After a morning exploring the magnificent National Museum of African Art and the National Mall, we were hungry, but he options for food in the area are extremely poor. We thus decided to stop at the refreshment kiosk in front of the National Museum of Natural History, our next destination. This is one of several refreshment kiosks at the Mall – all, I’m assuming, offering the same menu.
I knew the food was going to be expensive, but even I was shocked. A hot dog – a miserly hot dog – was $18! The other food had equally outrageous prices. I did notice, however, that the funnel cake was reasonable. I don’t remember exactly how much it was, but I think around $6.50. Now, we are just talking about fried dough here, dusted with powdered sugar, but at that moment it hit the spot. The funnel cake was actually quite tasty and large enough for all of us to share.
It turned out that we weren’t the only ones that liked funnel cake. As soon as we sat down, we started getting visitors at our table, and more and more came once we brought the cake to our table. It’s clear that these birds are used to being fed by humans. I totally get the appeal for them in winter, when I imagine food is hard to find.
One squirrel was particularly aggressive. Though I didn’t get any action pictures of the little rascal, he tried to grab the whole funnel cake off the plate, and even climb on Mike as he was eating a piece.
This Foggy Bottom hotel restaurant offers solid food in a relaxing setting
During our trip to DC, we stayed at the River Inn in Foggy Bottom. The hotel has its own restaurant, Matera, which serves breakfast and dinner daily. It wasn’t particularly busy during our stay, but I imagine that is different during more touristy times and when there are events at the Kennedy Center, given that it’s one of the closest restaurants to the venue. Of course, it’s unclear that the Kennedy Center will continue existing as anything but a center for Neo-nazi rallies now that Trump has taken it over.
We dined at Matera twice. We had breakfast one morning with our friend Maximilian, who was in DC for work. And we had dinner another night when I was craving Italian (after an amazing pasta dish at The Hamilton) and we were too tired to go out.
The restaurant has a smallish dining room, and a pretty casual vibe. There are some interesting posters on the walls, and the candle and rose on the table give it a somewhat romantic atmosphere, but the tables are bare and the place is more utilitarian than special occasion. Service was attentive and friendly, but it’s what we experienced almost universally in DC.
I’m not usually much of a breakfast eater, so I only had a coffee that morning (perfectly acceptable), but Maximillian and Mike ordered food. I didn’t pay attention to what Max had, and we were too busy talking about politics (it’s Washington, after all) to discuss the food, but Mike had the western omelet ($22). It came with ham, onions, green and red bell peppers and American cheese and Mike pronounced it to be “just fine”. It wasn’t remarkable or something he’d order again.
Dinner the following night was tasty and relaxing. We skipped appetizers, but had plenty of bread before our main dishes arrived.
I had the gnocchi with Italian sausage ($28) and was very happy with it. The gnocchi were soft, airy and pillowy, the sausage was tasty, the grilled peppers soft enough and the whole thing came together with a nice tomato basil sauce. I wished there were more gnocchi, the other elements sort of overwhelmed them and I absolutely loved the texture the gnocchi provided, but overall I loved the dish. People (ahem, my daughter) who prefer hardier pasta might not be as enthusiastic, however.
My daughter’s dish, unfortunately, wasn’t as successful. She had the mushroom ravioli ($28) which came in a creamy pesto sauce and she was disappointed both with the flavor and the quantity. There were only four or five ravioli in the dish, and the sauce just wasn’t that tasty. She wouldn’t have it again.
Mike had the calamari ($22), as he felt he wasn’t hungry enough for a main dish and nobody would want to share this. It cam with both a cocktail sauce and an herb aioli. The calamari was perfectly acceptable, with good flavor and texture. The herb aioli, however, was out of this world delicious. I was sad we’d eaten all our bread and couldn’t dip it in it.
I had read in reviews that Matera had a great tiramisu ($12), and we just had to try it. I’m happy to say that the reviewers were right. It featured a very light and airy cake, and thick layers of light and flavorful creams. Even the chocolate was tasty – no Hershey syrup here. We’d definitely get this again.
