We are now planning on getting together for dim sum some Sunday morning. If any of my friends are reading this, and want to come along, just e-mail me.

March 2005

Today we made it to the Oriental Tea House for dim sum. We liked it much better than East Village, though we didn’t get to taste the baked pork buns as they were out of it by the time we got there around 1 PM. The steamed pork buns were excellent, however, the bread was moist, the pork succulent and not too sweet. I got an additional order to go. The fried chicken was also very good, crispy and moist and wonderfully spiced. We also found a winner in the paper wrapped chicken – moist and delicious – and on the shrimp dumplings. We were less fond of the sesame balls and the deep fried meat balls, I’d never had those before and the thick pastry wrapping had a strange consistency that I did’t find appealing. Egg custards were OK, but not sweet enough for my taste. Lunch, including 3 canned sodas, came to $24 before tip. It’s pretty crowded on Sundays, but I’m sure we’ll be going again.

Oriental Tea House
604 MacArthur Blvd.
San Leandro
510.562.2828

Original Review

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Chili’s – San Leandro – Review

May 12, 2008 / / 0 Comments

Since Chili’s opened years ago, we go back once or twice a year. We like the baby back ribs and the loaded mashed potatoes.  The burgers are OK, though not that memorable. They usually have a coupon for a free appetizer or dessert with entree, if you subscribe to their mailing list.

In all, it’s a dependable restaurant, but nothing to be excited about.  The fact that is so crowded speaks about the poverty of restaurants in San Leandro.

May 2008 Review

Last night, Kathy, my sister who is visiting from LA, wanted to go to Chevy’s for dinner. Alas, we’d been there only last week and the experience hadn’t been that great, so I wasn’t eager to repeat it. I suggested Chili’s, as I figured one generic, mediocre, chain should be easy to substitute for another.
My first experience at Chili’s in San Leandro had actually been positive. Granted, Mike and I were in a date so that might have rose-colored our glasses, but we thought the BBQ ribs were pretty good as was the rest of the food. We visited again a few months ago, this time with the kids, and I wasn’t as happy with the experience. I found the food to be tired, with boring rather than vibrant flavors. It wasn’t bad, just not exciting.
Still, our choices, here in San Leandro, are dismal, so I figured we might as well go there. Once again it wasn’t exciting, but it wasn’t bad.
None of us were particularly hungry, so we decided to split an order of baby back ribs ($17 for a full rack) and get an additional half-rack for Kathy ($7, if ordered with another entree). Mike got the habanero ribs, and he liked them quite a bit. He thought they weren’t very spicy, but I disagreed. Kathy had the honey chipotle ones. She thought they were OK, but that they lacked flavor. I liked my honey BBQ ribs, they were fall-off-the-bone tender and had a pleasant, sweet, flavor. So far these have been my favorite.
I had ordered the loaded mashed potatoes as a side, but either the waitress didn’t hear me (it’s a rather loud restaurant), or she made a mistake, as she brought us french fries and veggies instead. The former were very disappointing, they were limp and not very flavorful. The veggies were OK.
We also ordered onion strings served with jalapeño ranch sauce ($6, I think). Mike and Kathy thought they were pretty good, I thought they lacked flavor, and wasn’t too happy with the sauce.
Both kids got mac-n-cheese. It is Kraft, but Mika said it was just OK. Both she and Camila ate quite a bit, though. Neither touched their corn on the cob, however 🙁
In all, it wasn’t a bad meal and I’d go back once in a while for the ribs.
Original Review

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

 

Emil Villa coffeeshop – San Leandro – Updated Reviews

March 31, 2008 / / 0 Comments

2013 Update

Emil Villa had a fire and is closed, it doesn’t seem that they’ll be re-opening.

October 2011

We went to Emil Villa’s for dinner last night, as Mika was in the mood for ribs.  I don’t have much of an update, as we got the same thing we usually get: Emil’s Rib Sampler ($21).  This time I actually paid attention to which ribs we liked the most, and the best ones were definitely the baby back ribs. They were more tender, if a bit less meaty than the other ones. Still, all the ribs were very good.  Indeed, I thought they were better than in the past.  I also enjoyed the BBQ sauce, which was perhaps a bit sweeter (and thus more to my liking).

Service was phenomenal.  Mike and I shared the sampler, and our waitress brought the dish in two plates unprompted.  The portion was definitely large enough for the two of us. She also was very efficient bringing back drinks and catering to the kids.

In all, it was a very good experience.

December 2010

We go to Emil Villa from time to time. We usually get a BBQ ribs combo to share – 3 types of ribs with two sides for about $22. We all like the ribs, Mika in particular. The other food is less successful. Breakfast, in particular, is best avoided.

March 2008

Last night Mike went out with an old friend to dinner (he went to La Provence, in the Mission, where he had an OK soup and some awesome ravioli) and I was left at home with the kids. I was feeling pretty jealous, so I decided to take the kids out to dinner myself. I’d been in the mood for BBQ ribs for a while, and Mika couldn’t resist the smoky aroma of Emil Villa’s, so that’s where we headed. Even though Camila was a little devil, it was a good choice.

