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Review: London Fish ‘n Chips

June 4, 2011 by Angie Sommer Leave a Comment

Atmosphere: 1/5   ♦   Service: 2/5   ♦   Food Quality: 3/5   ♦   Value:4/5
Times Visited: Once  ♦   Will I Return?:  I’d honestly rather go to Jay’s
___________

london fish 'n chipsLondon Fish ‘n Chips can be found across the street from Kennedy Park on Hesperian Boulevard in Hayward. It’s inside a dingy, dated shopping center that characterizes miles and miles of territory along that route. I’d never even seen the place, much less heard of it; my friend Jon introduced us, touting it as an old family favorite of his. And so we went.

This place is pretty classic as far as fish ‘n chips go. Old, dark, not modern, no atmosphere to speak of. It’s very small, so I was able to photograph the entire place in just a couple shots; see for yourself.

front counter

Frount counter at London Fish ‘n Chips

seating

Seating area in London Fish ‘n Chips.

The menu was simple and pretty cheap. I was there with a few people and we all seemed to keep it standard and order some classic fish and chips. It’s an order at the counter place and they do actually have two beers, I believe, on tap. the entire place is so simple it’s almost hard to find enough to type about…. 

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Filed Under: Fish 'n Chips Tagged With: Hayward

Review: Art’s Crab Shak

May 28, 2011 by Angie Sommer Leave a Comment

Update: Art’s Crab Shak in Hayward is now closed.

 
Atmosphere: 2/5   ♦   Service: 2/5   ♦   Food Quality: 3/5   ♦   Value:3/5
Times Visited: Once  ♦   Will I Return?:  Unlikely
___________
neon sign

Hayward Fishery neon sign.

Art’s Crab Shak, formerly the Hayward Fishery, can be found at the corner of Foothill and C Street in Hayward. The Hayward Fishery was an establishment from my childhood and was immensely popular locally. I don’t know when it changed hands, but it seems different than I remember from when I was a kid (granted, that was a long time ago), and, in short, I wasn’t terribly impressed. Let’s discuss…. 

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Filed Under: Seafood/Steak Tagged With: Hayward

Recipe: Kale Chips

May 22, 2011 by Angie Sommer 2 Comments

After a short hiatus, it’s recipe time!! Have you had kale recently? I’d honestly never really heard of it until the Taminator (omg, that’s the best nickname, I hope I’m the first one to think of it, Tami) brought it over for Girl’s Night. This is, of course, Tami from Everyday Bites, mentioned also previously in the delicious Pesto Pita Pizza post.

kale

KALE!

So, kale! It’s sort of a fancy lettuce-type food that’s a bit tough and frilly. It seems to be uber “in style” now, like bacon and macaroons. See below photo of Boyfriend with Kale.

kale

Boyfriend with head of kale.

Kale, when toasted lightly in the oven, turns a bit softer and (if you do it right) gets a bit crunchy. And then eating it is like nibbling a fun crunchy snack instead of being forced to consume vegetables because they’re good for you. Actually, I love vegetables, so I never have to be forced. But still, this is a great way to eat kale.

Ingredients:

  1. Kale
  2. Olive Oil
  3. Salt
  4. Pepper if you like pepper

Steps:

  1. Heat oven to broil. Or 350. Or 375. Just turn the dang oven on, this isn’t rocket science.
  2. Rip the kale up into bite sized pieces and put in a strainer.

    kale

    Kale in strainer.

  3. Wash kale.
  4. DRY kale. This is important and keeps it from being soggy. Use a spinner or paper towels or whatever you’ve got.
  5. Put kale in a big old bowl and sprinkle with olive oil, salt, pepper and whatever other spice you think might be yummy. Don’t over oil, or, again, you risk soggyness.
  6. Spread kale evenly on a baking pan or baking sheet.

    raw kale

    Kale waiting to be baked.

  7. Put kale in the oven for, like, 5 minutes. Watch them closely because they will start burning quickly. You want them crispy and browned on some of the edges, but not completely on fire. If you take them out too soon, they’re fine but they are a bit tougher and not as crunchy. I know because I’ve erred on both sides.

    cooked kale

    Cooked kale looks just like raw kale. Just cook it and trust me.

Healthy, simple, delicious! Yum! For another take on kale chips, see the Runner’s Delight version!

Filed Under: Recipes and Home Cooking

Review: Fish.