In all, it was a nice dinner made better by the convenience of it being at our hotel. We’d eat there again.
Honest and delicious fare in the National American History Museum at the National Mall
The National Mall has a dearth of places to eat and what there are, food kiosks and cafés at the various museums, are grossly overpriced. Given what is, for all intents and purposes, a captive audience, I’m not entirely surprised. The museum restaurants, moreover, get pretty negative reviews, with the exception of those at the African American History Museum and at the Native American History Museum. We didn’t have a chance to try the latter, but after perusing the powerful exhibits at the former, we headed for lunch at Sweet Home Café. My cousin Adriana and her family, visiting from Argentina, joined us.
Despite its name, Sweet Home Café is neither a café nor homey. It’s basically a large cafeteria, busy with school groups and other tourists, without much charm to speak of. There are four food counters, each with different offerings. The “Agricultural South” counter offers fried and baked chicken and sides: mac & cheese, collard greens, sweet potato, potato salad, coleslaw and corn bread. The “Grill” station has fish, chicken tenders and a hot dog, as well as a fresh salad bar and French fries. A dessert counter offers a variety of desserts, including some which are definitely not African American and which are probably not made on the premises. I found the same dulce de leche cheesecake I had here at the Natural History Museum café. The final counter seems to offer a succession of “themed” dishes, which change weekly. When we were there, they were celebrating James Baldwin with a French-inspired menu.
After you order your food, and get drinks and perhaps a wrapped dessert from an open counter, you head to a checkout counter where you pay. I had read lots of reviews that the he checkers could be rude, and my cousin experienced this – they were curt and insulting. Apparently the checker she got was frustrated with their limited English. My husband and daughter didn’t have problems when they got food for themselves and me.
I didn’t take good pictures or notes of our meal there, so you will have to rely simply on my recollections.
I got the Daube de boeuf ($22.50) or beef stew, which came with one side – I chose mashed potatoes. It was a little on the cold side but otherwise delicious. The meat was tender and abundant, the sauce well balanced and the mashed potatoes perfectly made. It really exceeded my expectations flavor wise. The portion was large enough that I could share it with Mike, though neither of us were particularly hungry.
As mentioned, I also got a slice of the dulce de leche cheesecake ($8), which was quite tasty but not particularly remarkable (though good enough that my daughter got a slice of it the next day). Sodas were an incredible $4.70 each, though you could get a refill.
My cousin Adriana and her husband both got the pulled pork. This was a completely new dish for them and they both raved about it. I didn’t taste it myself, so I can’t vouch for whether it was a particularly good pulled pork, or whether my cousins were blown over by the novelty of the dish. But at least it was solid enough to delight newcomers to American cuisine.
No one should be surprised that there weren’t really good options for vegetarians – but you can order a plate with three sides (~12). My daughter went this route and got the baked macaroni and cheese, the roasted sweet potato and the corn bread, which came in a little loaf. She thought the mac & cheese was good, better than your Kraft staple. The sweet potato was surprisingly good, it was sweet and soft and she liked it quite a lot – even though she is not someone who usually gravitates to sweet potatoes. The cornbread, unfortunately, was very dry – but the flavor was there. The main problem with her side dishes is that they were all pretty cold.
In all, given the dearth of dining options in the area, Sweet Home Café is a good option for those visiting the museums and monuments in the area. It has relatively reduced hours of operation, 11 AM to 3 PM most days, so beware you get there in time.
This gorgeous restaurant near the White House actually has good food
The main reason for our trip to Washington DC this year was to meet up with my cousin Adriana and her family who were coming to the States for some tourism of their own. My husband loves Washington DC, and I love hanging out with Adriana, so this seemed like a perfect opportunity for both of us to get what we wanted from a vacation. So on our second day in DC, we met Adriana and her family at the People’s House and then made our way to The Hamilton, taking in the outside of the White House (fully adorned with snipers on the roof), on the way.