We decided to share the ribs platter, which has gone up in price (it’s $21 now) and gone down in variety/amount of food (it now comes just with two sides and buns, no soup or salad). Still, the ribs were enough for a mom and one kid (Camila only ate 1 rib). We enjoyed all of them. My favorite were the baby back ribs which had a very nice glace and did not need any extra BBQ sauce. The other ones were definitely helped by the sweet sauce, which wasn’t too spicy even for Mika. I’d definitely order this again.

The french fries and mashed potatoes we ordered were pretty ordinary, nothing to write home about.

This time we weren’t too full for dessert (when is a 6 yo too full for dessert?), and Mika ordered the chocolate cream pie ($4 a slice). It didn’t look that chocolaty to me, but she liked it. I had no complaints about the banana cream pie ($4 for smallish slice). It was bananaish and creamy, and very good. I may make a banana cream pie today myself 🙂 Camila had some chocolate ice cream ($3), which was unwisely served on a saucer. It was very chocolaty.

Dinner for the 3, including 3 drinks, came to $39. Not cheap, but those were pretty good ribs.

Emil Villa’s
1800 E 14th St
San Leandro, CA
(510) 351-7427

Original Review

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

San Gaspar

November 15, 2007 / / 0 Comments

San Gaspar RestaurantUpdate:  San Gaspar reopened after a fire. I haven’t been back since.
I’ve been meaning to write the restaurant review for San Gaspar for a couple of weeks now, but I haven’t gotten to it so my recollections have gotten dimmer. I can tell you that we went with my friend Arthur and his kids, this is a place they frequent and like quite a bit. I thought it was pretty good too. The food was quite well priced, in the very low teens for pretty large platters. I had the carnitas and they were very good – large chunks of flavorful meat, not too dry. They came with a huge portion of good fries. Arthur had the chimichanga and he also enjoyed it. On the other hand, their quesadilla – which we ordered for the kids – was pedestrian. Mike’s enchiladas were also just OK. Their chips and salsa were pretty tasty, but not old-Chevy’s quality.
The restaurant itself is pretty modest, but it reminded me of the sort of restaurants in Mexico. It was comfortable, and had their been other people there, I’m sure it would have been convivial. As it was, pretty empty, the kids (an we had 5 with us) were able to enjoy some freedom and play around.
In all I had a good experience and would go back. Mike, on the other hand, wouldn’t be rushing back.
San Gaspar Restaurant
201 E 14th St
San Leandro, CA 94577
(510) 562-6197

Marga’s San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Paradiso restaurant – San Leandro – Updated reviews

August 9, 2007 / / 0 Comments

January 2012 Update

Do yourself a favor.  If you have $10 (plus tax & tip) to spare, head over to Paradiso and have a burger.  Paradiso’s burger is simple: a half a pound of chuck in a homemade bun with no accoutrements.  When I first ordered it I was skeptical, no cheese? no bacon? no fancy sauces?  And then I took a bite.  And another.  And soon I could swear it was, by far, the best burger I had ever tasted.  The secret to the flavor of Paradiso’s burgers is not one you can easily replicate at home: they are cooked in their wood burning oven and are imparted with the smoky flavor of the burning oak.

Their sliders (3 for $11) are equally as good, though these are made from Kobe beef and served with good, though unnecessary, caramelized onions.  When I ate them, I had to stop the waiter and ask if there were any condiments on the bun, I really couldn’t believe a piece of meat inside a bun could be so flavorful and moist.  But alas, they were plain.

The rest of the food during a couple of recent lunches at Paradiso was also solid and good, though not particularly exciting.  They continue using the same sides for all dishes, which I don’t like. In any cases, if I go back to Paradiso it’ll be for the burger.

—

2007 Review

Last night it was girl’s night out with my friends Penelope, Desiree, Victoria and Paz. We went to Paradiso for appetizers, drinks and dessert.

As usual, I got the filet mignonettes ($12), slices of beef pan seared and served on crostini with a marsala mushroom sauce. As usual, it was very good. Desiree and Paz shared the Calamari Fritti ($10) and the smoked salmon pizza with goat cheese ($15). I forgot to ask them how they liked it, but I will report about it as soon as I hear from them.

We all shared a bottle of the Salentein Malbec, from Mendoza ($32). I don’t remember what year it was. It was absolutely delicious – it had a good body, not too light, not too heavy, soft tannins and a hint of oak and fruit. I see they sell it at BevMo, and I’ll have to trek over there some time to buy a few bottles.

For dessert (all $6) I had their famous sundae. I wasn’t as impressed with it as everyone else seems to me. The ice cream was just OK, the chocolate sauce very good but scant. It wasn’t a particularly big sundae either. The rest of the team shared a couple of apple crisps and they all seemed to be very happy with it. They thought it was just right.