May 8, 2011 by Angie Sommer 4 Comments

Atmosphere: 3/5   ♦   Service: 3/5   ♦   Food Quality: 4/5   ♦   Value:2/5
Times Visited: Once  ♦   Will I Return?:  If I’m in the neighborhood
___________

Fish, period. That’s what they call themselves, punctuation and all. And what’s not to like about Fish.? Unless you’re a true vegetarian. Or you’re allergic to seafood. Or you just don’t like fish.

But I suffer from none of those deterrents, so I liked my fish at Fish. This place is way out of the way for most East Bay folks, nestled into the harbor-y area in the north part of Sausalito, but people around those parts seem to flock to Fish. We happened to be over there with Boyfriend’s mom and were looking for a good place to dine — we were happy to find one.

Fish has mostly… fish. As you might imagine. And they tout the sustainability thing too, which is refreshing. A large signboard in their dining area describes the virtue of sustainability in fishing and their website mentions that they only receive their salmon from “wild, sustainable sources” and never buy farmed fish. And they do use the word “poop” as a reason why farmed fish are bad — kudos to them for that. It takes balls to talk about poo.

Inside Fish. Restaurant

Inside Fish. Restaurant

… 

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Filed Under: Fish 'n Chips, Outdoor Dining, Seafood Tagged With: Sausalito

Hello Mrs. Knott’s Class!

May 5, 2011 by Angie Sommer 16 Comments

No, that’s not the name of a restaurant (though maybe it should be); I’m speaking at my cousin’s 4th grade class today about blogging! First I’ll be doing a short talk about being an engineer (career day, woot!) but then I’ll be hanging out with Mrs. Knott proper and discussing my love of blogging with her awesome kiddos.

A short list of why I love blogging:

  1. It’s an informal way to practice writing, which is important in all walks of life (even as an engineer!).
  2. It’s fun to write about something you love! (I <3 food)
  3. It connects you to other people who love the same thing. If your blog gathers a following, the folks reading are probably a lot like you which is awesome — instant friends!
  4. It’s a great hobby. What else are you going to do with your spare time? May as well use your brain a bit and write!

I’m looking forward to meeting everyone; wish me luck and thanks for having me, Mrs. Knott!! 🙂

P.S.: Mrs. Knott’s class collects box tops for education and hopes to win a quarterly competition within the school for collecting the most! If you see a box top, please save it and send it to me! Email me for more info: brocandchoc@gmail.com.

Collect your box tops for Mrs. Knott’s class!

Filed Under: Lists, This Blog

Review: Homeroom

April 23, 2011 by Angie Sommer 6 Comments

Atmosphere: 3/5   ♦   Service: 2/5   ♦   Food Quality: 4/5   ♦   Value:3/5
Times Visited: Once  ♦   Will I Return?:  Yes please
___________

Wow, sorry, I’ve been gone for a bit. Friends in town and madness at work makes Angie something something…*

So, what’s been happening? Have you found other better blogs to read? Undoubtedly. Anyway, I’m typing today about one my favorite foods: macaroni and cheese. There’s a new mac and cheese restaurant in Oakland called Homeroom and it’s all the rage lately.

I’ve heard people talking about this place nonstop since it opened a few months ago. It was time for a try.

Some friends and I met up at Homeroom after work a couple weeks ago when it was super duper hot outside. The day was beautiful, but Homeroom has no air con. Which would normally be fine, but that day meant that we were a sweating, hungry bunch. And then we ate some hot, dense mac and cheese. It was not the best plan (ex: milk was a bad choice), but we made the best of it and still enjoyed ourselves. And it would have been a great day to enjoy one of their few tables outside (but we didn’t want to wait).

menu

Menu

The space is smaller than I expected, for some reason, but is decorated with cute and artsy items all revolving around a school/learning theme (we were in Homeroom, after all). The menu is a single page of paper with instructions on how to fold it into a paper airplane on one side, in case you feel so inclined. The choices are basic: 8 types of mac and cheese, a few sides of veggies, a handful of desserts, beer (including on tap), wine, and other drinks. I really appreciated the simplicity and easily made my decision to reminisce about Rome with the “The Exchange Student: Cacio e Pepe” and a side of carrots.

mac and cheese

Cacio e Pepe mac and cheese wins!