I had originally wanted to go to the Old Ebbitt Grill, a Washington DC institution popular with both tourists and politicos, but I found out that they don’t have tables for six within the restaurant itself, and large parties are confined to an atrium adjacent to the restaurant. The nearby The Hamilton is owned by the same company and promised to provide a more welcoming atmosphere. I’m glad I chose it. Not only was the restaurant outright gorgeous – so I got to impress Adriana -, but the prices were reasonable for such an upscale place and the food was very good.
The Hamilton is quite large and it has at least a couple of dining rooms, as well as a large bar. It seems to be a favorite spot for lobbyists and we overheard some of them making their machinations while we waited to be seated. The large booths were comfortable enough, and the service was as good as what I learned to expect in Washington (California has much to learn in this regard).
The menu was pretty broad and included your basic American fare plus some sushi. My cousin and her family weren’t particularly adventurous and they all got the Hamilton burger, which came with a “‘sunny-side up egg, bacon, B&B pickles, shredded lettuce, cheddar, Gruyère, garlic aioli, house made sesame brioche” ($21). They all said they loved it. I didn’t try them myself and they might have been being polite, but even their son ate most of his and children don’t tend to eat out of politeness alone.
I had the ragu americana & rigatoni ($26), which consisted of rigatoni and “red wine braised short rib, Nonna’s meatballs, Grana Padano.” At first, it just tasted like your run of the mill pasta dish, but it grew on me with every bite. The short rib sauce was comforting and with all the umami you expect from a tomato based sauce. The meatballs were delicious. I kept thinking and craving the dish for days to come. If I go back to DC, I’ll definitely head back to The Hamilton for it. Seriously, if you like pasta, you should try it.
My daughter had the garden sushi roll ($15), “avocado, carrots, cucumber, lettuce, miso dressing.” She overall liked it, though she wasn’t blown away with it. To be fair, she’s had a lot of great sushi out there (particularly in Argentina), so that might be a tall order. She did say she’d order it again.
Mike had the jumbo lump crab cake ($28). He thought it was absolutely delicious. The crab cake had lots of crabs and came apart easily, but it was perfectly seasoned. His only regret was that he didn’t order the double portion ($48).
I don’t remember us having dessert.
We managed to get lunch done in a little over an hour, and we quickly headed out to the Ford Theater to see where President Lincoln was assassinated.
The Hamilton 600 14th Street N.W., Washington, DC 20005 (202) 787-1000
Foggy Bottom is the home of not only the State Department and K street, where the biggest lobby operations have set up tents, but of George Mason university. As we were staying only a few blocks away from campus, I would have expected there would be a plethora of cheap restaurants catering to students. Alas, that was not the case and Charm Thai was close to the only choice of this kind. Fortunately for us, it turns out that Charm Thai offers very solid Thai cuisine at affordable prices (though perhaps still too high for students) and was only a couple of blocks from our hotel. During our week-long stay, we ordered from there twice.
The first time we ordered, my daughter got the Pad Thai with tofu ($18) and my husband had the panang curry with chicken ($17). I wasn’t hungry enough to order anything. They were both so happy with their dishes that they ordered them again a couple of nights later. That time we also got the curry puffs ($9) and I got the pad thai with beef ($20) and the strawberry smoothie ($6). The first time they gave us complimentary rice, though they skipped it the second time. That was OK, as my husband tries to avoid it anyway.
The food was great, though the portions weren’t as generous as one might have hoped for the price. Both my daughter and I liked really liked the pad thai. It was a tad sweeter than usual but just wonderfully seasoned. The beef, unfortunately, had no flavor whatsoever. I don’t even think they had salted it. I would totally avoid it the next time. The noodles, however, were amazing.
My husband absolutely loved the curry puffs. He couldn’t quite describe why, but he mentioned they were just satisfying. He felt the same about the panang chicken which he described as “absolutely delicious”. It was spicier than in most other places, which he thought was a good thing.
The strawberry smoothie, on the other hand, was also disappointing. There was too much ice and this diluted the flavor of the strawberry, so it was too mild to enjoy. I wouldn’t buy it again.
We didn’t bother to take pictures, so you only have these descriptions to go by, but if you’re in the mood for Thai in Foggy Bottom, this is definitely the place to go or order from.
