Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Scolari's

Lunch at Scolari's is a treat. The cook takes pride in his products and they serve tasty food. I ordered three items for lunch: the Classic Stromboli, french fries with cheese and brown gravy and fresh limeade. The fresh limeade was light, refreshing and not full of sugar. The wait for my sandwich and french fries was a bit long. Scolari's makes food for the bar next door at Lucky 13, so lots of people were taking their food and eating it at the bar. By the time, I was served, I was hungry. The sandwich was huge and good to serve for two. The meat and cheese was all stuffed inside the bread, very similar to a calzone. The red sauce was on the side, but I thought the sandwich tasted better without it. The bread was nice and warm. The sandwich was more delicate than I thought it would be. You could taste every layer of meat and cheese. The amount of the french fries were too large for one order. The fries were good when it was hot and the cheese melted and oozed. When it got cool, the fries were slightly mushy and the cheese was cold and clumpy. Overall, the food was tasty, but I am not sure if the food was healthy. The price of lunch was $23, slightly expensive for one, but good enough for two. I would return for a casual meal or for a late night run. Scolari's stays open until 3 am!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Pearl's Deluxe Burger

I went to Pearl's Deluxe Burger on a Friday night to check it out. To my surprise, the place was packed. There were many families, elderly couples and everyone in between was having a burger. The one-half pound burgers were large enough for two adults, otherwise it could be a heart attack waiting to happen. The prices for the half-pound burgers were great for two. The french fries however, were a bit expensive. I ordered a half-pound mushroom burger with a mixture of sweet potatoes and onion rings. The meal was over $15 for the burger, fries and a soda, which I thought was slightly expensive.

The mushroom burger was good, but not fantastic. It tasted as I thought it would be. There were no surprises. The sweet potato french fries were decent. The onion rings were a bit greasy.


I am wondering what burger people were eating when they voted Pearl's the best burger joint in the Bay Area because I want to taste that burger.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Daphne's Greek Cafe

Was at the mall (AKA Alameda Towne Centre) and had a hunger for Greek food. I was short on time and cash and I decided to go to Daphne's instead of Zeytini's.


I ordered the lamb gyro that came with a greek salad and roasted vegetables. The meal was moderately priced at $8.99 that came with a drink. Beware of the super size upgrades for a higher price and french fries. it's not worth it. The greek salad was the best food of the meal. The lettuce was fresh and crunchy and the dressing was tasty. The lamb gyro had problems. The meat was thinly sliced, but the meat was bland. The tzatziki sauce masked the blandness of the meat and tasted good with the lettuce and tomatoes in the gyro. The roasted vegetables were a mess. There was a great selection of varied vegetables, but they were over cooked and limp. The veggies also had a heavy dressing of herbs on them that did not help with the flavors. I would second guess on ordering the lamb gyro again.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Burma Super Star ... Hot, Hot, Hot

Recently I had dinner at the San Francisco Burma Super Star location on Clement Avenue and noticed that SF and Alameda locations had very different results. The chefs at the San Francisco location is light handed when it comes to spice levels of their food. Four of us ordered hot spicy food on a few dishes. When the food came out of the kitchen, the food was not spicy. I usually cannot handle spicy food, but even I was able to eat all of the entrees, which came to be a big surprise.


A few weeks later I went to the Alameda location and ordered the same dishes with identical spice level. The food was hot, hot, hot. The food was too spicy for me. All of the flavors were great, but the heat was a fire in my mouth. It's been my experience at the Alameda Burma Super Star to order food mild or medium. For some reason, I got adventurous thinking that two locations of the same owner would not be much difference. I was wrong. I have to remember to go back to my original spice level for Alameda and spicy for SF.


What is amazing about both locations is the quickness of the food that comes out of the kitchen. When you order four entrees, the food comes out fast and furious. And the best part is that the flavor profiles are not compromised.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Opening Soon...Greek Meze

A new Greek Restaurant is opening on Webster Street called the Greek Meze. The space was the southern storefront of the former Alameda Pharmacy. I hope the construction will not take as long as Tillie's. I first wrote that Tillie's was under construction in July of 2010, the diner has yet to open.