The only negative part of the evening is that they close fairly early, they threw us out by 10 PM (this was a Wednesday night). Still, we had a very good time and I’d recommend it for a mom’s night out.

Paradiso
685 Bancroft Ave
San Leandro, CA
(510) 430-9212
http://www.paradisosanleandro.com/

Original Review of Paradiso

Marga’s San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Ohana Hawaiian BBQ

January 7, 2007 / / 0 Comments

2013 Update: This restaurant is now Ahu’s Hawaiian BBQ

—

San Leandro has more Hawaiian restaurants that I can count, and I’m not sure that Ohana was actually needed (and judging by the lack of patrons last Thursday evening, I may not be alone in that assessment), but it’s not entirely unwelcomed. If you are at that shopping mall (you know, the one that has Home Depot, Walmart and the Pet food store – which was why we were there) and you are hungry, your choices are limited to Togos and whatever fast food place there is in Walmart. So Ohana at least presents another choice for food. And while it’s a chain, it’s well located in chain heaven.
Ohana presents a menu very similar to those in other Hawaiian restaurants. It includes BBQ meats, alone or in combination, chicken katzu, curry and a couple of chicken dishes with “special” sauces. They also have burgers and spam.
We weren’t too adventurous that evening and decided to go with the Seafood BBQ Combo ($8), Chicken Katzu ($6) and BBQ Chicken Saimin ($4). The seafood combo was good, but it only contained one piece of fish!!!! There wasn’t even enough to share. The chicken katzu was heavily breaded – as it usually is – but tasted fine, though I think I prefer Ono’s version. I’d ordered the saimin for the kids and they weren’t thrilled by it. It basically tasted like chicken noodle soup, so clearly the problem wasn’t in the dish.
In all, Mike thought the meal was fine, and probably better than at Ono’s (where we go from time to time as it’s close to our house), while I think I rather go back to Ono, though the portions there have gotten smaller and smaller.
Ohana Hawaiian BBQ
Westgate Mall Shopping Center
1933 Davis St. #135A
SL, CA
510-383.9898
http://www.hawaiianislandbbq.com/

Marga’s San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Mountain Mike’s Pizza

September 28, 2006 / / 3 Comments

March 2012 update

We haven’t gone to Mountain Mike’s in several years.  While the pizza is probably the best in town, it’s more expensive and the buffet has gotten expensive for our family of four.  But last night we were sans kids, but not for long, so we headed back there for their Wednesday night buffet (now about $8.50 per person, including soda).  The place and the buffet is pretty much identical as when I wrote my original review in 2006, though they have more video game machines now.  Still, other families have probably concluded the buffet is not that great of a deal, as there weren’t any kids there last night.

Once again, I liked all the pizzas.  I finally got to taste a bar-b-q chicken pizza, which I never had before because the concept is not that appealing, but it was surprisingly good.  So was the pizza (can’t remember what toppings it had) that came with a garlic sauce.  It was definitely a winner.  The cinnamon dessert pizza wasn’t as good as I remembered, but it was still quite yummy.  Finally, they now have mixed greens in the salad bar.

 

2006 Review

A few weeks ago I got a flyer from Mountain Mike’s Pizza advertising their “all you can eat” buffet Wednesday nights ($6.50, 5-8 PM), and a couple of weeks later it came to mind when I was trying to figure out what to do for dinner. Eda, our friend Arthur’s mom, was in town so we quickly arranged to meet her and the kids there. It was a good plan.

Mountain Mike is a chain, but doesn’t really look like one. It could really be your neighborhood pizzeria, and I think that’s what it strives to be for the Marina district. It has recently undergone a renovation, so the place looks clean and now there is a separate dining area towards the back. There are still a couple of video game machines to keep the kids occupied.

But the pizza is what matters and the pizza was good. All of their specialty pizzas were available – albeit not at the same time -, cut into slivers so that you can taste many of them, and all the ones we tried were very good. The all-meat was too salty for me, but I equally enjoyed the vegetarian, the pineapple chicken luau and the other types. The crust was on the thin side, the cheese was cheesy and the toppings were generous without being overwhelming. Everything tasted like good qualities (relatively speaking, of course) ingredients.

Their “dessert pizza”, a cinnamon-toast tasting pizza, was out of this world, specially as it was served very hot.

The buffet also included a salad bar. There were no fancy lettuces here (too bad, ’cause that’s the only type of salad I eat) but they had pasta salad and potato salad, as well as the fixings for your run of the mill salads. Other people seemed to enjoy them.

At $6.50 for all of this it’s a great deal – and the pizza is good enough that we will order from Mike’s next time we want pizza. Note that they don’t have free delivery, however.

Mountain Mike’s
2150 Marina Blvd.
San Leandro, Ca.
510.352.5954
http://www.mountainmikes.com/

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Chain Restaurant Reviews

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