Charm Thai 2514 L St NW Washington, DC (202) 333-2460
This happening Dupont Circle spot had hits – and misses.
We spent our first morning in DC, the first Sunday of February, visiting the memorials at the National Mall and working up an appetite. Brunch at Balos Estiatorio was next on the schedule. I’d chosen that restaurant because I saw it recommended in some list and my daughter noticed that it offered baklava French toast. As a lover of both baklava and French toast she was intrigued – and while I don’t like baklava myself, I was curious.
Balos was very busy when we got there (good thing I’d made a reservation!), filled with beautiful, mostly young people relaxing and taking advantage of the bottomless brunch cocktails. We had plans for the afternoon (visiting the Spy Museum with a friend), so we didn’t partake on alcohol, but I certainly got the appeal.
The restaurant is large, stylish but casual, somewhat loud and definitely hip. Service was as personable and polite as we quickly came to expect in DC – despite living at the center of the neo-apocalypse, Washingtonians seem to have (or fake) much better attitudes than Californians. It’s definitely not the weather.
We hit Balos the last day of the winter restaurant week, and they were offering their pre-fix three course brunch menu for $36 (it was listed for $35, but Balos also ads a 4% “operations fee” to make their prices look lower), a $10 saving over the regular price. This time we all partook of it.
Though there were quite a few options for appetizers, both Mike and I decided on the Greek Onion soup, which was very much like French onion soup but with graviera cheese instead of gruyere. It was quite good, particularly in a chilly day, though I think I prefer gruyere in this soup. Still, the broth was sweet, the cheese added saltiness and I enjoyed it.
My daughter had the spanakopita, an old favorite. This was a very good version, and she particularly enjoyed how flaky and crispy it was.
As my main course, I had the lavraki filet, an 8 oz branzino filet, which came with a light herbed sauce and lemon juice. I’m not usually much of a fish eater, but I wanted something light and this fit the bill. There was nothing amazing about this dish, but it was well cooked, well seasoned and tasty – my only complain was that it had too many bones. I did like how the lemon came encased in a mesh covering to keep the lemons inside.
Mike had the steak & eggs, which included “8 oz prime NY strip, Greek fries, eggs your way.” The steak was well cooked and seasoned and was very tasty, we liked the fries, but the eggs were disappointing. He had ordered them over medium, expecting the yolk to be partially runny so he could dip the fries in it, but they were solid. It’s a minor complain and he overall liked the dish.
The biggest disappointment, however, was my daughter’s “baklava” French toast, served with “mixed berries, pistachio, almond, walnut, Greek yogurt.” It had nothing altogether reminiscent of baklava. It was just run of the mill French toast. The two slices of bread were thick, and came with real maple syrup and some berries. There were a couple of nuts, but nothing that would make you think of baklava. My daughter was very disappointed.
There were three choices for dessert, and we tried them all. I had the mascarpone cheesecake, which came with Vyssino cherries. I wasn’t really hungry by this point, which was a good thing as I didn’t really enjoy the cheesecake. It wasn’t what I’d call bad, but it just wasn’t worth the calories and the carbs. It wasn’t as creamy as a regular cheesecake. No one else thought greatly of it either.
Mike enjoyed his galaktoboureko (a custard filled phyllo pastry) much more. He thought it was absolutely great.
Mika had the baklava, which was served with Greek frozen yoghurt. The sour frozen yoghurt was great, and provided a nice contrast to the sweetness of the syrup. My daughter, however, realized she doesn’t really like “wet” baklava, that so soaked in syrup that becomes soggy. She enjoyed the taste, but wished it had been crispier.
This Foggy Bottom Michelin-adjunct restaurant lives up to its name, in a good way.