… 

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Filed Under: Mac and Cheese Tagged With: Oakland

Review: Dell Cafe

April 10, 2011 by Angie Sommer 1 Comment

Atmosphere: 2/5   ♦   Service: 2/5   ♦   Food Quality: 3/5   ♦   Value:5/5
Times Visited: Once  ♦   Will I Return?:  Why not
___________

Dell CafeIt’s Saturday. You want breakfast. Unfortunately, you’re in or around Hayward. Where to go? There are a few choices. I’m not a personal fan of the chain restaurants, so rule out your Denny’s and IHOPs right away. The next steps up are your Emil Villa’s, JD’s, Main Street Diners and Doug’s. Unbeknownst to me, Dell Cafe is also around for your breakfast eating pleasure.

Dell Cafe can be found at 2637 Castro Valley Boulevard, just after the mini golf place but before Redwood Road. I don’t actually think I’ve noticed it before. We passed it trying to find it. But, Yelpers like the place and I wanted a waffle. And hence we arrived at Dell.

This place is a diner. Actually, it’s more like a Diner. Old school style, capital “D” Diner. It’s small with a dozen or more patent leather booths, cheap varnished wood-veneered tables and two rows of counter seating that meet at a corner right as you walk in.

Dell Cafe

Inside Dell Cafe.

… 

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Filed Under: American, Breakfast Tagged With: Castro Valley

Review: Celadon

April 5, 2011 by Angie Sommer Leave a Comment

Atmosphere: 4/5   ♦   Service: 3/5   ♦   Food Quality: 4/5   ♦   Value:3/5
Times Visited: Once  ♦   Will I Return?:  If we’re in the area
___________

CeladonA few weeks ago when we were in Napa for a weekend, we had to make a choice: where to have dinner on our single night in the area. This was a daunting choice for a foodie such as myself — I really hate it when you are in a foreign land (of any degree) and you have one chance to choose an awesome place to eat. And you choose somewhere crappy and you’re sad about it. Granted, this can often not be avoided, but I like to hope for the best in my proverbial dice roll.

K and I wandered the Napa promenade on this brisk (read: freezing) February evening, peering in windows and reading displayed menus. We were evaluating a number of restaurants up and down the main drag for suitability (with the help of Yelp on my phone) when we stumbled upon Celadon. It looked promising. Modern decor in a converted warehouse-type setting, tucked away behind a hotel just off the riverbank. We decided.

Celadon Inside

“Industrial” interior area of Celadon

… 

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Filed Under: American Tagged With: Greater Bay Area, Napa Area

Recipe: Pesto Pita Pizzas

April 1, 2011 by Angie Sommer 1 Comment

Say that three times fast.

I sort of hate when people tell me to say something three times fast, so I apologize.

Ok, Pesto Pita Pizzas. Are surprisingly delicious. Hence, they make it to my blog. You may have noticed that I don’t love to cook very much, but Tami made these for a few friends and me the other night and I just had to bring them home. And by “bring them home” I mean drive to Trader Joe’s and buy the ingredients for myself.

Ingredients

Ingredients.

PPPs require four ingredients from Trader Joes:… 

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Filed Under: Recipes and Home Cooking

Review: New Kapadokia

March 29, 2011 by Angie Sommer 2 Comments

Update: New Kapadokia is now closed.

Atmosphere: 4/5   ♦   Service: 2/5   ♦   Food Quality: 4/5   ♦   Value:3/5
Times Visited: Once  ♦   Will I Return?:  Would like to
___________

New Kapadokia Redwood CityMy friends were going to a Star Trek Convention in Burlingame a few weeks ago (don’t judge) and I asked if they wanted to meet for dinner afterward*. I was feeling like trying something a bit different… I didn’t want your regular steakhouse or Japanese place or taco shop.

A Yelp search found New Kapadokia at 2399 Broadway in Redwood City: Turkish cuisine. Turkish food is sorta like Mediterranean cuisine, and though I wasn’t 100% sure it would be a great experience, I was sure that I wanted to try it. So I dragged the gang out to this cute (and previously unknown) area of Redwood City and out to New Kapadokia.

First impression: super cute. Small but not too small, cozy restaurant on a corner. Tablecloths. Wall hangings. Mute colors. Judging from the website and the Yelp reviews, I honestly expected a pretty serious hole in the wall. This place has class, no holes in these walls.

Inside New Kapadokia, Redwood City

Inside New Kapadokia, Redwood City

… 

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Filed Under: Turkish Tagged With: Redwood City

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