We arrived in Washington DC a cold Saturday night in February, merely days after the Führer-wannabe’s inauguration. But it was tourism, rather than politics, which brought us to town and, in my golden years, traveling and dining have become intrinsically connected. I hadn’t made many plans for dining in DC, as it had been hard to predict in advance how tired we would be each day and how far we’d want to venture in search of food, but I did make a point of getting reservations for our fist night. Not only was it a Saturday night, but it came at the tail end of DC’s winter restaurant week, which I figured would be attracting the thriftier diners venturing without the grace of an expense account. That was a good call as Imperfecto was completely booked that night – when our plane was delayed in disembarking we tried to push our reservations until later, and were told they were booked until 10 PM. Fortunately, it was a quick trip from the airport to our hotel in Foggy Bottom and then a quick walk to the restaurant. We made our original reservation with plenty of time.
Imperfecto is a Latin American inspired restaurant, presenting innovative cuisine in an elegant but modern environment. Its Chef’s table has won a Michelin star, though I’m not sure why the award wasn’t given to the restaurant as a whole. It certainly deserves it. The atmosphere is young (in spirit if not in chronological age), dark and loud. People were fairly well dressed, which can make those who didn’t want to change out of their Patagonia fleece feel a bit out of place. I’m not pointing fingers or anything.
The Restaurant Week menu included selected offerings from their regular menu which, combined, represented a significant savings from their à la carte prices. The three course meal was $68 – it was listed as $65 but Imperfecto adds a 5% “service charge” which goes to the restaurant, rather than the wait staff and which looks like an attempt to hide a price increase. In this review, I’ll be adding the service charge to the menu prices.
We ordered two of these menus and an additional main dish for my vegetarian daughter. I wasn’t very hungry so I shared my appetizer and dessert with her, but the meal portions are such that a main would not be enough food by itself unless you weren’t particularly hungry.
Dinner started with a complimentary small glass of mushroom soup. It was very hot and creamy, a little bit too salty and not as good as the Bourdain recipe I like to make, but definitely wonderful in such a cold evening. Having an amuse bouche like this definitely started the meal very nicely.
As my appetizer, I chose the Aladdin burrata ($28 in the regular menu): “burrata, tamarind hummus, fried lentil tabbouleh, apple compote, manoush”. It was a very interesting dish – not one that I’d characterized as delicious, but we enjoyed the mix of flavors and textures. The fried lentils were very crunchy and just fun to eat, the mild burrata was silky and soft, the apple compote provided the occasional burst of sweetness and the hummus provided substance. The dish was served with two small pieces of pita bread – more would have been better. It was definitely large enough to share.
My husband had the ceviche ($27), the other appetizer choice in the restaurant week menu. It was described as “gentle poached shrimp, sweet potato leche de tigre, chiles toreados dressing, rye chip”. He liked it, he finished it, but we were too busy over analyzing my appetizer to hear what he had to say about his. Clearly, he wasn’t as effusive or blown away as we were.
There were three choices for mains in the restaurant week menu, a branzino ($50), a sweet potato dish ($29) and a lamb terrine ($55), and both Mike and I chose the latter. The cordero was described as “Robuchon pomme purée, red cabbage confit, lamb jus, truffle.” It was delicious. I really enjoyed the silky, warm and perfectly seasoned mashed potatoes and the bold flavor of the lamb terrine. The shaved truffle added earthiness while the cabbage confit brought sweetness. The whole dish was very successful and while a classic, still quite creative. Mike liked it as well.
My daughter ordered the truffle tagliolini ($29) off the regular menu. It consisted of tagliolini pasta, “sweet corn cream, asparagus, Pecorino, truffles”. It was a very peculiar dish that tasted unlike anything else she’d had before. She found it interesting, though not particularly delicious. She wasn’t fond of the large slices of truffle which gave the dish a .. flavor – she loves truffles, and she felt they would have been better if shredded. In all, she was glad to try this but she wouldn’t order it again. It wasn’t a particularly large portion, so she was glad to have my appetizer to share as well as my dessert.
There were two dessert choices in the restaurant week menu, and I chose La Nube: “passion fruit lychee gel, amaretto-vanilla custard, white chocolate foam, pistachio ice cream”. This was absolutely delicious – again a wonderful contrast of textures and flavors. The gel was very intense and it was tempered by the other ingredients. My daughter was lucky that I wasn’t hungry or I’d had more than a bite.
Mike had the chocobanana, “olive oil cocoa crumble, burnt banana ice cream. 72% cremeux, halva caramel, sugar tuile” and while it was good and he enjoyed it, it wasn’t as exciting as the gel.
Service was polite and friendly, and in all we had a great time. I’d recommend it.
Imperfecto 1124 23rd St NW Washington, D.C (202) 964-1012
Safeway had prime rib roasts on sale before Christmas, and while I haven’t been into beef lately, I couldn’t pass it up. I’m glad I didn’t, because the roast beef was delicious. I found inspiration on several recipes online, but mine was simplified to just include butter, garlic and rosemary – because I grow a lot of the latter. I neglected to take a photo, so just picture a beautiful roast.
Ingredients
1 ~5lb bone-in rib roast
4 Tbs butter, softened or melted
8 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 1/2 Tbsp rosemary leaves, chopped
generous kosher salt
pepper to taste
Instructions
Remove roast from fridge about an hour before you want to cook it. Remove packaging and pat dry.
Preheat oven to 500F
Mix the softened/melted butter with the garlic, rosemary, kosher salt and ground pepper.
Brush in the butter over all sides of the roast. Set on a roasting pan bone-side down. Place in the oven and roast for 15 minutes. Turn temperature down to 325F and continue roasting for about 15 minutes per pound (so 1 1/4 hrs for a 5 lb roast) for medium rare. Remove, tent with aluminum foil or cover with cloth towels and rest for at least 15 minutes.
A favorite San Leandro pizzeria never fails to satisfy
Last night, my oldest was in town and had a hankering for pizza. I didn’t myself, but I still have been craving pasta, so I decided to order from an old favorite: Porky’s Pizza Palace. This is a restaurant we have frequented ever since we moved to San Leandro, almost a quarter of a century ago. I love the old-fashioned, family-oriented, small-town-America feel of the place, and there food is pretty good as well. I didn’t take pictures this time, we just dived into the food.
The kids had a half-pineapple, half-Golden cheese pizza ($28). They thought the pizza was OK, pretty average pizzeria pizza.
We also ordered cheesy garlic bread ($6.3) and it’s definitely very cheesy. However, the cheese is not that flavorful. Next time we’d order the garlic bread without the cheese.
I decided to order a quart of ravioli ($14) and three meatballs ($12), so I’d have food for three meals. I really like Porky’s ravioli and meatballs. They are not going to win any culinary awards, but the ravioli are well cooked, with soft pasta, and are bursting with beef filling. The meat sauce is flavorful and tastes home made and the meatballs are light and, while commercial, not something I can actually buy myself at the supermarket. They are also pretty large.
In all, I like Porky’s Pizza, in particular the ravioli, and I’ll continue to order from there from time to time, as I have over the decades.
Porky's Pizza Palace 1221 Manor Blvd. San Leandro, CA (510) 357-4323 Mon-Thu 3 – 9 pm Fri 3 – 10 pm Sat 1 – 10 pm Sun 1 – 9 pm
A couple of weeks ago I saw a commercial for The Olive Garden‘s Never Ending Pasta Bowl and since then I’ve been obsessing about it. I’m not sure why. Maybe because I’ve been watching my carbs and avoiding pasta. Or maybe there is just something about the fantasies of limitless eating that appeals to human at an instinctive level. Olive Garden has been having this promotion for decades, so it’s obviously working for them.
I’m by no means a regular Olive Garden customer. I can count in one hand how often I’ve gone to the restaurant over the decades, with fingers to spare. Mostly I found it unmemorable, and with better Italian options around, often the same or more affordable prices, there has never been a compelling reason to go
I actually did a fair amount of reading on the Olive Garden and the Never Ending Pasta Bowl before my visit – such was my obsession. I learned that it wasn’t a particularly good deal for the customer, as most normal people can’t finish a single plate of pasta, much less have seconds. I also learned that you can take leftovers to go, and that you can order a serving of just the sauce. Finally, I learned that waiters hate it because they have to make multiple trips to the kitchen without the corresponding increase in tips.
We visited the Hayward location for lunch a Friday in October. I remembered the restaurant looking cuter back when I last went, this time it was just utilitarian. We were seated near the bar – and the kitchen – in a room without any decorations at all. Given that the food is not that cheap, I expected better.
We went there a little before noon and the place got fairly busy as the lunch hour came, though it was never really full. The restaurant is rather large, with good distance between the tables.
As the entrées all come with soup or salad and breadsticks, we didn’t bother ordering appetizers. My husband and daughter had the salad which they found to be unremarkable. It wasn’t good, it wasn’t bad, it was just a salad.
The breadsticks, on the other hand, were delicious. They are served warm, have garlic flavor, and have a soft interior. They are a tad dry, so they’re great for dipping. They were our favorite part of the meal – though I only had half of one, as I didn’t want to get full on bread (plus I’m watching those carbs).
Olive Garden has four soups, and I’d read that the Chicken & Gnocchi soup ($10, if ordered on its own) was particularly popular, so I ordered that. It was OK. I did like how soft and pillowy the gnocchi were, but there were relatively few of them in the soup. The chicken cream base wasn’t my favorite, but I’m not a fan of cream soups (or soups) in general. I did like it as a dip for the breadstick, however.
I got a second portion to go, as part of the Never Ending Pasta Bowl promotion (which gives you never ending soup or salad and never ending breadsticks as well), and I was surprised at how small it was. I think it had all of two gnocchi.
My daughter had the chicken parmigiana ($21.3). It was a large portion but not a particularly successful one. My daughter compared it to the frozen chicken parmesan we buy at the supermarket.
Mike had the seafood alfredo ($23.5) and he was equally unimpressed. He found the alfredo sauce to be thin and not particularly tasty, and the seafood just OK. He wouldn’t order it again.
In both these cases, you can get a much better plate of food for a similar price at a mom & pop’s Italian restaurant.
I, of course, ordered the Never Ending Pasta Bowl ($16) with a side of protein ($5). The protein this time around are meatballs, Italian sausages or “crispy chicken fritta”, which I think are breaded and fried chicken slices. You are given a choice of four pastas (fettuccine, spaghetti, rigatoni and angel hair) and six sauces (garlic herb, alfredo, marinara, five cheese marinara, creamy mushroom and meat sauce).
For my first plate I had the fettuccine with half mushroom sauce , half meat sauce and meatballs. The plate was rather generous and definitely enough for a lunch entree, particularly after eating the few gnocchi from the soup. The fettuccine itself was rather bland (but it’s pasta) and a little past al dente – with some parts that were on the rawer side. I don’t think I’d order it again. I did like the mushroom sauce, particularly when I got a mushroom. It was creamy, mushroomy and very tasty. The meat sauce, on the other hand, was a disappointment. It had very small and scant pieces of meat and tasted like jarred sauce. I definitely wouldn’t order it again. The meatballs weren’t bad. They were light, and tasted like the meatballs you get in pizza joint and sandwich places – which I, personally, like. The first order came with three meatballs.
For my second plate, which I took home, I had the angel hair pasta with the five cheese marinara sauce. I liked the angel hair better, but the sauce – a mixture of marinara sauce with alfredo sauce – tasted like supermarket vodka sauce, basically, a creamy tomato sauce. It was too acidic. I would not order it again. This second portion of pasta was also pretty small, and it came with two meatballs.
I also had a bowl of alfredo sauce, as I wanted to try it. As Mike noted, it was on the thin side, and it also didn’t differ much from the jarred stuff. It wasn’t bad as a dip for the breadsticks, but I also wouldn’t order it .
I had water with dinner, Mike had a soda ($4), and my daughter had the raspberry lemonade ($4.50). She really liked it. They come with unlimited refills as well.
Service was fine, a little bit rushed but that’s to be expected.
In all, it was a mediocre and yet pretty expensive lunch – though we all took some leftovers home. I can’t imagine rushing back to the Olive Garden.
Olive Garden 24688 Hesperian Blvd Hayward, CA (510) 782-6385 Su - Th 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM F - Sa 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM
24688 Hesperian Blvd Hayward, CA 
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